THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 17, 1995 TAG: 9501170313
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Leaking chemical weapons pose a significant hazard over the next decade and the Army must develop an emergency plan for disposing of rockets with chemical warheads, according to a new congressional report.
``The Army's assessment that the chemical weapons stockpile can be safely stored until 2004 is subject to question,'' the General Accounting Office concluded. The Army relied on old data and failed to study the problem of coping with leaking chemical agents, the GAO said in a Dec. 22 report made public Monday.
Of particular concern is the M55 rocket. Because of the weapon's design, the chemical agent cannot be separated from the explosive components.
Chemical weapons, particularly the nerve agent known as GB, become acidic over time and can corrode the metal warheads of rockets, mortars and projectiles. External leaks, although potentially dangerous, can be managed by placing the weapon inside a sealed container. Internal leaks are harder to detect and more dangerous.
``When a munition leaks internally, an agent can come in contact with its explosive components,'' the GAO noted. ``Such contact, according to Army reports, could increase the risk of unanticipated ignitions or explosions during handling, movement and disassembling prior to final destruction.''
In addition, the explosion of one rocket could set off a calamitous chain reaction.
``Army tests have shown that the ignition of a single M55 rocket within a storage igloo could involve many of the 4,000 rockets that are typically stored together,'' the report stated.
And among all chemical weapons, the risk of internal leaking in the M55 is most acute, according to the GAO. A decade-old Army assessment of the M55 stockpile estimated that 1 percent to 3 percent of the rockets had internal leaks. But the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said the limited sample size of the Army's survey ``makes this estimate uncertain.''
Compounding the problem are the difficulty and risk involved in studying leaking munitions.
An Army spokesman did not immediately return a call Monday seeking comment. According to the report, the Army ``generally agreed'' with the GAO's findings. The Army is studying ways to respond to the chemical weapon storage problem.
The GAO says an Army report due out this month ``concludes that there is high confidence that none of the non-leaking rockets in the stockpile will undergo auto-ignition prior to 2004.'' by CNB