Download - Soviets to permit Sakharov to visit U.S
magnification/7 Consequently, the report says, "the nation's industrial competitiveness has been a minor issue in policy making. In all too many instances, government policies designed to solve a problem in one area are in direct contradiction with the needs and policies of another area/7 It concludes that "the time has arrived for the development of technical expertise in government that can span many areas that are in frequent conflict—environment, energy, industrial growth, economic growth—and help government arrive at a consistent set of policies that meets the overall needs of our nation and at the same time gives our industries a consistent set of guidelines they can depend on.77
It will be up to the 101st Congress, come January, to decide whether to implement any of the task force's recommendations.
Janice Long
Soviets to permit Sakharov to visit VS. In a dramatic illustration of the changes in Soviet science and society wrought by Mikhail S. Gorbachev's policy of glasnost (openness), physicist and human rights leader Andrei D. Sakharov has been given permission by the Soviet government to visit the U.S. next week.
Two years ago, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was still in internal exile in Gorki because of his dissident activities. Sakharov was denounced by prominent fellow scientists and political leaders, and suffered through seven years of isolation and harassment that ended only in December 1986. Now, back in Moscow, he has resumed scientific work, heading a department of cosmology at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He has met several times with Gorbachev and, further climaxing his remarkable rehabilitation, was elected earlier this month by fellow scientists to the academy's policy-making presidium.
The U.S. visit will be the first trip abroad for Sakharov, barred previously from travel for his knowledge of "state secrets77 as a leader in development of the Soviet hydro-
Sakharov: remarkable rehabilitation
gen bomb. He is coming^with other leading Soviet scientists and scholars to attend board meetings of a newly formed philanthropic group, the International Foundation for the Survival & Development of Humanity. Led by chairman Yevgeniy P. Velikhov, vice president of the Soviet academy, and vice chairman Jerome B. Wiesner, former U.S. Presidential Science Adviser, the nongovernmental, privately financed foundation will support work on such issues as security and disarmament, the environment, development, education, and human rights.
Sakharov will arrive Nov. 6 and first will visit family members in Boston, according to his son-in-law, Efrem Yankelevich. During a stay of about two weeks, he will spend several days in Washington, D.C., for foundation meetings. While there, he is expected to meet with National Academy of Sciences leaders and perhaps President Reagan. He also has tentative plans to visit New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS) and the New York Academy of Sciences hope to cohost a reception for him in New York City, but have not yet had a response from Sakharov.
U.S. observers view Sakharov7s visit and election to the presidium as "enormously significant.77 Presidium membership means Sakharov
probably will have "more weight with the government, more influence on the course of perestroika" (restructuring of Soviet society and economy), notes Yankelevich. And permission for him to visit the U.S. dramatizes what is already happening for other Soviet scientists—much greater freedom to travel abroad, points out CCS executive director Dorothy Hirsch. "They are sending a signal that they want more open and free communication.77 Indeed, the Soviets already are rapidly expanding exchanges and cooperation with U.S. scientific groups.
Whether this presages a more liberal. Soviet policy toward refusenik scientists (those refused emigration visas, often on grounds of alleged knowledge of "state secrets77) is still not clear, Hirsch adds. Many longtime refusenik scientists have been allowed to leave—CCS7s list is down from 900 three years ago to 545 now—but many have still been waiting 10 years or more, and new names keep appearing. A test of Soviet intentions will be made on Dec. 8-10, when refuseniks plan an international scientific conference in Moscow. Sakharov plans to participate, and scientists are expected from the U.S. and Western Europe. Soviet officials prevented holding of such a conference in 1981, the last time one was scheduled.
Richard Seltzer
Ciba-Geigy denied permit to build plant The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has denied Ciba-Geigy7s application for a permit to build a $90 million pharmaceuticals plant at the company's 1275-acre Toms River site until it formulates a comprehensive plan to clean up existing chemical contamination at the site.
John Weingart, director of the division of coastal resources for the New Jersey agency, says that once the company comes up with a comprehensive plan to clean up the site, it could reapply for a permit.
Toxic waste problems date back to 1977 at Toms River, where textile dyes and epoxy resins have been
October 31, 1988 C&EN 5