PRINTER'S NO. 3421
No. 234 Session of 1980
INTRODUCED BY PICCOLA, RITTER, ITKIN, CUNNINGHAM, DeVERTER,
KANUCK, CESSAR, POTT, McVERRY, RASCO, TADDONIO, KNEPPER,
FISHER, ZORD, ZWIKL, SEVENTY, STEWART AND AUSTIN,
MAY 27, 1980
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS, MAY 27, 1980
In the House of Representatives, May 27, 1980
1 WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy is planning
2 to award a multimillion dollar research contract to fund a
3 fusion energy research program; and
4 WHEREAS, The research program includes initial capital
5 outlays of $80,000,000 to $90,000,000 for equipment and
6 facilities, an estimated $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 for
7 supporting research and development activities and an estimated
8 annual operating budget of $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 for each
9 of the ten years for which the program is scheduled; and
10 WHEREAS, The research program will bring with it employment
11 for almost 200 engineers, scientists and other technically
12 skilled people with an estimated annual payroll of $6,000,000;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, While Pennsylvania is the home of many distinguished
15 institutions of higher education which contain experienced and
16 innovative research departments, the Commonwealth has not become
1 the home of any significant fusion energy research and
2 development programs; and
3 WHEREAS, Westinghouse Electric Corporation of Pittsburgh,
4 Pennsylvania, in conjunction with Drexel University, the
5 University of Pennsylvania, Lehigh University, Carnegie-Mellon
6 University, the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania
7 State University has submitted a proposal to the United States
8 Department of Energy to bring this research program to
9 Pennsylvania. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation's proposal
10 calls for work to be done by the faculty and students of the
11 various educational institutions as well as at a site at
12 Cheswick, Allegheny County, where the corporation has offered to
13 donate a building and eight acres of land for use by the
14 program. Additionally, the corporation plans to donate
15 $1,200,000 for the work to be done by the Pennsylvania
16 educational institutions; and
17 WHEREAS, This research program will bring badly needed
18 employment to Pennsylvania, enhance the research capabilities of
19 our universities, establish the Commonwealth as a center for
20 fusion energy research, and lead to the establishment of
21 industries that support the development of fusion energy;
22 therefore be it
23 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
24 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby memorializes the
25 United States Department of Energy to award the fusion energy
26 research program contract to the Westinghouse Electric
27 Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the six
28 Pennsylvania institutions of higher education that would benefit
29 from it; and be it further
30 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly requests that the
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1 Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania actively support
2 the efforts to bring the fusion energy research program to
3 Pennsylvania; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the
5 President of the United States, the Secretary of the United
6 States Department of Energy, the Governor of the Commonwealth of
7 Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania/Washington Liasion Office, and to
8 each of the Senators and Representatives from the Commonwealth
9 of Pennsylvania in the Congress of the United States.
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