Sveinn Ólafsson on the Cold Fusion Now! podcast

Dr. Sveinn Ólafsson is the guest on the Cold Fusion Now! podcast with Ruby Carat. Dr. Ólafsson works with a form of Rydberg matter called ultra-dense hydrogen which could be related to the cold fusion/LENR reaction.


Listen to the Cold Fusion Now! podcast with Dr. Sveinn Ólafsson on the Podcast page.


Dr. Ólafsson received his Ph.D. from Uppsala University and is currently a research professor at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences at University of Iceland. He had a career in hydrogen storage before Andrea Rossi sparked his interest in cold fusion.

“In the evenings, I just started to read”, says Dr. Ólafsson, “and I googled, by chance, ‘dense hydrogen‘, and up came Leif Holmlid. ”

He describes how Dr. Leif Holmlid was researching Rydberg matter and discovered a new state of “ultra-dense hydrogen”.

“What was so intriguing was the short distance between two protons that he claimed. I started contact with him shortly after that, and that is the start of any experimental work I have done in this field.”

“He’s been the only guy doing this, except with a few graduate students initially, but he retired a few years ago. Since then, he has been alone, and after I contacted him, there was two of us then in the beginning, and then Sindre came later.”

Drs. Sveinn Olafsson (L) and Leif Holmlid (R). Photo from Experimental Techniques for Studying Rydberg Matter of Hydrogen by Sveinn Olafsson from the 2019 CF/LANR Colloquium at MIT

He uses a very common techniques which is time of flight spectroscopy, or sometimes time of flight mass spectroscopy. This is widely used in all kinds of chemistry experiments. “

“What is different here, is that Leif has a different production unit of ions – or sample – which he is studying. So he was initially just interested in the Rydberg states of atoms, and this whole time, he has been improving techniques to study that.”

“And by chance he noticed that the time of flight was too short, actually, so that started the ultra-dense hydrogen.”

In time of flight, he is referring to is the time it takes a particle from the sample region to be ejected and travel down a tube to a detector some distance away after being stimulated by a laser. Dr. Ólafsson explains the process.

“What the laser is doing, since it has wavelength of say 1 micron, it’s actually letting zillions of electrons and protons to oscillate. So it’s joggling something there, and these millions of particles somehow react and something flies out.”

Time of Flight Set-up. Slide from Experimental Techniques for Studying Rydberg Matter of Hydrogen by Sveinn Olafsson from the 2019 CF/LANR Colloquium at MIT.

“The time-of flight is measured initially in the normal state of hydrogen Rydberg matter. When the laser breaks up these clusters, the individual atoms travel apart because of the positive charges. Some times of flight are so short, that the energy, or the closeness of these two entities, is so close, they would have to be 2.3 picometers apart initially – that is the ultra-dense state.”

“But also at the same time, you can see they were close at normal chemical distances also. So you can see both the normal state and the dense state using the same instrument. What is different is that in one case you’re having time of flight in microseconds, and the next you have time of flight in nanoseconds, or that range.”

“Time of flight is a technique used in normal chemistry all the time. You hit it with a laser and these chemical entities fly apart, usually just 5 eV, and that’s it. ”

“Leif is using the energy of 630 eV, which is quite high, and no chemist or physicist will accept that you have such bonding distance, or bonding energy, in any molecule, or any states, because quantum physics says that state is unbound and not stable.”

Leif Holmlid was using higher laser energy stimulation to perform a common experiment, and it turns out that his choice of sample catalyst may have led to the surprising outcome of an ultra-dense state for hydrogen.

Dr. Ólafsson says, “Before that, he had been studying different easy metals like potassium which is easy to study and easy to produce Rydberg states, and I think by chance, he used catalysts that could do similar things to hydrogen as to potassium.”

“Hydrogen has a very high ionization energy compared to potassium and all these alkali metals, so it is very strange that you could make a a Rydberg state of hydrogen just by catalysts.”

“Leif started first with a common catalyst, the one making all this plastic waste that you find in nature now. This catalyst is one the steps of making polyethylene plastics.”

“So there are tens of millions of tons of this catalyst made every years, just to make plastics. But if you put some styrene in, then you’re changing some atoms on that molecule. That catalyst is usually a very hollow material, or nano-porous, so you basically have a huge surface area in the catalyst, which just makes the production better.”

Graphic of Rydberg formation. Slide from Experimental Techniques for Studying Rydberg Matter of Hydrogen by Sveinn Olafsson from the 2019 CF/LANR Colloquium at MIT.

“Basically this is a nano-porous surface, and what is probably going on is that hydrogen is adsorbed on that surface, and we’ve been discussing that this is just a special surface where you can prime the hydrogen to have a Rydgberg state as the lowest energy due to the potassium ions which are on the surface also.”

“This is a mixture of ironoxide – rust – and potassium, and it’s well known that when you put oxide surfaces with potassium, the three electrons from potassium forms a kind of electro-gas on top of the surface. “

“So this has never been studied or calculated because it’s very complicated to do it since the orbit of the Rydberg state is huge. It would make the Rydberg atom in a Rydberg state, which has a circular orbit with high quantum numbers – if it is an atom.”

“You can not do that easily to hydrogen, but on the surface, you could make a joint cooperation between the surface and the hydrogen. These may join up on the surface and give us the first states of this process, which is just the normal hydrogen Rydberg matter which is the feeding matter for the ultra-dense state.”

“You have this feedstock which is the normal hydrogen Rydberg matter, and through some excitation, it’s actually more thermodynamically stable to go into the other phase, but not so greatly, so that can obviously form some thin layers on top of metals, and that has been seen in experiments of ultra-dense state, which has so many forms creeping on the surface, and can even live for days if you leave it in the chamber there.”

“It’s actually fairly easy to prove this is true between two protons in a course of quantum physics, and I totally agree on that viewpoint.”

“But nobody knows what you can say if you are trying to do this with, say 15 or 19 particles, because that theory is not so easily solved. It’s not so easy either to say that it is not possible.”

“Most people use the simple way out and say it’s impossible and nonsense, because they are using so simple a model; they are not using multi-particle physics.”

