Application of Demilitarized Gun and Rocket Propellants in Commercial Explosives (Nato Science Series II: (closed))

In the United States alone, more commercial explosives are consumed in one month than the entire quantity of explosives consumed in the Second World War. Vast quantities of propellants and explosives are stored in military bunkers: the amount of small arms ammunition alone is sufficient to kill the entire population of the planet several times over. So the idea of using excess military propellants and explosives as ingredients in commercial products would seem to be attractive. Cost, however, remains the overriding factor: even if military materials are supplied for free, their introduction into commercial products presents a significant economic challenge, if they are to compete with ammonium nitrate-based materials. Other problems are technical, regulatory, and applications in nature. All are discussed here in frank and open detail, by some of the world's leading experts.