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Mr. FuQUA. Our next witness is Dr. John F. Clarke, Associate Di- 

 rector of the Department of Energy's Office of Fusion Energy. 



Dr. Clarke will provide us with a historical perspective on the 

 international aspects of the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test Fa- 

 cility, as well as other ongoing international activities in magnetic 

 fusion energy. 



Dr. Clarke, thank you for being here this morning. 



STATEMENT OF DR. JOHN F. CLARKE, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR 

 FUSION ENERGY, OFFICE OF ENERGY RESEARCH, U.S. DEPART- 

 MENT OF ENERGY, WASHINGTON, DC 



Dr. Clarke. Thank you, Mr. Fuqua. 



As you will gather from my testimony, the topic of international 

 collaboration is a central one in fusion these days, and I truly ap- 

 preciate the opportunity to be able to speak to you about it. 



As you requested, I will attempt to give you a historical perspec- 

 tive on the subject of the EMIT. However, before I get to that, I 

 would like to introduce that topic with some perspective on collabo- 

 ration in fusion in general. 



Recently the Magnetic Fusion Program plan was adopted by Sec- 

 retary Herrington and sent to the Congress. In this plan, interna- 

 tional collaboration is viewed as a resource, actually a vital re- 

 source, to establish an adequate fusion science and technology base 

 in a timely fashion. 



At present, we have several agreements or mechanisms for car- 

 rying out this collaboration. We have agreements which cover 

 every aspect of our program. They are with the U.S.S.R., Japan, 

 the People's Republic of China, Spain, United Kingdom, on a bilat- 

 eral basis, and, through the auspices of the International Energy 

 Agency, with the European Community, Japan, Canada, and Swit- 

 zerland. In addition to that, a bilateral agreement with the Europe- 

 an Community and three other agreements are in the final stages 

 of negotiation. 



We began to consider enhancement of international collaboration 

 2 years ago. At that time, I commissioned a study by the National 

 Academy of Sciences to evaluate past collaborations, to consider 

 the consequences of greater involvement with other countries in 

 the future, and to recommend appropriate actions. I believe Mr. 

 Gavin summarized that study for you the other day. 



In general, the panel found that in the years ahead for the fusion 

 program, a program with increased international collaboration was 

 the preferable course. We have accepted this advice and imple- 

 mented the key recommendations of that panel, including the de- 

 velopment of a program plan which explicitly addresses the role of 

 international collaboration in our program. 



Over the years, there has been a significant evolution in the 

 nature of the topics which we undertake on an international basis 

 in fusion. Initially, the collaboration was in areas which had tech- 

 nical validity but were considered on the margin in terms of priori- 

 ty for our program. 



I think Dr. McTague touched upon the reason for that. At the 

 time when there was a considerable urgency for arriving at a defi- 

 nite product from the fusion program, I think you can understand 



