RICHMOND, Ky. -- Preliminary tests show that
rockets armed with deadly chemical weapons are not a safety risk while they
are stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot, but the Army said more study on
the stability of the aging weapons is needed.
The Pentagon released the results of a
preliminary test on the M55 rockets on Thursday. The depot in Richmond has
77,000 of the rockets that are part of an arsenal slated for destruction.
Military officials said more tests are
needed to determine if the rockets are too unstable to be cut apart from their
warheads, which carry the nerve agent GB, also known as Sarin, or VX.
Five rockets ignited earlier this year
during cutting operations at sites in Oregon and Arkansas."No decisions have
been made in terms of what to do in Kentucky," said Katherine DeWeese, spokeswoman
for the Pentagon's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program.
Tests on nine of the rockets at Umatilla
Chemical Depot in Oregon confirmed that nitroglycerin, a component in the
fuel, had migrated to spaces between the rocket motors and steel casings,
according to the Army's Chemical Materials Agency.
The nitroglycerin is "a potential cause
of the fires" when the volatile chemical is pressed tighter as rocket components
are cut up, the agency said in a statement. It added that the fires appear
to be random.
Gregory St. Pierre, director of the materials
agency's risk management, said in a statement that the Oregon findings are
preliminary.
"The jury is still out as we prepare to
look at and contrast these test results with the Pine Bluff samples," St.
Pierre said.
In Washington earlier this week, the Senate
approved an amendment by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, that he said could
allow groundbreaking next year on a destruction plant at the depot.
McConnell's amendment allows the Pentagon
to use $51 million to prepare for construction of the plant and a similar
site in Pueblo, Colo. The spending measure is awaiting a final Senate vote.
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Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com