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Pentagon Report Warns of 'Technological Surprise'
By Sharon Weinberger
Sphere

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

An area of science long rejected by the mainstream scientific community has caught the eye of a U.S. intelligence agency, which is now warning of the possibility of a new type of weapon of mass destruction.

More than 20 years after two chemists in Utah claimed they were able to generate nuclear reactions at room temperature -- quickly dubbed cold fusion -- many scientists still ridicule the field. But a new report by the Defense Intelligence Agency claims that cold fusion could present a "technological surprise" to the United States.

Nuclear fusion, such as the process that takes place in a thermonuclear weapon, typically requires extremely high temperatures. Proponents of cold fusion, or what many now call "low-energy nuclear reactions," purport to accomplish this at room temperature.

Labeled a "Technology Forecast," the eight-page report dated Nov. 13 bears the subheading "Worldwide Research on Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions Increasing and Gaining Acceptance." Among the potential applications, the report says, one possibility could be a new "high-energy density explosive."

A copy of the report was obtained by New Energy Times, an online newsletter that tracks the field.

Steve Krivit, editor of New Energy Times, said he was "glad to see that the U.S. government is recognizing the reality of low-energy nuclear reaction research" given its previous lack of interest in the field. But even Krivit had doubts about cold fusion.

"The findings look less like fusion and more like neutron-catalyzed processes, which show as much, if not more, promise for energy production," he said.

A majority of the sources cited in the report are from papers and proceedings published by cold fusion scientists. There is no mention of criticism of the field, other than to note that most science journals shun papers on the topic. Yet the report says that DIA assesses with "high confidence" that cold fusion, if real, would be a "disruptive technology [that] could revolutionize energy production and storage."

University of Maryland physicist Robert Park, a longtime cold fusion critic, has previously mocked assertions that low-energy nuclear reactions could be used in a bomb. "A nuke?" Park wrote in 2004. "The cold fusion guys can't brew a cup of tea."

The Defense Intelligence Agency did not respond immediately to questions about the report.

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