WASHINGTON - Monitors at the Army's chemical weapons disposal sites do enough to protect the public and workers at its chemical disposal sites, but additional steps could improve safety, according to a report released Monday.

For example, cutting down on false alarms of chemical contamination, developing mobile monitors to track potential releases and adding another layer to the monitoring regimen could enhance safety, said the draft report from the National Research Council (NRC), part of the National Academies.

"The current airborne agent monitoring systems are adequate to safely protect the chemical demilitarization work force, the public, and the environment," the report said, although improvements could be made to reduce false alarms and improve plant safety.

The Army requested the review for its Chemical Materials Agency, which manages chemical weapons disposal. The Army operates six chemical weapons disposal facilities, including one in Utah's Tooele County.

Deseret Chemical Depot once stored about 45 percent of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile, but has disposed of about half of it since it began incinerating the chemicals at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in 1996.

Facilities in two other states are in the design stage. Disposal of all the nation's chemical weapons probably won't be completed until 2012 at the earliest.

To protect the health of workers, monitors constantly test the air and alarms sound if they detect a certain level of chemical agent in the air. Other monitors take samples and are tested at the labs at the incinerators.

The monitors are sensitive, and false alarms continue to be a problem, the NRC panel said.

According to data from the Army's Chemical Materials Agency, there were as many as three false alarms per day at the Tooele facility during a two-month period. In July 2004 alone, there were 73, or 2.4 per day.

The panel said the Army's monitors along the perimeter of the chemical disposal facility appear to be adequate. Only once have the fence line monitors registered a release. In that instance, a ton container leaked about 80 gallons of mustard agent at Deseret Chemical Depot.

For amounts that could "pose an acute risk to the public" to escape the facility, it would require a major accident such as an explosion or fire. The risk of such an incident is remote - an estimated 1 in 1.1 million.

But if such a release were to occur, the Army may be better served with mobile, fast-response monitors to track a chemical plume that would escape, the panel said, recommending the Army study whether mobile monitors should be developed.

The report also recommended consideration of another level of monitoring, designed to alert workers of nearby leaks even if they are not directly involved in disposing of the agent.

Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, a watchdog organization based in Kentucky, said that recommendation is something his group has been seeking for some time.

The report said the technology that would be used might not register at the minimum allowed levels of exposure, but it could alert workers to elevated levels.

"The bottom line is we feel that this report validates our call for an expanded monitoring regime that includes real-time alert capability in the event of a significant agent release," Williams said.

The Army chemical weapons program could not be reached for comment.