THE BFKL POMERON - CAN IT BE DETECTED

An estimate is derived for the absolute magnitude of BFKL pomeron exch ange at t = 0. The analysis takes account of energy conservation and o f the need realistically to model non-perturbative contributions to th e BFKL integral from infrared regions. Experiment finds that there is little or no room for a significant BFKL term in soft processes, and t his constrains its magnitude in hard and semihard processes, so that i t is unlikely to be detectable.