OPENING REMARKS N.D.Pewitt Deputy Director, Office of Energy Research, U. S. Department of Energy The Department of Energy through its predecessor, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), became involved in the assessment of the SPS concept in 1976. The Office of Management and Budget assigned the responsibility for the assessment to ERDA to insure that the SPS would be evaluated as an energy option. ERDA established a task group to study SPS and to recommend a course of action. This group recommended a detailed assessment of SPS covering technical feasibility, economic viability, environmental and societal acceptability, and the merits of SPS when compared with other future alternatives. The scope and size of the recommended effort was unprecedented in the history of assessing energy options. Furthermore, it was recommended that the assessment be done before the country became committed to a costly development program on the basis of insufficient or inaccurate knowledge. The three-year, $20-million assessment will be completed, as planned, by the middle of this year. I believe that the agenda of this meeting attests to the scope and level of effort that has been put into the assessment. While DoE is managing the SPS assessment, I have no illusions that we could do the job without the support of expert groups in various agencies, universities, and in industry all around the country. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its field centers and contractors provided outstanding support at the outset in getting the ERDA task group up to speed, in developing the reference system, and performing the necessary supporting technology studies. The EPA assumed a critical role in the microwave health and ecology area. The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences of the Department of Commerce assumed the key role in assessing the impacts of the microwave beam on radio frequency communications systems and on other electronic systems. The DoE national laboratories, namely, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories, and the Pacific Northwest Laboratories, all contributed their skills. The Planning Research Corporation performed a broad range of studies in the societal area. A total of some 60 groups, ranging from large industrial firms to small consulting groups, have been involved. I believe the SPS assessment will help to establish a pattern for future assessments of major technological proposals. Of particular value is the recognition of the vital, legitimate and undeniable role of the public in participating in the decision process. The assessment has made a pioneering effort in this direction, which could serve well as a model for others.
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