At 04:05 PM 12/6/2009, Horace Heffner wrote:
Jones,
Our conversation is becoming garbled. I'll summarize.
I wrote:
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SPAWAR proposed the triple tracks were from the three alpha producing
reaction:
n + C12 + (9 MeV minimum kinetic energy for subsequent triple
tracks seen) --> 3 He
This was logical because that is commonly seen in CR-39 when high
energy neutrons are present. SPAWAR suggests the neutrons come from:
D + T --> 4He (3.5 MeV) + n (14.1 MeV)
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You wrote:"... deuterium does not fuse at ambient temperatures ...
and never, never, never does 12C fission from a neutron capture."
I wrote: "The 3 alpha reaction 12C(n,n')3alpha is well known. I
don't know what you are talking about. The triple tracks are rare.
They accumulate to an observable number over a period of days in
CR-39. Their counts would be buried in background for a particle
counter."
*Unless* you can get the particle detector *very* close to the source
of neutrons, very difficult to arrange with electronic detectors.
Even then the absolute numbers are low. Neutrons were, in fact, long
reported, but the levels were so close to background, with the
detection techniques being used, that it was always possible to claim
that this was background radiation with some semblance of cogency.
You wrote:
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"I am talking about essentially a zero cross-section of this reaction
for
thermal neutrons. Duh! This is why graphite is used as a moderator in
fission reactors where the average fission neutron starts out at
about one
MeV.
The supposition of higher energy neutrons in LENR is absolutely
ludicrous
after all of these years of non-detectability !!!
Geeze, where is any semblance of reality in this claim of carbon
fission?"
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I think you need to read the SPAWAR articles. SPAWAR detected triple
tracks deep the CR-39. They show the photos. Such triple tracks in
CR-39 are common when high energy neutrons are present. It is a
logical conclusion on their part that their co-deposition experiment
created enough T that DT reactions were detected. This is uncommon in
the CF field, and thus assumed to be possibly unique to SPAWAR's
technique.
Perhaps. I'll note that neutron production seems to be greatly
amplified if the cathode substrate is gold. This leads, for me and
some others, to some suspicion that a different reaction is involved.
It doesn't really matter, regardless of the cause, the reaction
generating neutrons is rare enough that it could not possibly explain
the excess heat and helium. Rather, it is a secondary reaction, which
is exactly what should be expected, unless somehow, indeed, the
reaction is able to "magically" transfer most of its energy to the
lattice, all the time.
For example, under the TSC theory, the Be-8 nucleus will normally
radiate most of its energy to the lattice through photon emission,
before decaying. But there will be a certain incidence of Be-8
fission before this has occurred, hence there will be some hot
alphas. Hot enough to cause fusion. There may be other side-reactions
or rare pathways. What can be said at this point is that (1) neutrons
have been detected, above background, with no explanation other than
some reaction in the experimental cell, and not found with controls,
and (2) there is therefore a nuclear reaction *of some kind* taking place.
Neutrons have been detected in many CF experiments, just with *very*
low branching ratios, and low neutron to tritium ratios as well.
Yes. Exactly.
I have seen *no* evidence that thermal neutrons exist in quantities
within even orders of magnitude of enough to account for cold fusion
excess heat. If that happened then neutron activation of lattice
elements and lattice impurities would produce a massive signal that
neutron activation had occurred. Theories which predict CF is
produced by slow neutrons are therefore without experimental
foundation. There *is* evidence in CR-39 tracks of medium energy
neutrons, on the order of 1-3 MeV, via knock-on reactions with
protons in the CR-39.
I will look for slow neutrons using a high-efficiency Boron-10
neutron converter screen. I don't expect to find them, beyond maybe a
few strays, but experiment is king. However, I'll have to leave it to
someone else to theorize about what percentage of slow neutrons
generated in the cathode itself might make it to a detector surface.
I'm not sure I'm ready to dunk my precious Boron-10 in the
electrolyte, so this could be a reason to use the windowed cells I
have, with a 6 micron protective mylar window between the cathode and
the Boron-10, plus the Boron-10 base layer (100 microns of polyester).
