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R. Roger Majak, assistant secretary of commerce for export administration, in his testimony before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs & International Relations. Cumbersome security clearances and Government and industry experi- significant delays in Senate confirmaence with treaty implementation is still tion of presidential appointees are very limited. But, at a minimum, Majak among obstacles that said, experience shows that "it is possi- threaten the quality of ble to meet the requirements of a rela- science decision-maktively rigorous international inspection ing in any new adminisregime at reasonable costs to both gov- tration and the advice ernment and industry, and to manage available to the incomthe risks of revealing valuable company ing President, accordconfidential business information." So ing to a new report on far companies that have faced inspec- the presidential science tions have reported no problems in pro- and technology appointtecting trade secrets or confidential fi- ments' process by the National Academies' nancial information. That companies have been able to Committee on Science, protect their proprietary information is Engineering & Public primarily due to treaty provisions and Policy (COSEPUP). the U.S. implementing law. But it's also The study panel was Gibbons due to extra measures that companies particularly concerned have taken before and during inspec- with the paucity of candidates for scitions, as Jack L. Brock Jr., managing di- ence and technology appointments rector of the General Accounting Office from industry, says John H. Qack) Gibof acquisition and sourcing manage- bons, a former science adviser to President Bill Clinton and a member of the ment, told the subcommittee. Both the government and the compa- COSEPUP study panel. Government nies incur costs for these international in- service can mean untenable financial spections. The average cost to govern- penalties, such as requirements to sell ment per inspection is about $50,000, Ma- stock, the panel notes, and "is often dijak said. But because of varying factors, minished" by both professional and ficompanies have reported inspection- nancial losses. related costs of from $6,000 to $107,000, "There are too many obstacles to Brock said. Costs are expected to decline government service today," maintained as industry and government gain more COSEPUP study Chair Mary L. Good, experience with inspections. who has held science and technology Marybeth Kelliher, the American appointments in both the Bush and ClinChemistry Council's spokeswoman for ton Administrations. treaty-related issues, tells C&EN, "InEven when good candidates are spections have gone very well so far and found, "the timing of the process is in industry has a great deal of confidence need of improvement," Gibbons says. in the U.S. approach to treaty implemenAccording to COSEPUP statistics, tation, an approach industry helped de- released at a briefing in Washington, sign." Commerce, which hosts the inter- D.C., almost 90% of presidential appointnational inspection teams, "has shown ments were confirmed by the Senate sound judgment and respect for indus- within four months for the period 1964 try's interests, but there are still imple- to 1984. That figure dropped by half for mentation issues to resolve," she adds. the period 1984 to 1999. Donald A. Mahley, special negotiator The report states that the White for chemical and biological arms control House, Congress, the Federal Bureau of for the State Department, told the sub- Investigation, and byzantine governcommittee, 'The CWC inspections al- ment ethics rules all shoulder some of ready conducted both at Department of the blame for the situation. Defense facilities and at commercial The slowdowns, Gibbons and othfirms have thus far demonstrated our ers say, often result from the pace of ability to fulfill the obligations of the FBI background investigations as well CWC without sacrificing sensitive na- as Senate rules that can table an aptional security or commercial propri- pointment indefinitely. For example, Gibbons explains, a senator may anonetary information." Lois Ember ymously put a hold on a confirmation
Fill Top Science Posts Faster, Panel Advises
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SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 C&EN
in order to use it later as a bargaining chip in some other dispute. The anonymity, Gibbons says, can make it impossible to cut timely deals and keep the process moving. But the panel concludes that those same players can also work toward solutions. It spells out three recommendations for improving timeliness: initiating the appointment process as soon as possible after the election; increasing the pool of potential applicants by reducing financial and vocational obstacles; and accelerating the approval process itself by, for example, streamlining the background checks done by the FBI. William Schulz
Titanium Extracted Directly From Ti0 2 A novel electrochemical method for extracting solid titanium metal directly from titanium dioxide could substantially reduce the cost of titanium production, according to scientists in England who invented the method. The group at Cambridge University showed in laboratory studies that porous pellets of Ti0 2 placed at the cathode of an electrolytic cell containing molten calcium chloride can be reduced to a sponge of titanium metal. The oxygen in the Ti0 2 forms oxide ions that dissolve in the molten electrolyte and then discharge as oxygen at the anode. The work was carried out by Derek J. Fray, professor of materials chemistry; George Zheng Chen, senior research associate; and Tom W. Farthing, a research consultant, who is now retired [Nature, 4 0 7 , 361, (2000)]. According to Chen, the new method could reduce the current cost of industrial production of titanium metal to a third. "At present, titanium is produced by a pyrometallurgical reduction batch process known as the Kroll process," he explains. 'The process is complicated and expensive. It takes about a week to produce a few tons of titanium per reactor." The Kroll process involves chlorinating titanium dioxide to produce titanium tetrachloride, a volatile corrosive
