Aerospace Report No.
ATR-77(2860-01)-1

EXPLOSIVES TAGGING AND CONTROL

ANNUAL REPORT

FISCAL YEAR 1977

Prepared.by

Law Enforcement Development Group
THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION
Washington, D.C.

OCTOBER 1977

Prepared for

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Washington, D.C.

ATF-77-B-0314

Further distribution of this document is restricted unless prior approval is received from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The contents of this document do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The preparation of this report and performance of the described contractual work in explosives control was accomplished by the Explosives Staff of The Aerospace Corporation. The results presented in this report are a synopsis of a team effort. Individual contributors are listed alphabetically below:

C. Boyars

D. Combs

R. Copeland

G. Fuller

R. Moler, Director

C. Pate

G. Roberts

F. Roder

P. Williams

The support and guidance of the sponsoring agency, The Treasury Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms through A. Peterson, R. Parker, R. Dexter, and C.M. Hoffman is gratefully acknowledged. As a final note, the participation and cooperation of the explosive manufactures was vital to the overall success of this effort.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Explosives Tagging and Control Program is multifaceted. Its key elements, as defined by the Advisory Committee on explosives tagging, are tagging for identification and tagging for detection with lesser emphasis on nontagged detection. In support of the established goals, The Aerospace Corporation has carried out a program for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) designed to produce significant accomplishments as rapidly as possible.

The technical support task has involved numerous presentations to the Advisory Committee on Explosives Tagging, the Technical Subcommittee to the Advisory Committee, ATF's Project Officer, the law enforcement community, key representatives of industry, and the Congress of the United States. These discussions served to highlight the progress and status of the explosives control program. Key objectives of this effort have been to foster a climate of cooperation and coordination of efforts to ensure orderly progression toward implementation of explosives tagging. This effort has provided an interface with the explosives industry, numerous technology reports, environmental and economic assessments of the explosives tagging program, and support for field testing and demonstrations.

Another key area of technical support to ATF has been the training of bomb investigative field agents in methods for postblast identification taggant recovery, separation from debris, and readout. Several exercises have been conducted at such locations as Birmingham, Alabama; Seneca Creek State Park, Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; and Glenco, Georgia. Bomb investigators have been enthusiastic about identification tagging once actual detonation, recovery, and readout have been demonstrated.

Identification tagging implementation has centered on a National pilot test program for the identification tagging of 10 million pounds of packaged dynamite and slurries/water gels by seven leading manufacturers. Several issues involving taggant compatibility with explosive materials have been resolved after extensive testing. The issue of transportaion of tagged explosives was favorably resolved. The permissibility of tagged explosives is still under study. Feasibility studies for inclusion of identification taggants in other explosives categories are in progress (i.e., gun powders, blasting caps, emulsions, fuse/detonating cord, two-component explosives, and boosters). The overall objective of these efforts is to demonstrate feasibility for identification tagging of all explosive categories which pose a significant potential threat.