The only remaining U.S. manufacturer of a crucial space shuttle fuel component announced a halt in production until it can be shown the factory is safe after explosions leveled another plant last week. Kerr-McGee Corp. made Thursday's announcement in the face of state pressure. Later in the day, the demolished plant's operator said a leaking natural gas line was responsible for the series of earthquake-force blasts May 4, which killed two people, injured 326 and did an estimated $73 million in damage. The report by Pacific Engineering and Production Co. was challenged by Southwest Gas Corp., which said the line ruptured after the explosions, not before. Kerr-McGee said it would suspend production of ammonium perchlorate, an oxidizer for solid fuel used in the space shuttle and military rockets, until an independent inspection shows the plant is safe. Paul Gaines, the company's director of governmental relations, said he hoped production could resume within a few days. ``A prolonged shutdown is not helpful to any of us,'' Gaines said. He said the company has already contracted with a safety consultant to study the plant, and the inspection could begin by Monday. Gaines said the plant will continue making other chemicals. Gov. Richard Bryan announced the shutdown after company officials agreed late Thursday morning to the halt. Bryan said ``legal work was being prepared'' to force Kerr-McGee to suspend production before it agreed to the shutdown. Local and state officials had expressed outrage when the plant resumed production Tuesday of ammonium perchlorate, particularly since last week plant officials said they would wait until authorities determined the cause of the blast before reopening. Kerr-McGee and Pacific were the only two plants in the country to manufacture ammonium perchlorate, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials have said the explosion could delay the space shuttle program.. Pacfic Engineering Chairman Fred Gibson said Thursday that a large natural gas line passing through the plant had been leaking for at least 30 minutes before the first fire broke out at his company's plant. ``The massive gas leak is believed to have saturated the earth below the paved surfaces of the ... plant and to have ignited at the point of origin as a result of circumstances unrelated to (plant) operations,'' Gibson said. ``All of the subsequent destructive events were caused by the gas leak, the gas fire and the gas explosion,'' he said. Southwest Gas spokesman Dennis Hetherington disputed the report. ``As far as we're concerned, our facilities are a victim of the explosion and not the cause,'' Hetherington said. Fire Chief Roy Parrish said the fire department would withhold judgment until it completes its own investigation.
Earthquake-force blasts on May 4th leveled a Nevada Kerr-McGee plant that makes ammonium perchlorate, a component of space shuttle and military rocket fuel. Two people were killed, 326 injured, and an estimated $73 million in damage done. The plant says a pre-explosion 30-minute leak in a large natural gas line passing through the plant ignited at the point of origin from circumstances unrelated to plant operations. Southwest Gas said the line ruptured after the explosions. The plant is the sole US manufacturer of ammonium perchlorate. The state ordered production halted while the explosion is investigated, which could delay the space shuttle program.