On Nov 17, 2009, at 1:16 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
This is a perennial subject. I suppose that cold fusion bombs are
probably not possible, for the reasons given below, but I do not
think suppose can roll them out definitively.
First, the reasons why they may be possible:
1. Several cold fusion devices have exploded.
2. Martin Fleischmann worried that cold fusion might have weapons
applications, which is one of the reasons he wanted to keep the
research secret for several more years back in 1989. I gather he
still worries about this. I do not know his reasons but he is a
smart cookie so perhaps there is something to it.
Clearly, you can make a small bomb. But I doubt you can make a
kiloton or megaton scale device, for the following reasons --
1. Cold fusion is not a chain reaction.
2. Cold fusion cannot exist without an intact lattice.
Cold fusion is not a chain reaction in the same sense a fission
bomb is. That is to say, each nuclear reaction does not give rise
directly to one or more other reactions, on the timescale of a
nuclear reaction. Cold fusion does exhibit positive feedback, but
that is not the same as a chain reaction. As far as I know,
positive feedback comes about because the cold fusion reaction
heats the metal, and the heat increases the reaction rate.
Apparently my writing was just too bit vague, too veiled, and too
much was left to read between the lines. I fixed that in draft #4 of
Cold Fusion Nuclear Reactions:
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/CFnuclearReactions.pdf
Read pages 9, 10 and 12. They are in direct conflict with your
statements above.
BTW, I read a recent article you put on LENR-CANR.org that showed a
beautiful graph of an excursion event. Do you recall which one it
was? My memory is getting so bad.
Also BTW, I referenced your Barnhart et all article URL for LENR-
CANR.org, so thanks for posting that.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
