Friday, 26 June 1987 Washington, DC
1.
THE APS STUDY PANEL HAS RESPONDED TO CRITICISM
of its
report, "Science and Technology of Directed Energy Weapons." The
accuracy of the APS study was challenged by two SDI scientists,
Lowell Wood of Lawrence Livermore and Gregory Canavan of Los
Alamos (WN 29 May 87). In
a detailed technical response, the
Study Panel shows that most of the objections are based on errors
in physics by Wood and Canavan, coupled with extravagant
assumptions of the performance of unproven technologies. The
Study Panel does acknowledge that a clerical error, made in
accommodating changes required by SDIO's security review,
resulted in an inconsistency between the body of the text and one
of the conclusions. Also, an ambiguity in the text led Wood and
Canavan to attempt to analyze the wrong case. Otherwise, the
errors claimed by Wood and Canavan simply do not exist.
In a letter transmitting the Study Panel's response to 39
congressmen who had expressed concern over the alleged flaws, APS
President Val Fitch also commented on the bizarre attack by Fred
Seitz (WN 29 May 86). Seitz,
who was APS President 30 years ago,
attempted to draw a parallel between the publication of the APS
study and the decline of science under the Nazis. Fitch observes
that "for some, the debate has become highly charged and
emotional, making it difficult for them to maintain objectivity."
2
. THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE WAS AWARDED YESTERDAY
in a
White House Rose Garden ceremony. Among the recipients was
George E. Pake, Vice President of Xerox, who served as Chairman
of the Review Committee of the APS Study on Directed Energy
Weapons. Other physicists who received the award this year
include Philip Abelson, recently retired editor of Science,
Walter Elsasser of Johns Hopkins and James Van Allen of Iowa.
3. A COMMITTEE TO ASSIST DOE IN SITE SELECTION FOR THE SSC
has been named by the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering. Ed Frieman, director of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography will serve as chairman of the
committee, which has been asked to examine geology and tunneling,
regional resources, environment, setting, regional conditions,
and utilities. Land for the facility must be provided free to
the federal government. Frieman, a plasma physicist, preceded Al
Trivelpiece as Director of DoE's Office of Energy Research.
4. ROBERT O. HUNTER, JR. HAS BEEN NAMED TO SUCCEED TRIVELPIECE,
who is now Executive Officer of AAAS (WN 20 Feb 87). The
nomination of Hunter, President of Western Research Corp.,
continues the Reagan practice of avoiding academic scientists in
filling high level science policy positions. Opposition in
Congress can be expected on the grounds that his San Diego firm
deals almost entirely with DoD "black" projects, making it
difficult to assess his qualifications or conflicts of interest.
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