THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996              TAG: 9602230433
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                       LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

PHYSICS LAB COULD BE SPARED THE WORST OF CUTS, OFFICIAL SAYS BUT CEBAF STILL MUST WATCH FUNDS, ENERGY'S KREBS SAYS.

Hampton Roads' largest nuclear physics laboratory probably will be spared the worst of pending federal budget cuts - at least through the end of the present year.

Speaking Thursday, Martha Krebs, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Research, said the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility on the Peninsula remains ``one of the flagships of (the government's) energy research program.''

Nevertheless, Krebs said the Newport News lab, also known as CEBAF, would have to watch its pennies, despite bolstered congressional funding for selected basic science ventures.

Director Hermann Grunder ``will have to become more cost-effective in operating CEBAF,'' she said, during remarks made at the physics laboratory. ``In addition to reducing costs, it will become more important than ever to (seek partnerships). CEBAF already has a leg up.''

CEBAF officials were cheered Wednesday by news that the $600 million facility, which employs 425, would receive $9 million from the Pentagon to work on a prototype of an infrared laser. Later generations of the device could one day be mounted onboard Navy ships and used to destroy cruise missiles fired at U.S. vessels.

The military project stems from the physics lab's work on a so-called free-electron laser, which has attracted the attention of national manufacturers who hope to use it in the textile, packaging, electronics and materials industries.

Scientists at CEBAF will continue work on an industrial version of the laser, even as they prepare a prototype for military testing by late 1997.

``It's a wonderful piece of luck,'' said Nathan Isgur, head of the CEBAF nuclear theory group. ``It's a piece of equipment that both our customers want.''

Asked whether CEBAF's $68 million annual budget may be at risk from future cuts, both the DOE's Krebs and director Grunder professed ignorance.

``It's above my pay scale,'' Grunder said.

In late May, CEBAF will be formally dedicated in a ceremony timed to coincide with an international conference in nearby Williamsburg. Officials said the complex could be renamed at that time. by CNB