[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS: "Unexploded bombs from the second world war are getting more dangerous"

[Lenny Siegel]

Unexploded bombs from the second world war are getting more dangerous
An explosive found inside many bombs and shells used during the first and second world wars is becoming more likely to explode in response to impacts

By Michael Le Page
New Scientist
March 27, 2024

A study of unexploded shells from the second world war has shown that one of the explosives they contain is becoming more sensitive to impacts, meaning it could be set off if they are dropped during disposal. This explosive, called Amatol, was widely used during the first and second world wars, and is still in some of the ammunition being used during the Russian war in Ukraine.

“Based on our findings, we can say that it’s relatively safe to handle, but you can’t handle it as like TNT,” says Geir Petter Novik at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. “It can certainly go off if it’s dropped, as opposed to TNT.”

There are millions of tonnes of unexploded ammunition around the world, some in old ammunition dumps and some in shells and bombs that failed to detonate after being fired or dropped. There is a widespread misconception that this unexploded ammunition is becoming less dangerous over time, says Novik. In a 2022 study, he tested samples of TNT and PETN – two of the most widely used high explosives – taken from bombs and shells from the second world war (WWII), and found there was no deterioration in their explosive properties.

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For the entire article, see
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2424313-unexploded-bombs-from-the-second-world-war-are-getting-more-dangerous/

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel at cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)