Mr. HAMILTON. Thank you, Dr. Press. Dr. Lederman.

STATEMENT OF LEON M. LEDERMAN, DIRECTOR, FERMI
NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY

Mr. LEDERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to comment that I am very pleased that this hearing is being held. I think many of these issues deserve wide popularization because there are many misconceptions about the United States-Soviet exchanges.

The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is located in Batavia, IL and is operated by Universities Research Association under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. We operate the world's highest energy particle accelerator, a tool for fundamental research in the structure of matter and energy. We deal with the exotica of subnuclear particles and forces. However, our tools are very sophisticated engineering complexes, at the very cutting edge of many diverse technologies, including data acquisition, electronics, superconductivity and techniques for the acceleration and detection of relativistic particles.

Our facilities are used by professors and students from 70 universities in the United States and from an equal number of foreign institutions.

This subject has a long tradition in international collaboration, perhaps exemplified by the European Center for Nuclear Research [CERN] in Geneva, which is supported by 14 European nations. At Fermilab we have scientists from over 20 nations, most of them work under informal, institution to institution agreements. There are three formal agreements, United States-Japan, United StatesPRC, and the United States-U.S.S.R. agreement, which we call the Nixon-Brezhnev agreements.

Our working relationship with Soviet physicists started at the very beginning of the laboratory in the late 1960's and the first Soviet group arrived in 1972, with a very special piece of apparatus [gas jet] designed for one of the first experiments at the new accelerator. This gas jet was a unique contribution and enabled the laboratory to produce the first physics results in a new energy range at a very early stage.

In those days, in fact to the present day, Soviet physicists arrived with families including young children, to reside in the laboratory for periods of up to 2 years. Their children went to local schools and they mixed socially with scientists from most of Western Europe, Latin America and, later, Peoples Republic of China.

Over the period 1972-85, some 260 Soviet physicists have visited Fermilab to stay for varying periods up to 2 years. Typically, Soviets will bring to a research effort, special apparatus which contributes to a larger collaboration in which anywhere from 10-50 physicists would be involved. These items have estimated costs of up to $2 million each.

The collaboration with Institute for Nuclear Physics at Novosibirsk has been unique in that it is on the technology of acceleration devices rather than on research in particle physics. INP has a long history of clever innovation in techniques that have proved very useful to the U.S. program at Fermilab.

Fermilab visits to the U.S.S.R. have averaged about 15 manweeks a year.

Who benefits? It is difficult to quantify the benefits which accrue to both sides but it is clear that both sides do benefit. The U.S. side, Fermilab and its university-based customers, benefit in the following ways:

One, Soviet theory and the ideas of Soviet colleagues are of high quality and to the extent that these advance the research, we gain. And I will come back to this point a little later.

Two, their contributions to the research serves to decrease the costs of the research. This is at the level of a few percent or so but counts for more because it is incremental at the top.

Three, we receive a pretty good idea of the state of technology available to the Soviet physicists. This information must be carefully weighted by the priority given to the subject by Soviet authorities.

Four, on the human level, contacts made in the joint effort to fathom the laws of nature, often result in close friendships which continue after hours and add to the culture of the participating scientists. Some of the more frank political discussions go on at the social center, leading to U.S. scientists, better informed on Soviet life and Soviet attitudes.

Incidentally, we have probably one of the few places where Peoples Republic and Soviet scientists will play ping-pong and the Soviets lose almost as badly as the Americans do.

Individual Soviet physicists and, I believe, their families, return to the U.S.S.R. with a dramatically altered view of the United States. Since scientists in the Soviet Union have fairly high social status, this may be very important in the long run. What I don't know is how long is the run?

I should comment on the relative benefits reaching out to contiguous fields of fusion and technological devices used in other laboratories. The Soviets have made many original contributions to fusion, to acceleration, and to high-power radiofrequency amplifiers. Many of these ideas if not all, have been more quickly implemented in the United States than in the Soviet Union.

How do the Soviets gain?

