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Thread: Explosion at Somchem plant
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04-09-2018, 07:01 #11
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
[^^^ It goes hand-in-hand with the times (unintentional pun).
My English teacher is probably doing 12,000 RPM in his grave. One sees (and hears) this kind of thing all the time in the media here.]
and my apologies for not expressing my condolences for the families & friends of the dead and injured.
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04-09-2018, 07:12 #12
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
This is really bad. I think we all express our condolences to those that are injured/killed in this explosion.
Of course, now the question that is on everybody's lips - what will happen to the Somchem line of propellants? If a lot of military ammo is also loaded with Somchem propellants, then perhaps the factory will be restored and eventually production would start again? If that is not the case, then this could possibly be the last nail in the coffin for deciding to go with the alternative premium propellants instead.
A thought that has crossed my mind - there are most probably a lot of questions about how this explosion could've happened and investigations will most likely be underway very soon. However, given the history of Somchem propellants that are inconsistent between batches, and even between tins of the same batch, that makes me wonder about the level of quality control (and subsequently the safety measures) in the plant. In turn, if it is indeed poor quality control and poor safety measures that are to blame for the inconsistencies between batches, then I honestly cannot say that I am surprised that this explosion happened.
Nevertheless, what happened is very unfortunate, and I truly feel for those and the families of those that are injured and killed in this explosion.
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04-09-2018, 07:32 #13
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
I heard that is was apparently an HE production line, not propellant... How true that is however I don't know.
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04-09-2018, 07:42 #14
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
I heard a soundclip that mentioned solid rocket propellant? The stuff that gets cast into the shape required to fit in solid fuel rocket motors...
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04-09-2018, 08:05 #15
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
This was just posted on our club's whatsapp page by a member.
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04-09-2018, 08:14 #16
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
RIP to the deceased and condolences to the families effected
i read this morning that there was a wait for services to arrives, fire brigade etc
the one gent was commenting when he worked there they had "on site" trained staff with regards to firefighting, medical ect?
not sure if on site means they would have been able to deal with an explosion of this magnitude
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04-09-2018, 08:29 #17
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
Ive went there several times to collect powder.
At the one gate they even use to take your car cigarette lighter out and keep till you leave area.
And alot of workers used bicycles to move around.
All building are pretty far apart. As well as areas where they store stuff.
Sad. As this means powder will shortly I guess be un-available for reloading.
As this will take sometime to repair. If they are going to.
As I recall reading rumors that they not so well off.
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04-09-2018, 08:55 #18
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
Sad when there is a loss of life.
That explosion wasn't nearly on this scale. Was just a single powder hopper that exploded on the shotgun line. Production was restarted few weeks or months later and only stopped in 2006 due to economic reasons, with the production line sold off to other companies. They then concentrated on manufacturing the much more profitable 155mm artillery rounds, 40mm mortar and grenades and flares etc. When RDM bought Swartklip and Somchem it seems they closed the old Swartklip site and moved everything to the Maccassar Somchem site.
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04-09-2018, 09:02 #19
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Re: Explosion at Somchem plant
Guys, WAY too little info available at this stage to start speculationg about powder shortages, or (seriously???) extrapolating Lot variation to safety practices to an event like this being an unevitability.
The safety regulations on the site is very stringent. I am sure that there will be a thorough investigation into this explosion, both to understand what went wrong, and why so many people were close enough to get killed.
Our offices are right next door. It was one hell of a blast.
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04-09-2018, 09:04 #20
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