NEWS OF THE WEEK
GOP seeks to dismantle Commerce Department When Ronald H. Brown became secretary of commerce in January 1993, he promised to turn the department into a "technological powerhouse." Now, facing an onslaught by Republican budget cutters in Congress, Brown is trying to save Commerce from oblivion. Over its 92 years, Commerce has become a grab bag of functions. With a budget of about $4.2 billion, it includes the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), the Census Bureau, the Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and various bureaus that promote U.S. trade and track essential statistics on national and international economies. Commerce also houses the National Technical Information Service and is the home of the Clinton Administration's information superhighway program. A bill submitted last week by freshman Rep. Dick Chrysler (R-Mich.) would dismantle the department. Chrysler projects savings of $7.7 billion over three to five years. The bill would send much of the statistical work to the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board, and PTO to the Justice Department. The Weather Service would go to the Interior Department. NIST would be added initially to the National Science Foundation. Both NIST and NSF might eventually wind up in a Department of Science that has been proposed by Rep. Robert S. Walker (RPa.), chairman of the House Science Committee. Such a department also would include the Environmental Protection Agency's research programs, the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, the Department of Energy's research programs, and the U.S. Geological Survey, among others. The politics of Commerce's dissolution stem from Republican opposition to Brown's promotion of industrial technology. The dynamos in his powerhouse are NIST's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and an initiative known as the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The Administration is requesting $491 million for ATP for fiscal 1996, but the GOP is trying to kill the program outright via budget resolutions. MEP, which helps industries improve their manufacturing practices 8
MAY 29,1995 C&EN
through 44 centers, is funded at $91 million in fiscal 1995. Brown is lobbying actively to save Commerce. Also pressing Congress to keep it is a group of about 150 large and small high-tech companies that receive ATP grants. The group is known as the Coalition for Technology Partnerships. The coalition stresses that NIST projects are not outright grants: Industrial recipients pay half the costs, and the projects are selected by industry-government panels. Washington observers doubt the Republicans will succeed in dismantling Commerce. The Administration has already cut back ATP and is in a downsizing mood of its own. But if a bill passed killing the department, Clinton likely would veto it. Congress might then refuse to appropriate funds for the agency—setting up a standoff no one would probably want. Wil Lepkowski
Details emerge of sarin attack by cult in Tokyo Details of the March 20 terrorist attack with the nerve gas sarin on the crowded Tokyo subway system have begun to emerge. The sarin was not very pure, was used in small quantity, and was poorly disseminated—explaining why only 12 people instead of thousands died—says chemical warfare expert Kyle B. Olson, executive vice president of the Chemical & Biological Arms Control Institute. Olson has made several trips to Japan as a consultant to Japanese media organizations. He tells C&EN that rather than make official statements, police have funneled information about the attack through the media. Olson told a seminar in Washington, D.C., last week that Japanese police believe the attack was masterminded and carried out by the Shinri Kyo cult. Police have recovered from cult facilities the precursor chemicals and equipment needed to make sarin. The dedicated production plant was designed to make thousands of kilograms of sarin. Cult leaders in Japan have been arrested and are now in custody. As a group, cult members are highly educated, Olson notes. Many are scientists who became members because of the availability of funds to pursue their own research, he points out.
Olson says the nerve agent was "of low quality," about 25% pure, and less than 10 kg was used in the entire attack. There was no indication the agent was distilled, as is sarin stockpiled by the U.S. and Russia. Because impure sarin degrades very quickly, Olson believes "it was probably produced just days before the attack." Police believe the cult used a German salt process to make sarin in a Swissbuilt computerized chemical synthesizer. Such equipment was found in the cult lab and can be purchased commercially in Tokyo. The nerve gas was dispersed in a crude and inefficient fashion. The impure sarin "was packaged in 2-ply plastic bags manufactured by the sect," Olson says. Bags containing sarin were placed near "the middle doors of subway cars and then punctured, spilling the liquid The slow dispersal rate explains how five trains were able to affect 15 stations," he explains. Acetylnitrile was added to the impure sarin "to accelerate evaporation." Olson attributes the low death rate to the small quantity of sarin used, its low quality, inefficient dispersal method, and the subway's air renewal system. But, he adds, luck and the cult's inexperience with making and using chemical weapons also were factors. The cult may have as many as 40,000 followers in Japan, Russia, Australia, and the U.S. Headquarters in the U.S. were opened in 1987 in New York City. Olson says the police believe the cult tested the sarin it made on sheep on its Australian ranch. Lois Ember
DuPont to sell Medical Products businesses DuPont has put its Medical Products businesses up for sale—planning to devote the proceeds to reducing the $8 billion debt it took on in April to repurchase Seagram's 24% stake (156 million shares) in DuPont. Wall Street analysts say the sale should net $1 billion. It includes four units: Diagnostic Imaging, which sells X-ray films and electronic imaging equipment; In-vitro Diagnostics, which sells clinical chemistry analyzers to medical facilities; New England Nuclear, which sells radiolabeled com-
