Researchers ‘confirm’ energy production ‘cold fusion’ reactor – update

A reactor in which the inventor claims cold fusion takes place generates much more energy than known energy sources. This has been measured by external researchers from Italy and Sweden. The scientists do not understand how the reactor works.

The reactor, named E-Cat, generates energy comparable to that of ‘nuclear transformations’, without producing radioactive waste or releasing radiation, researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy and the University of Bologna, among others, write. Uppsala in Sweden in the report that the Swedish site Sifferskoll put online. With this they confirm that the reactor can indeed produce a lot of energy without the disadvantages of normal nuclear energy.

The scientists admit they have no idea how or why it works. “It is certainly highly unsatisfactory that these results so far have no theoretical explanation, but the experimental results cannot be rejected or denied for the lack of an explanation.” According to the researchers, if the machine proves to be sustainable, the reactor has the potential to become an important source of energy.

It is the second research into the reactor, but the first research by the same researchers could be disproved, ExtremeTech writes. That is why the second study has a different design: it took much longer and factors such as an external power supply for the reactor were excluded. According to the makers, the E-Cat by the Italian Andrea Rossi and an Italian physicist is the first reactor for cold nuclear fusion; the researchers dodge the question of whether this is actually cold fusion. Cold fusion is something that many scientists suspect cannot exist.

The research has not yet been published in scientific publications and thus has not yet been reviewed by other scientists. In addition, the experiment has not yet been repeated by other outside researchers or outside Rossi’s facility.

NetworkWorld notes that Rossi has been accused of fraud in the past and has made numerous implausible claims. In addition, ArXiv does not use extensive peer review to test submitted articles, as is customary in scientific journals. There is a group of supervisors.

The researchers are pushing for further research on the E-Cat to learn more about reactor operation and long-term performance. According to a patent application from the maker, the E-Cat works by fusing nickel and hydrogen together to form copper.

Update, 11:15: Various elements have been added to the article about the research.