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in dollars) | burial = | inquiries = | inquest = | coroner = | arrests = | suspects = | accused = | convicted = | charges = | verdict = | convictions = | publication bans = | litigation = | awards = | url = | website = | notes = }} The PEPCON disaster was an industrial disaster that occurred in Henderson, Nevada on May 4, 1988 at the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON) plant. The conflagration and subsequent explosions killed two people, injured 372 others, and caused an estimated US$100 million of damage. A large portion of the Las Vegas Valley within a radius of the plant was affected, and several agencies activated disaster plans. ==Background== The PEPCON plant, located in Henderson, Nevada, from Las Vegas, was one of only two American producers of ammonium perchlorate "AP," an oxidizer used in solid propellant rocket boosters, including the Space Shuttle, military weapons (SLBMs launched from nuclear submarines) and non-weapons (Atlas, Patriot, etc.) programs. The other producer, Kerr-McGee, was located less than away from the PEPCON facility, within the area that suffered some blast damage. In addition to ammonium perchlorate, the plant produced other perchlorate chemicals including sodium perchlorate. The facility also had a high-pressure ( gauge pressure) natural gas transmission line running underneath it. The invoice for this pipe, which was installed in 1956, characterized it as "limited service." 〔Invoice, Jackson-Marcus Supply Company (Los Angeles, CA, USA) issued to the Nevada Natural Gas Pipeline Company, February 10, 1956.〕 With the space shuttle program temporarily frozen as a result of the January 1986 Challenger disaster, there was government instruction that the excess product - that was to be used to improve Shuttle launches and which was owned by the US Government or its prime contractors - would be stored in customer-owned aluminum bins as customer-owned material at the PEPCON plant.〔American Pacific Corporation, Las Vegas, NV USA, 89169, parent company of the former PEPCON subsidiary and current parent to the WECCO division which manufactures perchlorate chemicals, including Human Resources, employees on site 5-4-88.〕 Ammonium perchlorate manufactured for other US Government programs was not held at the PEPCON plant during this period. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic and steel drums were used for in-process and additional storage at the time of the accident, as they had been for many years prior to the Challenger accident.〔 An estimated 4500 metric tons〔 of the finished product were stored at the facility at the time of the disaster.〔 In addition to the PEPCON and Kerr-McGee facilities, there was also a large marshmallow factory, Kidd & Co., about away, and a gravel quarry in operation nearby ( to the west). The closest residential buildings were about 1 miles (3 km) away.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「PEPCON disaster」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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