On Excessive Cold Fusion Safety Concerns

The following guest post was submitted by E-Cat World reader Rick Allen. The opinions expressed in guest posts are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of E-Cat World.

The E-Cat represents a breakthrough cold fusion technology. By combining specially processed nickel powder, hydrogen gas, and certain undisclosed catalysts, it can produce massive amounts of power without any of the typical drawbacks of conventional nuclear reactions. There is no other energy technology that has been disclosed to the public with so much potential. Solar power doesn’t even come close. Despite the stunning capabilities of this technology, there are some who even though they are proponents of the reality of cold fusion (LENR), believe that technologies such as the E-Cat should be forced to go through excessive safety testing which could last years before being commercialized.

All kinds of products go through safety testing: cars, stoves, microwave cookers, and even coffee pots — and of course, the E-Cat should be treated the same. Any product intended to be used in the marketplace that produces high temperatures, regardless of whether it runs on electricity, gasoline, or nickel powder should be checked for safety. What’s disturbing is the extent to which some want cold fusion devices to be tested.

Jed Rothwell wrote recently on vortex-l

I do not think any cold fusion device should be allowed on the market until production line models have been subjected to millions of hours of testing in hundreds of different labs and places like Underwriter’s Laboratory.

We do not allow automobiles to be sold until they have been crash tested. Those tests cost many millions of dollars for each model. It is a small price to pay for automobile safety.

The notion that cold fusion devices can be sold to corporations or individuals now, in this primitive state of development, is a reflection of the amateur status of the research. If Rossi and the people at Defkalion
seriously believe they might start sales in a year or two, even before they crank out a few thousand devices to be safety tested, they are either naive, ignorant of safety standards, or they are trying to sell investors a
bill of goods.

The amount of red tape Jed Rothwell suggests here could make a fully market ready product sit in a lab for several years.

What are the proposed “dangers” of cold fusion devices, other than the fact they generate high temperatures? A few concerns are the emission of radiation, production of nuclear waste, and the dreaded, “melt down.” All of these almost certainly non-issues when it comes to the E-Cat. However, common sense tells us these issues could be determined during a reasonable duration of testing in a handful of professional labs with modern equipment. As we speak, I would be almost certain Andrea Rossi and his partner company are addressing these issues than they already have in the past. By the time the E-Cat hits the market, testing will have already told us what has already been determined during previous tests.

We should also remember that prototype E-Cats have been made to self-sustain until the reactor was destroyed — sometimes through deliberate torture testing. The result was not a giant cloud of radiation sweeping through a building, there were also no rods of uranium or plutonium melting into the ground. Instead, there was melted nickel, steel, and ceramic but little else. The only real safety threat seems to be a conventional fire. Andrea Rossi, who has worked in close proximity to potentially thousands of E-Cat reactors for years (even during intentional failure testing) seems to be in fine health. If this technology was as dangerous as some people claim, he would at least have been seriously injured or sick by now. The worst injury Rossi has reported is a burnt finger when touching a hot reactor.

I think this track record is far better than that of steam technology a hundred or more years ago. The first boilers and steam engines were very dangerous and often exploded. People died from accidents. However, instead of being kept in a government lab for years, the technology was implemented broadly and rapidly. Because of this, the world quickly advanced technologically. In time, it became safer and now it is used everywhere.

I’m not saying that the E-Cat technology should be slapped on the market without any safety testing. However, by getting it into the marketplace as quickly as is reasonably possible, much more good than harm will be done. There will be an accident with a cold fusion product eventually and I’m sure that when that happens there will be detractors yelling and screaming to take them off the market. We must remember there are horrible accidents that take place with products you can buy today at Home Depot. People burn themselves; homes catch on fire; canisters of flammable gas explode. Are all of these devices yanked off the shelves? No. They are still used, because people have the common sense to know that almost anything can be dangerous if not used appropriately, not maintained, or not used safely.

With an adequate amount of safety testing the E-Cat technology can be re-confirmed as being safe enough for the marketplace, first probably, for industrial settings and then for home use. It’s not going to take a billion dollar government program and five thousand scientists to prove this. And it’s not going to require Rossi’s partner company sending experimental units to hundreds of universities around the world to be tested for years.

I think that when Rossi’s partner company is revealed, they will present more than enough evidence that the technology is safe enough to be sold in the market place. My hunch is that they will also present data from other parties confirming the safety of the E-Cat. If we are fortunate, the governments of the world will not place excess regulations on it just because “nuclear” phenomenon are taking place, and the solution to the energy crisis can start being utilized broadly.

What we need to be fearful of, more than anything, is this technology not being placed on the market as soon as possible. Our civilization is closer to death than most people think. We have billions of people, a fragile environment, limited resources, and no ideal source of energy. If cold fusion is used appropriately, it could transform a planet of scarcity from hell into a near heaven of plenty E-Cat technology could help fight such things as drought, poverty, pollution, hunger, economic depression and other major problems.

If overzealous safety police get their way when it comes to this technology, it may not see the light of day until it is too late to save our society from an eventual collapse. Once the technology is on the market, it won’t change the world overnight. But over a period of years, maybe a decade or two, a fundamental transformation of our world could take place. This shift must start immediately, while the opportunity remains.

Fear has been said to be the mind killer. In the case of the E-Cat, it could be a civilization stopper. We must use logical and reason to realize that the safety issues surrounding cold fusion are minimal compared to the enormous benefits. I don’t know about you, but I think saving the world is worth burning a finger.

Rick Allen