Fritz Will, director of the University of Utah's National Cold Fusion Institute, has submitted his resignation from the institute's board of trustees because fusion researcher B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann refused to cooperate with an external review of their fusion experiments.
He also said he will leave his post as institute director June 30, unless more funding is obtained. The state funding of the institute runs out June 30.The four-member board, which oversees the institute's activities, also consists of Salt Lake businessman Ian Cumming, chairman; James Brophy, U. vice president for research, and U. President Chase Peterson.
Brophy said officials have not acted on the resignation request.
The board is expected to act upon the resignation Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy is asking for no appropriation for cold-fusion research.
"At this point, we see no future energy source in cold fusion," James F. Decker, DOE director of energy research, said Wednesday.