NAS STUDY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002200010018-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 13, 2007
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: March 29, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
Technology Transfer Intelligence Committee
TTIC-C-16
29 March 1982
NOTE FOR: Admiral B. R. Inman
Deputy Director for Central Intelligence
SUBJECT: NAS Study
1. Under Secretary of Defense DeLauer recently provided you with information
about a proposed National Academy of Science study on "National Security Regulations
of Technology Transfer and Scientific and Technological Activities of Universities and
Professional Societies." We are aware of the study and have been in touch with the NAS
staff involved.
2. As you know, the Intelligence Community supports State, Commerce, and other
policy agencies by providing intelligence information, analysis and opinions regarding the
technology transfer and other implications of proposed visits by Soviets, Eastern
Europeans, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Libyans. Sometimes these opinions lead to the
"constraints" on foreign communist students that are part of the concern in academe
regarding "national security regulations" affecting academic freedom. COMEX, one of
the TTIC Subcommittees, is the interagency mechanism that deals with these matters.
3. We have been aware of the proposed NAS study for some time. In fact,
Dave Hartmann, the TTIC Executive Secretary, attended an NAS-sponsored meeting last
November to discuss the issues and draft terms of reference for the study. More
recently, Dave has been in touch with DeLauer's people and with Phil Smith, the NAS
Executive Officer. On 23 March, Larry McCray, the NAS staff person assigned to the
study panel traveled to" Rosslyn to talk with the TTIC Secretariat about the study and
Intelligence Community support. At my direction, Dave has assured Smith and McCray
that TTIC is ready and willing to be of assistance.
4. We will keep you advised. The NAS Panel will be holding three 1 1/2 day
information gathering sessions in April, May, and June. They undoubtedly will ask for
Community briefings and discussions, though security clearances are still a problem. At
this point, they are thinking of asking you to participate in a dinner meeting and
dialogue.
UNCLASSIFIED
L R7
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5. Attached for your information are the latest draft terms of reference, a list of
proposed panel members, and an article about Dale R. Corson, the panel chairman.
Attachments:
A/S
C 29 March 1982)
Distribution:
Orig - DDCI
1 - Executive Registry V/
1 - DDI
1 - DDI Registry
1 - Ch/TTIC
1 - Ex/TTIC
1 - Subject File: 600-11-0
I - Chrono
UNC r scJFj
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SUBJECT: NAS Study
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STUDY BY
THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENTIFIC
COMMUNICATION AND NATIONAL SECURITY
In recent years, the Soviet Union has made notable
strides in competing with the United States in the military
sphere -- strides that some fear were made possible in large
measure by the harvesting of American technology. As a
result, there is increased interest in preventing the trans-
fer of militarily sensitive products and knowledge to our
nation's adversaries. One aspect of this effort poses a
dilemma for both the government and the research community.
On the one hand, knowledgeable government officials
believe that the free availability to foreign nationals of
certain unclassified research results in specific fields
poses a threat to the national security. Indeed, they have
evidence that the Soviet military posture has been notably
strengthened by access to such information in the past.
Accordingly, they believe it is essential to limit such
foreign access through control of the export of scientific
information.!/ Government officials have expressed concern
in particular about foreign access to computer science and
mathematics research that bears on cryptology, and to re-
search involving magnetic-bubble memory devices, laser-
optics and inertial-confinement fusion, and very high speed
integrated circuitry (VHSIC).
On the other hand, most scientists and engineers
in academia and elsewhere hold that open communication is an
essential element of'a creative environment. In their view,
-l/ Such control could be achieved directly either by
expanding the coverage of the military and intelligence
classification system, through, for example, revision of the
executive order covering such matters, or by the more rigor-
ous application,of the system of export controls, which
operate independently of the classification system. The
chief examples of the latter controls include the Inter-
national Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), administered by
the Department of State, and the Export Administration
Regulations (EAR), administered by the Department of Commerce.
They currently encompass not only hardware, but also tech-
nical data.
Indirect control of the flow of information could be
achieved by visa and travel restrictions, or by redirecting
United States participation in scientific exchanges and
international meetings.
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restrictions on communication would sap the strength and
vitality of the educational and scientific endeavors upon
which our technologies and our national defense are based.
Moreover, such restrictions are seen as inconsistent with a
free society.
A balanced and objective assessment of these
opposing views is both necessary and timely. The inter-
dependence-of government and the research community in
advancing science, technology and national security requires
the prevention of a serious breakdown of mutual confidence.
