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Article: VOLATILE FUEL BEING DISPOSED OF AT BASE.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
- Article date:
- November 22, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 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)
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Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer
The Air Force is embarking on a $2 million, yearlong 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, has begun burning its stockpile of pentaborane, a fuel that ignites spontaneously if exposed to air warmer than 78 degrees Fahrenheit. When ignited, the chemical burns at 4,300 degrees, nearly twice the temperature needed to melt ordinary steel.
``All indications are things are going very well,'' said Ranney Adams, spokesman for the rocket lab. ``We're looking ...