NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #23/NN_1992_23.iso/spool/sci/research/1145

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From: [e-mail] (Russel Shermer (R43))
Newsgroups: sci.research
Subject: fyi #132: Energy and Water Bill Conference Report: SSC
Keywords: science, research, funding, congress, SSC.
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Date: 8 Oct 92 14:29:52 GMT
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Posted for:
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
Contact:  Audrey T. Leath
Phone: [phone]
Email:  [e-mail]



Energy and Water Bill Conference Report: SSC

FYI No. 132, September 30, 1992

On September 24, both the House and the Senate approved the final
conference bill for fiscal year 1993 Energy and Water
Appropriations.  The bill now goes to the White House for the
President's signature, although a veto threat exists due to
provisions in the bill for a nine-month nuclear testing moratorium.

As reported in FYI #126, the conference committee gave the
Superconducting Super Collider $517 million.  In a statement made
after the conference committee met, Energy Secretary James Watkins
said, "I am disappointed that the administration's full request of
$650 million was not granted.  We are evaluating the impact of this
reduced funding level on the cost and schedule of the project, and
expect to make that information available soon."

This FYI provides selected quotes from the SSC section of House
Conference Report 102-866, accompanying H.R. 5373, the energy and
water bill.  Future FYIs will cover Magnetic Fusion, and High
Energy and Nuclear Physics.

Superconducting Super Collider:

FY 92 funding:                           $483,700,000
Administration request for FY 93:         650,000,000
House bill:                                33,700,000
Senate bill:                              550,000,000
Conference bill:                         $517,000,000

"Construction of the SSC is the highest priority in particle
physics today and absolutely critical for progress into the 21st
century.  The SSC is the next logical step in high energy physics,
springing from human ambition to expand scientific knowledge and
technological capability.

"The conferees recognize the importance of the SSC to the Nation's
technological health.  More than just an investment in U.S.
scientific leadership, the SSC is the impetus for new directions in
industry, education, and economic growth.  Over 100 American
universities and nearly 900 American scientists are preparing to do
research utilizing the SSC.  By the end of fiscal year 1992, SSC
educational programs will have directly reached more than 30,000
students and educators.  More than 6,000 jobs across the country
have been created by the SSC, including new opportunities for
engineers, technicians, construction, and other workers
experiencing reduced job opportunities as a result of cutbacks in
the defense industry.

"The SSC laboratory and the Department of Energy have maintained
the baseline cost outlined in the Superconducting Super Collider
cost and schedule baseline, presented to the Congress in January
1991.  Critical path milestones are being met, including industrial
assembly of superconducting magnets, occupation of the magnet
development laboratory, and completion of the cryogenic facility.
The accelerator systems string test building is completed and
magnets have been installed and all testing has been successful.
The conferees are deeply concerned that any further reductions in
Federal appropriations will jeopardize this substantial progress.

"The SSC is the largest and most important science project ever
conceived and undertaken by mankind.  Americans have led the world
in basic science research for most of this century, with
researchers winning 156 Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry,
physiology, and medicine-- nearly twice as many as Germany, France,
and Japan combined.

"However, this country's investments in basic research and
scientific facilities produced far more than Nobel Prizes.  No
nation in history has ever been blessed with high returns on
investment in fundamental science and technology as the United
States of America has been.  The conferees believe that the SSC
represents an investment in the future that will make the American
people more productive and raise the quality of life.  And the
conferees believe that the amount of money we are spending on the
SSC is not too large because of this investment in science, in
industry, in education, and in America.  We have not been making
enough investment for our country.  Investment in the SSC is an
investment in the future of America.

"Medicine and high energy physics are not remote from each other.
X-rays used to determine the structure of the AIDS virus came from
electron synchrotrons that were first used in high energy physics
research; doctors will use excess protons produced by SSC's linear
accelerators to destroy cancerous tumors with fewer side effects
than traditional radiation therapy; and diagnostic techniques used
in medicine have been greatly improved through computerized axial
tomography (CAT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).  These are
but a few of the byproducts of previous high energy physics
investment.

"Some people raise questions as to the value of fundamental
research on the nature of matter.  Knowing about the elements of
matter is to know what is central to science, central to our being,
central to the whole future of technology, and central to the
future of scientific endeavor in the world."


###############
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
Contact:  Audrey T. Leath
[phone]
##END##########