For the ultra-dense state of hydrogen, Dr. Ólafsson says that “it’s always in that range of 2.3 pm. Leif reports that sometimes it’s a little bit less, and sometimes higher. He has given indication that this material has different spin states.”

“The only problem with is that the theory describing it is an empirical model, so it has no support from quantum calculations. It is describing his results, so we can say there are excited states which are a little bit longer distances and so on.”

“Since Leif Holmlid is the only man who has been doing this, we are replicating some parts of his work, but so far, we have not been studying the 2.3 picometer much. We’ve only been studying the ultra-fast breakup, when we have a higher time of flight. It’s not actually a bound state, but it’s actually flying out with much higher energy.”

Slide from Experimental Techniques for Studying Rydberg matter of Hydrogen by Sveinn Olafsson from the 2019 CF/LANR Colloquium at MIT

“At the moment we are just trying to catch up with Leif. We have put the labs together, and we are trying to replicate some of his work, because according to him, we are the first experimentalists who have contacted him and tried to replicate things.”

“It’s actually a nice story to tell that I had applied for some money from the Icelandic Research Council here, and the main argument from all the reviewers was that “nothing has been published except him, and, if this were to be true it would possibly be quoted in the highest scientific journals’. So actually it was a catch-22; they believe all these claims are so wonderful, that somebody must have already studied it, but nobody has! It’s not good to be #2 in applying.”

“I managed to get funding, it was from a Technological Development fund. They are less bound to what science is and is not.”

Asked if he thought that ultra-dense hydrogen could be behind the cold fusion reaction, Dr. Ólafsson said that was his original thought when he saw Leif’s research.

“I thought, this is so close, this must be cold fusion. But it is so complicated a behavior, and of course, getting experiments in cold fusion and experiments in Leif’s research, to join up is of course difficult because they’re in different surroundings.”

“When I contacted Leif and asked him if he thought this was possibly behind cold fusion, he was skeptical, and didn’t want to be linked to the cold fusion thing.”

“But I managed to make a simple calculation with this distance of 2.3 picometer and some simple assumption, and it gave me that the rate of this distance could be enough. But it has one problem, because if you have this tunneling mechanism at this distance, like muon-catalyzed fusion, then you should still see the same result. In other words, you should get radioactive neutrons and protons. So these particles trying to tunnel in close to each other, that is not the right physics [for cold fusion].”

“But Rydberg matter and ultra-dense physics gives us the opportunity to study multi-particle interactions. In a sense, it tells us, if there is a link (between LENR and ultra-dense hydrogen), then it’s a multi-particle tunneling or interaction which could be making cold fusion signals.”

“I don’t know any samples without a crack or opening. Foil has cracks and so on, so you don’t know. I think there is nothing denying that ultra-dense hydrogen is in all cold fusion experiments.”

After being schooled in ultra-dense hydrogen production, Ruby asked Dr. Ólafsson how it was working with graduate student Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen in Norway, who received the test reactor from Tadahiko Mizuno last year.

“Well Sindre is not quite so young a student, he’s in his 30s, so that makes the game easier, you could say! Sometimes, he’s the student, and sometimes, I’m the student.”

“Since we are building one lab in Norway, and one lab in Iceland, which is a little bit different lab, he’ll makes something in his lab, and I catch up with that, and I do the same here, vice versa. ”

“And then we are traveling to each other’s lab, and I’ve been here three years already, and a PhD should be over in three years, but we have the problem of wanting to see more, and do more. So we are always joking ‘when will he finish his PhD?’!”

“It’s a nice thing when you have started in a different field, and one day you kind of get bored, when you start doing the same thing over and over again.”

“So the main reason for me to join this field was out of curiosity, and to see what could be done differently from these nickel and palladium-type experiments.”

“And I think along this way, from 2011 to 2019, you read so many different fields, that you are suddenly becoming not an expert, you know something of everything in the end, and that has been the most enjoyable part of this project.”

“But I’ve still been doing a bit of what I’ve always done. Like I have projects at CERN with a large international group, where we meet up once a year and do a well known technique. It’s not cold fusion, but it’s nice.”

“And there’s another project here which I take part in where we try to find catalysts for ammonia production, so it’s a little bit of everything.”

Dr. Ólafsson’s colleagues have followed the journey. He says, “At the moment they’re so used to it – seven years later! They just smile, yeah, yeah, yeah…”

“I gave a talk last week at the Icelandic Physical Society about what is going on in this field here. And my closing words were, ‘If you’re confused, you’re not alone, I’m also confused as you’.”

“I was just presenting experimental facts, and strange ones. ”

“I think scientists are much more open – until they have read the applications – and then they get scared!”

Listen to the Cold Fusion Now! podcast with Dr. Sveinn Ólafsson on the Podcast page.

See Experimental Techniques for Studying Rydberg Matter of Hydrogen by Sveinn Ólafsson from the 2019 LANR/CF Colloquium at MIT.

Tadahiko Mizuno rewards CMNS community with test reactor

Nuclear chemist and veteran LENR researcher Dr. Tadahiko Mizuno is now in the recovery phase after an earthquake damaged sensitive equipment in his laboratory in Hokkaido, and the CMNS community is assisting in the repair and replacement of lab apparatus that will allow him to continue his successful excess heat research.

“I have experienced earthquakes many times before. Each one was terrible, but this time it was a bit different,” said Dr. Mizuno of the shaking.

“The fact that the laboratory was hurt by the unexpected, the fact that the building was broken – and the biggest thing is that electricity and water stopped for a few days. Earthquakes up to that point did not have that kind of thing, rather it was very localized. This time, the lab would clearly be effected.”

Like many scientists in Japan, Dr. Mizuno had prepared for a disaster like this. He says,

“Naturally, this kind of situation was contemplated. A few years ago Sapporo produced a scenario of a devastating earthquake, with almost all the buildings collapsed. There was no electricity, no water, no food- it was a cold winter game-plan. It was so realistic, it was a revelation to seriously prepare for disaster prevention.”

“We fixed everything that we could install, such as fixing shelves, setting fire extinguishers, emergency food, water, power generation radio. Of course I persuaded others to proceed with preparation. I was warning everyone!”

