A systems contract was awarded in June 2003 to a joint venture team composed of Bechtel National, Inc., and Parsons Infrastructure and Technology Group, Inc. The Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass team is contracted to develop a design-build plan and then design, construct, systemize, operate and close BGCAPP. In March 2005 the design-build-operate-close schedule was extended to make the program more affordable on an annual basis. Site preparation work and the construction of support buildings continued and final designs for the remaining BGCAPP facilities were completed in 2010. In June 2019, the Static Detonation Chamber began destroying mustard agent-filled projectiles. In January 2020, the BGCAPP main plant facility began processing nerve agent-filled projectiles. The destruction operations are expected to be complete by 2023. The plant will operate until all the chemical weapons have been destroyed. Closure activities are slated to be wrapped up by 2026. This schedule exceeds the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2007 mandates the destruction of the remaining U.S. national chemical stockpile in accordance with the April 2012 date, but in no circumstances later than Dec. 31, 2017. This deadline was subsequently extended to Dec. 31, 2023, by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.
History of chemical demilitarization in Kentucky
Technology
The Department of Defense conducted studies to evaluate potential impacts of the elimination of these weapons using incineration and non-incineration methods for the plant. Four technologies were considered:
The Department of Defense selected neutralization followed by SCWO for use at the depot. The method comprises the following steps:
Munitions are disassembled by modified reverse assembly.
The chemical agent is drained from the munitions. The liquid agent is chemically mixed with caustic and water to destroy the chemical agent using hydrolysis. The resulting chemical compound is known as hydrolysate.
Hydrolysate is held and tested to ensure agent destruction before proceeding to secondary treatment.
The agent hydrolysate is fed into the SCWO units to destroy the organic materials. SCWO subjects the hydrolysate to very high temperatures and pressures, breaking them down into carbon dioxide, water and salts.
Metal parts are thermally decontaminated by heating them to for a minimum of 15 minutes. The metal parts can then be safely recycled.
Gas effluents are filtered through a series of HEPA and carbon filters before being released to the atmosphere. Water is recycled into the pilot plant facility and reused as part of the destruction process.
Explosive Destruction Technology (EDT)
After an X-ray assessment of the mustard munitions stockpile showed that the agent had significantly solidified in the rounds—making removal of mustard agent from projectiles difficult using neutralization and SCWO—ACWA decided to explore use of Explosive Destruction Technology for these projectiles. EDT uses heat/pressure from explosion or just heat to destroy the munitions; it is not considered incineration and does not require disassembly of the weapons. There are three general types of technologies that can destroy chemical weapons:
Detonation Technology – destroys the majority of the agent and explosive in the munition by detonating donor explosives wrapped around the munition. The resulting off-gasses are processed through secondary treatment to ensure agent destruction. Examples of detonation technology include the Transportable Detonation Chamber, or TDC, and the DAVINCH.
Neutralization Technology – uses small explosive shaped charges to open the munition and consume the explosive in the burster and fuze. The agent is destroyed by subsequent neutralization. The U.S. Army's Explosive Destruction System, or EDS, is an example.
Thermal Destruction – uses the heat of the electrically heated containment vessel to deflagrate the munition and destroy the agent and energetics. The resulting gases are treated in an off-gas treatment system. The Static Detonation Chamber, or SDC, is an example of thermal destruction technology.
Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass received approval from PEO ACWA to begin initial work on an Explosive Destruction Technology system at the Blue Grass plant. Following a competitive procurement process, Bechtel Parsons selected the Static Detonation Chamber. In June 2015, the SDC completed Factory Acceptance Testing at the Dynasafe workshop in Kristinehamn, Sweden. The SDC was assembled and installed in 2016. In May 2018, EDT technicians brought the air filtration system online for the first time. In July 2018, construction substantially completed and testing began on EDT plant equipment in remote operations mode. In February 2019, a total of 24 B586 conventional munitions were processed in the Static Detonation Chamber as part of systemization activities. In June 2019, the Static Detonation Chamber entered the operations phase with the successful destruction of the first mustard agent-filled munition on June 7. In 2019, due to worker safety concerns, a decision was made to discontinue use of the Energetics Neutralization System to process M55 rocket warheads that have been drained of their nerve agent. Instead, these drained warheads, along with overpacked M55 rockets, will be processed in the SDC 1200 or a larger SDC 2000, which is in the process of being procured and permitted. The nerve agent will be processed through the plant's Agent Neutralization System as originally planned.
Public outreach
The Blue Grass Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office was established to serve as the community's primary information resource on chemical weapons destruction in Kentucky. The office responds to inquiries, provides information materials and coordinates guest speakers for a variety of different civic groups and organizations and interfaces with the governor-appointed Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens' Advisory Commission and its Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board.
