278 



3. Periodic review was needed of the level and character of support for high- 

 energy physics, in the context of advances in the field, the relation to other fields 

 of science, and the existing fiscal situation. 



4. There should be two significant steps, the second — on the order of 1.000 

 Bev — to be available in 15 to 20 years. 



o. A sound national program required support for, and utilization of, existing 

 accelerators; unproductive ones should be clo.sed down or reduced in level of op- 

 eration ; new accelerators should be "constructed only to provide significant ex- 

 tension of parameters or a new order of scientific capability." 



6. Organizations to manage major new facilities would be critical ; they should 

 be planned to serve the entire national community of high-energy physicists. 



7. Opportunities for international cooperation should be actively explored, "in 

 view of the high cost of new very high-energy accelerators." ^ 



Also at the request of the Joint Committee on Atomic Enero;y, the 

 staff of the AEC prepared, and transmitted January 24, 1965, a "Policy 

 for National Action in the Field of High-Energy Physics." ^^ 



This report, in which the AEC commissioners concurred, was de- 

 scribed by the President as a "useful guideline for decisionmaking in 

 the development of high-energy physics." This language was obviously 

 short of a full endorsement of the report as a definitive statement of 

 administration policy. This impression was confirmed by other of the 

 President's comments in the transmittal. Said the President: "It seems 

 to me that this is a particular fruitful field for international coll altera- 

 tion. " Moreover : "We will continue to compare the needs in this field 

 with those of other scientific fields. In turn, the needs of science as a 

 whole will be assessed in the light of other demands on Federal 

 resources." ^^ 



Hearings he fore the Joint C om.mittee on AtomAc Energy 



The Joint Committee on Atomic Energy has maintained a continuity 

 of membership, and has devoted so much attention to the field of high- 

 energy physics, as to acquire a considerable degree of expertise in the 

 subject. Protracted sessions have been held with leading scholars in the 

 field, and a substantial literature from these sources has been accumu- 

 lated by the committee. Hearings have been of two general kinds : (1) 

 the annual sessions to consider authorizing legislation for the forth- 

 coming fiscal year, in which the AEC presents its total program ; and 

 (2) such special hearings before JCAE subcommittees as the 1959 

 hearings on the Stanford Linear Electron Accelerator,^^ and the 1965 

 subcommittee hearing on high-energy physics research, which prin- 

 cipally concerned the 200-Bev. accelerator." The latter hearing, in 

 particular, was an outstanding example of the collection of pertinent 

 technical information bearing on a difficult subject. 



Representative Price, subcommittee chairman, in opening the 1965 

 hearing, described its purposes as to investigate : 



15 AEC authorizing: leiiislatlon. 1965, op. cit., pp. 1510-1511. 



"Representative Holifleld had asked, in the hearings on AEC authorizing: legislation, 

 fiscal year 1965 (p. 1509) : "Do you believe we can have a national policy in this high-energ'y 

 field that is more definite regarding plans and schedules than we do have?" 



1" U.S. Congress. .Toint Committee on Atomic Energy. High-Energy Physics Program : 

 Report on National Policy and Background Information. Febrnnry 1965, SOth Cong., 1st 

 sess. (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965), Joint Committee Print, pp. 

 1-2. 



'^ U.S. Congress. .Joint Committee on Atomic Energ.v. "Stanford Linear Electron Ac- 

 celerator. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Research and Development and the Sub- 

 committee on Legislation of the * * * on Stanford Linear Electron Accelerator," Jnlv 14 

 and 15. 1959. .96th Cong., 1st sess. TWashington, U.."^. Oovernment Printincr Office, 1959). 

 649 pages : U.S. Congress. .Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. "Amending the Atomic 

 Energv Act and Authorization of Stanford Aocelera,tor Pro.lect, Hearings Before the * * * 

 on Bills To Amend Sections 91, 161, and 163, of the Atomic Energy Act (S. 2569 — H.R. 

 8754) and To Authorize Stanford Linear Accelerator Project (S. 2073 — H.R. 7464) Ausr. 26, 

 1959." 86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959), 29 pages. 



i» High-energy physics research, Hearings, 1965, op. cit. 



