A pre-heating conference, perhaps as soon as next week, will initiate a complicated review of possible cancer-causing exhaust produced by Harvard's controversial Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP).

The conference will establish the date and procedures for the actual hearing which will investigate the links between cancer and diesel emissions of the plant's power generators.

The question of MATEP's carcinogenic danger is the last requiring resolution before the plant can fully operate. Currently, delays have boosted the cost of MATEP to $260 million, five times original estimates.

Following completed testing and sampling of the diesels, the conference will establish the procedures for the virtually unprecedented inquiry into the dangers of cancer in a massive diesel plant. said David M. Rosen Harvard's MATEP spokesman.

Although the plant's steam and chilled water facilities are operating, local residents, citing the potential health hazards, have repeatedly opposed operation of the huge diesel engines.

Last December, Harvard gained star approval to comfort into a determine the health risks posed by the plan's exhaust emissions.

The tasks are necessary since there is little date on the links between diesel emissions and cancer.