9 Stockpile Management: Disposal and Destruction1

Understanding the scale of the problem, policy requirements, and technical issues surrounding the disposal, demilitarization, and destruction of ammu-nition and explosives2 requires a basic knowledge of the challenges involved. Without this knowledge, it is very difficult to develop effective or relevant domestic and international policies that can effectively address the problem of ammunition disposal. This chapter is not intended to cover technical solutions to the challenge, or to be a full technical assessment of risks and hazards. Rather, it is designed to explain and clarify the major issues for all stakeholders. The current reality is that there are insufficient resources to make more than a small dent in the global stockpile, and this is unlikely to change in the near future. The educa-tion of potential donors, implementing agencies, and other stakeholders re-garding the relevant issues, and the development of realistic and safe indige-nous capacities, are current priorities. For the destruction of the large stockpiles of ammunition in non-conflic