“A few days before, a metallic ringing continued in my ears, and an earthquake came in the middle of the night when it stopped. No matter how much preparation it was, the damage was something I could not escape.”

The quake on 3/11/11 which caused the ensuing tsunami and Fukushima disaster was foremost in his mind.

“I also had the same experience on March 11, 2011. At that time I took a day off and was vegetating in front of the TV. A loud audible alarm sounded from the TV and mobile phone, and soon a big earthquake swing came. I think everyone is aware of the situation of the subsequent disasters.”

“At that time, I was preparing CF experiments to control the heat. It seems that it was telling me to hurry again this time. I feel such a presence of God.”

Glow discharge makes significant excess power

Dr. Mizuno has been investigating both LENR excess heat and transmutations since 1989. He has written and edited several books, among them, Nuclear Transmutation: The Reality of Cold Fusion published in 1998, detailing the massive excess heat he witnessed in his earliest experiments, and the slow realization over years that there were also transmutations occurring, too.

Working as Hydrogen Engineering Application & Development HEAD, Dr. Mizuno has been part of the extraordinary collaboration between industry and academia in Japan, recently working with Clean Planet, Inc and the Condensed Matter Nuclear Science CMNS division at the Research Center for Electron Photon Science ELPH at Tohoku University.

Hideki Yoshino, the founder and CEO of Clean Planet and an organizer of collaborative LENR research, reported on Mizuno’s work at the CF/LANR Colloquium at MIT in 2014.

In that presentation, Yoshino described results from 73 tests of Mizuno’s gas discharge system where a treated nickel mesh cathode reacted with D2 gas at temperatures above 200 degrees C and pressures of 100-300 pascals using a palladium rod wrapped in palladium wire as an anode.

ICCF-21 Slide showing glow discharge reactor schematics.

In one test run, a total input power of 80 Watts produced 78 Watts excess thermal power out. Continuing for 35 days before it was turned off, the total excess energy produced was 108 MegaJoules.

The only problem? Reactions would not start sometimes until one, two, even three years later! A new method of preparing the electrodes would have to be found in order to create a reaction more quickly, and explore the parameter space of the system.

From Observation of Excess Heat by Activated Metal and Deuterium Gas by T. Mizuno JCMNS V25
Previously, the nickel mesh and palladium were carefully cleaned and then put to glow discharge, which Mizuno says creates the required nano-particles in the process. In 2017, understanding that the nickel mesh is where the reaction is located, he decided to try applying palladium directly to the nickel beforehand.

In the paper Observation of Excess Heat by Activated Metal and Deuterium Gas published in JCMNS V25 [.pdf], Mizuno writes,

“With unprocessed nickel, it is impossible to generate excess heat at all. However, if the surface is covered with particles and further Pd is present on the surface, excess heat is easily generated. The smaller the particles are, and the more Pd is uniformly present, the more the excess heat is generated.”

A new method treats the nickel by physically rubbing the palladium rod on the mesh before glow discharge begins. A second new method used electroless plating to plate palladium on the nickel mesh.

Mizuno excess power experiment is reproduced

At the 21st International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science ICCF-21 held June 2018, Jed Rothwell presented some of the results of experiments using the new methods of electrode preparation.

See the ICCF-21 video presentation on Tadahiko Mizuno’s work here. Download the presentation .pdf file here.

Jed Rothwell runs the LENR science paper archive http://lenr-canr.org/ and is the author of Cold Fusion and the Future [.pdf]. He has translated many of Dr. Mizuno’s papers and books from Japanese into English. Mizuno writes:

“Jed has been involved in our research of CF work for 25 years, from 1993 to 2018. He analyzed our testing methods, our adiabatic thermal measurement method, and our air cooling method test results. He found problems and contributed to many improvements of the test method. Jed himself wrote the manuscript paper and based on these many contributions, Jed is the co-author of that paper.”

He added,

“He has also struggled to collect research funds for us. Without this funding, our CF work may have been impossible.”

The air-flow calorimetry system used by Tadahiko Mizuno from the ICCF-21 presentation (2018).

In the ICCF-21 presentation, Rothwell revealed that the new methods of electrode preparation have successfully decreased the time to reaction to about a week or two, but sadly, the change in materials preparation has reduced power output to only 5-20% of previous values, now measuring about 20-40 Watts excess thermal.

For 38 active tests, 19 using each of the two new methods, all tests but five produced about 5% excess power, with five of those 38 tests producing 15% or more excess thermal power.

There have been valid concerns with his data, and Dr. Mizuno has been responsive. For instance, he showed that the resistance heater is not part of the excess by performing glow discharge with an ordinary nickel mesh (without treatment) and producing only the amount of heat as resistance heating.

It seems addressing the objections has only strengthened the conclusions, as they should.

In fact, a team of scientists Takehiko Itoh, Yasuhiro Iwamura, Jirohta Kasagi from ELPH at Tohoku University and Hiroki Shishido from the Quantum Science and Energy Engineering Department also at Tohoku University, were able to successfully reproduce excess heat using a system almost identical to Mizuno’s, though with less heat output, only generating about 7 Watts thermal. [See Anomalous Excess Heat Generated by the Interaction between Nano-structured Pd/Ni Surface and D2 Gas in JCMNS V24 [.pdf].]

Extrapolating to 700 degrees C should produce 1 kiloWatt. From ICCF-21 presentation file.

Mizuno believes that extrapolating data relating temperature and excess power (here showing the earlier high-output data) to 700 degrees C could produce 1 kiloWatt of excess thermal power, a number Jed Rothwell notes is “much better energy density and Carnot efficiency than a fission reactor core.”

Community generosity is rewarded with test reactor

When the 6.7 earthquake hit Hokkaido on September 6, 2018, damage to the sensitive lab equipment was enough to spell an end to research. At 73 years young, it’s not easy to start over again. Describing the damage to the lab, Dr. Mizuno was optimistic about repairs saying,

“Although the shelf did not collapse, inside the lab was knocked-about. The SEM, the fluorescent X-ray equipment, and the experimental equipment which had just been installed, moved around as much as 10 cm, and the connections and vacuum were destroyed.”

“Fortunately, there is a lot of experience around able to repair the equipment, and we can fix some too, if we can make the time.

