Chemical Weapons Obstacles To The Armys Plan To Destroy Obsolete Us Stockpile PDF Download

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the stability of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile, focusing on the Army's: (1) estimate of how long chemical weapons can be stored safely; and (2) contingency plans for disposing of chemical weapons that become dangerous. GAO found that: (1) the Army's assessment that the chemical weapons stockpile can be safely stored until 2004 is questionable based on inconsistencies in the assessment's supporting data; (2) Sandia National Laboratory officials believe that the Army's assessment data are outdated and no longer representative of the munitions in actual field storage; (3) Sandia National Laboratory officials recommended that the Army expand its stockpile monitoring activities to include propellant samples from non-leaking and leaking munitions at each storage location because the aging problems in its nuclear weapon systems are similar to those encountered in the chemical weapon stockpile; (4) although the Army has established a work group to review its assessment and received $4.5 million to expand its stockpile monitoring activities, these expanded monitoring activities will not resolve all of the questions concerning the stability of the stockpile; (5) the Army needs to establish a contingency plan for emergency disposal of the M55 rocket because it is the only munition in the stockpile that cannot be easily defused; and (6) although the Army is studying several ways to dispose of the M55 rocket, additional information on its specific hazards is needed before a contingency plan can be finalized.