Just one day after Orbital ATK’s announcement of a $92 million order for 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO ammunition the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri suffered a detonation in a primer mixing cell that has left one person dead. News organizations are reporting that four people suffered what we can only assume to be minor injuries from the explosion as they were evaluated and then treated at the scene. The explosion occurred at around 1:00 PM

Some of you will remember that back in March 2011, six people were injured in an explosion at one of the more than 400 buildings on the sprawling, almost four thousand acre facility just outside Kansas City, Missouri. According to news sources, about 30 government employees work at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, consisting of 29 DOD civilians and one US Army soldier.

The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is owned by the Unites States Government and operated under contract by Orbital ATK since 2001. In the past Remington and Olin Corporation have held the operational contract. The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is the single largest producer of small arms ammunition for the United States Armed Forces, manufacturing up to 1.4 billion rounds per year.

Orbital ATK is a $5 billion, publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and defense company.