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Navy blocks Purdue professor's federal funding
By Eric Weddle
The [Lafayette, Indiana] Journal & Courier

Saturday, November 28, 2009

A Purdue University professor who claims to have discovered a relatively safe and inexpensive form of nuclear energy known as bubble fusion has been stripped of authorization to receive federal research money for 28 months.

The Office of Naval Research debarred Rusi Taleyarkhan based on a review of a 2008 Purdue investigation that found research misconduct by the nuclear engineering professor. Last year Purdue stripped Taleyarkhan of a named professorship while allowing him to keep a tenured position on the faculty.

But the Office of Naval Research, according to a memo sent to Taleyarkhan, felt Purdue's penalties against the professor didn't go far enough. Citing misconduct "so severe as to merit debarment," Taleyarkhan is now ineligible for federal funding until Sept. 3, 2011.

On Friday, Taleyarkhan challenged the actions of the Office of Naval Research, which sponsored his research

"Based upon everything that we know now, this particular debarment is illegal and based on political pressure," he said. "All I can say is that I can bank on the truth of our findings. We believe them to be accurate and correct, and there is no need to apologize for the truth."

Taleyarkhan claimed in 2002 to have created nuclear fusion by using sound waves to create rapidly expanding and collapsing bubbles in a liquid.

The finding, if substantiated, could lead to cheaper energy sources with little environmental impact.

Since then Taleyarkhan has faced accusations of fraud and misconduct.

In 2007 Taleyarkhan was cleared in a Purdue inquiry of misconduct charges. But new charges were leveled and a North Carolina congressman urged further investigation, which concluded with a panel from five institutions finding Taleyarkhan guilty on two of 12 charges.

Last year, Taleyarkhan was found guilty of research misconduct by Purdue for adding a student's name to a journal paper knowing the student wasn't involved in the bubble fusion research. The university also claimed he told another journal that his research had been independently verified even though he had been involved in the verification experiment.

The debarment decision was made in May by the Office of Naval Research.

The debarment was reported on the Nature Web site this week.

Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said administrators involved in the issue, including vice president for research Richard Buckius, recently found out about the U.S. Navy's decision.

"The debarment process occurred directly between the Navy and Dr. Taleyarkhan. Purdue was not involved," Norberg said in a statement. "The Navy's debarment determination, which affirms Purdue's investigation, speaks for itself."

According to the Office of Naval Research memo, the "Science and Technology Integrity Board evaluated Purdue's investigative findings and concluded that while Purdue's investigative process was transparent, it appeared to have no affect on Dr. Taleyarkhan's professorship. The STIB further recommended that Dr. Taleyarkhan misconduct was so severe as to merit debarment."

It also states the Office of Naval Research paid University California-Los Angeles researchers to attempt to duplicate Taleyarkhan's sonofusion findings but they could not.

Taleyarkhan, who appealed the debarment and lost, said there are reasons why the Navy's decisions goes against government policy.

Citing federal code, Taleyarkhan said a federal agency may not exclude a person from procuring funding for the purposes of punishment. The same code, however, says exclusion may occur to protect the public interest.

"This debarment was not suppose to be done to supplement these sanctions that were already in place (by Purdue)," he said.

As for the UCLA experiment, Taleyarkhan said scientists there did not follow the correct procedures.

An Office of Naval Research representative could not be immediately reached for comment Friday, which is a federal holiday.

The controversy has created strains in Purdue's School of Nuclear Engineering.

Lefteri Tsoukalas, a Purdue nuclear engineering professor, said while the Office of Naval Research's ruling raises questions about how Purdue handled the investigation, it proves those who questioned Taleyarkhan's findings were correct to do so.

Tsoukalas is currently being sued for defamation by Taleyarkhan.

"They approved Purdue's misconduct findings," he said. "But they did their own (review) because they were unhappy with it.

"And there are still some questions to be answered," he said. "And if we had have courage to look into it, the university and the scientists community will be resolved."

Taleyarkhan maintains his research is correct. Because of the debarment, he said, he lost a four-year research grant.

"In the end it will come out, truth always does," he said. "The big guy always falls, just like Enron." Enron Corp. was a multi-billion energy company that went bankrupt in 2001.

Taleyarkhan has filed a complaint against Purdue with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because he claims he wasn't given due process in the misconduct investigation. He claims the charges he was found guilty of were fabricated.

In March a defamation lawsuit Taleyarkhan filed against a department colleague other than Tsoukalas was settled out of court.

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