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Adam S. Cumming
University of Edinburgh, School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, The King's Buildings, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK
Armed forces countries possess and use large quantities of munitions. Civil authorities, such as space agencies, also use quantities of energetic materials. The production, use, and disposal of these materials make a contribution to the overall environmental impact. Handling of munitions with energetic materials requires great care and considerable cost. The environmental impact of the processes must be acceptable to an increasingly critical general population to avoid public concern and be acceptable under environmental laws. Significant funds must be used to clean up and restore areas where military activities have polluted the ground or water. Past practices such as dumping at sea or into landfill sites are no longer generally acceptable. There is a need to know and minimize the environmental impact from munitions so that environmental management can be undertaken properly.
Governments have a duty of care to the members of their armed forces, and all reasonable precautions must be exercised to ensure safe use of munitions. For example, some weapons systems can spread over 70% of their energetic material, particularly propellant around the shooting range. This is a health risk with the hazard of fires after prolonged use of the shooting range and there is also a work environment hazard. It is also an environmental hazard since a propellant's environmental hazard assessment is usually based on the final combustion products and not on the propellant itself.
The design of new weapons should include disposal procedures and an environmental impact statement. The understanding of munitions disposal is still lagging behind this design requirement although progress has been made, as is noted in this volume. However, to better meet the requirement, it is important to fully understand the environmental issues so that they do not place undue constraints on the design of weapons. Such understanding can also reduce the costs.
To be able to assess the environmental impact of the munitions, we need the right environmental assessment tools. To minimize the impact of manufacture and manage green munitions, it is important to look at all processes governing these activities.
This activity has been developing for many years and has been reported [1-6].
Finally, there is the need to understand, manage, and decontaminate after events such as those mentioned subsequently (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 Demonstration of (a) a large detonation and (b) the aftermath - residues left.
What we need to develop is a planned management method, and this is discussed later (Figure 1.2).
Figure 1.2 (a) Current and (b) proposed assessment practice - see Chapter 8.
Public pressure has led to the implementation of legislation to manage environmental impact. This has gradually evolved from ad hoc national approaches to systematic regulations such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals () in the European Union () where the law is limiting and controls the availability and use of materials.
While such legislation is of prime importance in the nations where it is directly applied, it has an effect elsewhere since import and export of materials is transnational and those imposing the legislation are usually the largest users and hence the largest market for the materials. For example the imposition of REACH terms affects the sales of energetic materials, etc. to EU nations from outside the EU [7].
The US Environmental Protection Agency () and the EU [7] have focused on minimizing impact, and in the EU legislation the control of chemicals is being introduced. Therefore, changing public perception and new legislation means that the environmental impact of munitions and their ingredients cannot be ignored. We require understanding of the problems if they are to be dealt with, simply:
It is clear from examining the published literature that no one nation has all the answers and that no one nation has unique problems. While legal requirements do vary, there are common themes affecting all.
There is active work ongoing in the United States under the Strategic Environmental R&D Program (), a joint approach between Department of Defense (), Department of Energy (), and the EPA. There have been studies in the European Defence Agency and also studies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization () - Science and Technology area.
These legislative requirements are driving research, as has been noted. However, they are discussed further in this book.
Several activities have been completed or are in progress. Some have been openly reported [8, 9], but others may be available to NATO members and partners.
The first study, AVT 115, which was reviewed and discussed widely, produced the following conclusions:
There are therefore good safety and security reasons for dealing promptly with disposal.
It has been argued that changes in materials will answer the requirement and there is evidence that they can improve matters.
There is, however, a need to demonstrate that new materials offer significant advantages, and this is shown in several of the reports now in the open literature [511-13]. An early example of this is the four-power programme on novel propellants [14]. Again, this is an illustration of the approach and, as detailed later, the area of focus is now materials such as ammonium dinitramide (), etc (Figure 1.3) [15-21].
Figure 1.3 Comparison of (a) smoky and (b) smokeless propellants.
This was part of a multinational programme involving the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States [14].
It involved joint studies on the formulation and testing of a smokeless propellant for tactical systems. The aim was proof of principle, but environmental issues did not play a major part in the study. It has interesting aspects, however, as elimination of acid smoke has been a first target for environmental improvement.
This is an improvement in many ways, but there are still products and these may be just as hazardous as the eliminated smoke. In some ways, an invisible product can be more hazardous.
Therefore, there is a need for clear demonstration of safety and proven ways of assessing true impact. This needs examination and experimental proof.
In short, simple answers can be in error and assumptions need testing before acceptance. These are the constraints that must be addressed.
There has also been considerable work on the replacement of metals in pyrotechnics and related...
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