AGENDA AND PAPER FOR THE JULY 20 MEETING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89B00224R000602040013-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 3, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: July 17, 1987
• Content Type: MEMO

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EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT
SUSPENSE OBE
Date
Remarks
To 17: We received no phone notificati n of
this meeting and receivedAthe agendaer
at 1700 hours today.
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20 July 1987
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THE WHITE HOUSE Env, dive Registry
WASHINGTON 87-2770X
CABINET AFFAIRS STAFFING MEMORANDUM
Date: July 17, 1987 Number: 490,672 Due By:
Subject:
Economic Policy Council Meeting
-- July 20, 1987 -- 2:00 p.m.
ALL CABINET MEMBERS
Vice President
State
Treasury
Defense
Justice
Interior
Agriculture
Commerce
Labor
HHS
HUD
Transportation
Energy
Education
Chief of Staff
OMB
UN
USTR
CIA
EPA
GSA
NASA
OPM
SBA
VA
REMARKS:
RETURN TO:
Action FYI
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Action FYI
CEA 2' ^
CEQ ^ ^
OSTP ^ ^
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Carlucci 0' ^
Cribb Q. ^
Bauer Ell ^
Dawson (For WH Staffing) I ^
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Executive Secretary for:
DPC
EPC
The EPC will meet with the President on Monday, July
20, 1987 at 2:00 p.m. in the Cabinet Room. The
agenda and paper are attached for your review.
91Jancy J. Risque
Cabinet Secretary
456-2823
(Ground Floor, West Wing)
^Associate Director
Office of Cabinet Affairs
456-2800
(Room 235, OEOB)
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July 17, 1987
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ECONOMIC POLICY COUNCIL
FROM: EUGENE J. MCALLISTER`
SUBJECT: Agenda and Paper for the July 20 Meeting
The agenda and paper for the July 20 meeting of the Economic
Policy Council are attached. The meeting is scheduled for 2:00
p.m. in the Cabinet Room.
The single agenda item will be superconductivity. A paper from
the Council outlining the proposed superconductivity initiative
is attached.
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July 20, 1987
2:00 p.m.
Cabinet Room
AGENDA
1. Superconductivity
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WASHINGTON
July 16, 1987
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT: Superconductivity
Over the past year, we have witnessed some truly remarkable
scientific breakthroughs in the field of superconductivity -- the
ability to conduct energy with no resistance or heat loss.
Scientists have raised the temperature at which superconductivity
occurs from approximately -424?F to -250?F, and there are strong
hints that we may achieve superconductivity at room temperature.
At the same time, scientists have been working to develop
superconducting materials that carry more current and are less
brittle, increasing the potential for commercial applications.
The private sector is very active in this field. The initial
discovery that superconductivity could occur at higher
temperatures was made by IBM at a lab in Zurich. Other large
U.S. companies, such as AT&T, General Electric, and Westinghouse
have been leaders in the field of superconductivity research for
many years. U.S. industry has invested more than $100 million in
superconductivity research over the past year alone.
The Federal Government also has played a key role in these
developments through funding of basic research. The National
Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) both provided funding for Dr. Paul Chu at
the University of Houston in his landmark efforts in raising the
temperature at. which superconductivity occurs. The Federal
Government is currently spending approximately $45 million in
superconductivity research, with nearly one-half of that
reallocated within the last six months.
COMMERCIALIZING SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
These scientific advances raise exciting possibilities for
improving the quality of life, if they can be translated into
commercial uses. For example:
o Electricity could be transmitted without heat loss -- which
would avoid the twenty percent waste when power is
transmitted long distance over state-of-the-art copper high
tension wires. This could save billions of dollars for
consumers and allow power generators to be located far from
high-density population areas.
o High temperature superconductivity could be the most
important electronics breakthrough since the transistor.
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Modern supercomputers would pale in speed and size next to
computers incorporating circuitry and solid state devices
such as "chips" that use superconducting materials.
Supercomputers could be reduced in size to perhaps as small
as a breadbox.
o Electric drive engines could replace internal combustion
engines, revolutionizing the affordability and endurance of
ground- and sea-vehicles. Dependence on oil could also be
substantially reduced.
o Powerful electromagnets, using superconducting materials,
could lift and propel passenger trains at speeds greater
than 300 mph. This could give new life to train
transportation long plagued by high fuel and hardware costs.
The Economic Policy Council has developed a series of policies
that would help the private sector in its efforts to
commercialize superconductivity. We have identified three
objectives for Federal action:
1. Promote greater cooperation among the Federal Government,
academia, and U.S. industry in the basic and enabling
research that is necessary to continue the remarkable
scientific breakthrough in superconductivity;
2. Enable our private sector to more rapidly exploit scientific
advances and put more products on the market and processes
into use; and
3. Better protect the intellectual property rights of
scientists, engineers, and businessmen working in
superconductivity.
The Council is unanimous in its belief that it is critical that
the U.S. translate our leadership in science into leadership in
commerce. Superconductivity presents an opportunity to prove
that our free market system can compete with more government
directed systems, particularly in high technology products.
Ultimately, our success in superconductivity will depend on our
corporate leaders, who will make the critical decisions on how
much capital, time, and effort to invest in commercializing
superconductivity.
