piner@pur-phy.UUCP (Richard Piner) (11/15/85)
Posted: Fri Nov 1, 1985 4:14 PM EST Msg: GGIF-2105-1496
From: RPARK
To: WHATSNEW
CC: RPark
Subj: What's New
WHAT'S NEW, Friday, November 1, 1985 Washington, D.C.
1. NO DECISION ON THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER BEFORE
MID-1987. That's what Alvin Trivelpiece, the Energy
Department's head of scientific research, told members of
Congress on October 29. "It's no secret that the SSC is not
in our budget for fiscal 1987," he said. "The earliest it
could appear is in fiscal 1988, and an object of such cost
and scope would need the President's approval." The real
reason for the special hearing that led to Trivelpiece's
candor--and brought Herwig Schopper and Carlo Rubbia from
CERN to testify about Europe's plans in high-energy
physics--centered on the selection of high-field
(6 tesla) superconducting magnets for the machine. The
choice upset scientists and engineers at the Texas
Accelerator Center, where work had progressed on low-field
superferric magnets (3 tesla). The high-field magnet type
means a smaller ring and, hence, a tunnel a mere 60 miles in
circumference. Texas Congressman Joe Barton, primed with
questions by his constituents, wanted to know why the magnet
selection panel based their cost calculations for the tunnel
at $930 per linear foot (which led to an $83 million
advantage for the high-field type), while tunnelers in his
state priced work at $350 to $500 per linear foot (which
would give the superferric design a decisive advantage).
Both Frank Sciulli of Columbia, who headed the magnet panel,
and Maury Tigner of Cornell, who leads the SSC Central Design
Group, stuck by their choice as the most reliable and
cost-effective type. Even so, the dust-up over costs and
decisions left some scars on the proposed project.
2. THE 1985 ENRICO FERMI AWARD RECIPIENTS are Norman
Rasmussen of MIT and Marshall Rosenbluth of the University of
Texas. The Fermi Award is the highest scientific award given
by the United States Department of Energy. Rasmussen is
recognized for his development of risk-assessment techniques
in nuclear power plant safety. Rosenbluth, who is considered
by many to be the leading plasma theorist, has significantly
advanced the understanding of magnetic confinement for
controlled thermonuclear fusion.
3. THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE OF THE DOD was set at
$75 million by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Defense. An attempt by Senator D'Amato (R-NY) to earmark
nearly $30 million of the URI funds for a computer research
program at Syracuse University failed following an urgent
lobbying effort by the Association of American Universities,
which has consistently opposed such pork barrel funding of
research. The American Physical Society also strongly
opposes such end runs on the normal process of proposal
submission and review.
Robert L. Park (202) 429-1946
American Physical Society THAT'S ALL 11/1/85