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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)

      BGCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky.

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      Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)

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Rocket Processing Equipment Put Through Its Paces

Published: November 30, 2017 | Category: BGCAPP News, Technology
  • A technician watches as a dummy M55 rocket, in its shipping and firing tube, is positioned on the Rocket Cutting Machine at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This system will separate the warhead from the rocket motor and deliver the parts for their next steps of processing.

    A technician watches as a dummy M55 rocket, in its shipping and firing tube, is positioned on the Rocket Cutting Machine at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This system will separate the warhead from the rocket motor and deliver the parts for their next steps of processing.

  • Technicians are testing the first Blue Grass-specific equipment that will help eliminate M55 rockets.

    Technicians are testing the first Blue Grass-specific equipment that will help eliminate M55 rockets.

Technicians began testing the Blue Grass plant’s Rocket Cutting Machines and their related systems with dummy rockets in November.

“This is the first Blue Grass-specific equipment rockets will see in the destruction process,” said Dave Lee, start-up supervisor, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass. “We have completed testing equipment systems and are now running them as a process.” Technicians are testing the full function of the equipment by cutting and separating the shipping and firing tubes from the inert rocket warheads and then separating the warheads from motor sections.

The dummy warheads travel down a conveyor to the Explosive Containment Room. The separated rocket motors, still in shipping and firing tubes, are conveyed to the Motor Packing Room, where a robot loads them into a specially designed box for shipping to a permitted disposal facility.

“Our next step will be to continue the process with the Rocket Shear Machines, which will punch and drain the rockets and shear them into four pieces for the neutralization process,” Lee said. “We are also fine-tuning the movements of the robots loading the rocket motors into the shipping boxes and tweaking the box design.”

During operations, the Rocket Cutting Machine will process up to 20 rockets per hour.

More BGCAPP Technology Articles

  • In this file photograph from August 2018, Dr. George Lucier, deputy chief scientist, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, explains to members of a public working group the rerouting of piping in the Supercritical Water Oxidation Processing Building to prepare for the possibility of hydrolysate shipment at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The decision was made in August 2020 to ship the hydrolysate to a permitted disposal facility for final destruction.

    Decision Made on Hydrolysate Treatment

    Published: March 31, 2021
  • VX Destruction Requires Change in Air Monitoring

    VX Destruction Requires Change in Air Monitoring

    Published: March 3, 2021
  • Specialized Equipment Arrives at Blue Grass Plant

    Specialized Equipment Arrives at Blue Grass Plant

    Published: November 18, 2020
  • Public Comment Invited on Plant Permit Modification Request

    Public Comment Invited on Plant Permit Modification Request

    Published: October 27, 2020
  • New Equipment Installed for Training

    New Equipment Installed for Training

    Published: October 26, 2020
  • Decision Made Regarding Use of Secondary System

    Decision Made Regarding Use of Secondary System

    Published: September 10, 2020
  • A munitions handler marks a box containing mustard agent-filled projectiles prior to destruction in the Explosive Destruction Technology facility at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Destruction of 50% of the mustard munitions was achieved Sept. 1.

    Half of Blue Grass Mustard Agent Destroyed

    Published: September 2, 2020
  • Testing Simulated Warheads Assists Destruction Efforts

    Testing Simulated Warheads Assists Destruction Efforts

    Published: August 31, 2020
  • A worker drills holes in the concrete floor to install an equipment mounting plate in the Munitions Demilitarization Building at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

    Rocket Processing Changes Lead to Plant Updates

    Published: July 31, 2020
  • A robot places a containerized test rocket warhead on an autonomous vehicle during factory acceptance testing of the Rocket Warhead Containerization System for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

    New Rocket Processing System Passes Test

    Published: July 9, 2020
BGCAPP Equipment

Related BGCAPP News

  • System Starts Processing 8-inch Test Projectiles

    System Starts Processing 8-inch Test Projectiles

    May 25, 2018
  • Team Works to Ensure Critical Balance

    Team Works to Ensure Critical Balance

    May 18, 2018
  • Technicians Start Air Filtration System for First Time

    Technicians Start Air Filtration System for First Time

    May 16, 2018
  • Water Systems Turned Over to Operations

    Water Systems Turned Over to Operations

    April 27, 2018
  • Experts: 21 Systems Turned Over to Operations

    Experts: 21 Systems Turned Over to Operations

    March 29, 2018
  • Major Neutralization System Passes Demonstration

    Major Neutralization System Passes Demonstration

    March 21, 2018
  • Key Blue Grass Systems Tested

    Key Blue Grass Systems Tested

    February 28, 2018

Related BGCAPP Info

  • Facts: Blue Grass ACWA Test Equipment

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