ACCESSION NUMBER:340006
FILE ID:ECO309
DATE:04/20/94
TITLE:U.S.-RUSSIA SPACE STATION PROJECT RISKS "WORTH TAKING" (04/20/94)
TEXT:*94042009.ECO ECSTATLD SPACE /rd
(Official cites nonproliferation aspects of project) (680)
By Jim Fuller
USIA Science Writer
Washington -- A U.S. official says that cooperating with Russia on building
1 space station entails risks that are worth taking and that a
congressional vote against the joint project could have a significant
negative impact on the overall relationship between the two countries.
James Collins, senior coordinator for the Office of the Ambassador-at-Large
for the New Independent States at the U.S. Department of State, told a
House subcommittee April 20 that the Russian government has committed
resources to the planned space station project as a result of American
leadership.
"To back out of our largest collaborative project would lend credibility to
Russian hardliners' claims that the U.S. is an unreliable partner and to
their argument that Russia must go it alone," Collins said.
Collins referred to comments made earlier this month by a Russian Foreign
Ministry official who said that almost all Russians have a sense of pride
in their space capabilities and that a congressional vote against the space
station would be an "emotional and psychological hit" against Russia.
Collins said that, in the absence of participation in the space station
project, Russia will continue to subsidize its space sector for reasons
tied to national pride and security.
"The importance Russia attaches to maintaining the scientific and R&D
(research and development) base it has put so much into developing will not
allow it to forsake its space program," he said.
"I would be the last to say that engaging another partner...in a project
this complex does not entail a degree of risk," Collins said. "The real
question before us, I think, is whether the risk is worth taking."
Collins then added that the Clinton administration has decided that the risk
is worth taking, assuming contracts can be negotiated in line with those
outlined in the partnership agreement already reached between the two
nations.
When asked about the possibility of Russia pulling out of the partnership in
the future due to a change in leadership or other factors, Collins said
that the United States is pursuing strategies that prepare for such a
contingency.
"Although we do not expect this outcome, prudent investments of time and
resources are being made to prepare potential alternatives to Russian
participation," he said. "The United States would greatly regret such a
pull-out, however, for its cost in lost cooperation."
In response to another question, Collins said that getting the Russians
committed to working within international nonproliferation norms is a very
important foreign policy objective of the space station agreement.
"Russian agreement to adhere to the guidelines of the Missile Technology
Control Regime (MTCR) established the basis for expanded, more
interdependent cooperation in space," he said.
"The Russians and we agree that nonproliferation and defense conversion in
the space industry are important components of our cooperation on the space
station," he added. He said the Russians are moving to become members of
the MTCR and that both the space station and the MTCR are important
elements of "our nonproliferation policy."
Collins said that one of the key objectives of the station project is to
promote civilianization of the Russian space sector, which until recently
has been almost wholly dominated by the military.
"Cooperation on the space station allows us to engage the defense industrial
complex of Russia in civil cooperation with their U.S. counterparts and
1peeds Russia's transformation to a market economy," he said.
One congressman warned, however, that he has not noticed any groundswell of
support in Congress for "some kind of new age partnership" between Russia
and the United States on the space station.
The congressman reminded Collins that the space station project survived by
only one vote in Congress last year. "And trying to convince
representatives this year to spend very nearly the same amount of money on
a space station that is in fact a collaboration with Russia, with all the
attendant risks...becomes a much tougher sell," he said.
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