The CMNS community came together to help. Physicist and LENR scientist Dr. Dennis Cravens started a gofundme fundraiser to help with costs:

“Do unto others. If Tadahiko is correct, it is a promising path that he should continue to follow. He had been working alone without encouragement for years – and there were many years early on with no results. I know how that must feel- being alone and unappreciated. I have had many years like that.”

“We raised about $8,500 dollars. The amount sent was lightly adjusted by Go Fund Me fees and currency exchange costs getting it here to there. I should also say a few people wired money directly.”

That generosity will stretch a long way to fix the equipment, and spirits. Upon hearing of the campaign, Mizuno was overcome:

“I am very thankful to everyone for helping me. I thought for a long time that I was studying CF work all alone. I thought it was checkmate due to the earthquake damage on 6th September. I was pessimistic that I could not repair the equipment, and all was over. However, that was not so. Many friends have stepped up and supported my CF research. I was so happy, tears came to my eyes. This was the first time I have felt this way during the more than 70 years I have been alive. I am very happy that people were so kind, and am happy thinking about it. I am very grateful to everyone. I will never forget the efforts of my friends.”

Dr. Mizuno wanted to do something special and so he offered up one of his reactors to a researcher in the community to test.

Small thank-you reactor by Mizuno from Lenr-forum.

“The money you raised will be used to repair my equipment, especially the scanning electron microscope, and, part of the money will be used for the production cost of a small reactor that I am sending to another lab that has agreed to test it. I think it will produce excess heat. And I think that other researchers in the world will confirm and announce excess heat generation by these methods. Thank you again.”

Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen is Director of Operations of Norrønt AS, a company providing engineering project management and patent development. He is also a PhD candidate in Physics who has been researching ultra-dense hydrogen and Rydberg matter with PhD supervisor Svein Olafsson in Iceland and Norway’s Professor Svein Holmlid.

Zeiner-Gundersen, based in the Oslo-area of Norway, has just received the reactor from Mizuno.

“I’m guessing I was one of the first to contact Mizuno after his lab went down in the earthquake, to continue and verify his important work, and I’m also working in a well equipped lab as well. Opening the shipping box was like Christmas. All the excitement in the world.”

“I believe its not the glow discharge reactor but filled with ZrPd powder that will activate when the temperature reaches a critical point after being loaded with deuterium. I think this is the same design that yielded 12% excess heat that Jed presented at ICCF21.”

“I’m still waiting for further operating instructions before testing and I’m setting up flow calorimetry, and programming Labview data acquisition to measure everything from: voltage, current, 8 temp sensors, pressure, charged particles, alfa, beta, gamma and neutrons.”

The CMNS community, long isolated from mainstream support, knows that working together is the path to success. Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen maintains

“… the most valuable work we as researchers can do is to collaborate, share data, replicate and verify the work preformed by the best researchers in this field.”

After 30-years of breakthrough research, Tadahiko Mizuno is just getting started. He’s organizing the lab again for a new round of experiments and consulting on a reproduction half-way around the world. When asked if he will be able to build upon such spectacular results he says:

“It is all about making an excess-heat generation CF device. There is no reason not to be able to do it. This is my job.”

Akito Takahashi reports on the MHE: bigger composite samples and bigger heat

In the global field of LENR, few groups match the productivity of Japanese researchers. With a longtime history of collaboration between academia and industry, the rich and wide-ranging scientific results have enabled groups on the island to develop long-term data on systems, successfully reproduce key experiments, and grow a diverse and comprehensive team of researchers training young scientists.

Now, a collection of stunning results is reported from a two-year collaborative project focused on generating excess heat with the Metal Hydrogen Energy MHE reactor within a budget of 1 million dollars.

The six institutions of Kyushu University, Tohoku University, Nagoya University, Kobe University, the Nissan Motors Co. and Technova Inc, a division of Toyota, worked together from design to analysis, each contributing their specialty. The goal was to verify the existence of the Anomalous Heat Effect AHE in nano-metal and hydrogen gas interactions, and seek to control the effect.

The first MHE arose in 2012 at Kobe University, and now, there’s an additional reactor at Tohoku University, one with a new calorimetry design for comparative results.

A total of 16 collaborative tests have generated an average of 7-8 Watts excess thermal power, but that bumps up to 20 Watts excess on some sample runs, with no appreciable radiation from gammas or neutrons above background levels detected.

The MHE reactor at Tohoku University

According to the team, the regular success in generating heat is due to the composite materials specially developed to host the reaction, which researchers there say is required to initiate a reaction in their system. Nano-powder mixes 2-10 nanometers wide of palladium, nickel, and zirconium, and copper, nickel and zirconium, have provided excess heat greater than single palladium or nickel metal reactors.

The MHE group is also using larger amounts of host material. 200-gram samples are divided into two 100-gram samples, and sent to different labs. When tested under the same conditions, similar heat profiles are observed, producing 2-8 Watts for a week. That wouldn’t be news in any other field, but in LENR/cold fusion, this is a huge step towards nailing down this reaction.

It’s expensive, but more host material makes more heat

One Cu-Ni-Zir sample produced an anomalous heat burst peaking at 110 Watts thermal, then, dropping down to 2 Watts sustained for a day. The total energy produced by the burst: 300 kiloJoules.

The largest excess heat data was generated in the 14th collaborative experiment when a 124-gram palladium-nickel-zirconium sample generated 10-20 Watts thermal power for a month.

Dr. Akito Takahashi is one of the members on this team that has been working on the problem of cold fusion reproducibility since the early days. A nuclear engineer and senior advisor in the Thermal Energy and Technology group with Technova, he is one of the stars of a crowded Japanese field teeming with talent, and whose range of research have helped transform investigations into the Anomalous Heat Effect into a fast evolving field of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, where the parade of nuclear effects keep on surprising scientists.

He spoke at the recent ICCF-21 conference and gave an update on results from the 2-year collaborative project that he led, and what’s next for the perrenial MHE heat machine. You can watch his presentation on Youtube here and download the ICCF-21 presentation file here.

Cold Fusion Now! asked Dr. Akito Takahashi about his career in cold fusion, the MHE project, and the theoretical model he developed to try to explain and give direction to research.


