Advances in the chemical conversion of surplus energetic materials to higher value products

The demilitarization of nuclear and conventional munitions in Russia and the West is producing millions of pounds of surplus energetic materials. Historically, energetic materials (high explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics) have been disposed by open burning/open detonation (OB/OD). The use of OB/OD is becoming unacceptable due to public concerns and increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Our goal is to develop environmentally sound and cost-effective alternatives to OB/OD. We have investigated the use of recycled high explosives as raw materials for producing a variety of higher value products. In this paper, we review chemical conversion activities with an emphasis on recent work from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).