Skilled technicians at the Blue Grass plant achieved another key chemical weapons destruction mark Feb. 17 when they reached 50% of the GB nerve agent rockets destroyed.

“The safe and efficient completion of 50% of the GB rocket campaign is a major accomplishment,” said Mike Noyes, plant manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass. “It takes hard work, dedication and focus from the entire BGCAPP team to reach these milestones. Upon destruction of each one of these munitions, we are not only making our community, but the nation, a safer place.”

The 50% mark came seven months after the first GB M55 rocket was drained and destroyed on July 7, 2022. The average number of GB rockets processed each day has risen steadily since the campaign first began, according to Noyes. Crews continue to make adjustments to improve efficiency and maintain high safety standards on the rocket-processing lines.

The GB M55 rockets are the last munitions destruction campaign at the Blue Grass facility. Plant staff use the term campaign to describe the destruction of a particular type of chemical munition.

Previously, the Blue Grass plant destroyed 155mm projectiles containing mustard agent using the Explosive Destruction Technology and 8-inch projectiles containing GB nerve agent, 155mm projectiles containing VX nerve agent and M55 rockets containing VX nerve agent in the main plant.

The Blue Grass plant team began destroying chemical weapons in June 2019. As of Feb. 10, 2023, almost 73% of the original 523.4 tons of chemical agent stored in Kentucky has been destroyed. The plant is targeting completion by the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty commitment date of Sept. 30, 2023. U.S. public law mandates stockpile destruction by Dec. 31, 2023.