RUBY Dr. Takahashi, you are an original cold fusion scientist. Can you tell us what prompted you to first start researching cold fusion, and how long did it take for you to get results?

AT In March-May 1989 after the F-P big claim of cold fusion, I was skeptical. However, the Tienanmen Crisis in Beijing China gave me a chance to get involved in cold fusion research. At that time I was busily involved in the DT fusion blanket neutronics project the US, Japan and China were collaborating on. Suddenly, the project was suspended due to the Tienanmen Crisis and I had some free time.

My expertise was in neutron physics experiment since 1965. If cold fusion is real, the F-P heavy water electrolysis should emit 2.45 MeV neutrons by d-d fusion as Steve Jones of BYU claimed. This was the common sense effect that mainstream nuclear physics people (I was one of them) would look for.

Curiosity moved me to try neutron detection with spectroscopy, which I was very familiar with, by heavy water electrolysis with palladium cathode. After several weeks in trial, I could see weak component of 2.45 MeV d-d fusion neutrons. However, the observed neutron level was very weak. If the F-P claim of anomalous thermal power (heat) in a few watts level was by cold d-d fusion reactions, ca. ten-to-the 12th order 10^12 neutrons per watt were lethal, but my observed neutron level was very very weak at ten-to-the MINUS 13th order 10^-13 level of required d-d fusion reactions. It was so curious to me. Something new and nuclear-like should have happened.

In a few weeks, I proposed a model and send a short note to journal (JNST: Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology). The proposed model is the multi-body deuteron fusion theory in deuterium-absorbed metal. After about 25 years elaboration, the theory has been established as CCF (condensed cluster fusion) theory. The TSC (tetrahedral symmetric condensation) theory is the key term of theory.

Along with theoretical works, I have done many experiments on anomalous heat effect and nuclear products detection by using designed CF experimental devices for the last 30 years, under the view of CCF model guide line. Curiosity is what drives me.

Recently, I have become aware of repeated observations with convincing experimental results by the deuterium or light-hydrogen gas charging method using new concept nano-composite metal powders, which are consistent with theoretical mechanisms of CCF theory in combination of dynamic interactions of nuclear, molecular, surface-catalytic and metal solid state physics. By doing so, it has past the 30-years-mark of continued work.

RUBY You and the team of collaborators working with you, are continuing to reach for bigger results with the Metal Hydrogen Energy system, and you are getting it! What is so special about the materials you are now using?

AT Our knowledge now is: Pure palladium and nickel (even nano-powders) do not work to produce sustaining large (namely, several tens watts, currently) excess heat at practically useable elevated temperatures as 300-400 degree C. We need bi-metallic nano-composite (or nano-islands) structures in ceramics supporter flakes. Pd1Ni7/zirconia and Cu1Ni7/zirconia are typical hopeful powder samples.

We have started with 50-100g powder samples in MHE reaction chamber, and observed several-weeks sustaining anomalous heat of ca. 10 watts thermal power level, by deuterium or H-charging. Integrated excess heat in a month run reached typically 300 MJ per mol-D. So, produced energy density is more than 1000 times of gasoline-burning and is very difficult to explain by chemical reaction mechanisms and we are considering the CCF-like nuclear origin.

However, about 10 watts thermal power is still considerably low power density to be applied for industrial energy devices; we need scaling-up. To increase amount of sample is a first simple approach, which we are now attempting. To manufacture nano-composite powders with controlled nano-islands (in 2-10 nm size) is an essential approach.

In the latest result that we reported at JCF19 Meeting, November 9, 2018 in Morioka Japan, we observed anomalously large heat burst. The burst happened in about 100 seconds with approximately 3 kW thermal power, impulsively. If we will be able to control and elongate this level power generation for much longer time, we will be approaching the goal.

RUBY This project is a an excellent example of the longtime cooperation between scientists in your country, and given the results, appears to be a successful model. How would you characterize the relationship between academia and industry in Japan?

AT We have done only minimum effort to organize available 6 groups (4 university groups and two company groups) to implement the NEDO-MHE 2015-2017 project. I was the leader and directed the experimental plans for collaboration works. Researchers have joined and moved from north (Sendai Tohoku University) to west (Kobe University, and Kyushu University) for experiments, and some-times gathered in Tokyo for steering/discussion meetings.

I hope this will be a seed for next step to set-up a bigger consortium of industrial groups and university academic groups. Our latest results on anomalous heat effect can be explained only by nuclear origin and we are struggling with NEDO’s negative stance to funding Nuclear Origin Research & Development.

MEXT (ministry of education, science and culture) is promoting nuclear R&D in a monopoly-like way by sending big funds to ITER and others, and are not brave enough to provide some portion of funding to MHE R&D. So, the situation is somehow similar to US and EU.

RUBY You’ve been struggling to model this elusive reaction since the very beginning. Can you describe in layman’s terms some of the main features of the TSC model, and how is this model tied to your experimental work?

AT Theoretically, in my view, there are no molecular physics processes available in nature for two deuterons or protons to approach close enough to make visible nuclear reactions. Only transient clusters like 4, 6 and 8 deuterons (or protons) with quantum-mechanically orthogonally coupled 4, 8 and 6 electron-clouds can dynamically condense one-way and make collapse in very closed inter-nuclear distances to induce multi-body strong-force (for D) or weak-strong-force (for H) fusion reactions.

These CCF reactions do not produce primary neutrons and gamma rays. The geometrical coupling of 4 deuterons (or protons) and 4 electron-clouds under tetrahedron-tetrahedron orthogonal arrangement makes TSC, tetrahedral symmetric condensate, that is a transient cluster state and not stable.

You may imagine two D2 or H2 molecules coupling with 90 degree crossing configuration. This configuration is not stable in free space (namely in gas) and is also difficult to form in D2 or H2 gas due to bouncing by mutual collision. However, once the rotation freedom of D2 or H2 is frozen by trapping at a surface catalytic site (a sub-nano hole) of binary metal nano-particle, another incident (or out-going) D2 or H2 molecule on the surface catalytic site can make transient TSC formation with very enhanced rate.