THE SUPERCONDUCTIVITY INITIATIVE
The Economic Policy Council is unanimously recommending the
following Superconductivity Initiative that you would announce at
the "Federal Conference on Commercial Applications of
Superconductivity," July 28, 1987. This Initiative includes both
legislative and administrative actions. The Council recommends
that we combine the legislative actions -- some of which were
included in your Trade, Employment and Productivity Act of 1987
-- into a single Superconductivity Act.
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The major components of the Superconductivity Initiative include:
Legislative
1. Amending the National Cooperative Research Act (NCRA) to
expand the concept of a permissible joint venture to include
some types of joint production ventures. This is a
particularly important step that would ease the burden of
unnecessary antitrust restraints. If enacted, it could
benefit not just superconductivity, but other high
technology products.
2. Amending U.S. patent laws to increase protection for
manufacturing process patents. This would enable U.S.
owners of process patents to obtain damages for infringement
where products made with those processes are imported into
the U.S.
3. Authorizing Federal agencies to withhold from release under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) commercially valuable
scientific and technical information generated in Government
laboratories that if released, will harm U.S. economic
competitiveness.
Administrative
4. Establishing a "Wise Men" Advisory Group on
Superconductivity under the auspices of the White House
Science Council. This would be a small group of three to
five people from industry and academia that would advise the
Administration on research and commercialization policies.
5. Establishing a number of "Superconductivity Research
Centers" (SRCs) and other similar groups that would:
(1) conduct important basic research in superconductivity;
and (2) serve as repositories of information to be
disseminated throughout the scientific community.
a. The Department of Energy will establish three SRCs, as
well as a computer data base:
Center for Superconductivity Applications at the
Argonne National Laboratory;
Center for Thin Film Applications at the Lawrence
Berkely Laboratory;
Center for Basic Scientific Information at the
Ames Laboratory;
-- Computer Data Base on Superconductivity at the
Office of Scientific & Technology Information.
b. The Department of Commerce (DOC) will establish a
Superconductivity Center at the National Bureau of
Standards (NBS) laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The
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centers will focus on electronic applications of high
temperature superconductivity.
c. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) is establishing a coordinating group on
superconductivity activities at its office of
Aeronautics and Space Technology.
d. The National Science Foundation (NSF) will augment its
support for research in high temperature
superconducting programs at three of its materials
research laboratories using teams of chemists,
physicists, materials scientists, and engineers. In
addition, NSF is initiating a series of "quick start"
grants for researchers with good ideas for processing
superconducting materials into useful forms including
wires, rods, tubes, films, and ribbons.
e. The Department of Defense is expanding its activities
on a broad front in the development of military
applications of superconductivity, many of which have
high potential for spin-off to the commercial sector.
6. Urging all Federal agencies to quickly implement the steps
outlined in Executive Order 12591 designed to: (1) transfer
technology developed in Federal laboratories into the
private sector; and (2) encourage Federal, university, and
industry cooperation in research. The White House Science
Advisor will report to you by December 1, 1987 on progress
in implementing the Executive Order, particularly with
regards to superconductivity.
7. Directing the Patent and Trademark Office to accelerate the
processing of patent applications and adjudication of
disputes involving superconductivity technologies when
requested by the applicants to do so.
8. Directing the National Bureau of Standards to accelerate its
efforts to develop and coordinate common standards (e.g.
measurement methods, standard reference materials, and
supporting technical data) in the U.S. and internationally
for superconductors and related devices.
9. Encouraging Federal agencies to continue to reallocate FY
1987 funds into superconductivity basic research, applied
research in enabling technologies, and prototype
development. Agencies are directed to place a high priority
for this area in FY 1988 funding and FY 1989 planning.
10. Requesting that DoD accelerate prototype work in sensor,
electronic, and superconducting magnet based military
applications and that the Department of Commerce accelerate
development of prototype devices in detection and
measurement of weak magnetic fields.
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11. Using the renewal of the U.S.-Japan Agreement on Science and
Technology to achieve reciprocal U.S. access to Japanese
Government supported research & development, including
superconductivity.
PRIZES
The Council unanimously agreed upon the eleven initiatives
described above. The Council was divided on the question of
whether the Federal Government should offer a substantial prize
for future breakthroughs in commercialization. The idea of the
prize is described below:
Awarding five one-time prizes of $5 million each for
significant commercial prototypes in the following fields:
transportation; energy generation, transmission or storage;
computers and communications; medical and scientific
technology; and other applications.
A private panel of experts would annually judge whether a
prototype was worthy of the award. The panel would make its
judgment based on three criteria: originality; how well the
prototype works; and the potential widespread commercial
application.
Only individual Americans and resident aliens working in the
U.S. would be eligible for the prize.
Advantages
o A prize would focus public attention on the newest
breakthroughs, establish a national goal, and possibly renew
interest in science careers.
o Prizes are a proven form of incentive, which have a long
history in science.
o The cost -- $25 million would be spread out over several years
-- and would certainly be less than an industrial policy.
Disadvantages
o Whoever develops the first commercial prototype will become
wealthy even without the prize.
o The dollar value of the prize is very high, particularly in
light of the fact the National Medal of Science and the
National Medal of Technology carry no cash awards.
o A prize for superconductivity could raise demands for prizes
in other research/commercial areas such as AIDS or might be
criticized as gimmickry -- obscuring the value of the
President's overall message on superconductivity.
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DECISION
Approve the Superconductivity Initiative described
above, without establishing a Federal prize for
superconduct vity.
Approve the Superconductivity Initiative described
above and establish a prize for superconductivity.
ames A. Baker, III
Chairman Pro Tempore
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