U.S. Navy Report Supports Cold Fusion

A new official report prepared by the U.S. Navy strongly supports cold fusion research and its funding:
TECHNICAL REPORT 1862, February 2002
Thermal and Nuclear Aspects of the Pd/D₂O System
 

This report has been made a public document with unlimited distribution. Below we provide some of the introductory material from the report's two volumes. The full report is available on the internet in two electronic formats:

http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sti/publications/pubs/tr/1862/tr1862-vol1.pdf
http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sti/publications/pubs/tr/1862/tr1862-vol2.pdf

Dr. Frank E. Gordon, Head - Navigation and Applied Sciences Department
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego writes:

"As I write this Foreword, California is experiencing rolling blackouts due to power shortages. Conventional engineering, planned ahead, could have prevented these blackouts, but it has been politically expedient to ignore the inevitable. We do not know if Cold Fusion will be the answer to future energy needs, but we do know the existence of Cold Fusion phenomenon through repeated observations by scientists throughout the world. It is time that this phenomenon be investigated so that we can reap whatever benefits accrue from additional scientific understanding. It is time for government funding organizations to invest in this research."


TECHNICAL REPORT 1862 February 2002
Thermal and Nuclear Aspects of the Pd/D₂O System
Volume 1: A Decade of Research at Navy Laboratories
S. Szpak, P. A. Mosier-Boss, Editors

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego, SSC San Diego San Diego, CA 92152-5001

P.A. Miller, CAPT, USN Commanding Officer R.C. Kolb, Executive Director

Administrative Information

The work described in this report was performed for the Office of Naval Research through the collaboration of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego (SSC San Diego); the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake; and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Released by G.W. Anderson, Head, Applied Research and Technology Branch, Under authority of R.H. Moore, Head, Environmental Sciences Division.

Contributing authors (in alphabetical order): Dr. Pamela A. Mosier-Boss (Spawar Systems Center San Diego), Dr. Scott R. Chubb (Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC), Professor Martin Fleischmann, F.R.S.,United Kingdom, Dr. M. Ashraf Imam, Naval Research Laboratory,Washington, DC, Dr. Melvin H. Miles, Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreeboro, TN, Dr. Stanislaw Szpak, San Diego, CA.

Foreword

Twelve years have passed since the announcement on 23 March 1989 by Professors Fleischmann and Pons that the generation of excess enthalpy occurs in electrochemical cells when palladium electrodes, immersed in D₂O + LiOH electrolyte, are negatively polarized. The announcement, which came to be known as "Cold Fusion," caused frenzied excitement. In both the scientific and news communities, fax machines were used to pass along fragments of rumor and "facts." (Yes, this was before wide spread use of the internet. One can only imagine what would happen now.) Companies and individuals rushed to file patents on yet to be proven ideas in hopes of winning the grand prize. Unfortunately, the phenomenon described by Fleischmann and Pons was far from being understood and even factors necessary for repeatability of the experiments were unknown. Over the next few months, the scientific community became divided into the "believers" and the "skeptics." The "believers" reported the results of their work with enthusiasm that at times overstated the significance of their results. On the other hand, many "skeptics" rejected the anomalous behavior of the polarized Pd/D system as a matter of conviction, i.e. without analyzing the presented material and always asking "where are the neutrons?" Funding or research quickly dried up as anything related to "Cold Fusion" was portrayed as a hoax and not worthy of funding. The term "Cold Fusion" took on a new definition much as the Ford Edsel had done years earlier.

By the Second International Conference on Cold Fusion, held at Villa Olmo, Como, Italy, in June/July 1991, the altitude toward Cold Fusion was beginning to take on a more scientific basis. The number of flash-in-the-pan "believers" had diminished, and the "skeptics" were beginning to be faced with having to explain the anomalous phenomenon, which by this time had been observed by many credible scientists throughout the world. Shortly after this conference, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) proposed a collaborative effort involving the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, RDT&E Division, which subsequently has become the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego (SSC San Diego); the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake; and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). The effort's basic premise was to investigate the anomalous effects associated with the prolonged charging of the Pd/D system and "to contribute in collegial fashion to a coordinated tri-laboratory experiment."

Each laboratory took a different area of research. At San Diego, our goal was to understand the conditions that initiate the excess heat generation (the Fleischmann-Pons effect) and the search for evidence that indicates their nuclear origin. To eliminate the long incubation times (often weeks), Drs. Stan Szpak and Pam Boss decided to prepare the palladium electrodes by the co-deposition technique. Initially, they concentrated on tritium production and the monitoring of emanating radiation. More recently, they extended their effort to monitoring surface temperature via IR imaging technique and showed the existence of discrete heat sources randomly distributed in time and space. This discovery may prove to be a significant contribution to the understanding of the phenomenon.