Once TSC forms, it very rapidly (in 1-2 femto seconds) condenses in one-through way to get to a collapsing state in a nuclear-force-exchanging close distance for 4 deuterons or protons+electrons. The resultant multi-body fusion happens to produce low energy charged particles (helium, deuterium and proton).

Secondary reactions may generate neutrons and gamma-rays with very weak levels as less than 10^-13 order of primary charged particles. So radiation will be actually neglected in industrial devices generating several kW power.

RUBY The 19th Meeting of CF Research Society just wrapped up. What can you say about some of the other results presented there?

AT Other interesting reports besides ours were two instances of AHE (anomalous heat effect) observed by the DSC (differential scanning calorimetry ) apparatus at Kyushu University. That unit is particularly for nano-metals and H-gas interactions with PNZ-type and Ni-Al and Ti-Al samples at 300-800 degree C.

Tohoku group reported AHE with many temperature and gas pressure spikes, which looked very similar in effect, though with smaller scale, to a very large burst/spike of AHE by a Cu-Ni/zirconia powder sample as observed at Kobe-U/Technova.

Iwate University group are reporting basic studies on H-gas and multi-layer nano-composite metal samples. Kyoto University group is extending/improving Yamaguchi-type metal-D-gas induced AHE by electric pulse trigger.

RUBY I’m sure you have heard about Dr. Tadahiko Mizuno’s laboratory damaged by the earthquake. The community reached out to him with donations to help re-build. Were you effected by the earthquake at all?

AT In June we had big quake at Osaka to damage houses, but MHE apparatus at Kobe was OK.

RUBY Dr. Takahashi, we are approaching the 30-year mark since the announcement of cold fusion, and every experimental fact has been hard fought for. Now, you are finally realizing some of the fruits of that labor and getting more heat than ever.

What is it about cold fusion that compelled you to spend a career struggling in this most difficult field?

AT Of course, we want to solve the global warming effect created by the consumption of fossil fuels like oil and we are planning to develop eco-friendly, radiation-free, compact, novel energy generators, hopefully in 30-50 years. The so-called cold fusion reaction, and in my view, the CCF, has great potential to provide an eternal solution, helping us to escape the oil-age.

However, as a scientist, it has been curiosity that has pushed me to find the real mechanisms of the claimed mystery and miracles of the AHE and radiation-less nuclear processes. My answer now is that CCF governs it. I will continue to work on what I can do until it becomes impossible.

Slide from ICCF-21 presentation shows what’s next for the MHE project.

Hear Dr. Akito Takahashi speak about the MHE project at the 21st International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science https://www.iccf21.com/.

The ICCF-21 presentation slides are here.

Cold Fusion Now! podcast with Andrew Meulenberg

Nuclear physicist and LENR theoretician Dr. Andrew Meulenberg talks about deep-orbit electrons as an explanation for LENR, and how this model addresses the vast variety of data in LENR experiments.

After retiring from Draper Laboratories, Dr. Meulenberg was visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Science, where he again met up with former colleague Dr. K.P. Sinha, a theoretical physicist and solid-state scientist, beginning a 10-year collaboration on cold fusion theory.

Ruby Carat hosts the third episode of the Cold Fusion Now! podcast series that surveys the present state of knowledge in cold fusion/LENR.

Listen at our website https://coldfusionnow.org/cfnpodcast/ or subscribe in iTunes.

Patreon is a platform for supporting creators. You can pledge as little as a dollar per episode. You can cap your monthly spend. There are thousands of creators on Patreon getting support for their work. Please support the Cold Fusion Now! podcast. Become a Patron!

Interview with Yuri Bazhutov by Peter Gluck

This is a re-post of an article written by Dr. Peter Gluck of Ego Out in Cluj, Romania.

The original article can be found here.

SHORT INTERVIEW WITH YU. N. BAZHUTOV by Peter Gluck

I had the privilege to ask a few preliminary questions from the leader of Russian LENR researchers Yuri Nikolaevich Bazhutov. They call the field Cold Nuclear Transmutation and I think this name is more realist than Cold Fusion.

Yuri Bazhutov is an ’89-er cold fusionist (excuse me) a well known member or our community, a reputed author, with 15 papers 1982 to 2014 in the LENR-CANR Library, an organizer and participant at our meetings, CNT strategist, a personality..

Q
It is encouraging to see and easy to observe how closely and seriously are followed, discussed and theorized the developments in CNT/LENR in Russia. What is the strategic thinking beyond this and the main targets?

A
After more, than 25 years of theoretical, experimental pilot studies in Cold Nuclear Transmutation in Russia we have arrived to a stage when we think about patents, demonstration devices, search for investors for realization of industrial devices. We are at a different, higher level now.

Q
Your very personal opinion: how do you see the scientific aspects; how these new developments, can they be explained theoretically and what do you and your collaborators intend to do for the experimental part?

In essence is it new science or new application (s) of already known science?

A
As co-author of the Model of the Erzion Catalysis (MEC), I believe that it explains the nature of CNT. All my experiments made in 25 years confirm this model.

MEC is built on orthodox representations of the Physics of Elementary Particles including as the main part, Quantum Chronodynamics (QCD) and, therefore it is also the new Section of Nuclear Physics

Q
The Lugano experiment despite its over-complicated thermometric calorimetry is a harbinger of a really wonderful/powerful energy source, MWhours from grams. Unfortunately, the Testers were shocked by the analytical results.
What do you think about those unexpected isotopic shifts and the dynamic processes that make these possible

A
Starting with the first experiments made by Rossi and Focardi up to the very Hot Cat tested in Lugano, MEC gives generally fine explanations and I have published about this in RCCNT&BL Proc., and in the Russian Inventing magazines (No. 1, 2012) and ISCMNS J. (No. 13, 2014). However I believe that our option of Russian E-cat on the basis of Plasma Electrolysis gives a much better perspective- heat generator at close realization still having a very high output specific power (MWhours from grams common water).

Q
On December 25, 2014 at a CNT seminary-Alexander Parkhomov and you have presented an experiment confirming the Lugano experiment using a realistic-cut-the Gordian knot simple calorimetry inspired from your experience. A very positive event.

