NASA: New Paper about Experimental Progress

    PHYSICAL REVIEW C 101 (2020)

    Novel nuclear reactions observed in bremsstrahlung-irradiated deuterated metals


    National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Glenn Research Center

    JWK Corporation,

    Vantage Partners, LLC

    PineSci Consulting

    Cleveland State University

    Ohio Aerospace Institute


    (Received 15 October 2018; accepted 6 December 2019; published 20 April 2020)


    The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of many

    people that supported this effort. IBA Industrial Inc. for

    providing beam time and generous technical support and consultation:

    Mr. Rick Galloway and Mr. Jim Scheid. Materials

    analyses and consultation: Dr. David Ellis, Dr. Kathy Chuang,

    Dr. Ivan Locci, and Mr. Dan Scheiman; materials loading and

    sample preparation: Mr. Frank Lynch, Dr. Fred Van Keuls,

    and Dr.Wayne Jennings; nuclear diagnostics consultation: Mr.

    James Currie and U2D, Inc.; statistical support and consultation:

    Dr. Christopher Daniels; condensed matter physics guidance

    and technical support: Dr. Louis DeChiaro (US Navy);

    neutron spectrometer technical consultation: Dr. Chuck Hurlbut

    (Eljen) and Mr. George Murray and Dr. Candace Lynch

    (Inrad Optics). We gratefully acknowledge technical input and

    stimulating discussions from Dr. Matthew Forsbacka (NASA

    HQ), Dr. Christopher Iannello (NASA KSC), Dr. Ron Litchford

    (NASA MSFC), Dr. John Scott (NASA JSC), as well

    Mr. Leonard Dudzinski, (Planetary Sciences Division, NASA

    HQ). We are also grateful for Dr. James Gilland and Dr. Timothy

    Gray for valuable technical comments on the manuscript.

    Funding for this work was provided by NASA Headquarters

    Planetary Sciences Division, Science Mission Directorate.


    FUTURE WORK


    The current tests demonstrate the feasibility of initiating fusion reactions with simple, relatively inexpensive equipment. Ideally, these experiments should be repeated in the future with a pulsed beam to further validate the d-D fusion reactions and to further resolve the source of the higher-energy neutrons. The pulsed beam would allow use of time-of-flight instrumentation (not possible with the continuous wave beam used herein) to further corroborate the neutron energy measurements. By following the described procedure with a precision γ beam it is possible to control neutron and deuteron energies to examine primary and boosted fusion and screened Oppenheimer-Phillips processes over a wide energy range. Nuclear cross sections can be established as a function of beam/deuteron energy and host materials. Process scale up using an energy-efficient LINAC, may lead to a new means of generating or boosting medical and industrial isotope production.

    From this paper (abstract)


    We examine the range of applicability of both the analytical and asymptotic expressions for the well-known electron screening lattice potential energy Ue, which is valid only for E≫Ue (E is the energy in the center of mass reference frame). We demonstrate that for E≤Ue, a direct calculation of Gamow factor for screened Coulomb potential is required to avoid unreasonably high values of the enhancement factor f(E) by the analytical—and more so by the asymptotic—formulas.


    So, basically they are saying that the real screening in the case E is not >> Ue (the one relevant to LENR) comes up as unreasonably high using analytical or asymptotic formulas, but that direct calculation (done here) gives a lower screening value.


    All good work.


    Not supporting the "lattice screening causes LENR" hypothesis much.

    It does seem to further confirm or corroborates with the observation of many, including me, that LENR-like excess heat experiments are genuinely a miracle intermediate hydrogen/metal energetic phenomina. The experiments where neutrons, deuterons, protons, photons or alpha particles are hurled at targets with high energies generate more nuclear interactions, but this experimental goal isn't the main engineering affect we see that we want for civilian decentralized combustion-like use. I am as pro nuclear as you can be and still be conscious environmentally, and aware of humans often irrational state from a social psychology/emotional perspective. Closed loop, breeding, fully fissioning MSRs are a most beautiful conventional energy tech to me. But an energy source that avoids penetrating particles that can't be absorbed in a practical portable device is preferred to replace fossil fuels and indirect difuse solar power. The significant penitrating particles should only be deuterium/hydrogen, electrons and light below the gamma spectrum, all up to 100keV per event. You can probably use novel quantum/pico scale chemistry to improve nuclear processes, but then you lose a lot of advantages of a hypothetical life/nucleic acid friendly high energy portable product initiated with up to 10s of eV. A quite exciting production though.

    Lattice Confinement Fusion - NASA Discovers Potential New Power-Generation Method


    “This discovery opens a new path for initiating fusion reactions for further study within the scientific community. However, the reaction rates still need to be increased substantially to achieve appreciable power levels, which may be possible utilizing various reaction multiplication methods under consideration,” said Glenn’s Dr. Bruce Steinetz, the NASA project principal investigator.


    https://webcache.googleusercon…ttice-confinement-fusion/

    Nwe publicity for a dead end


    This discovery opens a new path for initiating fusion reactions for further study within the scientific community. However, the reaction rates still need to be increased substantially to achieve appreciable power levels, which may be possible utilizing various reaction multiplication methods under consideration,” said Glenn’s Dr. Bruce Steinetz, the NASA project principal investigator.

