192 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR THE RECORD 

 Mr. Joseph G. Gavin 



What are (a) the advantages and (b) the disadvantages of sharing the cost 

 of big science facilities on an international basis? 



There are usually many advantages and disadvantages associated with cost 

 sharing International projects. The urgency and nature of the project and 

 the prior relationship of the countries involved will affect the 

 advantage/disadvantage ratio. Generally speaking the following advantages 

 can be stated. 



a. If properly managed, should save money for each participant, e.g., two 

 countries cooperating on a large project may typically result In total 

 cost about 1.5 x that of doing It alone - producing savings for each of 

 about 25?. 



b. Combined brain power may produce a more effective product. 



c. Existence of international agreements may stabilize national programs. 



d. Existence of international programs may Improve International political 

 cl I mate. 



The types of disadvantages to be expected are: 



a. Difficult to agree on what, when, how, and where. 



b. More difficult to manage. 



c. Will take more time. 



d. As a result of above could actually cost each country more than doing 

 it alone. 



e. Requires multi-year commitment. 



f. In some cases makes countries Interdependent. 



g. Several facilities result in mere variety — one group may pick up vi- 

 tal information missed by the other — perhaps due to differences in 

 design. 



What would be the best worldwide configuration of magnetic fusion energy 

 facilities from the point of view of developing its potential? How might 

 this best be determined? 



This question is being addressed in two parts. First: 



Plasma Confinement Experiments - Not only are there many different magnetic 

 confinement geometries, but even within one there are many different possi- 

 ble choices of parameters, for example. In the case of the Tokamak, some of 

 these are: 



