Simple, in the context of the time period.
Old Hi-tech company (Thermacore) sells out to large International Conglomerate (Modine). New owner downsizes to pay for the acquisition. First thing to go is R&D that is too far away from being a profit center. R&D is consolidated at new owner’s facility. Inventors at Old company are encouraged into early retirement. Crude oil is selling at $15 barrel – 600% less than today. High grade coal is $20/ton. As for paying lip-service to ecology: natural gas is also cheaper. In short, new owners have a short research horizon, demand immediate profit, and “cold fusion” is in the highest disrepute in Science circles. (Not to mention the other R&D staff wants to keep their jobs, and are saying that it will take too long to commercialize this). It is a perfect storm of coincidence leading to the biggest missed opportunity in alternative energy. From: Charles Hope What happened to these men and their device? How can a functional generator fail to be mass produced all these years later? Robert * Before the courts determine a victor, who will the "people" identify as the inventor? I believe that it may just come down to "branding"… So, if Nickel Hydrogen really takes off, who gets the credit? The first Ni-H device to achieve significant excess energy (> 10 watts continuous) and to run for a year in OU mode, and which was completely verified by NASA, and Haldeman at MIT - was the Thermacore reactor, based on Mills’ theory and invented by Gernert, Shauback, and Ernst. Those three: Gernert, Shauback, and Ernst should get full credit IMO – not Piantelli, not Focardi, not Rossi, not even Mills who was technically the first theorist of Ni-H. These three guys have not only the legal priority date, but also the first replicated, strong, continuous results with gas phase hydrogen. (there was prior subwatt transitory results) As we have mentioned here before, their reactor got more energy per unit of Nickel surface area than the current Rossi reactor, and had not Thermacore gone through merger and corporate reorganization about this time fame (mid nineties) the inventors would surely have tried “nanometric” nickel – which was Rossi’s main contribution. Note Piantelli was late on ‘nano’ too. Rossi does not even get credit for the “nano” since Mills used Raney nickel – by Mills neglected gas-phase. Why did Mills steer clear of gas-phase? ANS: probably he saw early on that the reactants became slowly radioactive, and RM had spurned LENR since the beginning. Thermacore Patent 5,273,635 December 28, 1993 This has the World wide priority date and it has expired. Inventors: Gernert; Nelson J. (Elizabethtown, PA); Shaubach; Robert M. (Litiz, PA); Ernst; Donald M. (Leola, PA) Note: Randell Mills is NOT listed as co-inventor. Jones
