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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) officials say they were "shocked" last Monday to learn that the Department of Energy (DOE) planned to end its support of the university's Bates Linear Accelerator Center. Although they knew the facility, part of the school's nuclear science laboratory, would be vulnerable in a tight budget, they were optimistic that money would be found to keep it running. But there was no mistaking the message: The shutdown was mentioned several times in the president's budget request, released on I February.
Shock quickly turned to elation, however. Within minutes of the budget's formal release, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was on the phone to MIT President Charles Vest 5 explaining that the department had changed its mind. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2000 would be amended to continue support for the 30-year-old facility, the secretary told Vest, including funds for a new detector to study the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei. Instead of spending $2.5 million next year to decommission the accelerator, DOE now plans to...