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.
I assume that as soon as the lattice melts or
vaporizes the reaction stops. And it will melt
locally long before you get multiple generations
of reactions from a large fraction of the total
population of deuterons, because heat conducts
very slowly compared to the timescale of a
nuclear reaction. It conducts at the speed of
sound. Suppose a tiny spot on the cathode becomes
very hot because multiple reactions occur there.
This may trigger a runaway reaction in the area
right around that spot which gets hot, but by the
time the rest of the cathode gets hot, that spot
will have melted or evaporated. I doubt that the
heat can spread over the whole cathode and
trigger a uniform reaction over a large volume
(or surface area), so that a large fraction of
the deuterons present in the lattice participate
in the reaction. By the time the neighboring
metal or nanoparticles heat up, the metal in the
starting location is gone and the reaction is quenched.
Regarding this subject Jones Beene wrote:
Going back to Robert Forward we find the idea of
really cold fusion
plus the realization that
bosons could be involved in LENR in a higher
temp range than with the Bose condensate . . .
it very likely that near absolute zero the
rate of reaction could possibly be poised to
go into a rapid chain-reaction mode, if there is
a stable BEC and extremely high loading.
I do not know about this theory but cold fusion
at room temperature and in the positive feedback
high temperatures exhibits no signs of being a
chain reaction as far as I know, so I do not see
why it would become a chain reaction at cryogenic temperatures.
IIRC - Jed has led the chorus for the argument
that goes something like this: our military
bureaucracy is really not that smart and there
is no high-level conspiracy to quash LENR just
basic ignorance. The bureaucrats could not keep it secret, in any event.
I know for a fact that our military bureaucracy
is not that smart when it comes to cold fusion.
This is an observation, not speculation. I have
spoken with some of them and I know many other
people who have communicated much more
extensively at much higher levels, and they
confirm my observation. This is also true of the
Japanese bureaucracy under the previous two Prime Ministers.
The bureaucrats or Men in Black have never lifted
a finger to stop me from publishing information
about cold fusion, so I suppose they are not
trying to keep it secret. Take the Defense
Intelligence Agency report. As noted it is based
on open sources, and those sources are credible.
In fact you could write just about every sentence
based on stuff at LENR-CANR.org. You would not
even have to spring for Ed's book or an ICCF
proceedings -- although anyone serious about the
subject should do that. So if they are trying to
suppress this they are doing a terrible job.
The only people who have ever asked me to remove
papers from LENR-CANR are publishers who do not
want me to violate copyright. (A few authors
prefer not to have me upload in the first place.)
The only calls I have gotten from bureaucrats
were requests for copies of papers not on file.
Naturally if there were a high-level conspiracy I
would not hear about it. But it seems to me that
the non-conspiratorial actions by people like
Robert Park and the editors of the Scientific
American and Nature can account for the
opposition to cold fusion. If there is a
high-level conspiracy that meets every 6 months
the members are not busy. They convene a meeting
and go through a quick checklist:
"Are there any positive reports on cold fusion in
the Washington Post or any other mass media?
Nope. Nothing since CBS, and that's off the radar screen by now.
Are Robert Park, the APS and the DoE still at it? Yup.
Any funding for cold fusion? A tiny bit at the NRL -- nothing to worry about.
Has any major scientist come out in favor of cold
fusion in the last six months? Nope.
Okay folks, meeting adjourned. See you next June."
- Jed
