Experiments at the National Cold Fusion Institute in Salt Lake City show no measurable fusion because the institute has no equipment to measure fusion, an irate B. Stanley Pons said of media reports this week.
Pons and co-researcher Martin Fleischmann returned from Japan Thursday to a flood of stories that scientists at the University of Utah fusion center have been unsuccessful in duplicating their experiments.The reports were the result of media interviews this week with center director Hugo Rossi.
Rossi said the institute's more than 20 electrochemical cells, patterned after the cells of Pons and Fleischmann, are now up and running. Some have been running for about four weeks, but most have been running for only a week or 10 days. None of the cells has produced excess heat nor have scientists detected fusion products such as neutrons or tritium, he said.
Rossi added that he's not discouraged. "I am, in fact, encouraged by the fact that so many cells are in good running order so fast," he said.
But according to Pons, only two cells are similar to the Pons/Fleischmann type, and those were not intended for anything except calibration of the instrumentation for more sophisticated experiments. He said he doesn't understand the nature of the other 18 or so experiments.
Nor does he understand statements, which were carried by wire services to newspapers, television and radio stations around the country, and raised the ire of members of the state Fusion/Energy Advisory Council.
The council was charged by the Legislature with allocating $4.3 million for fusion research and development. But members say if Rossi's statements are accurate, U. officials need to answer some questions before much more tax money is pumped into cold-fusion research.
"The University of Utah cold-fusion institute should advise our advisory council if scientific confirmation has been obtained. If not, then under the bill passed by our Legislature, the council may not appropriate or expend any money appropriated to it by the Legislature," board member Mitch Melich said.
In an interview with the Deseret News Thursday, Pons said he wants to set the record straight.
"It has been our feeling that the state funds would be best utilized if applied to the fundamental science associated with this project," he said. "There are a large number of parameters that need to be studied before it will be possible to develop practical devices."
Pons said he and Fleischmann have described some of these experiments to the center and "it is our understanding that they are to be set up in a timely manner.
"None of these experiments were designed to be a `confirmation,' but rather as important extensions to the overall data base that will be required for developing such practical devices," he said. "We have suggested that these experiments be carried out in a precise manner; if they are, we have every reason to expect that they will be successful. As these experiments certainly take time to carry out, it is unfortunate that rather misleading and untrue statements have appeared in the recent press, especially since none of the suggested experiments have yet been implemented."
Pons said the electrochemists working at the center are perfectly capable of duplicating his experiments. "They are the same people who have worked on the project from the start. This is not their purpose, however."
Instead, he said, they are working on the new experiments.
Pons said he doesn't appreciate statements in the press that he and Fleischmann have been unwilling to share their data.
The two electrochemists last week presented nine scientific papers in Japan during the annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry.
"It's true that some of our data is confidential because we are analyzing it for publication, we will not prejudice the review process by disseminating data we intend to publish," he said. "Our general results, however, have been shared with several thousand scientists.
"Additionally, we have shared confidential data and theory with collaborators, other university scientists, as well as the center."
Pons and Fleischmann are expected to answer critics questions regarding their calorimetric measurements in a second scientific paper to be published this fall.
The ultimate test for institute researchers will come in February when they're expected to present scientific papers on their findings at a national fusion conference hosted by the U.