Local and state officials said Wednesday they are looking for ways to close a Kerr McGee plant that manufactures the same rocket fuel chemical as a nearby plant that exploded May 4.
The Kerr McGee plant, which voluntarily closed last week but resumed operations Tuesday, is two miles from the destroyed Pacific Engineering plant. The two Henderson plants were the only U.S. producers of ammonium perchlorate, an oxidizer required for solid rocket fuel.The Defense Department and NASA have expressed concern that a shortage of ammonium perchlorate will affect the national defense by crippling the nation's solid rocket arsenal and the space shuttle program.
Kerr McGee plant manager Pat Corbett, who said earlier the facility would remain closed until investigators determined the cause of the explosion at Pacific Engineering, said Wednesday he was not pressured by Washington into reopening the facility.