liquid, observes Harvey M. Flower, an expert on titanium- and aluminumbased alloys who is director of research and postgraduate studies at Imperial College, London. TiCl4 is then reduced to the metal with metallic magnesium. The process is slow, demanding in terms of health and safety criteria, and requires prolonged hightemperature vacuum distillation of the product to remove excess alkali metal and its chloride from the titanium, Flower points out in the same issue of Nature (page 305). "The process developed by Fray and his colleagues is very attractive in that it avoids the use of environmentally undesirable materials such as volatile chlorides, produces metal of low oxygen content, and can be applied to mixed oxide feedstock to produce prealloyed titanium," Flower tells C&EN. "The process represents an entirely original concept for titanium production," he adds. As Chen notes, titanium has many desirable properties. "It is light, strong, and highly corrosion-resistant in chemical and biological environments," he says. It is the fourth most abundant structural metal in Earth's crust after aluminum, iron, and magnesium, but, he explains, "its use in modern life is far rarer than other common metals because of the high production costs." One of the major current uses of titanium is in the aerospace industry. A typical jet engine, for example, is approximately 40% titanium by weight. "Development work carried out at the U.K. Defence Evaluation & Research Agency in Farnborough, England, holds promise that the Fray process can be scaled up to produce commercially attractive material at a cost significantly below that achieved by
| Ti0 2 pellets are reduced I in electrolytic cell
Molten CaCI2
Pellets of Ti0 2
_ Graphite anode
Graphite or titanium crucible (cathode)
the Kroll reduction process," Flower tion," an FDA official says. "If there is, we will take appropriate regulatory acsays. "A new company, British Titanium, tion [recall, seizure, or prosecution] to has been formed to explore the com- get them out of the food supply." EPA has approved human consumpmercial aspects of this new invention," says Chen, who believes it will make ti- tion of several varieties of corn engitanium metal and alloys a strong com- neered with genes from Bacillus petitor of stainless steel and aluminum thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria that produce insecticidal proteins. The insecticidal alloys. 'The invention has also proven to proteins in the approved varieties are be a generic technology," he adds. unstable at high temperatures and easi"The work is now being extended to ly digested. However, the Cry9C protein lanthanides, actinides, and other in StarLink corn is heat stable and resistant to degradation in gastric enelements." Michael Freemantle zymes—two properties considered good indicators of possible food allergens. It has an eight-hour, half-life in the stomach enzyme trypsin, according to Bt Corn Strain Found an EPA analysis. "We did not license that particular In Wrong Place [Cry9C] corn for human consumption A variety of genetically engineered corn because there is a split in the science," that is not approved for human con- EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner sumption has been detected in Taco says. "Some people thought it might Bell taco shells, says a coalition of lead to some allergenic issues and othhealth, environmental, and consumer ers didn't." So EPA decided not to license it "until more science is groups. put forward," she explains. The corn— Jane Rissler, senior staff scitrade named Starentist at the Union of Concerned Link and marketScientists, says that if further ed by Aventis tests substantiate the Corp.—has been presence of StarLink approved for anicorn in the food mal feed. But supply, "this develthe Environopment would be anmental Protection Agency has not yet approved it for other indication that the current regulahuman consumption because of con- tory scheme for genetically engineered cerns that it might trigger allergic reac- food is inadequate to protect public and tions. StarLink corn contains an insecti- environmental health." Bette Hileman cidal protein named Cry9C for which there is no history of human dietary exposure. The coalition commissioned Genet- Eastman Shuffles ic ID, an independent testing company in Fairfield, Iowa, to test 24 food prod- Business Portfolio ucts made from corn. Genetic ID tested several brands of cereal, tortilla Eastman Chemical is selling the bulk of chips, corn meal, and taco shells, and its fine chemicals business and acquirfound the gene that produces the ing most of Hercules' resins business as Cry9C protein in one composite batch part of of its effort to improve earnings of Taco Bell taco shells purchased while spending less on capital projects. The business being sold makes pharfrom grocery stores. With three separate DNA tests, it determined that 1% maceutical intermediates and active inof the corn in the composite sample is gredients, excipients, agrochemicals, the StarLink variety, says Jeffrey and custom chemicals for a variety of inSmith, vice president of marketing dustries. Sales last year were $275 million, out of the firm's total fine chemicommunications for Genetic ID. The Food & Drug Administration is cals sales of $350 million; the difference now arranging to do its own testing. is a photographic and imaging chemi"We're investigating this matter to de- cals unit that Eastman is keeping. The planned sale, to be handled by termine if there is, in fact, StarLink corn in products sold for human consump- investment bankers J. P. Morgan, repreSEPTEMBER 25,2000 C&EN
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