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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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Sprung Structures Rise at Static Detonation Chamber Sites

Published: December 13, 2019 | Category: PCAPP News, Technology
  • Workers erect a frame Dec. 10, 2019, for the Sprung structure that will cover a Static Detonation Chamber at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Three SDC units will augment main plant operations by destroying munitions that are not suitable for automated processing.

    Workers erect a frame Dec. 10, 2019, for the Sprung structure that will cover a Static Detonation Chamber at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Three SDC units will augment main plant operations by destroying munitions that are not suitable for automated processing.

  • Parts for Sprung structures that will cover Static Detonation Chambers arrive in September 2019 at the SDC construction site at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Three SDCs will augment main plant operations by destroying munitions that are not suitable for automated processing.

    Parts for Sprung structures that will cover Static Detonation Chambers arrive in September 2019 at the SDC construction site at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Three SDCs will augment main plant operations by destroying munitions that are not suitable for automated processing.

Workers at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant have begun erecting a structure to cover the first Static Detonation Chamber.

“This is real progress,” said Matt Crookshanks, manager, SDC. “Enclosed structures will allow us to continue final installation activities of the SDCs in inclement weather, open work fronts for various piping and electrical installation activities, and will protect the equipment and coatings during the (assembly) phase of the project.”

In early December, Pueblo County joined the Colorado Department of Health and Environment in issuing temporary authorizations allowing canopies to be built that will cover the plant’s SDC units.

The tension fabric coverings, also known as Sprung structures, arrived disassembled in late September on two flatbed freight trucks. They will shelter the SDC units, three of which will augment the main plant by destroying munitions not suitable for its automated process.

An SDC uses electrically generated high-temperature heat to detonate or deflagrate the projectiles. The mustard agent and energetics are destroyed by thermal decomposition. Off-gases are treated by an air-pollution equipment system. The 4.2-inch mortar rounds cannot be processed safely in the plant’s disassembly and drainage system and will be processed through the SDC units.

In addition to the environmental enclosure, the governments’ temporary authorizations also allow for a filtration system.

Crookshanks said the team pre-assembled as much of the structure as possible on the ground before the temporary authorization was approved to reduce the amount of elevated work needed and streamline productivity. The first structure is expected to be complete by the end of January 2020.

A similar enclosure covered the U.S. Army’s Explosive Destruction System, which was used from the start of agent operations at PCAPP in 2015 to the end of 2018 to destroy munitions that weren’t in good condition to go through the main plant.

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
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Recent PCAPP Articles

  • Colorado Commission Welcomes New Member

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    May 4, 2022
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    March 28, 2022
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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)