Cause of Tennessee military supplier plant explosion could take months to determine, authorities say
A devastating explosion at an explosives plant in Tennessee, which claimed 16 lives and was felt over 20 miles away, originated in an area where workers were mixing explosive materials in kettles, triggering other nearby explosives, authorities revealed on Friday.
The blast, which occurred on October 10 at the Accurate Energetic Systems factory in Bucksnort, an unincorporated community approximately 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville, completely destroyed the facility.
Officials confirmed that the remains of two victims have yet to be identified.
While the on-site investigation has concluded, determining the precise cause of the catastrophe could still take several months, according to Brice McCracken, the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at the National Center for Explosives Training and Research.
In addition to locating victims’ remains, the on-site work involved removing and disposing of explosives that didn’t detonate in the blast.
The next phase centers on ATF labs and testing facilities, where investigators will try to determine what triggered the explosion, said Jamey VanVliet, ATF special agent in charge in the Nashville division.
“Those results don’t come quickly,” VanVliet said. “They come through time, care, and precision. And that’s what this community deserves: answers that are proven, not guessed.”
From 24,000 to 28,000 pounds of explosives detonated that day, authorities said. The blast originated on the 15,000-square-foot plant’s first floor, near kettles used in the production of an explosive mixture for the commercial mining industry, McCracken said.
The building was primarily used to make explosives known as cast boosters — typically a mixture of TNT and RDX, or cyclonite, that is poured by hand into a cardboard tube, he said.
Explosives were mixed in kettles on the mezzanine level before being pumped into heating kettles on the main floor, McCracken said.
“Everything is mixed up top and then it pumps down into the lower floor, where it stays heated,” McCracken said. “And then they’re able to pull it out in a pitcher and then each cast is hand-poured into the cardboard tube.”
The main floor also stored explosives near a loading dock, and cast boosters were cooled on that floor before being packaged, he said.
After the initial explosion happened in those production kettles, investigators believe other explosive materials stored on the main floor also detonated, McCracken said.
During the investigation, authorities searched an area of about 500 acres (200 hectares), much of it dense with woods, looking for evidence.