One, they get access to superb research facilities which are not now available in the Soviet Union. The Soviets are in the process of building a new accelerator which, in 1992 or later, will surpass the one at Fermilab but by that time, the United States may well be on its way to a vastly more powerful machine, the Supercollider. Two, clearly they can look at technology that is as sophisticated as anything that goes on anywhere. They can see the same things at CERN or in Japan too.

Three, they observe other things, management techniques, styles of collegiality, a manageable bureaucracy.

Four, they gain the same social benefits "on the human level" that we do.

My personal remarks are that there are continuing frustrations-the Soviet activity is burdened with a very high level of bureaucratic hindrance which makes formality a necessity. The vigor of the exchange is sensitive to the political climate that have gone up and down over the past 20 years. There are basic asymmetries:

Westerners find travel and especially residence in the Soviet Union hard. But the overriding consideration to the expansion of the exchange is the human rights issue. Many scientists in my laboratory and in our university groups refuse to participate in these exchanges and urge me not to participate. They cite Sakharov, Orlov, Sharansky and many other cases of severe mistreatment of outstanding scientists. Also, over and over again, well-known Soviet scientists are not permitted to attend international meetings, even though they are widely published. These issues are well-known and they act as a damper on increasing the collaboration.

In spite of the above, the system has worked remarkably well. We have the opportunity of expressing our concerns about Soviet behavior to their scientists and that opportunity is indeed used. In exchange we receive informative lectures on the defects of American society. On the working level things go well; we are communicating and we are forming connections which may grow to greater significance.

Although the human rights weighs heavily, there is probably a consensus that there is enough mutual benefit to continue the scientific exchange. Most importantly is the maintenance of the lines of communication which appear so naturally in science.

[The statement and attachments of Mr. Lederman follow:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LEON LEDERMAN, DIRECTOR, FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR

U.S.-Soviet Scientific Exchange

I. General

ACADEMY

The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is located in Batavia, Illinois and is operated by Universities Research Association under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. We operate the world's highest energy particle accelerator, a tool for fundamental research in the structure of matter and energy. We deal with the exotica of subnuclear particles and forces. However our tools are very sophisticated engineering complexes, at the very cutting edge of many diverse technologies, including data acquisition, electronics, superconductivity and techniques for the acceleration and detection of relativistic particles. Our facilities are used by professors and students from 70 universities in the U.S. and from an equal number of foreign institutions.

This subject has a long tradition in international collaboration, perhaps exemplified by the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, which is supported by fourteen European nations. At Fermilab we have scientists from over twenty nations, most of them work under informal, institution to institution agreements. There are three formal agreements, US-Japan, US-PRC and the US-USSR agreement (Nixon-Brezhnev).

Working Methods and History

Our working relationship with Soviet physicists started at the very beginning of the Laboratory in the late sixties and the first Soviet group arrived in 1972, with a very special piece of apparatus (gas jet) designed * Leon Lederman is Director of Fermilab. See CV appended.

for one of the first experiments at the new accelerator.

This gas jet was

a unique contribution and enabled the Laboratory to produce the first physics results in a new energy range.

In those days, Soviet physicists arrived with families including young children, to reside in the Laboratory for periods of up to two years. Their children went to local schools and they mixed socially with scientists from most of Western Europe, Latin America and later, Peoples Republic of China.

I append, in Table I, a list of research carried out by mixed teams of Soviet and U.S. scientists since 1972. Table II has the currently

active program.

The major institutions that we have dealt with are:

i) The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna

ii)

IHEP (Serpukhov)

iii) Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute

iv)

Institute for Nuclear Studies, Novosibirsk

v) Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)

Moscow

Over the period 1972-1985, some 260 Soviet physicists have visited Fermilab to stay for varying periods up to over one year.

Typically,

Soviets will bring special apparatus which contributes to a larger collaboration in which anywhere from 10-50 physicists would be involved. These items have estimated costs of up to $2M each.

The collaboration with Novosibirk has been unique in that it is on the technology of acceleration devices rather than on research in particle physics. INP has a long history of clever innovation in techniques that have proved very useful to the U.S. program at Fermilab.