The review will involve the following elements:
o An examination of the national-security
interests and the interests in free communication in two or
three specific fields of science and technology (e.g.,
cryptology, very high speed integrated circuits, artificial
intelligence) to be selected by the study panel in con-
sultation with the Department of Defense. This analysis
will include an examination of the extent to which American
research has been used in Soviet military programs an id, if
possible, a consideration of how such information was trans-
ferred. In addition, the panel will assess and compare the
contribution to Soviet military strength from the transfer
of research information with that arising from other means
of technology transfer, such as the Soviet acquisition of
American hardware.
o A review (with an emphasis on ITAR, EAR, and
a proposed executive order on the classification system) of
the principal policy and operational concerns of the respect-
ive government agencies, universities, scientific societies,
and researchers. (The proprietary concerns of industry will
not be considered.) The goal is to identify issues where
common agreement exists, to expose those where apparent
disagreements are based on misperceptions and misunder-
standings, and, perhaps, to narrow and sharpen the issues on
which genuine differences exist.
o A rigorous evaluation of critical issues
concerning the application of controls on the flow of research
information.?/
Such issues might include: ,
(i) What do we know about the innovation and
technology transfer process that bears on export control
policies?; What is the appropriate balance between policies
to stimulate and policies to protect critical technological
advances?
(footnote con 't)
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o The development of recommendations and con-
clusions concerning: (i) the intended and proper reach of
controls vis-a-vis various-categories of science and tech-
nology; (ii) areas of`science and technology that are or
should be outside the operation ofcontrols; (iii) approaches.
that might provide more certainty and predictability to the
regulatory system; and (iv) alternative procedures that
might prove acceptable to all of the concerned sectors.
The study panel for the assessment includes in-
dividuals deeply conversant with the goals of science, the
nature of universities, and national security concerns.
They have expertise in a variety of scientific and engi-
neering disciplines, the management research and development,
trade regulation and control, and constitutional law.
Liaison members representing the respective government
agencies and scientific institutions will be asked to assist
the panel in its deliberations and in devising effective
means for communicating its final conclusions. and recommen-
dations.
The overall effort will be 12 months in duration.
The final product will be a. public, unclassified report of
the panel's findings and recommendations. A progress report
will be prepared in September 1982.
(footnote con't)
(ii) What are the practical problems with and al-
ternatives to requiring universities to enforce compliance
by its students, faculty and visitors? Are the essential
qualities of aunn-iversity compromised by certain forms of
regulation?
(iii) How can scientific and engineering advice
contribute to the development and enforcement of more*
effective control regulations?
(iv) ' What controls on information transfer is it
realistically possible to achieve in light of the number and
diversity of scientists and engineers in the academe?
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PROPOSED COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Dr. Dale R. Corson - Chairman
President Emeritus
615 Clark Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Dr. Richard C. Atkinson, Chancellor
Q-005
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093
Dr..John Deutch
Dean of Science
Room 6-123
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Dr. Robert H. Dicke
Joseph Henry Laboratories
Physics Department
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Dr. Edward L. Ginzton
Varian Associates
611 Hansen Way
Palo Alto, CA 94 303
Dr. Mary L. Good
Vice President -- Director
of Research
UOP,-' Inc.
Corporate Research Center
10 UOP Plaza
Algonquin and Mt. Prospect Roads
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Dr. Norman Hackerman
President
Rice University
P. 0. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251
Mr. Franklyn Lindsey
Chairman, Executive Committee
ITEK Corporation
10 Maguire Road
Lexington, MA 02173
Richard A. Meserve, Esq.
Covington and Burling
Box 7566
1201 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20044
Dr. Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky
Director
Stanford Linear Accelerator
Center
Stanford University
P. 0. Box 4349
Stanford CA 94305
Dr. William J. Perry
Partner
Hambrecht and Quist
235 Montgomery'Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
Gen. Samuel C. Phillips (ret.),
Vice Pres.. General Mgr.
TRW Energy Products Group
9841 Airport Blvd., Suite 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Dr. Alexander Rich
Building 16, Room 735
Mass. Inst. of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Dr. John D. Roberts
Gates and Crellin Laboratories
of Chemistry
California Inst. of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
Dr. Charles P. Slichter
Department of Physics
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL 61801
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Mr. Michael I. Sovern
Office of the President
202 Low Memorial Library
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
Mr. Elmer B. Staats
5011 Overlook Road, N.W'.
Washington, D.C. 20016
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rights to extend mutual solidarity
in the face of 'legal attacks, and to
extend career security for staff in
the face of. .. unemployment and
transfer of production."
