Document DDXnwVmyZjBaqgm7GnD6g72MO

: *> . Industry / Business The U.S. should not abandon Hs breeder reader RAD program and should go ahead with plana to build a Synthetic fiber markets held up well In June, ordi breeder demonstration plant, says the General narily a Slow month for fibers, accorc'ir.g to the Accounting Office in a 149-page report released latest data from the Textile Economics Bureau. late last week. That, in effect. Is the same decision Total man-made fiber shipments tor the month re already reached by fhe Energy Research A Devel mained al the level lor May. while fiber inventories opment Administration. Development should con-T* continued to decline. Stocks are now 3.5% lower tinue. GAO says, because of uncertainties over'?' than May levels and down 47% from their peak future energy demand and U.S. willingness to C0fKs$ last December. Shipments lor June were only 11% se*ve energy. The agency adds that a firm ded- ^ below the year-earlier level, compared with a 31% sion on commercializing the breeder Is seven to 10 - decline for May. years off. and during that time many of the breed* say er's safety, safeguard, and environmental prob-J1'^ Allied Chemical wHl grow synthetic crystals for laser iems are expected to be reduced or eliminated^ and electronics applications in a new plant in Charlotte, N.C. An industry source valued the proj \ v%*' -Birth ____ ypaTa..T*iJ ,V:dBJKS,, defects cannot be correlated with vinyl chloride *, ect at more than $7 million. Major products of its exposure, at least in Painesvilte, Ohio, the Center ;s, r first phase, due lor completion in March will be (or Disease Control has found. Last March the Ohio . magnetic garnet him lor magnetic bubble memo Department of Health reported a significantly in- f. ries and epitaxial silicon hlms on sapphire (or use in creased rate of birth defects in three communities - semiconductors. Allied has been making small having polyvinyl chloride polymerization plants. quan!l*ie~ of botn films (or about three years and But a followup study of the parents of the 14 af- now is going into commercial-scali i^vc'vment fected children showed that none of the parents ' . had ever worked at the polymerization plants or ; s Mobay Is offering a S-gal polycarbonate botlfe (or the lived within 2 miles of them. And a study of a siml-. l bottled water market, following the lead by General lar community In Pennsylvania showed no JfK;>^ Electric. Bottles made of Mobay's Merlon polycar creases in the rate of birth defects. - bonate are being marketed on the West Coast. GE .-A' announced last month that Its lexan resin is being Conlerees dropped the Bauman amendment from the.'^ * '' t introduced in milk bottles, baby boft'es. and water NSF authorization bill, approving a 3791 million bottles throughout the U.S. Both producers stress budget for the agency for fiscal year 1976. The polycarbonate's lighter weight--the GE botlfe Ford Administration had sought $775.4 mHlion.^^Tj weighs a tenth of what a glass bottle would--and unbreakabilily as advantages over glass. Advan The bill authorizes $377.6 million for research oroH`ect support, about $3 million less than NSF asked v-1* tages over plastics include transparency, heat for. -*'d the compromise bill would have NSF-if&w resistance so that the bottles can be sterilized, spend 7.5% of Its research applied to national and tack of contamination of the taste or odor of needs program budget which totals about $65 the water. rmJhon. for work performed by small RAD firms. , Construction activity in the second quarter rose 29% over the first quarter--the first Quarterly increase since the end of 1973 and another indication that the economy Is beginning to recover from the re cession, according to F. W. Dodge's construction Index. The Index slipped 4% from May to June be cause of a drop in uM<f>es construction that had been exceptionally strong In April and May. But the June index is still 5% above its level in June 1974. Government Legislation to set up a While House science adviser's office is being firmed up by the House Science & Technology Committee. Rep Olin E. league (D.Tex.) and Rep. Charles A. Mosher (R -Ohio). the chairman and ranking Republican on the commit tee, have jointly introduced a bill that probably will be quite close to what the commirree eventually votes on. The bill's major provisions include a statement of e national science policy, an C'fice of Science ft Technology Policy whose director and up to lour assistant directors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and a 15-month study of the lederal science apparatus. International Opposition to Dow Chemical** entry Into Japanese chlorine-caustic soda production, sparked by the fijv; Japan Soda Industry Association, has spread to _ the Hokkaido prefecture! government. The prolecture's assembly has passed a resolution urging ; Japanese government refusal of Dow's proposal to put a 1000 menie-ton-a-year (of chlorine) plant on stream by the earty 1980`s (CAEN, July 28, page 5). A prime prospective site b Tomakomal. a -^v, Hokkaido coastal district reserved for develop-, ' ment into one of Japan's largest Industrial piexes. Du Pont plans a major expansion of Its Mtxlcan operation, chairman Irving S. Shapiro announced last. week. The company's present Investment of more /. Than $200 million in Mexico wilt be Increased et^Hj least 25% during the next tew years, he says, although the specific areas lor this investment are not being disclosed. Du Pont has had facilities in ? Mexico (or 50 years and currently manufactures a wide range of products there. Including textile' fibers, agricultural chemicals, and plastics. 1* CXFN AvttuM *, 1*7S RSV 0006666