From: | Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org> |
Date: | Fri, 13 Mar 1998 20:28:03 -0700 |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | Aircraft Disposal Costs |
AIRCRAFT LIFE CYCLE COSTS In a report that attempts to account for the military's liability for the future disposal of aircraft, the General Accounting Office recently presented interesting data on the cost of hazardous waste removal from several aircraft that make up a large fraction of the Defense Department inventory. It looked at the cost of removing hazardous materials such as fire suppressant, batteries, petroleum products, composites, pyrotechnics, and coolants. Aircraft Type (Service) Removal Cost per aircraft F-16 (Air Force) $14,788 B-1B (Air Force) $123,084 F-14 (Navy) $14,725 F-18 (Navy) $10,753 Apache Helicopter (Army) $313 The relatively high cost of waste removal from the B-1 bomber reflects its size and the size of its fuel system, but the biggest difference is due to the "1,000 items associated with pyrotechnics that cost an estimated $92,000 to remove." Removing pyrotechnics (for ejection seats and canopies) from an F-16 costs about $1,700 per aircraft. Removing explosive bolts from the Apache only costs $68 per chopper. GAO says the costs of the actual disposal of aircraft hazardous materials are minor: "For some mission assets, such as nuclear submarines, the actual hazardous material disposal costs are significant. However, unlike the removal costs, hazardous material disposal costs for the five aircraft in our review appear not to be significant because these materials are often reutilized, recycled, consumed (as in the case of fuel), or sold." Compared to the cost of procuring or operating and maintaining any of these aircraft, even the removal costs appear to be relatively minor. ("Financial Management: DOD's Liability for Aircraft Disposal Can Be Estimated," November, 1997, GAO/AIMD-98-9. Single copies of GAO reports may be ordered at no cost by phoning 202/512-6000.) Lenny Siegel Director, SFSU CAREER/PRO (and Pacific Studies Center) c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041 Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545 Fax: 650/968-1126 lsiegel@cpeo.org | |
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