Pentagon awards $415 million contract for units to decontaminate N95 masks

Posted by Ryan Browne on Apr 13, 2020

Columbus, Ohio (April 13, 2020)—The Pentagon announced a major contract for 60 decontamination units that will allow millions of N95 masks to be reused amid a shortage of personal protective equipment for medical professionals treating coronavirus patients.

The $415 million contract will allow for the acquisition of "60 Battelle Memorial Institute Critical Care Decontamination Systems (CCDS), that can decontaminate up to 80,000 used N95 respirators per system per day, enabling mask reuse up to 20 times," according to a statement from the Pentagon.

The Defense Department said six units have already been delivered to multiple US cities including two to New York, and one each to Columbus, Ohio, Boston, Chicago and Tacoma, "providing the ability to sterilize 3.4 million masks a week, reducing the need for new masks by the same number."

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