National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. ISBN: 978-0-309-47732-1, 132 pp, 2019

The U.S. military has a stockpile of ~400,000 tons of excess, obsolete, or unserviceable munitions. About 60,000 tons are added to the stockpile each year. Munitions include projectiles, bombs, rockets, landmines, and missiles. Open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) of these munitions has been a common disposal practice for decades, although it has decreased significantly since 2011. OB/OD is relatively quick, procedurally straightforward, and inexpensive; however, OB and OD also release contaminants from the operation directly into the environment. Over time, technology alternatives to OB/OD have become available and more are in research and development. Alternative technologies generally involve some type of contained destruction of the energetic materials, including contained burning or contained detonation as well as contained methods that forego combustion or detonation. This report reviews the current conventional munitions demilitarization stockpile; analyzes existing and emerging disposal, treatment, and reuse technologies; identifies and evaluates barriers to full-scale deployment of alternatives to OB/OD or non-closed loop incineration/combustion; and provides recommendations to overcome the barriers. Download a free PDF or read online at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25140/alternatives-for-the-demilitarization-of-conventional-munitions.