Hi Sonny,
The way I figure you got less then 3-4 hours sleep....some vacation <gg>. Clipped this article is everyone after our favorite? This week should be interesting. Earnings IMO "HO HUM" looking to buy Intel under 90......whatcha think?
Enjoy,
D2
ÿ
House Dems Blast Intel-DOE Labs Research Partnership
October 12, 1997 11:30 AM PDT
****House Dems Blast Intel-DOE Labs Research Partnership 10/10/97 WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1997 OCT 10 (NB) -- By Bill Pietrucha. Citing national security concerns and the potential loss of thousands of American jobs, four senior Democrats from the House of Representatives' Science and Commerce Committees have challenged Energy Department (DOE) Secretary Federico Pena to explain the rationale behind a $250 million cooperative research agreement to develop new chips between DOE research laboratories and Intel Corp. [NASDAQ:INTC ].
The challenge comes about a month after Pena announced a partnership between DOE research laboratories and a consortium of US semiconductor companies to develop a "chip for the 21st Century."
The partnership, Pena said, will lead to the mass production of new computer chips that are 100 times faster and have 1,000 times the memory of today's best chips.
Included in the partnership are three DOE labs, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The three labs will form a "virtual national laboratory," Pena said, with the Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Limited Liability Company (EUV LLC), a consortium of US semiconductor companies including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Motorola Corp.
The partnership is expected to use ultraviolet lithography, which uses ultra-violet light to etch lines less than 0.25 microns wide on a computer chip. One inch equals 25,400 microns.
Pena said the technology behind extreme ultraviolet lithography was developed by DOE as part of its nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship program.
"Continued research into this technology is not only important for the future safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile, but could also be used to develop technologies, such as nano- technology and advanced sensors, that are important not only to the Department of Energy's missions in environmental remediation, energy technology development, and fundamental scientific research, but also to ensure US economic competitiveness in the next century," Pena said.
But in a letter sent to Secretary Pena, the four representatives noted that "serious questions have been raised that the main beneficiaries of this cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA), in addition to Intel, will be foreign manufacturers of the production steppers that are the key to chip making."
The representatives signing the letter include ranking Democratic Science Committee member George E. Brown Jr. (California); ranking Democratic Commerce Committee member John Dingell ((Michigan); Tim Roemer (Indiana), ranking Democrat on the Science Committee's energy and environment subcommittee; and Ron Klink (Pennsylvania), ranking Democrat on the Commerce Committee's oversight and investigations subcommittee.
The four Science and Commerce Committee members noted that Intel announced it intends to bring in Nikon, a Japanese company currently the dominant stepper manufacturer, and ASML, a Dutch stepper manufacturer to help develop the technology.
This move, the Representatives wrote, "would result in serious and unprecedented access to US national defense labs by foreign companies."
The Representatives also expressed concerns over foreign companies and governments gaining access to "US sophisticated, electronic-based systems, including weapons systems."
The Department of Energy, however, defended its partnership decision, saying most of the manufacturing would be done in the United States.
The partnership "doesn't entail any change in government policy with access by foreign nationals," Robin Staffin, deputy assistant secretary for research and development in defense programs, said.
And Intel spokesperson Howard High added that "the way the agreement is set up with the Department of Energy is they have specific responsibility and very strict guidelines on what type of information they can release."
(19971010/Press Contact: Dan Pearson, House Science Committee, 202-225-4494. Reported by Newsbytes News Network: newsbytes.com /INTELDOE/PHOTO)
c 1997 Newsbytes |
