633 



circumstance that presents a problem in light of the annual budget 

 review process that governments traditionally use. From time to time 

 it is suggested that a project be taken "off budget" and, therefore, 

 be not subject to annual budget changes. This move is never popular 

 with legislators, who by such a process relinquish a certain degree of 

 their jurisdiction. The arrangement is possible, however, where some 

 independent fee, collected from users, provides money for such a 

 fund — such as the automobile and truck taxes for highway funds. It is 

 possible that such a fund could be established by utility users. It 

 is also possible that through rather formal legal instruments, such as 

 treaties, a strong obligation is created to support a project 

 financially. The fact that international obligations exist will in 

 themselves help to produce funding from year to year. However, the 

 risk continues that at a certain time in the project life the budget 

 resources needed will be terminated by one or more countries, leaving 

 the remaining participants to complete the project on their own, a 

 prospect that may not be acceptable or possible. Thus, the 

 international instruments should address this question and, to the 

 extent possible, produce a reliable supply of funds for the program. 



Finally, there is the factor implicit in fairly widespread 

 criticism abroad of the United States as a "reliable" partner in 

 long-term research and development efforts. The annual appropriation 

 process in the United States makes it difficult to guarantee continued 

 support of a long-term commitment at the initially agreed-upon 

 levels. Almost all U.S. commitments to projects in the past have been 

 fulfilled, but a few have not, and those are remembered abroad. None 

 of the people in fusion programs abroad visited by the committee 

 suggested that this matter might preclude cooperation with the United 

 States, but they cited reliability in the partnership as of high 

 importance. Accordingly, in new cooperative ventures, all 

 participants should take great care not to give new cause for 

 complaint. The practice of identifying particular international 

 projects explicitly in annual budget requests, clearly identifying the 

 obligations implied for subsequent budget years, is one way to improve 

 stability of funding. 



TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER 



Fusion technologies have both national security and long-term 

 commercial implications. Therefore, cooperation in fusion impinges on 

 not one, but two, critical technology transfer concerns. For purposes 

 of this discussion technology transfer is considered to be the act of 

 conveying know-how from one country to another. The means of doing so 

 may embrace the export of technical data, equipment, and processes. 

 Successful fusion cooperation could involve all three. U.S. interests 

 are affected by technology transfers in several ways. These include: 



