CHEMICAL WEAPON DESTRUCTION

The U.S. military has a huge stockpile of chemical weapons, which it has pledged to destroy by the end of 1999 under a treaty with the Soviet Union. Congress has demanded that the Pentagon destroy all old chemical weapons before it may go ahead with new production. The exact size of the stockpile is classified, but estimates put it about 70 million pounds.

The Disposal Process

Technicians use special machinery to break the shell, rocket or canister down into its component parts and then place it into one of four kinds of incinerators-for liquid agents, metal parts, explosives and propellants or combustible waste such as wooden pallets. All these furnaces are two-stage incinerators.

Primary Incinerator

The primary chamber burns the chemical agent and any combustible waste. Then the air is fed into the afterburner.

Air blower

Forced Air: Breaks liquid agent into smaller units which are easier to burn.

Natural Gas: To heat and fuel combustion.

Chemical Waste

Secondary Incinerator (afterburner)

The air is reheated, as a precaution, to remove any remaining vapor.

Forced Air

Recycled waste

Cooling Tank

Scrubber Tank

De-mister Tank

Pollution Control System

After combustion, the waste is sent through a pollution-control system. The plant’s ventilation system directs airflow from the clean areas into the contaminated areas, preventing the spread of the chemicals.

The cooling tank (A) sprays the hot exhaust with cold salt water and sends it though the venturi (B), which separates the particles from the liquid. On entering the scrubber tank, the liquid sinks down and out (C), where it is constantly recycled, and the particles rise. After the particles are treated with a caustic solution neutralizing the acidic components (D), the exhaust flows into the de-mister. Here it is forced through a filter system (E), much like a series of vacuum cleaner bags, holding the particles while the cleaned air is forced up and out.

Chemical Weapons: What and Where

The arsenal includes tens of thousands of rockets, artillery shells and spray canisters containing mustard gas and two types of nerve agent-VX and GB (also known as Sarin). These chemicals can cause death within 15 minutes and in non-fatal doses can cause lifetime respiratory problems. The weapons are currently stored at the eight Army depots (shown ar right) and at the Johnston Atoll in the South Pacific, site of the Army’s first operating incinerator.

Obstacles to the Program

* Many communities are hostile to construction of incinerators, fearing toxic pollution and declining land values.

* The cost of the program continues to escalate, from $1.7 billion in 1985 to an estimated $6 billion today.

* Many states fear the Army will be forced to transport the lethal chemicals across their territory en route to disposal facilities. An accident could be catastrophic.

* The technology for destroying the weapons has never been tested on a large scale, generating fears that the furnaces will emit lethal substances.

* The destruction process creates hazardous residue in the form of waste products tainted with lead and cadmium, which are classified as toxic waste under federal law.

Source: Los Angeles Times Washington Staff and the Army Chemical Demilitarization Program