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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: The safe elimination of chemical weapons at Pueblo and Blue Grass by Sept. 30, 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)

      PCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

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Reconfiguration Team Demonstrates Technical Knowledge

Published: April 9, 2018 | Category: PCAPP News
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians remove fiberboard tubes containing ACWA Test Equipment, or ATE, from wooden boxes and place them on an operator workstation.

    Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians remove fiberboard tubes containing ACWA Test Equipment, or ATE, from wooden boxes and place them on an operator workstation. The technicians trained with ATE, which has the look, weight and feel of real chemical rounds, but does not contain explosives or chemical agent.

  • An ordnance technician removes the rear assembly from a simulated 4.2-inch mortar round during training exercises held at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

    An ordnance technician removes the rear assembly from a simulated 4.2-inch mortar round during training exercises held at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

Before baseline reconfiguration of 4.2-inch mortar rounds can begin, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Plant ordnance technicians were required to demonstrate their skills using inert duplicates of chemical weapons.

“We successfully demonstrated the technical knowledge needed to perform baseline reconfiguration on 4.2-inch mortar rounds,” said Jacob Torres, operations superintendent, PCAPP. Baseline reconfiguration is the process of converting munitions from a ready-to-use configuration to a ready-to-process configuration.

In late March, the PCAPP reconfiguration team performed Integrated Operations Demonstrations, a validation process which displays readiness to perform a designated task, to key government agency representatives by reconfiguring inert rounds. ACWA Test Equipment, or ATE, was used to demonstrate the delivery of rounds from storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot to the PCAPP facility; the transfer of munitions to the Munitions Storage Magazine to await reconfiguration; the transfer of energetics to the Energetics Service Magazine to await off-site shipment; and a leaker contingency operation during which a simulated leaker was overpacked into a Single Round Container, said Torres.

The team reconfigured 48 ATE munitions by removing each munition from its wooden box and placing it onto a conveyor for transport to the Vapor Containment Room; removing the ATE from its fiberboard tube and placing it onto the monitoring table; exposing the munition for monitoring by a Miniature Continuous Air Monitoring System; removing the striker nut and retaining pin, which go to scrap metal, and propellant wafer charger and placing it into an energetic packaging tray at workstation #1; removing the ignitor cartridge and placing it into an energetic packaging tray at workstation #2; and detaching the rear assembly at workstation #3, Torres said.

Sixteen percent of the depot’s stockpile is made up of projectiles and mortar rounds in their original packaging. To prepare these munitions for processing through the plant’s automated system, trained ordnance technicians reconfigure, palletize and return the munitions to storage to await destruction.

PCAPP Technology Articles

  • Agent-filled 4.2-inch mortar rounds are monitored during Static Detonation Chamber agent trial testing operations at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

    Static Detonation Chamber Trial Testing Concludes

    Published: May 13, 2022
  • After a chemical weapon is drained of agent and rinsed with high-pressure hot water, Agent Washwater Separator tanks collect fluid before sending it to Agent Neutralization Reactors to destroy the mustard agent. The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant has two tanks, providing the plant with redundancy when neutralizing agent.

    Backup Systems Allow for Safe Repairs

    Published: March 28, 2022
  • All chemical weapons from the Colorado stockpile are sorted into four color-coded lots to reduce delays in destruction due to problematic munitions.

    Color Coding Boosts Chemical Weapon Destruction

    Published: March 23, 2022
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician holds the first 4.2-inch mortar round to be processed in the Static Detonation Chamber complex.

    First Agent Destroyed in Static Detonation Chamber

    Published: February 22, 2022
  • Static Detonation Chamber ordnance technicians Rachelle S. and Mike W. remove a 57mm conventional ammunition round from its fiber tube during SDC non-agent Trial Burn Testing.

    Conventional Explosives Demonstrate Static Detonation Chamber Capability

    Published: February 15, 2022
  • Munitions transporters unload inert 4.2-inch mortar rounds from the back of a Modified Ammunition Vehicle during Integrated Operations Demonstrations. (Portions of this photograph have been blurred in accordance with Department of Defense guidelines)

    Pueblo Static Detonation Chamber Team Demonstrates Operations

    Published: February 2, 2022
  • Ethylene glycol and monochlorobenzene are being used as mustard agent surrogates during testing of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Static Detonation Chamber units.

    Mustard Agent Alternatives Used in Testing

    Published: January 12, 2022
  • Control room footage shows Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workers preparing a cardboard box containing an empty, inert projectile for trial burn testing in a PCAPP Static Detonation Chamber unit.

    Detailed Timeline Guiding Pueblo Static Detonation Chamber Testing

    Published: December 2, 2021
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians place an empty, inert projectile into a cardboard box to begin trial burn testing at the PCAPP Static Detonation Chamber.

    Pueblo Static Detonation Chamber Trial Burn Testing Begins

    Published: November 2, 2021
  • Three Static Detonation Chamber units at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant will augment the main plant by destroying 4.2-inch mortar rounds containing mustard agent. Phase one testing of the units slated to begin in late 2021.

    First Phase of Pueblo Detonation Testing to Begin

    Published: October 8, 2021
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Recent PCAPP Articles

  • Colorado Commission Welcomes New Member

    Colorado Commission Welcomes New Member

    May 4, 2022
  • Backup Systems Allow for Safe Repairs

    Backup Systems Allow for Safe Repairs

    March 28, 2022
  • Plant Closely Monitors Permit Requirements

    Plant Closely Monitors Permit Requirements

    February 24, 2022
  • New Bechtel Pueblo Team Manager Takes Helm

    New Bechtel Pueblo Team Manager Takes Helm

    November 18, 2021
  • Redevelopment CEO Appointed to Colorado Advisory Commission

    Redevelopment CEO Appointed to Colorado Advisory Commission

    October 28, 2021
  • Mentorship Critical to Pueblo Plant Maintenance

    Mentorship Critical to Pueblo Plant Maintenance

    August 30, 2021

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