At China Lake, Dr. Miles and his collaborators showed that a correlation exists between the rate of the excess enthalpy generation and the quantity of helium in the gas stream. Such a correlation is the direct evidence of the nuclear origin of the Fleischmann-Pons effect.

The research at NRL was directed toward the metallurgy of palladium and its alloys and the theoretical aspects of the Fleischmann-Pons effect. In particular, Dr. Imam prepared Pd/B alloys that Dr. Miles used in calorimetric experiments. It was shown that these alloys yielded reproducible excess enthalpy generation with minimal incubation times (approximately 1 day). The theoretical work of Dr. Chubb contributed much to our understanding of the Fleischmann-Pons effect.

Although funding for Cold Fusion ended several years ago, progress in understanding the phenomenon continues at a much slower pace, mostly through the unpaid efforts of dedicated inquisitive scientists. In preparation of this report the authors spent countless hours outside of their normal duties to jointly review their past and current contributions, including the "hidden" agenda that Professor Fleischmann pursued for several years in the 1980s when he was partially funded by ONR. Special thanks are extended to all scientists who have worked under these conditions, including those who contributed to this report and especially to Professor Fleischmann.

As I write this Foreword, California is experiencing rolling blackouts due to power shortages. Conventional engineering, planned ahead, could have prevented these blackouts, but it has been politically expedient to ignore the inevitable. We do not know if Cold Fusion will be the answer to future energy needs, but we do know the existence of Cold Fusion phenomenon through repeated observations by scientists throughout the world. It is time that this phenomenon be investigated so that we can reap whatever benefits accrue from additional scientific understanding. It is time for government funding organizations to invest in this research.

Dr. Frank E. Gordon, Head Navigation and Applied Sciences Department
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego

Table of Contents (Volume 1)
1. The Emergence of Cold Fusion- S. Szpak and P. A. Mosier-Boss
2. Events in a Polarized Pd+D Electrode Prepared by Co-deposition Technique - S. Szpak and P. A. Mosier-Boss
3. Excess Heat and Helium Production in Palladium and Palladium Alloys - Melvin H. Miles
4. Analysis of Experiment MC-21: A Case Study
Part I: Development of Diagnostic Criteria
Part II: Application of Diagnostic Criteria - S. Szpak, P.A. Mosier-Boss, M.H. Miles, M.A. Imam and M. Fleischmann
5. An Overview of Cold Fusion Theory - Scott Chubb
Appendix: Listing of Publications/Presentations Related to Cold Fusion by Navy Laboratories

Thermal and Nuclear Aspects of the Pd/D₂O System
Volume 2: Simulation of the Electrochemical Cell (ICARUS) Calorimetry

Foreword

The calorimetry of any electrochemical cell involves two type of activities: data collection and data evaluation. The required data are the cell potential-time and cell temperature-time series. The evaluation is based on conservation laws subject to constraints dictated by cell design and the adapted experimental procedure.

Volume 2 of this report deals with the modeling and simulation of the Dewar-type calorimeter. It was written by Professor Fleischmann to provide an authoritative discussion of the calorimetry of electrochemical cells. The emphasis is on the interpretation of data and the accuracy of the determination of the excess enthalpy generation via the appropriate selection of heat transfer coefficients. The discussion of the calorimetry of the Dewar-type cells is presented in the form of technical report for a number of reasons, among them: (i) its length would likely prohibit publication in topical journals, (ii) to clarify misunderstandings regarding the principles of calorimetry as applied to electrochemical cell in general and to the cell employed by Fleischmann and his collaborators, in particular.

- S. Szpak and P.A. Mosier-Boss, eds.

Table of Contents (Volume 2) Introduction - Symbols Used
1. The Evolution of the Icarus Data Evaluation Strategies.
2. Definition of the Heat Transfer Coefficients.
3.Differential Equations Governing the Behavior of the Calorimeters: Simulations of the Temperature-Time Series.
4. Specification of the Icarus-1 Experimental Protocols and Data Evaluation Procedures.
5. Evaluation of the "Raw Data" Generated Using the Simulation Described in Section 4.
6. Evaluation of a Measurement Cycle for a "Blank Experiment" Using an Icarus-2 System.
7. Assessment of the Specification of the Icarus-1 Experimental Protocols and Data Evaluation Procedures.