AWARDS: ACS honors congressmen for their work in shaping U.S. science and engineering policy
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EPS. BRIAN N. BAIRD (D-Wash.) and John A.
Culberson (R-Texas) received the American Chemical Society Public Service Award during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 13. The award, established in 1997, honors leaders for contributions to public service or to the development of public policy that benefits chemistry and the sciences. “It is through partnerships among the chemistry enterprise, the broader science community, and key policymakers such as Reps. Baird and Culberson that we will maintain our global leadership and secure a cleaner, safer, sustainable future for all,” said ACS President Joseph S. Francisco during opening remarks. Baird, who chairs the House Science & Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy & Environment, played a key role in crafting sections of the
WEAPONS LAB’S LASER PROBLEMS GAO REPORT: Success is unlikely for
first test at Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility
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NRESOLVED technical difficulties are likely to
hinder the first test of the $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), concludes a Government Accountability Office report released on April 8. The test, scheduled for the end of the year, is intended to determine whether the facility can achieve nuclear fusion or ignition. NIF is designed to use a complex and powerful 192laser system to simulate on a tiny scale the temperature and pressure of explosions inside a nuclear bomb. The simulations will be used to test whether existing nuclear weapons will remain viable into the future without having to resort to underground testing. NIF will also carry out fundamental nonweapons research. Under construction since 1997, NIF is over budget and years late. However, LLNL announced its completion last year, and facility scientists are now gearing up for NIF’s first full test in December (C&EN, March 30, 2009, page 30). GAO primarily blames weak management by the
America Competes Act, which supports science and technology in order to enhance U.S. global competitiveness. He has also championed NSF in its efforts to bolster U.S. competitiveness and to develop solutions to science education challenges. Culberson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, is an advocate for U.S. investment in research and a vocal supporter of funding for science programs at NSF and NIH. He is also working on legislation to strengthen the economy by cutting taxes and creating jobs. “I am truly honored and deeply touched by this recognition,” Culberson said. “There is no more powerful investment that we can make in the longterm strategic security of the nation than to invest in the work that you are doing as scientists.” The ceremony was preceded by the annual undergraduate research poster session sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research to give public officials an opportunity to interact with tomorrow’s scientists. “I try to get here almost every year and see this outstanding work,” Baird said. “We have to encourage our young people to conduct their research in a way that holds up the highest standards of integrity.”—LINDA WANG
National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Department of Energy, for delays in schedule and substantial increases in costs and scope of NIF activities. The report’s authors also hit NNSA for a four-year delay in implementing a recommendation of an independent group of weapons experts—known as JASON—who in 2005 called for establishment of a non-DOE NIF oversight committee. The oversight committee first met in December 2009 after many key technical and policy decisions had been made, GAO notes. The delay in achieving ignition, however, may have little significance, the report adds, because many weapons experts, including JASON, have said regular refurbishment of current weapons without use of NIF will be adequate to ensure weapons work for at least another 20 to 30 years. Achieving ignition in 2010 “was always a gamble,” notes Roy Schwitters, chair of JASON’s steering committee that reviewed NIF. “NIF is at the edge of science and that is where it should be.” JASON’s point in its 2005 recommendation of non-DOE oversight, Schwitters says, was that DOE weapons scientists could gain from outside input from a “spectrum of views from the broader high-energy community.”—JEFF JOHNSON
WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
ACS PresidentElect Nancy B. Jackson (from left) stands with Baird, Francisco, and Culberson.
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A GAO report raises doubts that NIF, whose construction was completed in March 2009, will be ready to conduct ignition experiments by year’s end.