However, after more than 50 years in and around research i have learned the cruel 1=0 rule-1 single experiment can’t generate absolute certainty. Nor Lugano, neither Parkhomov; so I ask-was the experiment repeated in house and when will the new report be published?

A
Parkhomov now works on lengthening of time of continuous work of a cell then to do atom spectroscopic and mass spectroscopic analyses of change of chemical structure and of the isotopic composition of fuel.

Peter Gluck – This was just a first discussion, I hope to continue. Bazhutov added: see and read more– and I have translated the paper.

http://vpk.name/forum/s188.html
The revolution in energetics was accomplished! The place of organic fuels was taken by the Cold nuclear Transmutation.
By A.A. Rukhadze, Yu.N. Bazhutov, A.B. Karabut, V.G. Koltashov

The era of oil burning has arrived to its end. The revolution in CNT (Cold Nuclear Transmutation) opens the way toward a new economic transformation, to the triumph of robotics, to cheaper production and the transition of the world’s economy in which Russia should not be disadvantaged.

On October 8, 2014 in the prestigious Los Alamos electronic publication Arxiv.org it was published the report of an independent group regarding the testing of the heat generator- Hot Cat created by Andrea Rossi. Six well known scientists from Italy and Sweden have tested for 32 days the functioning of the generator that allows obtaining cheap energy on the basis of a new scientific principle.

In the absence of the author of the invention (A. Rossi) there were measured all the possible parameters of the “energetic cat” After that, for an half year the scientists have processed the results in order to get comprehension. And their verdict was univocal: the Rossi generator works and produces an incredible amount of energy- the energy density is millions times greater as by burning the same quantity of any kind of organic fuel and is 3.7 times greater than the input electric energy. In the same time it is changed the isotopic composition of the fuel materials.

No nuclear radiations from the reactor could be observed during the test.
The first demonstration of working of an E-cat prototype was performed already at January 14, 2011 in Bologna, at the Physics Dept. of the University. During this demo the scientists and the journalists have seen a functioning reactor with the power of 12.5 kW at output. This works on the principle of cold nuclear transmutation as have related the authors, Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi.

Sergio Focardi, professor at the Bologna University – has performed even 20 years earlier the mechanism of hydrogen-nickel interaction in cooperation with the professor of the Siena University, Francesco Piantelli. These studies were done in the frame of a new physical phenomenon, cold fusion discovered by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in the year 1989.

At October 28, 2011 Andrea Rossi has already shown his first 1 Megawatt reactor sold to his first customer. Engineers and scientist were present, verifying how it works. Due to some imperfections, the reactor has produced 470 kWatts working for 5.5 hours in self-sustaining mode. There were used 100 reactor modules each with 3 branches- the whole complex of 300 reaction chambers.

The orthodox physicist overall have again ignored Rossi. According to all the canons of physics, something like this- nuclear boiler on the table- cannot exist! Amplification of energy almost 10 times is pure non-sense! And only few “heretics” of science, working for cold fusion (CF) have supported him.

Rossi had an unpredictable behavior but not so that he could be called a rogue and a charlatan as the orthodox have accused him. He has not asked money from anybody, on the contrary he has sold his house to be able to start this research. He has not chased popularity in the press; he refused interviews and has worked more with businessmen than journalists.

Rossi also has not tried to open a dialogue with the scientists – the luminaries of the nuclear physics: “The best proof of my truth will be the commercial device on the market”- he says.

The attitude toward this inventor has gradually changed- when after a dozen conferences nobody could show he cheats, secretly brings electricity to the device.

After that NASA took Rossi under its protection. Rossi could not refuse. It is clear he is safer in the US than in Italy. But NASA is only the visible part of the wall built by USA around Rossi and his invention.

It can be confirmed that the US tries to obtain complete control of the new sources of energy, the one who owns it, will be the far leader in technology.

Signals at the APEC Summit Show Big Changes Ahead
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1187686?ref=feeds%2Flatest
and gets rid of the oil gas dependence.

The US hopes not only to manage the flow of finance but also, on the basis of new technologies, having almost free, clean, limitless energy to perform export-oriented industrialization.

Other countries will remain behind if they will not also try to change. For this reason, in India after the ATEC summit where this issue was discussed ( see the CNN link) governmental actions were initiated to finance the development of new energy see please: http://www.e-catworld.com/2014/11/17/indian-government-urged-to-revive-cold-fusion-research-program/

It is for sure to say that Rossi’s invention cannot be kept under lock for long. In dozens of laboratories worldwide, the scientists are trying to guess the secret of the “silent Italian”, to find out his catalyst, to develop a theory of the process. In meantime, preparations are made for bringing the generators on the market. If the transition in industry, trade and transport rising humankind to a new level of automation- needs hundreds of thousands “Cold Cats” (actually they are warm or hot, N.T.) the start of these new industries will bring the oil industry in the abyss by thousands of ways – very bad for the economies that depend on hydrocarbons. It will become obvious the futility of investing in oil and its long term purchase.

In the near future we can expect a rapid development of the Cold Nuclear Transmutation (a new and more correct name than Cold Nuclear Fusion) both regarding theory and experiment, great investments will lead to breakthroughs in the related fields of science and technology. U.S. already relies on the revolution in the energy sector and may soon get its winnings. Civilization is near to a new era and we know in advance that it will be grandiose.

Russia is still among the leaders in research in Cold Nuclear Transmutation even in the absence of targeted funding, due to the still strong post-Soviet educational, theoretical and experimental research basis of its enthusiasts. The country has a Coordinating Council on the issue of Cold Nuclear Transmutation, held annual conferences and monthly seminars, in spite of the strong resistance of its orthodox-minded opponents. The Russian researchers in Cold Nuclear Transmutations have presented copyrighted theoretical models for CNT, more than 500 publications at the 25th anniversary of the discovery of CNF by Fleischmann and Pons. Based on the principles of CNT there had been created dozens of patents for the creation of new energy. A part of the researchers had been able to get small funding, others, unfortunately were forced to work abroad.

