707 



The national components of the EC program are highly valued now; 

 but in time they may be supplanted by Commission activities only, ]ust 

 as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (commonly known by 

 its original French acronym CERN) supplanted national activities in 

 high-energy physics. Provided the EC member countries remain 

 economically cooperative rather than competitive, this result may be 

 acceptable. 



Reliability of the United States as Partner 



Officials of EC, lEA, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom stressed 

 reliability, predictability, and avoidance of arbitrariness of style 

 as essential to U.S. partnership in the implementation of 

 cooperation. FMIT and LCT were cited as examples of prior U.S. 

 unreliability in fusion, the Synthetic Refined Coal 2 (commonly known 

 as SRC-2) project in energy, and the International Solar Polar Mission 

 in space exploration. U.K. officials acknowledge a need for 

 flexibility in program content, but opt for rigidity in carrying 

 through projects, once agreed. A way to provide flexibility in 

 programs is to collaborate over a broader base, so that tradeoffs are 

 available. An lEA official advised the United States to stop putting 

 forward its low priority projects for international cooperation. 



While granting that some instances of the sort have occurred, one 

 must still entertain the possibility that complaints about the 

 reliability of the United States are being exploited as a bargaining 

 position. 



Institutional Suitability 



The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not a promising 

 institutional home for collaboration because of USSR membership and 

 because of the small scope and relevance of the IAEA fusion program. 



The lEA has a record as a suitable institution for medium-sized 

 projects, like LCT, but does not seem to have the infrastructure to 

 manage large-scale collaboration, nor to be likely to acquire it. 



A French official noted that, whatever the institutional entity, 

 international agreement lends a project an extra degree of stability, 

 protecting the project against budget fluctuations. The effect may be 

 due to the perceived importance of the existence of an agreement. 



The Europeans, by virtue of JET and the overall EC experience, seem 

 better able to cope with the idea of international cooperation in a 

 realistic way. Our discussions did not address how cooperation with 

 the United States could be achieved without political and economic 

 ties similar to those within the EC. No one seemed convinced that 

 United Nations sponsorship or a "world science fund" could succeed. 

 The issue of access to high technology information and know-how, not 

 to mention technology with potential military applications, will need 

 to be faced without an overall political and economic umbrella like 



