118 



DISCUSSION 



Mr. FuQUA. Thank you very much, Dr. Jaffe. 



You just alluded to the fact that your office coordinates the pro- 

 grams, but they are funded out of the various divisions, I guess, of 

 the Department of Energy. Are any funds specifically set aside for 

 international participation? 



Dr. Jaffe. No, not really. I mean, there are a few exceptions for 

 particular studies, but in terms of real collaborative scientific re- 

 search, that all comes out of the program budgets, and they are not 

 specifically excluded. 



Mr. FuQUA. And they compete with other projects that may be 

 pending before that particular part of DOE? 



Dr. Jaffe. That is correct. 



Mr. FuQUA. How do you take into account the technology trans- 

 fer considerations in the implementation of joint projects so that 

 we don't jeopardize national security interests or, for that matter, 

 the competitive position of the United States? 



Dr. Jaffe. Well, let me divide those two issues, or treat them 

 separately. The national security concern is taken into account 

 through internal reviews by parts of the Department that have a 

 concern for technology transfer issues relating to national security. 



In general, all of our activities in the international field are un- 

 classified. All of our research activities in the international field 

 are unclassified and do not involve what we would consider sensi- 

 tive technology, militarily sensitive technology. 



Now, that issue is looked at in each specific case. It was a point 

 of concern a number of years ago in some activities related to 

 MHD, and it was specifically looked at at that time, and it was de- 

 cided that what we are doing, through both internal reviews, in- 

 cluding our Defense Programs organization and our own staff, that 

 there was no problem, that the benefit was appropriate. 



In the area of technology transfer from the standpoint of the eco- 

 nomic issues, here my response is a little more difficult. We have a 

 practice of publishing most of the work that is done, unclassified 

 work that is done within the Department, and hence most of what 

 we do is made freely available in terms of research to the outside 

 world. 



What we are trying to do is to get something in return for 

 making that freely available, and indeed, that is one of the motiva- 

 tions behind an international cooperative activity. 



We have, within the Department, sensed the importance, for ex- 

 ample, in the solar area, of developing an industry behind the tech- 

 nology that was supported by the Department, and consequently, 

 the program officials would at times, in consultation with some of 

 their contractors, steer clear of cooperation in certain areas which 

 they felt were approaching some potential commercial benefit. It is 

 on an ad hoc basis. There is no set formula to cover this area. 



Mr. FuQUA. Are there any administrative obstacles such as tar- 

 iffs and visas and national security considerations that stand in the 

 way of international cooperation? I am not just speaking of DOE 

 but for international cooperation in general. 



Dr. Jaffe. Yes. There are issues that come up. They come up on 

 a case-by-case basis. Just very recently, there was an issue of the 



