National Research Council Panel Makes Recommendations Regarding SSC

A seven-page letter to the Texas “Governor’s Advisory Committee--Superconducting Super Collider,” summarizes the findings of a National Research Council panel on alternative uses for the SSC’s facilities. Chaired by NRC Vice Chairman Robert M. White, the panel based its findings on discussions with the committee and a full day of site tours and presentations.

Acknowledging a “complex and difficult set of problems,” the panel made a series of recommendations to maximize the potential of the SSC’s assets. Chairman White cautioned that the panel had little time to fully analyze all of the issues and options involved, and said that little or no detailed cost information was available. The letter notes that the Department of Energy and the State of Texas will soon publish an “Expressions of Interest” for the use of the SSC site.

“The immediate and critical problem is the most rapidly wasting asset--the highly-skilled people who have been working there,” the report states. The panel recommends that 100 key scientists and engineers, and accompanying staff, be retained at a cost of $20 to $30 million per year. This group would “maintain the facilities and...identify, analyze, and develop ideas on how they might be most beneficially used.” The report warns, “A failure to maintain a minimum cadre of knowledgeable people will severely limit other actions to exploit the remaining assets of the super collider. The window of opportunity - measured in terms of a few months - is closing rapidly.”

The committee sees high energy physics research centered at Fermi laboratory for the next few years, with CERN the focus of experimental research after the year 2000. Regarding CERN, the report states, “the possible participation by U.S. physicists presents an avenue for the U.S. high energy physics community to remain at the cutting edge of such research.” Of particular significance are the SSC site’s superconducting magnet facilities and the computer center.

Also examined was the establishment, at “substantial” cost, of a Texas Facility for Science Education and Research, a multi-disciplinary program to exploit a wide range of SSC technologies. The possibility of using the linear accelerator (LINAC), now under construction, for proton medical therapy and production of experimental isotopes was thought to be remote.

The committee concluded that the above cited core group of scientists and engineers should “be charged with investigating, assessing, and developing promising alternative uses of these facilities in enough detail for businesslike decisions and for working with the Fermi laboratory and with CERN on a continuing role for the super collider facilities in high energy physics.”