[CPEO-MEF] ARMY CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION PROGRAM RECYCLES ROCKETS

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2000/2000L-05-25-09.html

ARMY CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION PROGRAM RECYCLES ROCKETS

HAWTHORNE ARMY DEPOT, Nevada, May 25, 2000

(ENS) - The U.S. Army has found a way to recycle M60 and M61 training
rockets, as well as M67 rocket motors and M441 shipping and firing tubes,
as part of the Army's Chemical Weapons Demilitarization Program. None of
the components contain chemical warfare agents. The Army had planned to use
the rockets, motors and launch tubes for furnace testing in several
chemical weapons disposal facilities. However, advances in technology have
eliminated the need for such items for furnace testing. The Army contracted
with Day & Zimmermann Hawthorne Corporation to dismantle and recycle the
obsolete training rocket at the Hawthorne Army Depot. The facility has
already recycled more than 200,000 binary projectiles. The majority of the
metals components of the rockets will be recycled. The components that
cannot be recycled - the propellant and explosives - will be destroyed at
the facility. 

The training rockets were made to teach soldiers proper handling practices.
The M60 dummy rocket contained ethylene glycol, or common antifreeze, but
lacked the explosives and propellant of weapons rockets. The M61 practice
rocket was also filled with antifreeze, and also contained explosives fuses
and bursters. The 12 week dismantling and recycling operation began on
April 17 and is expected to be complete early in June. The rockets, motors
and launch tubes were trucked from Deseret Chemical Depot in Rush Valley,
Utah to Hawthorne at the end of March. 
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