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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)
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      Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)


      Mission: Destroy Chemical Weapons Stockpile

      Vision: Chemical Weapons Free by 2023

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      Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP)

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Facts: Nerve Agent Neutralization

Published: November 22, 2016 | Category: BGCAPP Facts
An Agent Neutralization Reactor stands in the Munitions Demilitarization Building at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Nerve agent drained from rockets and projectiles is pumped to this reactor and mixed with hot water and sodium hydroxide to neutralize the agent. The resulting product is known as hydrolysate.

An Agent Neutralization Reactor stands in the Munitions Demilitarization Building at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Nerve agent drained from rockets and projectiles is pumped to this reactor and mixed with hot water and sodium hydroxide to neutralize the agent. The resulting product is known as hydrolysate.

Neutralization is the technology selected to destroy the stockpile of nerve agent (GB or “Sarin” and VX) contained in rockets and projectiles at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

How Neutralization Works

During the neutralization process, the munitions will be taken apart and the nerve agent drained and separated from the weapons’ explosive components (energetics). The nerve agent will be mixed vigorously with hot water and sodium hydroxide to destroy, or neutralize, it. The resulting product, known as hydrolysate, will be held and tested to ensure chemical agent destruction.

After testing confirms the destruction of the nerve agent, the hydrolysate will be shipped to a permitted hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility for further processing in accordance with environmental permitting.

The metal parts of the munitions will be heated to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit for thermal decontamination for a minimum of 15 minutes. The metal parts can then be safely recycled.

Gases will be filtered through a series of High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) and carbon filters before being released into the atmosphere. Water will be recycled into the pilot plant and reused as part of the destruction process.

Learn more about neutralization by watching these videos:

  • Nerve Agent Destruction in the United States
  • This System Will Drain Chemical Agent
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BGCAPP Facts

  • Facts: Acronyms Commonly Used in the Chemical Weapons Destruction Program

  • Facts: Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass

  • Facts: Blue Grass ACWA Test Equipment

  • Facts: Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant COVID-19 Response

  • Facts: Blue Grass Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office

  • Facts: Chemical Weapons Destruction at Blue Grass

  • Facts: Connect with the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant

  • Facts: Employment and Business Opportunities

  • Facts: Environmental Permitting: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

  • Facts: Information Repositories

  • Facts: Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board

  • Facts: Perimeter Monitoring

  • Facts: Personnel Reliability Program

  • Facts: Secondary Waste Treatment and Disposal

  • Facts: Static Detonation Chamber (SDC)

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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)