Summary: The Department of Energy (DOE) may have a hard time getting the foreign contributions needed to meet its $1.7 billion goal for the Superconducting Super Collider. As of the end of fiscal year 1992, DOE had received about $15 million in foreign contributions consisting of pledges and contributions of labor and materials from India, Russia, and China. This amount is close to the $20 million DOE estimated that it would receive by the end of fiscal year 1992. The Superconducting Super Collider funding profile, however, calls for DOE to obtain an additional $1.1 billion in foreign contributions through fiscal year 1996. Although most of this money will have to come from Japan, Japanese officials have said that they are still studying the merits of the project and have yet to decide whether to contribute. If the foreign contributions do not materialize, the tab for U.S. taxpayers will increase regardless of whether Congress decides to make up for the funding shortfall or let the project's schedule slip. According to DOE, a one-year slippage in the project's overall completion schedule would boost costs by about $400 million--or roughly $1 million a day.
