EUROPE:
JET Staff OKs Pay Settlement
Judy Redfearn
A last-minute agreement that compensates British staff for lost wages will keep Europe's premier fusion facility open--at a price: Half of the money is expected to come from tightening the 1999 operating budget of the Joint European Torus (JET), including reducing the number of hours the machine will be running. The out-of-court settlement clears the way for changes in the management of JET, which since 1979 has been Europe's major contributor to the international effort to design a next-generation fusion machine.