Monitoring at Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities PDF Download

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309097320
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
Under the direction of the U.S. Army's Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) and mandated by Congress, the nation is destroying its chemical weapons stockpile. Over the past several years, the Army has requested several studies from the NRC to assist with the stockpile destruction. This study was requested to advise the CMA about the status of analytical instrumentation technology and systems suitable for monitoring airborne chemical warfare agents at chemical weapons disposal and storage facilities. The report presents an assessment of current monitoring systems used for airborne agent detection at CMA facilities and of the applicability and availability of innovative new technologies. It also provides a review of how new regulatory requirements would affect the CMA's current agent monitoring procedures, and whether new measurement technologies are available and could be effectively incorporated into the CMA's overall chemical agent monitoring strategies.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309075750
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
In keeping with a congressional mandate (Public Law 104-484) and the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United States is currently destroying its chemical weapons stockpile. The Army must ensure that the chemical demilitarization workforce is protected from the risks of exposure to hazardous chemicals during disposal operations and during and after facility closure. Good industrial practices developed in the chemical and nuclear energy industries and other operations that involve the processing of hazardous materials include workplace monitoring of hazardous species and a systematic occupational health program for monitoring workers' activities and health. In this report, the National Research Council Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program examines the methods and systems used at JACADS and TOCDF, the two operational facilities, to monitor the concentrations of airborne and condensed-phase chemical agents, agent breakdown products, and other substances of concern. The committee also reviews the occupational health programs at these sites, including their industrial hygiene and occupational medicine components. Finally, it evaluates the nature, quality, and utility of records of workplace chemical monitoring and occupational health programs.

Author: Committee on Monitoring at Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780309381840
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
Under the direction of the U.S. Armya s Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) and mandated by Congress, the nation is destroying its chemical weapons stockpile. Over the past several years, the Army has requested several studies from the NRC to assist with the stockpile destruction. This study was requested to advise the CMA about the status of analytical instrumentation technology and systems suitable for monitoring airborne chemical warfare agents at chemical weapons disposal and storage facilities. The report presents an assessment of current monitoring systems used for airborne agent detection at CMA facilities and of the applicability and availability of innovative new technologies. It also provides a review of how new regulatory requirements would affect the CMAa s current agent monitoring procedures, and whether new measurement technologies are available and could be effectively incorporated into the CMAa s overall chemical agent monitoring strategies."

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309259886
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
January 2012 saw the completion of the U.S. Army's Chemical Materials Agency's (CMA's) task to destroy 90 percent of the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons. CMA completed destruction of the chemical agents and associated weapons deployed overseas, which were transported to Johnston Atoll, southwest of Hawaii, and demilitarized there. The remaining 10 percent of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile is stored at two continental U.S. depots, in Lexington, Kentucky, and Pueblo, Colorado. Their destruction has been assigned to a separate U.S. Army organization, the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) Element. ACWA is currently constructing the last two chemical weapons disposal facilities, the Pueblo and Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plants (denoted PCAPP and BGCAPP), with weapons destruction activities scheduled to start in 2015 and 2020, respectively. ACWA is charged with destroying the mustard agent stockpile at Pueblo and the nerve and mustard agent stockpile at Blue Grass without using the multiple incinerators and furnaces used at the five CMA demilitarization plants that dealt with assembled chemical weapons - munitions containing both chemical agents and explosive/propulsive components. The two ACWA demilitarization facilities are congressionally mandated to employ noncombustion-based chemical neutralization processes to destroy chemical agents. In order to safely operate its disposal plants, CMA developed methods and procedures to monitor chemical agent contamination of both secondary waste materials and plant structural components. ACWA currently plans to adopt these methods and procedures for use at these facilities. The Assessment of Agent Monitoring Strategies for the Blue Grass and Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plants report also develops and describes a half-dozen scenarios involving prospective ACWA secondary waste characterization, process equipment maintenance and changeover activities, and closure agent decontamination challenges, where direct, real-time agent contamination measurements on surfaces or in porous bulk materials might allow more efficient and possibly safer operations if suitable analytical technology is available and affordable.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309103517
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
The U.S. Army's Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) currently oversees contracts for the operation of chemical agent stockpile incineration facilities at four disposal sites. Because the period of time required to dispose of these chemical agents has grown beyond that originally planned, the Army is becoming concerned about the possibility of growing operational problems as the processing equipment ages. To help address these concerns, the CMA requested the NRC to assess whether current policies and practices will be able to adequately anticipate and address facility obsolescence issues. This report presents a review of potential infrastructure and equipment weaknesses given that the facilities are being operated well beyond their original design lifetime; an assessment of the Army's current and evolving obsolescence management programs; and offers recommendations about how the programs may be improved and strengthened to permit safe and expeditious completion of agent stockpile destruction and facility closure.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 9780309086295
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
For over a decade the Army has been carrying out a program aimed at the destruction of accumulated chemical weapons stored at several sites. While destruction by incineration has been successful, several incidentsâ€"called chemical eventsâ€"occurred during the disposal process or decontamination activities that raised some public concerns about the safety of operations of three third generation incineration facilities. As a result, the Congress asked the NRC to investigate whether the incidents provide information useful to help ensure safe operation of the future sites. This book presents an analysis of causes of and responses to past chemical events, implications of such events for ongoing and future demilitarization activities, and recommendations for preparing for future events.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309175585
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
In 1993, at Tooele Army Depot, Utah, the Army completed construction of the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TOCDF), the first complete facility for destruction of lethal unitary chemical agents and munitions to be built in the continental United States. The TOCDF will employ the Army's baseline incineration system to destroy the depot's increment of the nation's aging unitary chemical stockpile. This book assesses Army changes and improvements to the TOCDF in response to recommendations contained in earlier reports of the committee. It assesses aspects of the facility's readiness for safe agent handling and destruction operations, its agent monitoring system, and its site specific risk assessment.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309184401
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description
This report reviews the status of the U.S. Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program (CSDP) operations at Tooele, Utah, with respect to previous recommendations and observations made by the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program (Stockpile Committee). The committee recognizes actions that have satisfied recommendations, identifies recommendations that require further action, and provides additional recommendations for improving the overall CSDP performance at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TOCDF), Tooele, Utah, and other sites.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309158583
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 106

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Book Description
This book responds to a request by the director of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) for the National Research Council to examine and evaluate the ongoing planning for closure of the four currently operational baseline incineration chemical agent disposal facilities and the closure of a related testing facility. The book evaluates the closure planning process as well as some aspects of closure operations that are taking place while the facilities are still disposing of agent. These facilities are located in Anniston, Alabama; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Tooele, Utah; and Umatilla, Oregon. They are designated by the acronyms ANCDF, PBCDF, TOCDF, and UMCDF, respectively. Although the facilities all use the same technology and are in many ways identical, each has a particular set of challenges.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309106109
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
Under the direction of the U.S. Army's Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) and mandated by Congress, the nation is destroying its chemical weapons stockpile. Large quantities of secondary waste are being generated in the process, and managing these wastes safely and effectively is a critical part of CMA's weapons disposal program. To assist, the CMA asked the NRC to examine the environmental and regulatory requirements that secondary waste treatment is subject to, and to assess best practices by industry in meeting such requirements for similar facilities. This book presents an overview of secondary wastes from chemical agent disposal facilities (CDF), a comparison of CDF and industry experience, site-specific analysis of major secondary waste issues, an examination of closure wastes, and findings and recommendations.