Hacking the Atom EXPLORATIONS IN NUCLEAR RESEARCH, VOL. 1 The new science of low-energy nuclear reactions (1990-2015) Steven B. Krivit Edited by Michael J. Ravnitzky SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA Hacking the Atom: Explorations in Nuclear Research, Vol. 1 Copyright © 2016 by Steven B. Krivit All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic without permission from the publisher. Pacific Oaks Press / New Energy Times / www.newenergytimes.com 369-B 3rd St. #556, San Rafael, CA 94901 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902974 Krivit, Steven B., author. Hacking the atom / Steven B. Krivit ; editors, Michael Ravnitzky, Cynthia Goldstein, Mat Nieuwenhoven. pages cm -- (Explorations in nuclear research ; vol. 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. LCCN 2016902974 ISBN 978-0-996886444 (hbk.) ISBN 978-0-996886451 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-996886468 (Kindle) ISBN 978-0-996886475 (ePUB) 1. Low-energy nuclear reactions--Research--History. 2. Electroweak interactions--Research--History. 3. Science--Social aspects. I. Ravnitzky, Michael, editor. II. Goldstein, Cynthia, editor. III. Nieuwenhoven, Mat, editor. IV. Title. V. Series: Krivit, Steven B. Explorations in nuclear research ; v. 1. QC794.8.L69K754 2016 539.7'5 QBI16-600060 Cover design: Lucien G. Frisch (Photograph: © Jahoo | Dreamstime.com) Interior design template: Book Design Templates Inc. Typeset in Crimson 11 pt., designed by Sebastian Kosch Editors: Michael Ravnitzky (Developmental Editor), Cynthia Goldstein (Copy Editor), Mat Nieuwenhoven (Technical Editor) Index: Laura Shelly Index Page numbers in bold indicate figures, Baldwin, Richard S., 52 tables, and photos. Ballinger, Ronald, 187 Barnhart, Beverly (Defense Intelligence ABC (TV network), 140 Agency), 334–335 abundance. See elemental (natural) Barron's (magazine), 264 abundances; isotopic abundance Bass, Robert W., 71, 169–170, 375 accelerator. See particle accelerator Battelle Memorial Institute, 18 Ahern, Brian, 380 Bazhutov, Yuri, 52, 331 Alabin, Kirill, 239, 240 BBC Horizon (film), 79–80 Alimuhambetova, Anna Alexandrovna, BBC television, 96 254 Begley, Sharon (writing for Newsweek), Allan, Sterling, 385 25–26, 43 alpha (particle, emission), 34, 66, 318, Belous, Pavel, 239 399, 415 Benson, Thomas, 255 beta-delayed alpha decays, 284 Bernstein, Michael, 366 alpha decay, 403 beta (particle, emission), 7, 34, 36, 37, aluminum, 73, 415 66, 69, 260, 301, 415 Ambadkar, Abhay, 78 beta decay, 265, 387–388, 412 American Chemical Society (ACS), 46, beta-minus decay, 98 184–185, 189, 235, 358, 365, 366–367 inverse beta decay, 265–266 Marwan and, 81, 333, 365, 367 in nucleosynthetic reaction American Institute of Physics (AIP), 226, networks, 283, 283–287, 284, 285 366 Bethe, Hans, 300, 414 American Nuclear Society, 136 Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), American Physical Society (APS), 5, 96, 7, 55–56, 269, 318, 373 226, 254, 308. See also Chubb, Scott R.; light-water experiments, 52, 53, 54, Park, Robert L.; Riordon, James 57, 59–60, 60 Anderson, Phillip, 49 neutrons and, 181 Arata, Yoshiaki, 189–191, 190, 192, 341, Scaramuzzi experiments, 180–181 342 tritium and, 15, 16, 54 Argonne Laboratory, 18 Bhardwaj, Ramesh, 35 Army Research Laboratory, 214 Biberian, Jean-Paul, 85, 234 aromatic rings, 290 biological transmutations, 