In the Aug. 23 memo, the DOE official responsible for supervising engineering at the facility, Gary Brunson, calls for Bechtel to be immediately removed as the design agent for the novel Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), which was supposed to begin operation last year.
Given the importance of all kinds of chemicals to industry around the world and the ease with which virtually any fertilizer, pharmaceutical or plastics manufacturing plant can be used, when required, to make a batch of weapons agent, no ban on production can solve or even substantially mitigate the chemical weapons problem.