Curb on US scientific flow to Soviet Union is urged

The US government may be forced to impose tough restrictions on the flow of scientific information to the Soviet Union, Bobby Ray Inman, deputy director of central intelligence, said.

''I think in six months, a year, or 18 months as the government begins to see the full magnitude of what the Soviet Union gets from the West, there will be a decision,'' he told a House Science and Technology subcommittee.

He said it is vital for scientists to begin voluntarily consulting the government and in some cases submitting research for prepublication review in an effort to forestall legal restrictions on the flow of information.

But Rep. Albert Gore (D) of Tennessee said legal restrictions would be harmful to US science and academic freedom.