More than 500 British scientists, including 22 Fellows of the Royal Society, have pledged to refuse any funding arising from the American Strategic Defense Initiative program. In addition, a major trade union representing researchers and technicians is campaigning to keep any contracts from going to U.K. laboratories. The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs opposes any siphoning of jobs from domestic research into defense.
At the same time, a survey of members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in relevant fields has found overwhelming op position to SDI. According to the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research, which polled 663 members, 78 percent of respondents strongly doubt the project can be made "survivable and cost effective at the margin" in the next 25 years and 60 percent believe its annual budget should be cut to $1.5 billion or less.
