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MERICAN and Soviet scientists and politicians gathered in Washington
DC last week to discuss the barriers to greater scientific cooperation between
the two countries.

Participants in the conference noted that dramatic political changes
in the Soviet Union create new possibilities for increased scientific collaboration,
but carry dangers as well. ‘I’m worried about the future of ‘big science’,’
said Sergey Kapitza, chairman of the Physical Society of the USSR. ‘Such
projects have been fuelled by the arms race. What will happen to those projects
and the scientific manpower in our countries as the arms race recedes?’
asked Kapitza.

Many members of the Soviet delegation, which included three members
of the Supreme Soviet, emphasised the need to make the US a more reliable
partner in international scientific projects. Congressman George Brown of
Southern California admitted that the US had gained a bad reputation in
such projects as the space station. ‘We’re going to have to put some teeth
in our agreements,’ Brown said.

These problems, however, can be overcome, argued Eugeni Velikhov, vice-president
of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and one of a handful of science advisers
to President Gorbachov. For instance, he said, there is a ‘very good chance’
that the Soviet Union, the US, Japan and Europe will agree to support the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) by the November
deadline.

Some American scientists and politicians noted that decisions on projects
such as ITER may rely more on the outcome of difficult budget discussion
in the US than on the state of relations between the US and USSR.