The “war of sanctions” from 2014 has shown that the US sees Russia as a threat to its dominance in Europe and world hegemony. Rossi’s success gives them a chance to retain the role of the global financial and industrial center, undermining the position of the other strong players. But the long-term decline in prices in the oil market will not necessarily mean a catastrophe for the Russian economy. With a favorable state’s attitude toward science, we will be able to recover the leading position as it was in the ‘50-‘60 years of the twentieth century. We will be able to participate in the new industrial revolution, going forward to terminate the humiliating position on the raw materials periphery of the world.

A.A. Rukhadze
Chairman of the Coordination Council of the SFA on the problem of Cold Nuclear Transmutation,
Academy of Natural Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Georgia, Honored Scientist of Russia, Doctor of Science, prof., Institute of General Physics “AM Prokhorov”

Yu. N. Bazhutov member of the International Executive Committee on the issue of Cold Nuclear Transmutation, organizer of (1-21) Russian Conferences on Cold Nuclear Transmutation and the problem of the 13th International Conference on Cold Nuclear Transmutation (Dagomis 2007), Deputy. President of the Cold Nuclear Transmutation Committee (RFO), PhD, MN, IZMIRAN

A. B. Karabut AB, winner of the International Award Cold Nuclear Transmutation them. “Giuliano Preparata”for 2007.,
Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR for 1982. Member of COP Cold Nuclear Transmutation (RFO), PhD, MN, SNA “Luch”

V. G. Koltashov, head of the Center for Economic Research Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, Ph.D.

Translated by Peter Gluck, Jan 13, 2015

END RE-POST

Related Links


Russian scientist replicates Hot Cat test: “produces more energy than it consumes”

Q&A with Jack Cole on new Hot Cat replication, experiment completion

A new replication attempt of the Andrea Rossi E-Cat technology has been announced by Jack Cole on http://www.lenr-coldfusion.com/2015/01/13/hot-cat-replication-attempt/.

The Universal LENR Reactor was designed by Dale Basgall and Jack Cole and they have been posting updates since September 2012.

Nikita Alexandrov, President, Permanetix Corporation has contacted the lab and generated these details about the experiment.

 
Photo: Reaction chamber in operation. Note that the true light color was orange. Courtesy Jack Cole.
 

Q&A with Jack Cole and Nikita Alexandrov

Q A replication of the Rossi type Ni-H LENR system was posted to your website. Were you the one who performed this experiment or was it someone else?

A Yes, I was the one who performed the experiment.

Q Can you go into detail regarding the nickel powder ie: grain size, composition, purity, source, batch number, etc?

A INCO Type 255 Nickel Powder (2.2 to 2.8 um particle size). Purchased on Ebay. I also use Fe2O3 added to the nickel.

Q Can you explain which type thermocouple/DAQ system you were using?

A I’m using a type K thermocouple of the type frequently used in kilns. I use a USB thermocouple adapter that has it’s own software (http://www.pcsensor.com/index.php?_a=product&product_id=49). The power data is acquired directly from the programmable DC power supply using a Visual Basic .NET program that I wrote. The VB program samples and adjusts power levels every 5 seconds to compensate for changing resistance to maintain a constant power output.

Q Can you explain which sources you ordered your alumina materials from?

A I purchased a 12″ alumina tube from Amazon and cut it into 3″ sections. It is 3/8″ OD and 1/4″ ID. The experiment was conducted with a 3″ tube.

Q Can you explain the geometry of your reactor and heating coils as well as method of sealing?

A The heating element is simply coiled Kanthal. The seal is not hermetic (it leaks hydrogen). I tested with a dangerous gas detector and it was leaking up to the last power step. After that point, I detected no more hydrogen. It was either sealed at that point or no more hydrogen was being produced. Based on the description of how Rossi sealed his reactor in the Lugano report, I find it unlikely his seal was hermetic (unless he found a very clever method of sealing the tube).

Q Can you explain which hydrogen carrier you used? In the report it was implied it was not LiAlH4, was it magnesium based – if you do not want to go into detail can you just confirm it was not a gas or which elements were present?

A I used lithium hydroxide and aluminum powder. The advantage with this method is that it does not start producing significant amounts of hydrogen until the LiOH melts at 480C. Earlier experiments were performed with KOH and aluminum powder. It starts producing hydrogen after 100C (presumably when the water absorbed in the KOH is liberated as steam). I haven’t seen any research discussing these facts as most research looks at combining water with these elements at room temperature to produce hydrogen. I don’t add any water (not really needed since these compounds absorb water from the air). The hydrogen production can be quite vigorous as I found out in an earlier copper tube experiment where the end cap was shot across the room into the basement wall.

Q Can you tell me if you made a blank, sealed reactor for the calibration?

A The calibration (control run) was performed with the same cell with one end sealed. The lack of seal on one end is a potential limitation. What bolsters the results is that the apparent excess heat has been decreasing (makes it less likely that the lack of seal on one end gave a bad calibration). Additionally, the Delta T at the first two power steps was almost identical between the control and experimental run. Hydrogen production started at the third power step.

Q Can you tell me how many trials you performed with this system before you saw xP?

A I performed many experiments with different types of tubes before this (brass, copper, and stainless steel). The trouble with all those is the melting temperatures and difficulty sealing. Copper is easy to seal, but you have to keep it below 150C to keep the solder from melting. You can get hydrogen with KOH and aluminum at that level (which produces chemical heat). I had promising results with alumina on my first run (but I used it as it’s own calibration comparing the lower temperature curve to the higher temperature curve–certainly not ideal). Part of the difficulty has been finding the right heating element diameter to match with my DC supply to be able to produced the needed heating levels. I have done probably 15 experiments with alumina tubes, but I had the best configuration for making measurements on the last one that I reported on.

Q Would you be interested in having a sample of your spent nickel material analyzed for elemental transmutations?

A I’ll keep it after I’m done with it in case this could be done in the future. Right now, I need to work on calorimetry to verify this in a more rigorous way.

Q Would you feel comfortable having me post your answers publicly, online and not just to the private mailing list?

A You can use it in whatever way you like. Keep in mind that I am not yet convinced by these results and there is more work to be done. I might yet discover that there is a simple conventional explanation that is not LENR. The results have to convince me, and I’m not to that point yet.

Q Thanks so much, this will really help educate the general community.

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