243, 414 atom, structure of, 29–32. See also Biryukov, Artyom, 239 electrons; neutrons; nucleus; nuclides; Bishop, Jerry (writing in Popular protons Science), 144 atomic emission spectrometer (AES), 92, Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stewart, xxiii 95 Blacklight Power Inc., 48 Atomic Energy Commission, 263 Bockris, John O’Mara, xxi, 15, 16, 20–25, atomic transformation. See 21, 23, 66, 72, 123–129, 150, 177–178, transmutation 204, 375 Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), 133, "Low-Energy Nuclear Reaction" 147, 148 meetings, 118–123, 124–126, 129, Azzam, Ahmed M., 21, 22 137–138 Miley and, 124–125, 137, 142–143, Baard, Erik, 49 150, 152 433 434 INDEX transmutation work, 14, 24–25, 79, mass-flow calorimetry, 380, 389 102–103, 118–119, 122–126, 138, McKubre and SRI's use of, 55, 56, 57, 143, 150, 165 59 Champion and, 19, 23, 25–27, SPAWAR and, 157, 158–159, 160–161 35–43, 45, 79, 121 Cameron, Frank, 203, 203 others questioning his work, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., 223, 256 15–16, 17–18, 19–20, 99–114, carbon, 31–32, 32, 285, 364 115, 118, 126, 129, 162 carbon-arc experiment, 24 Bockris, Lillian "Lily," 19, 124, 128, 129 carbon fullerenes, 290 Boeing Corp., 270 transmutation to nitrogen and Born, Max, 277–278 helium, 284, 284–285 Born-Oppenheimer approximation, 277– Carnegie Institute of Technology, 262 278 Case, Leslie Catron, 180–182, 375 boron, 73, 136, 188, 250, 318–320, 413 efforts to replicate experiment of, palladium-boron alloy, 157, 158, 160 182, 183, 185, 226, 229, 361, 361– boron trifluoride neutron detector, 317 362 Bose, Amar, 56, 58 cathodes, 76–77, 188, 218 Bose Corp. light-water electrolysis double-structure, 190, 190 experiments, 56, 57–59, 141 foil, 76–77, 80, 91–92, 152, 218 Boss, Roger, 82 gold, 129, 130, 147, 221, 274 Boston Herald (newspaper), 187 nickel-mesh, 219–220, 220 Bowler-Reed, John W., 21 palladium, 87, 89, 120, 129, 130, 135– Brady, Patrick, 386 136, 156, 157, 158, 161, 195–198, Brandon, John, 385–386 196, 200, 217, 362–364, 393 Breen, John J., 58 platinum, 89 Bressani, Tullio, 154 surfaces of, 76, 221, 236, 273, 395 Briggs, Roger, 112–113 thermal imaging of, 219–220, 220 Brilliant Light Power, 48 tungsten, 193, 241–244, 245–247, British Petroleum (BP), 372 246, 247 Britz, Dieter, 145 Cattaneo, Luigi, 391 Brown, Mozelle, 228 Cavendish laboratory, 413 Brown, Thomas M., 112 cavitation, 250, 255 Bryan-College Station Eagle CBS-TV, 345, 359, 383, 397 (newspaper), 102, 103, 105–107, 119 Celani, Francesco, 235, 339–340, 382 Burbidge, Geoffrey and Margaret, 414 CERN (European Organization for Burns, Paul (aka Paul Story), 382–383 Nuclear Research), 7, 414 Bush, Benjamin Frederick, 9, 153, 179, cesium, 285, 339 184–185, 189 transmutation to praseodymium, Bush, Robert, 47–48, 51, 52, 53–54, 56, 202, 212, 343–344, 353 57, 58, 72, 119 Chadwick, James, 138, 213, 265, 413 Bushnell, Dennis, 394 Champion, Joseph, 19, 23, 25–27, 35–43, 45, 103, 112–113, 121 cadmium, 147, 287 Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan, 263, 265 calcium, 51, 54, 87 Chapline, George, Jr., 4 calcium oxide, 197 Chatzidimitriou-Dreismann, C. Aris, 274 California Institute of Technology Chaudhary, Irfan, 315–316 (Caltech), 168, 215, 371–372 Chellappan, Kumar, 373 calorimetry, 55, 56, 57, 59, 65, 141, 264, Chemical and Engineering News 380, 392 (journal), 332 