What methods are used to destroy old chemical weapons?
Two methods, incineration and nonincineration technologies, are used to destroy old chemical weapons. Incineration is the controlled heated combustion of waste materials that reduces them to ash, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other products of the combustion process. Some of the stockpile consists of actual munitions that may contain not only chemical agents but also propellants or explosives that may no longer be stable. When the contents of these types of weapons are drained, the empty casings may contain residual materials that can be treated effectively by incineration. The Army is using a variety of nonincineration technologies to destruct certain portions of the stockpile of chemical agents and recovered chemical weapons. The U.S. Army used neutralization hydrolysis with sodium hydroxide, followed by off-site post-treatment of the waste product, to dispose of chemical agents stored in bulk containers at Newport, Indiana and Aberdeen, Maryland. The nerve agent VX is stockpiled
