Joint Centers to Seek Outside Funds

Narjes said he expected the laboratories now funded almost entirely by the EEC, to make up for lost income through contract research with private companies and national governmental agencies. He said the combined staffs should remain near their present size of 2,260 scientists. The centers will cost the EEC about $115 million in each of the next four years, with three-fourths of the budget devoted to Ispra. Established in the 1950s, Ispra has concentrated on solar energy, nudear safety and reactor design, but has often been surpassed by national programs in these fields. Lord Plumb, the president of the European Parliament, said recently that he would soon launch “a root and branch reform of the center, with the overall objective of making it more cost-effective and market-oriented.”