How is the United States destroying its stockpile?
The US Army is destroying the stockpile using high-temperature incineration in what is called the “baseline” destruction program. The baseline program uses robotics and manual techniques to disassemble the weapons before sending the different parts into four high-temperature furnaces-one for the agent, one for the explosives and propellants, one for the waste packaging, and one for the contaminated metal components, such as shells and bulk storage containers. After feasibility testing at Tooele Depot, Utah, the Army constructed a prototype incineration facility on Johnston Island in the Pacific. During operational verification testing between July 1990 and March 1993, the Army demonstrated the baseline program’s ability to destroy chemical munitions without apparent fundamental safety, environmental, or process-related problems. In August 1996, the Chemical Agent Disposal Facility at Tooele, Utah, opened for operation. By June 2001, over 7,000 tons of chemical agent had been destroyed
