nuclear-news

A dubious claim about nuclear fusion

Cold Fusion Experiment: Major Success or Complex Hoax?, Fox news, By John Brandon,  November 02, 2011 A physicist in Italy claims to have demonstrated a new type of power plant that provides safe, cheap and virtually unlimited nuclear power to the world, without fossil fuels or radiation concerns.

The only hitch: Scientists say the method — cold fusion — is patently impossible. They say it defies the laws of physics……   Jonathan Koomey, an energy consultant who has advised the EPA, said any extraordinary discovery requires extraordinary proof. He said the E-Cat must be verified by an independent study conducted by scientists who are allowed access to the machine’s inner-workings.

“[The E-Cat experiment] should be treated as a hoax until independent scientists are able to replicate these results,” Koomey told FoxNews.com — as one would treat claims that someone had defied the laws of gravity or found a major flaw in the theory of relativity.

Koomey explained that cold fusion defies the laws of thermodynamics. Energy requires an initial, consumable power source that erodes and breaks down — it simply isn’t self-sustaining……

Rossi claims his company, Leonardo Corp., will produce the E-Cat machine, which he first demonstrated earlier this year at the University of Bologna. Proof of the experiment’s success is that the customer will pay for the technology and start using it, he said…
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/02/andrea-rossi-italian-cold-fusion-plant/#ixzz1cgMMbKLB

November 3, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Italy, Reference, technology