[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 107 (Friday, August 5, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 H.R. 4908--THE HYDROGEN, FUSION, AND HIGH ENERGY AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS 
                       AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                           HON. MARILYN LLOYD

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 5, 1994

  Mrs. LLOYD. Mr. Speaker, today, I am pleased to introduce a bill 
entitled ``The Hydrogen, Fusion, and High Energy and Nuclear Physics 
Authorization Act of 1994.'' This is a bill that is focused squarely on 
the 21st century and the growing needs for energy that are sure to 
arise.
  By the year 2050, most demographers agree there will be 10 billion 
people living on this planet, and their needs for energy will be three 
times greater than our energy use today. One need only observe the 
growth in the east Asian countries of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, and 
the economic boom in China, to realize that the energy needs of these 
emerging economies will increase dramatically. Surely other areas of 
Asia and Eastern Europe will likewise experience economic growth in 
this same timeframe, as will the countries in Africa and Latin America.
  Clearly, we cannot, as a world community, rely on fossil fuels to 
sustain this vast increase in energy demand. The environmental 
consequences alone of such an increase would be untenable. We must 
begin now to undertake and sustain the long-term development of other 
forms of energy that will help meet this growing demand without 
seriously damaging our environment.
  In the Energy Policy Act of 1992, we focused on the development and 
demonstration of near-term technologies such as solar power and energy 
efficiency. This bill provides direction and guidance to carry out the 
development of two energy sources, hydrogen and fusion. Hydrogen has 
the potential to be developed and deployed in the midterm, the next 20 
years. It can be applied to a variety of uses such as transportation, 
power generation, and heating and cooling. It can be essentially 
environmentally benign.
  Fusion is a long-term development program which we hope will have its 
impact on commercial power production four or five decades ahead. Part 
of the United States program for fusion development will be an 
international collaborative effort, including Europe, Japan, and 
Russia, to make fusion power a reality. The scientific and technical 
challenges are immense, and the road will be long and hard; but the 
payoff is enormous. Fusion power can provide the world with an 
environmentally benign source of energy that will be virtually 
unlimited.
  This bill authorizes and provides direction for the General Sciences 
Program of DOE, namely, high energy physics and nuclear physics. This 
provides for research and development and planning for the large hadron 
collider to provide our scientists the opportunity to participate in 
international cooperative scientific experiments.
  The final part of this bill also takes steps to put in place the 
tools and programs to develop the human capital in the form of the 
scientific and engineering talent we will need to meet our energy needs 
as well as other challenges in the next century. The bill provides for 
direction and coordination for the University Research Reactor Program 
and the related educational programs. This will make it possible to 
upgrade the facilities and programs to educate and train engineers for 
fields such as materials science, chemistry, and biotechnology. Without 
these engineers, we will be unable to solve the problems we will face 
in the 21st Century.
  It is important that we not be lulled into a sense of false security 
regarding our energy and environmental situation. The recent glut in 
the oil and gas markets has led many to believe that our energy 
problems are solved. But, the long-term trends throughout the world are 
clear, and their implications are ominous. This is the calm during 
which we must prepare ourselves for the storm that lies ahead. This 
bill takes an important step in that preparation.

                          ____________________