Roger Lyons, national officer of
the Association of Scientific, Tech-
nical & Management Staffs, head-
quartered in London, said, "This
first-ever white-collar action confer-
ence resulted from an ASTMS ini-
tiative at the International Chemi-
cal & Energy Unions Federation
Congress in Mexico in 1980. The
endorsement in Geneva of strategies
proposed by ASTMS and other un-
ions of recruitment techniques.. .and
coordination within specific multi-
nationals will help extend the un-
paralleled recruitment success in the
U.K. into an unprecedented world-
wide crusade within the oil and
chemical multinational companies."
ASTMS says that the program
that was agreed to in Geneva will
now be implemented at the level of
the individual multinational compa-
nies within the framework of the
ICEF worldwide company councils.
There soon will be meetings of the
councils for Ciba-Geigy, Procter &
Gamble, and BASF. The meeting
for British Petroleum is being or-
ganized, according to ASTMS. ^
NAS panel to consider national security issues
The National Academy of Sciences
plans to play the role of an "honest
broker" in an issue that is polariz-
ing university researchers and na-
tional security-minded government
officials. The contentious issue is na-
tional security controls on technol-
ogy transfer and, particularly, how
these controls affect unclassified sci-
entific and engineering research at
universities.
NAS is forming a panel under its
Committee on Science, Engineering
& Public Policy which will review
the government's contention that
dissemination of research results in
such fields as laser optics and very-
high-speed integrated circuitry to
Eastern bloc nations could harm na-
tional security. The panel also will
consider academicians' view that free
and open communication feeds the
educational and scientific endeavors
that support the U.S.'s technologi-
cal vitality.
At the end of a year, the panel
will offer its assessment of the issue.
Its ultimate goal is to define the
proper balance between government
policies that stimulate and those that
protect critical technologies.
Funding for the study, which will
cost $200,000 to $300,000, has not
been secured, although the academy
is soliciting contributions from pro-
fessional societies and government
agencies. According to NAS presi-
dent Frank Press, funding will not
be a controlling factor. "We are going
to do it," Press says, even if' the
academy has to tap its endowment
fund. As if to reinforce that com-
mitment, a panel chairman, Dale R.
Corson, professor and president
emeritus of Cornell University, has
been named, though other panel
members and a staff director have
not yet been selected.
Corson comes to the chairmanship
with wide experience in academia
and government. He was a professor
of physics and president of Cornell
University. During World War II,
he was a technical expert in the Air
Force where he worked on airborne
radar projects. He has served on a
number of committees and study
groups, including a stint on the De-
fense Science Board.
As befits a chairman of an em-
bryo panel, Corson refuses to take a
stance now. "I want to know what
the issues are, what the regulations
are, what the problems are" and,
then through deliberations, reach
"solutions that are in the best in-
terests of this country," he says. In
the end, he hopes the panel "can lay
out the options and make recom-
mendations that the government and
the academic community will ac-
cept."
But it will be a year before the
panel's final report is out. In the
interval, Press has assured CS EN
that he "will speak out in advance
of the committee's report" on issues
"of great significance." One such
issue could be a proposed executive
order on safeguarding national se-
curity information: "If that execu-
tive order wants to place a new clas-
sification category on scientific
research-not because it is directly
related to military systems, but be-
cause a relative advantage we might
have might be dissipated unless it
were restricted-I would argue very
strongly against that," Press says.
In a related matter, NAS has
adopted new measures in its man-
agement of U.S.-U.S.S.R. scientific
exchanges. In the future, staff offi-
cers will review government restric-
tions placed on individual visits to
determine whether they "are work-
able and compatible with the gen-
eral procedures for conducting un-
classified research in an academic
community." Such reviews will be
conducted before NAS communi-
cates the restrictions to host insti-
tutions. Also, the academy will at-
tempt to modify strictures that are
incompatible with the conduct of
university research or are difficult
to implement. ^
Test developed for
explosive sensitivity
Researchers at Los Alamos National
Laboratory have developed a tech-
nique to measure the sensitivity of
an explosive-essentially, how eas-
ily it goes off. The method uses a
differential scanning calorimeter and
deuterium-labeled explosives to de-
termine the sign of the volume of
activation of the initial reactions in
the explosive process.
LANL researchers Raymond N.
Rogers and Joan L. Janney work
with triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB)
and take advantage of the kinetic
isotope effect. Rogers explains that
when hydrogen is replaced with deu-
terium in a molecule at the site where
the rate-determining step occurs-
which in the case of explosives is
the first step-the rate of the reac-
tion slows.
Also, it has been known for some
time, Roger says, that the volume of
the molecular orbital of an activated
molecule or complex can be larger
or smaller than the ground state; in
other words, there is a volume of
activation. Pressure, therefore, can
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