|
|
Article: ROCKET FUEL DISPOSAL NEARS END; ONLY 10 OF 400 CYLINDERS LEFT OF PENTABORANE AT EDWARDS LAB.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
- Article date:
- August 26, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Daily News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer
The Air Force is nearing the end of a five-year effort to dispose of 400 canisters of a highly volatile rocket fuel stored at Edwards for more than 30 years.
The Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate, nicknamed the rocket lab, is down to 10 500-pound cylinders of pentaborane, a fuel that ignites spontaneously if exposed to air warmer than 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The lab had a stockpile of 400 cylinders.
``All the figures I've seen show it's under $3 million,'' rocket lab spokesman Ranney Adams said of the disposal effort. ``That's a relative bargain.''
The last cylinders were scheduled to be ...