After months of remaining mum on several controversial topics, fusion researchers B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann say they want to set the record straight on events surrounding their cold-fusion work during the past two years. They say:
- They opposed announcing their discovery through a press conference on March 23, 1989, but agreed to it when patent attorneys argued that it was necessary.- At that time, a paper evaluated by scientific referees had been accepted by a scientific journal. Because the press time of the article was advanced, they didn't have time to correct mistakes "in a paper that had been written in a hurry" and severely criticized for the errors it contained.
- They opposed the establishment of the National Cold Fusion Institute. They wanted the $5 million allocated by the Legislature to be used first for patent defense; second, for grants for fusion researchers.
- In October 1989, they joined NCFI on the condition that their work would be independently reviewed by other members of the NCFI research group. "People have said we were secretive. That is absolutely untrue."
- They did not, as accused by members of the NCFI administration and members of the state Fusion/Energy Advisory Committee, withdraw into a shell. They sent all of their raw data to the state oversight committee, patent attorneys and Fritz Will, NCFI director. They expressed concern about protecting patents.
- By June 1990, they could invariably drive their experiments to the boiling point. An independent review confirmed the high heat releases of the experiments. "The magnitudes were such that the technological implications cannot be ignored."
- Lack of confidentiality at NCFI and continual opposition to their work resulted in them leaving Utah in order to continue research.
- Requests to the U. for support and equipment to conduct cold-fusion experiments in support of the patents have been ignored.