599 



the fusion program. Requesting explicit budget items for 

 international projects, after clear identification of the obligations 

 implied for subsequent years, may ease the problem. Nevertheless the 

 process makes an investment in a multiyear project appear as a 

 high-risk venture to potential foreign collaborators, as well as to 

 leaders of the U.S. fusion program. As a result, a formal and binding 

 instrument might be necessary to assure potential collaborators on a 

 major project that the United States would fulfill its part of the 

 agreement. 



All the above factors are embodied in the following conclusion: 



o International collaboration will require stable international 

 commitments . 



Technology transfer arises as an issue and a possible constraint in 

 three areas: national security, protection of U.S. industry, and loss 

 of advantage to foreign participants from technology developed by them 

 because of provisions of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act mandating 

 wide access to information held by U.S. government agencies. However, 

 technology transfer does not seem to be a major concern at this time 

 because of the remoteness of significant military or commercial 

 applications of magnetic fusion. 



There are numeroi'S institutional choices for implementation of 

 international cooperative arrangements. Treaties constitute the most 

 binding commitments of the U.S. government but are the most difficult 

 agreements to conclude. Intergovernmental agreements are much easier 

 to put into place because they can be negotiated at lower governmental 

 levels. 



Existing international organizations, such as IAEA and lEA, offer 

 auspices under which more extensive international cooperation could be 

 carried out without the necessity of new implementing agreements. An 

 expansion of cooperative activities under these agencies is 

 reasonable. Neither of these agencies or other existing international 

 organizations would be suitable as sponsors for a major international 

 project because they function primarily as coordinators and 

 administrators, not as managers, and because they have their own 

 priorities. However, an existing international organization may 

 provide a framework for initiating a project, as was the case with the 

 European Organization for Nuclear Research (conmionly known by its 

 original French acronym CERN) . 



For fusion the most relevant example of a major international 

 project is JET. The project was set up as a Joint Undertaking by the 

 Member States of the European Community in 1978 under provisions of 

 the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which established the European Community. 



More generally, a joint international project is complicated, but 

 it can work if it is carefully planned and skillfully executed. 

 Organizations must be created to deal successfully with technical 

 direction, administration, liability, and relationships with local and 



