Rocket Plant Now Subject to More Scrutiny

A government contractor that makes and tests rockets just east of Reno was told on Tuesday to be more open about just what it makes and the safety of its operations, particularly with Storey County commissioners.

“I don’t think the board realized what was going to happen out there,” Commissioner Mark Schrader told officials of Hi-Shear Technology Corp. in ordering them to allow closer state and county scrutiny of their facility.

Hi-Shear conducted its operations in relative secrecy from the beginning of this year until an April 29 fire in a batch of solid rocket propellant left two employees with serious burns.

The fuel contained ammonium perchlorate, the same compound that fed the May 4 fire that leveled Pacific Engineering & Production Co. in Henderson, Nev.

The fire prompted Schrader to ask plant officials to discuss their operations with the commission so it could determine whether conditions of the special-use permit granted the company in September, 1986, are being exceeded.

Commissioners unanimously approved Schrader’s motion Tuesday calling on Hi-Shear to allow its operations to be reviewed by a special panel set up by Gov. Richard Bryan to investigate the Henderson explosion.

Gene Holderness, Hi-Shear’s propulsion division manager, also agreed to an independent review of the plant’s process for disposing of hazardous material.

Hi-Shear moved its rocket engine plant from Torrance last year to the site about 10 miles east of Reno. It began operations just after the first of this year.

Hi-Shear employs 17 people at its Storey County plant. The company makes small rockets and exploding bolts.