It’s Over: Conference Committee Votes to Terminate the SSC

“The SSC as we know it is dead. It cannot be revived.” - Senator J. Bennett Johnston

In a decision which has surprised many in Washington, a House-Senate conference committee has terminated the Superconducting Super Collider. This action seals the fate of the collider: there is no possibility that the SSC will survive this latest, and final, decision.

The SSC was terminated yesterday afternoon in a two-hour meeting in the Capitol Building. Pre-conference corridor speculation and rumor was that SSC supporters, chief among them Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-Louisiana), chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee overseeing DOE’s budget, was still searching during the hours leading up to the conference for some solution to the impasse between the House and Senate. A sign of his willingness to deal with SSC opponents was obvious when Rep. Jim Slattery (D-Kansas) and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-New York), leaders of the House SSC opposition, strode into the meeting room. The negotiations were of no avail: at the meeting’s conclusion Slattery said, “The super collider is dead -- and everyone understands that.”

Reacting to the decision, Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary said, “the decision by Congress to terminate this project is a devastating blow to basic research and to the technological and economic benefits that always flow from that research.” She announced, in accordance with forthcoming conference committee report language, that DOE will work with the State of Texas and other parties to wind down work on the collider. As part of yesterday’s conference agreement, the $640 million which would have been used for new collider construction this year will be used instead to close down the project. Full-time employees will receive up to 90 days of termination pay. An analysis will be done to determine how to make best use the scientific equipment at the site. An environmental study will be performed to assess what actions should be taken. Contrary to some reports, the disposition of the almost 15 miles of tunnel at the site has not been made.

In her prepared statement, O’Leary said DOE “will also work with the scientific community as we search for ways to ensure the continued progress of research in high energy physics in the absence of the SSC.” This will involve HEPAP, and is likely to lead to discussions on a number of levels with CERN. Johnston stated that “we should attempt to minimize the loss and maximize the use of this great facility.”

It is expected that this decision will impact approximately 15,000 jobs nationwide. Concluding her statement, O’Leary said, “To the employees at the SSC site, to the scientists around the Nation and the world who have supported this project, and to the people of Texas, I extend my profound appreciation for your dedication, effort and vision.”

The House and Senate will conclude their consideration of H.R. 2445 with floor votes next week. Future FYIs will provide additional information.