WHAT'S NEW, Friday, 20 October 1989 Washington, DC
1.
"ANOMALOUS EFFECTS IN DEUTERATED MATERIALS," OR "COLD FUSION,"
as it used to be called, was the subject of a three-day closed
meeting in Washington this week. The meeting, co-sponsored by the
NSF Directorate of Engineering and the Electric Power Research
Institute, was described by an NSF organizer as a "research
planning session." It was an apparent attempt to counteract the
final report of the DOE's Cold Fusion Panel, due on 15 Nov, which
is expected to recommend against any substantial new funding. A
heavy majority of the 50 scientists invited to attend were drawn
from the ranks of those who have claimed anomalous results of
some sort, including Stanley Pons. They were all sworn to secrecy
about what transpired, something Pons is clearly expert at. In
particular, Pons got agreement to withhold the results of a new
helium analysis of the Utah cathodes by Rockwell International.
But who needs helium? A hitherto unknown nuclear process is now
being invoked to explain the "anomalous effects." In fact, Edward
Teller proposed that it might be "an as yet undiscovered neutral
particle," acting as a catalyst to transfer neutrons. An official
press release issued after the conference contained nothing of
substance, but ended with the usual appeal for funds: "...further
research is definitely desirable to improve the reproducibility
of the effects and to unravel the mystery of the observations."
2
. THE FINAL FY 90 NSF APPROPRIATION WAS AGREED TO IN CONFERENCE,
but it didn't stick. You will recall that the Appropriations
Committee in the Senate recommended $30M less for research than
the House voted
(WN 15 Sep 89). The two bodies would normally
compromise somewhere in the middle, but Sen. Garn (R-UT) argued
for the House figure, with the strong backing of the Chairman of
the House Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Bob Traxler (D-MI)
and the ranking Republican, Rep. Bill Green (R-NY). Although it
required .1% to be skimmed from the other discretionary accounts,
an unusual procedure, they prevailed. Garn, Traxler and Green
deserve our thanks for their efforts. The next day, however, the
NSF appropriation was assessed .43% for its share of the war on
drugs, plus 1.12% to fit within the subcommittee's allocation.
That left research at only $1.688B, an increase of just 6.8% over
last year. Moreover, $19.7M was designated for the academic
research facilities program. And that may not be the end of the
bad news; if sequestration remains in effect it could cost NSF
another $110M, holding it to a cost-of-living increase of 4%.
3. RICHARD BRIGGS HAS BEEN NAMED DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE SSC LAB
over the objections of Robert Hunter Jr., DOE Director of Energy
Research. Briggs had been nominated by URA over six months ago.
According to "Inside Energy," White House Chief of Staff John
Sununu, a close personal friend and college fraternity brother of
Briggs, personally overruled Hunter. Back when lasers were still
in fashion for SDI, Briggs was in charge of the free electron
laser program at LLNL--and Hunter was pushing the excimer laser.
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