(Blue and red arrows added by SBK) Graph is figure 1 from Fleischmann, Martin and Pons, Stanley, “Calorimetry of the Pd-D2O System; From Simplicity Via Complications to Simplicity,” Physics Letters A , 176, p. 118, (1993) (Similar paper)

Kirk Shanahan is a physical chemist employed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory. As this Freedom of Information Act request response shows, he spends a large amount of time attempting to discredit low-energy nuclear reaction research claims.

I published the graph above in my recent White Paper “Power Generation Via LENRs.” I received a response regarding the graph from Einar Tennfors, a retired Swedish plasma physicist. He claimed that the anomaly shown in the graph, an increase in LENR cell temperature concurrent with a decrease in input power, was easily explained by conventional science.

Tennfors said the temperature rise was due to increased conductivity in the cell. I asked him what causes the cell conductivity to increase. He said ion mobility increases with temperature. I asked him what causes the temperature rise that causes the ion mobility to increase. He said the heating is due to the interaction between the ion current and the surrounding ions.

I decided to seek a critic who could attempt a better argument. Shanahan was the man.

Continue reading »

Power Generation Through LENRs: Prospects, Problems and Paths Forward
A White Paper by Steven B. Krivit
Copyright © 2017 S.B. Krivit — All Rights Reserved
Feb. 23, 2017

Introduction

For the past 100 years, most scientists thought that nuclear reactions could occur only in high-energy physics experiments and in massive nuclear reactors. But experimental research, and the Widom-Larsen theory, suggest that there is more to know: Nuclear reactions can also occur in small, benchtop experiments. Low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR) research has the potential to open the door to a new kind of nuclear power generation without harmful radiation emission, greenhouse gas production, or the possibility of runaway chain reactions.

The Widom-Larsen theory, which does not require any new physics, provides a sensible, mathematically rigorous explanation for most of the previously incomprehensible experimental observations. A complete list of the Widom-Larsen papers, including critique and response to critique, are available on this Web page. A brief summary of the seven papers is available on request.

LENRs are neither fusion nor fission but instead provide a third potential pathway to nuclear energy. LENRs may also provide a means of transmuting elements, including rendering dangerous radioactive isotopes inert. LENR fuels may consist of ordinary hydrogen, along with metallic nanoparticles composed of nickel, titanium, palladium, other transition metals, or tungsten. At first glance, a clean, radiation-free nuclear energy technology sounds too good to be true; this concern has been one of the impediments to broader acceptance of LENRs. This paper outlines key evidence that establishes the scientific validity of LENRs, identifies issues interfering with its acceptance, and discusses future opportunities in LENR research.

Contents

Heat Sources
Nuclear Evidence: Shifts in Isotopic Abundances
Nuclear Evidence: LENR Transmutations
Nuclear Evidence: Small Emissions of Low-Energy Neutrons
LENR Power: Good Science
LENR Power: Poorly Reproducible
LENR Power: Bad News
The State of the Art
Three Impediments: Human Issues
Paths Forward
Opportunities

Download