6312 Seven Corners Centre #331
Falls Church, VA 22044
Tel: (202) 930-3001
PRESS CONTACT: Clair Molander (916) 996-3097
HOUSE COMMITTEE REQUIRES LENR BRIEFING
FROM SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Armed Service Committee acknowledges LENR as a potential ultra-clean, low-cost renewable energy source with “strong national security implications”
FALLS CHURCH, VA, JUNE 14, 2016 – The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has ordered the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing on LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reactions) to the committee by September 22, 2016.
The order for the LENR briefing was included in House Report 114-537 Part I, which accompanies the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017. The report was submitted to the Committee of the Whole House on May 4, 2016.
This overdue attention by U.S. lawmakers to the science and business of LENR brings renewed critical focus to the field at a time when developing new sources of clean energy are of mounting importance.
Previously perceived as an obscure alternative field of energy research and often treated in a derogatory manner, LENR’s growing momentum stems from current and cumulative research, as well as government and commercial projects in several countries.
In advancing this legislation, the House Committee on Armed Services cites Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) viewpoints that China and India are moving forward with LENR programs of their own and that Japan has created an investment fund to promote such technology.
The committee also refers to the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) assessment that Japan and Italy are leaders in the field and that Russia, China, Israel and India are now devoting significant resources to LENR development.
The Armed Service Committee’s acknowledgement of LENR as a potential ultra-clean, low-cost renewable energy source with “strong national security implications” adds to the changing perception of the field that is quietly underway. Much greater resources for research are expected once LENR enters the scientific and energy policy mainstream.
LENRIA is the not-for-profit advocate for the scientific study and eventual commercialization of LENR. The organization is positioned to be the LENR field’s representative in the United States Energy Association (USEA).
State LENRIA co-founders Steven Katinsky and David Nagel, “The changing perception of LENR and acknowledgement of the field as a bona fide area for energy research is much needed and long overdue. It is our goal at LENRIA to maintain this positive momentum.”
LENRIA will continue to support and encourage the growing interest in LENR research and development in the period leading up to the House Armed Services Committee briefing. The committee’s interest could be a precursor to mounting military engagement in LENR, with it being pinpointed by the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) as a potentially “disruptive technology that could revolutionize energy production.”
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2017 passed the House of Representatives on the evening of May 18, 2016. The text regarding LENR is included below.
ABOUT LENRIA
LENRIA, the Industry Association of LENR, is a recently formed not-for-profit organization established to advocate for both scientific study and, especially, commercial advancement of the field. It shall offer various member services to dues-paying individuals and companies. The Association has been set up in the U.S., however it shall serve the global community of involved and interested persons and organizations.
Progress toward a change in the perception of the science and business of LENR is gaining momentum. This is occurring both through scientific study and through early engineering of systems based on LENR to produce heat and electricity. Several small companies are conducting experiments, and are designing, building and testing prototypes of LENR-based devices. A few large companies are known to be watching developments in the field.
Part of the increased interest is due to the publication in 2013 and 2014 of two reports on LENR technologies sponsored by Elforsk (now Energiforsk.) Though these reports have generated significant criticism, they have also attracted much attention outside of the community of scientists doing research on LENR. Notable public corporations, and private companies and individuals are now focused on LENR.
Commercial endeavors to produce devices based upon LENR, including thermal and electrical generators, if successful, could grow to significant scales, and become a consequential new industry. To advance the progress and adoption of the resulting technologies, it will be necessary to develop industry standards and safety criteria for commercial products and processes. This, and other factors, provided the motivation to form an association for the new industry.
In addition, there will be growing needs for (a) provision of information, organization of commercial conferences or expositions, and professional communications to counter opponents and negative propaganda about LENR, and (b) representation of LENR before government bodies, regulators and the public. This new association focused on LENR shall effectuate those roles.
The intention to form an Industrial Association for LENR was announced at ICCF-18. During ICCF-19, in Padua, Italy, the new Industrial Association for LENR was announced. The ICCF-19 presentation can be viewed and downloadedhere.
LENRIA shall be put forward as the field’s representative in the USEA (the United States Energy Association,) the association of associations representing members from most energy concerns in the U.S. including coal, oil, gas, nuclear, solar, wind and other industries. There are also the EREC and the JCRE, the renewable energy councils of Europe and Japan, respectively, and councils in other regions.
LENRIA has produced The 2016 LENR International Calendar, available here. It shall soon begin work on the 2017 version of this publication.
LENRIA also periodically publishes LENRIA Ecosystem Maps, the most recent version that is available here.
National Defense Authorization Act for 2017 - Report of the Committee on Armed Services - Excerpt
Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) Briefing
The committee is aware of recent positive developments in developing low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), which produce ultra-clean, low-cost renewable energy that have strong national security implications. For example, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), if LENR works it will be a ``disruptive technology that could revolutionize energy production and storage.'' The committee is also aware of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA) findings that other countries including China and India are moving forward with LENR programs of their own and that Japan has actually created its own investment fund to promote such technology. DIA has also assessed that Japan and Italy are leaders in the field and that Russia, China, Israel, and India are now devoting significant resources to LENR development. To better understand the national security implications of these developments, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing on the military utility of recent U.S. industrial base LENR advancements to the House Committee on Armed Services by September 22, 2016. This briefing should examine the current state of research in the United States, how that compares to work being done internationally, and an assessment of the type of military applications where this technology could potentially be useful.
House Report 114-537 Part 1, can be viewed here or downloaded here. Details regarding LENR (above) are found on page 87.