    • Official Post

    Good you caught the NASA GRC press release before they pulled it Ahlfors ! We have seen the studies before, but the release adds life to their practical use, with comments from some on the team, along with the projects principal investigator.


    Lattice Confinement Fusion

    NASA Discovers Potential New Power-Generation Method

    A team of NASA researchers seeking a new energy source for deep-space exploration missions, recently discovered a method for triggering room-temperature fusion.

    “This discovery could help NASA develop cleaner and safer nuclear power generation methods for future NASA space missions,” said Dr. Theresa Benyo of NASA’s Glenn Research Center. “It also could be used for terrestrial power plants and the production of medical isotopes.”


    Benyo and her colleagues published their research in two peer-reviewed papers on April 20 in the journal Physical Review C, Volume 101: “Nuclear fusion reactions in deuterated metals” and “Novel nuclear reactions observed in bremsstrahlung-irradiated deuterated metals.”


    Fusion is a process that produces energy when two atoms join to form one larger atom. Scientists are interested in fusion, because it could generate enormous amounts of energy without creating long-lasting radioactive byproducts. However, conventional fusion reactions are difficult to sustain because they rely on temperatures so extreme that the process has been impractical.


    Called lattice confinement fusion, the method NASA discovered accomplishes fusion reactions with the fuel (deuterium, d) starting at room temperature, while previous fusion research relied on heating the fuel (deuterium/tritium) in a plasma to temperatures 10 times those at the center of the Sun. In the new process, a metal such as erbium is “deuterated” or loaded with deuterons, which packs the fuel approximately a billion times denser than in conventional fusion reactors. Upon irradiation with a 2.9+MeV gamma (energetic X-ray) beam, a deuteron dissociates, and the neutron and proton are ejected. The neutron collides with a deuteron, accelerating it into a neighbor inducing screened d-d fusion, or causing even more energetic screened Oppenheimer-Phillips (O-P) nuclear reactions. A novel feature of the new process is the metal lattice electrons whose negative charges help “screen” the positively charged deuterons and allow them to approach one another more closely overcoming the electrostatic barrier and more easily fusing with one another, according to the theory developed by Dr. Vlad Pines, the project’s theoretical physicist.


    “This discovery opens a new path for initiating fusion reactions for further study within the scientific community. However, the reaction rates still need to be increased substantially to achieve appreciable power levels, which may be possible utilizing various reaction multiplication methods under consideration,” said Glenn’s Dr. Bruce Steinetz, the NASA project principal investigator.


    With more study and development, future applications could include power systems for long-duration space exploration missions or in-space propulsion. It also could be used on Earth for power plants or creating medical isotopes for nuclear medicine

    APS March Meeting 2020

    Volume 65, Number 1

    Monday–Friday, March 2–6, 2020; Denver, Colorado

    http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR20/Session/C71.16


    C71.00016 : Investigation of Track Formation in CR-39 for Various Hydrated Envinroments

    "In conclusion, it cannot be claimed that tracks formed in co-deposition of Pd/D

    in electrochemical cells have a nuclear origin because similar tracks are observed in

    similar environments that have non-nuclear origins."


    Plop - ask Pamela and Larry

    • Official Post


    I moved Ahlfors post to this thread because Pamela Mossier-Boss was one of the main LENR scientists at the now disbanded SPAWAR. She has since been working with NASA to develop the former SPAWAR/GEC (Larry Forsley) technology. This APS paper disputes her 2007 CR-39 track findings.

    Quote from Ahlfors

    C71.00016 : Investigation of Track Formation in CR-39 for Various Hydrated Envinroments


    "In conclusion, it cannot be claimed that tracks formed in co-deposition of Pd/D

    in electrochemical cells have a nuclear origin because similar tracks are observed in

    similar environments that have non-nuclear origins."


    This was based on the old fringe SM approach with blind believe that LENR should produce kinetic alphas - what is complete nonsense and physically impossible.


    We have one reaction with a Q-factor of 10MeV. Thus under rare conditions such a "bang" might indirectly happen.

    "

    CR-39 can be used to distinguish particle energies between energies
    from 0.144 MeV to 19.0 MeV    ."


    But to compare with known emissions from known isotopess one needs a library of Cr39 data.. which is non existent.


    The characterisation of the the sub 200kev emissions (photons )

    ,, all the way down to 10 kev in ~ 500 Pa vacuum according to the isotope state.. eg Sm-153


    cannot be done with CR_39..


    In mixed isotope system with Sm.?..Fe... Mo... Mn Ni.... Pd there are many isotopes that may paticipate in LENR

    and gamma spectroscopy even with beryllium is certainly challenging.. but CR-39 is useless.

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