isoperibolic calorimetry, 389 Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 236–237 INDEX 435 Cherokee Investment Partners, LLC, 381 distinction from low-energy nuclear Chidambaram, Rajagopala, 55–56, 373– reactions, xix–xx, 261, 310, 328– 374 330, 359–360 chromium, 73, 87, 92, 132–133, 134, 135, DOE 1989 review of, xx–xxi, 14, 15, 136, 147 95, 96, 168, 186, 222, 223, 224, Chronicle of Higher Education 225, 232, 258, 308, 349 (newspaper), 100 Fleischmann and Pons experiment Chubb, Scott R., 10, 54, 97, 159, 208, 210, claimed as fusion, 45–46, 62, 118, 212, 219, 315, 328, 331, 365, 375 170, 332. See also Fleischmann- at American Physical Society, 182– Pons experiment 183, 312–313, 372 history of development of, xviii–xx, Chubb, Talbot A., 10, 208, 213, 229, 232, 1–10 269, 317, 340, 375 hypothetical D+D "cold fusion" idea, Cirillo, Domenico, 40, 214–243, 241, 244, 368 260, 318–319, 320 idea questioned by Claytor, Thomas, 16, 125 Hagelstein, 10, 11, 61, 66, 110, Clean Energy Technologies Inc., 140 154 Close, Frank, xxi, 349 Krivit, 325–326, 329, 355–364, Clustron Sciences Corp., 145 367–369 Cochrane, Patrick, 248–250, 253–254 Larsen, 331–332, 360–361, 367 Cockcroft, John, 413 McKubre, 211–212 Cocanougher, Benton, 112, 113 Mainstream Cold Fusion Hypothesis" co-deposition method of SPAWAR, 152, (MCFH), 210 156, 158, 215–222, 220, 221 Patterson's "cold fusion" kits, 140 Coffey, Timothy P., 162 Cold Fusion Research Advocates, 145 "cold fusion" (room temperature collective effects, many-body quantum, deuterium-deuterium) fusion idea, 266, 274–277, 279, 280, 288, 298, 301, xviii, 6–7, 47, 64–66, 199 304, 312, 313, 392, 411–414 claimed as d+d → he-4 + 23.8 MeV Compton scattering, 292 reaction, 6–7, 10, 61, 154–155, 212, Conference on Cold Fusion 224, 229–230, 232, 325, 327, 331, First Annual Conference (1990), 6, 332, 338, 360, 361, 398 47, 92, 187 McKubre promoting with Second Annual (1992), 10, 46, 47, manufactured evidence, 156, 219 355–360, 361–362, 365 Third annual using new name. See critics of, 48, 62, 66, 117, 184–185, International Conference on Cold 188, 191–192, 194, 272–273, 305– Fusion, ICCF-3 306, 310, 373–374 Conference on Future Energy (COFE), 168 Huizenga's three miracles, 257– Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche (National 258, 260 Research Council), 391 defenders of, 144, 151–152, 179, 192, Conte, Elio, 272 231, 258, 311, 314, 331–338, 346, Continuum Energy Technologies LLC, 380 367, 369–370 Conway, Brian Evans, 21, 22 by Hagelstein, 4–5, 6–7, 10, 62, copper, 93, 94, 132, 133, 134, 147, 194 154–155, 210, 212, 327, 331, changes in isotopes, 73, 132, 336, 337 356, 360 Corey, James "Jim," 212, 214 by McKubre, 179–180, 200, Correa, Paulo N., 146 335, 358, 360, 361–362 Cotton, Frank Albert, 107–109, 112, 113, resistance against Widom- 119, 125 Larsen theory, 317–330 Coulomb barrier, 5, 9, 63, 155, 258, 259, 436 INDEX 260, 282, 291, 305, 333, 413 201, 339, 340, 344, 353, 373 CR-39 (solid-state nuclear track) of Case, 180–183, 185, 226, 229, detector, 318–320 361–362 Cravens, Dennis, 72, 202, 206, 272, 274, deuterium nuclei, 8, 155 336, 384 disintegration, atomic, 34, 126, 244, 413 Dominguez, Dawn, 157, 158, 159–161, 162, D+D thermonuclear fusion, 5, 11, 61, 61, 165 64–65, 183–184, 258, 302, 314, 342, Dornan, Frederick, 253 367–368 Dresselhaus, Mildred, 225 D2 Fusion, 255 Dubna Joint Institute for Nuclear D2O.