Energy Secretary Warns Weapons Scientists Not to Disagree in Public

LIVERMORE, Calif. — Energy Secretary John S. Herrington, citing a festering dispute among researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory over a cornerstone of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, Friday cautioned the nation’s weapons scientists against publicly airing their disagreements.

Speaking at the laboratory, Herrington said Roy D. Woodruff’s criticism of fellow Livermore scientists Edward Teller and Lowell Wood over their optimistic assessments of the X-ray laser has damaged both the lab and the project, and is being exploited by political opponents of SDI.

“I think there should be freedom of expression within the laboratory,” Herrington told reporters, “but I don’t favor having scientists going public on opposite sides of the issue if it’s going to be damaging to the laboratory. I think all this needs to be fought out inside the lab.”

Academic Freedom Coveted

Lawrence Livermore, like other national weapons laboratories, gets the bulk of its funds from the Department of Energy. But the labs at Livermore and Los Alamos, N.M., are managed by the University of California. Scientists at the laboratories speak with favor about the academic freedom they are afforded through their university affiliation.

Herrington spoke in response to questions about the claim by Woodruff, who directed weapons development at the lab, that Teller and Wood made misleading statements between 1983 and 1985 to top Reagan Administration officials about the “Super Excaliber” project of SDI, also know as “Star Wars.” “Super Excaliber” is a theoretical laser that if built could destroy incoming missiles but has been mired in controversy and faces budget cuts.

Woodruff resigned as head of weapons development as a result of the dispute in 1985. The affair became public last year when details of it were released by a group opposed to SDI, and Rep. George E. Brown (D-Colton) requested a General Accounting Office report.

‘National Asset’

The GAO report issued last week said much of what Teller said was in line with the early optimism of scientists who worked on the project, but also said some of Teller’s predictions went well beyond his colleagues’ assessments.

Herrington, commenting for the first time on the dispute, called Teller a “national asset” whose “credibility is very, very high.” Teller, who helped found the lab in 1952 and led the development of the hydrogen bomb, has been among the strongest and most effective promoters of the Star Wars concept.

“I put my money on Dr. Teller,” Herrington said.

“I appreciate the restraint that Dr. Teller has shown in failing to respond, or refusing to respond,” the energy secretary continued.

“It is very obvious to me that . . . Woodruff’s remarks are being exploited and being used by anti-SDI forces and interests, and therefore is not to the good of the program, nor to the good of the laboratory. I do think he is being used.”

‘Out of Proportion’

Herrington said scientists should be allowed to write letters and articles on various scientific issues, but said the Woodruff affair has “gotten totally out of proportion.”

In an interview Friday, Woodruff defended his right to speak out about statements by Teller and Teller’s protege Wood. He contended that it is his responsibility--and that of other laboratory scientists--to provide technical assessments in their fields.

“If it is used by anti-SDI people, or pro-SDI people, or Republicans or Democrats, that’s well and good,” he said.

Woodruff said he hopes to continue working at Livermore. However, he has put his home up for sale on the chance that his position at Livermore becomes “untenable.” He also said he has detected “subtle” attempts to keep information from him in his new job as head of the laboratory’s effort to verify the Soviet Union’s compliance with arms limitation treaties.

‘Philosophically Incompatible’

“I have no desire to damage the lab,” the 20-year veteran of the lab added. “But I do place my country and my principles above the lab.”

In other remarks, Herrington said he opposes legislation by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) to increase state oversight of the lab. The Cabinet secretary said he and Hayden are “philosophically incompatible” and charged that Hayden’s “motives aren’t oversight--it’s to cripple the lab.”

Herrington also said he hopes to increase security at the lab, in part by instituting drug testing here and at other Department of Energy sites, and said efforts continue to make Lawrence Livermore “drug free.”

A 1985 undercover drug investigation at Lawrence Livermore was the subject of a recent congressional hearing in which drug agents complained that their work was halted prematurely.