1980 Solar Power Satellite Program Review

Regardless of how the participants felt about the concept of the SPS, there was almost unanimous support for some form of public discussion on the issues related to this technology. In conjunction with this discussion was the belief that a vigorous public awareness program about the SPS should begin immediately. It was also suggested that similar discussions could take place with other DOE programs. As illustrated in Figure 2, 61% of the participants mentioned that the FASST BRIEFINGS were their primary source of information on the SPS. Information from NASA and professional societies tied as the second most often mentioned source at 18%. The Forum was encouraged by the evaluation of the BRIEFINGS as a method to involve and inform the campus community about the SPS concept. The suggestions for improvement that were submitted will be applied to future projects of this type. Of the participants who completed the evaluation, 51% gave the BRIEFINGS an "Excellent" rating as a means to inform the campus connunity about SPS. Those who felt the BRIEFINGS were a "Good" method numbered 34%, "Fair" ratings totaled 12%; and "Poor" ratings accounted for 3% of the participants. The ratings of the BRIEFINGS as a method to involve the campus community received a slightly lower evaluation. Of the participants who completed this part of the evaluation, 29% gave an "Excellent" rating; 45% marked "Good"; 25% felt the BRIEFINGS were a "Fair" method; and 4% of the ratings were marked "Poor." The SPS Briefing Packet was just one of 17 methods for student involvement that has been suggested in an earlier study completed by the Forum. The results of this experiment support the need to implement additional methods in the discussion of emerging energy technologies. The method most often mentioned as a possible alternative by the participants is to employ projects which involve audio-visual presentations. Throughout the Public Review Program, the Forum, Citizens' Energy Project and the L-5 Society sent participant questions to DOE for answers. These questions and answers will be published in booklet form and mailed back to the participants to close the communication loop. The mailing of this booklet is scheduled for late April 1980. In the attached illustrations, the following abbreviations apply: HSS-High School Student; HSF-High School Faculty; JCS-Junior College Student; JCF-Junior College Faculty; CS-College Student; CF-College Faculty; NA/P-Non-academic/ Professional.

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