JERSEY CITY, NJ - Rep. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Democratic Caucus Vice Chair and senior Member on the International Relations Committee, last Friday applauded the selection of Armenia's Yerevan Physics Institute as the site for the new SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) accelerator. The project is being developed under the umbrella of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to encourage regional cooperation in science.

Menendez had co-signed a letter to the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, urging the Administration to lend its support to the candidacy of the Republic of Armenia to be the host country for the UNESCO-approved international scientific research project. This announcement will allow allocation of $15 million in Congressional funding for this project.

"It was critical for my colleagues in Congress and me to urge the Clinton Administration to support Armenia as the final site of SESAME," said Menendez. "This important regional project will be a boost to Armenia's economy, and will benefit Armenia on its path to economic recovery. Armenia's highly trained scientific and technical personnel will help guarantee that this will be a successful project."

The SESAME collaboration consists of many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Caucasus countries that wish to work together in the advancement of science.

SESAME will serve as a training ground for scientists from the region, and will become a world-class user facility. The project's centerpiece is a highly specialized apparatus for imparting very high speeds to charged particles, emitting high-energy radiation. The apparatus, known as BESSY I, is currently based in Berlin, Germany. The German Government has decided to donate this apparatus to the SESAME project. Plans call for it to be shut down and eventually moved to the new location.

Armenia currently has an operational Accelerator and Synchrotron facility at the Yerevan Physics Institute, as well as many scientists who were active in developing and using these machines for a variety of scientific applications, ranging from high energy elementary physics to biology.

Recent funding shortfalls have caused this world-class facility and its world-class personnel to go to waste.

"This project will allow for these facilities and scientists to be put back to work in a way that will benefit scientific research far beyond the borders of Armenia," concluded Menendez.