The leader in
news and information on
low energy nuclear reactions

  WWW New Energy Times 

HOME NEWS CONFERENCES CONVERSATIONS LINKS SUPPORT ABOUT

Summary of Michael McKubre's Comments on the the 2004 DoE Review

 

MARSEILLE, FRANCE, Nov. 1, 2004 -- Dr. Michael McKubre, director of the Energy Research Center at SRI International, presented an excellent overview of the process for the 2004 U.S. Department of Energy Cold Fusion Review.
 
The representatives from the cold fusion community asked for several things:
- For the DOE to examine the progress of cold fusion research since 1989.
- To decide if there is real science involved.
- To decide if cold fusion research deserves further DOE attention. 
- To consider if there may be a new energy technology.
- To consider if there are new physics involved.
- A broad, inclusive review of the field which would be both public and transparent, that was and appeared objective.
- To be involved in the process.
 

The DOE responded with the following parameters:

- The focus would be very narrow.
- They did not want transparency.
- They did not want any direct communications to the public from the reviewers.
- Their expectations were to produce a simple sentence or two summarizing the overall conclusions.
- They wanted to get the job done quickly.
 

The Focus of the subject matter:  
 - Empirical, experimental observations.
 - The original Fleischmann-Pons claims of excess heat.
 - The original Jones claims of neutrons and charged particles.
 

The evidence:

 - A new physical phenomenon that creates heat in metal deuterides.
 - The amounts of heat created was far beyond any possible chemical reaction, that the signal to noise ratios were significant, and that the effects were observed through a variety of methods.
 - The observations have been reproduced, and are highly reproducible when the proper conditions are achieved.
 - Many of the reasons for past reproducibility failures have now been discovered.
 

New understanding:

 - Helium-4 has been demonstrated to be the primary nuclear product of the reaction.
 - Helium-4 production is shown to be in proportion to the generated heat in agreement with the reaction path: D + D -> 4He + 23.8 MeV (heat).
- The reactions also emit energetic alphas and protons.  
 - Tritium production is noted.
 - The observations do not agree with known science and represent new science.
 - The underlying processes are not yet fully understood.
 - The subject matter is worthy of further attention and large-scale investigation.
 

Participants at the August 23, 2004 Oral Review

-  Presenters: Jones, Lipson, Hubler, Violante, Hagelstein, McKubre
-  Organizers: Hekman, Nagel
-  DoE: P. Dehmer (not present), G. Henry, J. Horwitz, D, Kovar
HOME NEWS CONFERENCES CONVERSATIONS LINKS SUPPORT ABOUT

İNew Energy Times tm All Rights Reserved 2005