Friday, 18 November 1988

1. A STUDY OF THE SUPER COLLIDER BY THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET
OFFICE, undertaken at the request of the Senate Budget Committee, analyzes the risks and benefits of the giant project. The report was released just a week before the announcement that Waxahachie, Texas, had been chosen as the site (WN 11 Nov 88). The powerful Texas congressional delegation should help prospects for eventual funding. Even so stalwart a guardian of the federal treasury as Sen. Gramm, of Gramm-Rudman fame, appears to have developed a profound interest in the origin of the universe. But critics of the SSC will find plenty of ammunition in the CBO report. High- energy physicists represent just 3% of all active basic research scientists and only about 0.6% of science PhD students. Yet, high-energy physics already absorbs 6.6% of all federal spending on basic science. The SSC would double that share over the next six years. The report also casts doubt on the projected $4.4B cost. The average cost of accelerators built by DOE in the 80's has exceeded projections by 46%. Alternatives to the SSC include the proposed Large Hadron Collider at CERN, or development of an advanced linear electron-positron collider, either of which could save the US up to $4B. (That's the equivalent of 40,000 NSF-sized $100K grants!) But, these alternatives involve greater scientific and technical uncertainty. The CBO report also points out that Congress can decide to continue magnet development, but defer a decision on construction until the current fiscal crisis lessens.

2 . ANDREI SAKHAROV WITHSTOOD EXILE IN GORKY,
but the nonstop round of receptions and dinners in the US may be a tougher test. At each occasion, he has repeated his carefully qualified appeal for US support of perestroika, "with open eyes." At a Sunday dinner in his honor at the National Academy of Sciences, which elected him to membership in 1975, he was clearly moved when he signed the book of members. Following a tribute by Sid Drell, he recalled that in 1981 four members of the Soviet Academy openly denounced him as a traitor for having written an open letter to Drell with the title, "The Threat and Danger of a Thermonuclear War." During this painful period, he said, the support of the National Academy of Sciences never wavered. At a luncheon on Tuesday, Sakharov was awarded the $50,000 Einstein Peace Prize.

3. SAKHAROV REMAINED OUTSPOKEN AT A DINNER HONORING EDWARD TELLER
on Wednesday, given by the neoconservative Ethics and Public Policy Center. An award to Teller for his contributions to SDI was presented by Sanford McDonnell of McDonnell-Douglas--a major SDI contractor. Ronald Reagan appeared on video to praise Teller as a "tireless advocate" of SDI. Teller's account of progress on SDI made no mention x-ray lasers. He seemed to be describing "brilliant pebbles" (WN 12 Aug 88). Sakharov, alone in a beige suit at the black-tie gathering of conservative elite, described SDI as a costly error standing in the way of arms control, while Gorbachev has brought a renewed hope of peace to the world.



Bob Park can be reached via email at whatsnew@bobpark.org
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the University, but they should be.