Q. This sounds like Cold Fusion. Wasn't "Cold Fusion" disproven?

A. While most people think that the Department of Energy concluded that the claims were wrong, this is not the case. In fact, after two reviews in 1989 and 2004, the DoE Energy Research Advisory Board found that there wasn't enough evidence to either prove or disprove the claims and that more research was needed. Furthermore, several other countries are awaking to the fact that the phenomena may be real as documented in a recent Defense Intelligence Agency Technology Alert paper.

GEC scientists and collaborators developed a different experimental protocol that allowed them to go beyond the initial claims of Fleischmann and Pons. Our experiments are repeatable, they have been replicated by others and our results have been published in peer-reviewed papers. Additionally, our experiments produce direct evidence of nuclear activity including emission of high-energy neutrons.

Q. How can this be real since it doesn't match theory?

A. History is full of examples where the accepted theory had to be adapted to match new experimental results. At one time, theory held that the earth was flat. Galileo was put under house arrest by the church for observing that the earth was not the center of the universe. Cassini and other scientists held that the speed of light was infinite long after Romer had provided solid experimental evidence that it was 186,000 miles per second. There's a statement in science that, "Theory guides, experiment decides." A theory is only as good as its ability to predict or describe experimental results. If the experimental results don't confirm the theory, it's the theory that must change since the experimental results are controlled by nature. This is not to say that all current nuclear physics theories are wrong but that they are incomplete when it comes to explaining our experimental results. Each year, hundreds of PhD's are awarded to students who have improved or evolved a theory so that it more accurately explains experimental results. These and many other examples show how theory must evolve to match observation. Several theories have been proposed but to date, none match all of our observed experimental results.

Q. How do you overcome the coulomb barrier?

A. Several possibilities such as a stripping reaction or the equivalent to "tunneling" in solid state electronics have been suggested as a way to overcome the coulomb barrier. More research is needed to determine the answer to this question.

Q. What technical challenges need to be overcome before this technology can be commercialized?

A. Our GeNiE pilot reactors have demonstrated the ability to produce neutrons with enough energy to fission either natural uranium, enriched uranium, or existing hazardous waste. We are currently working to optimize the reactions and increase the flux of high-energy neutrons. Once this is achieved, many commercial applications are possible.

Q. If this is real, you should all be dead because of the neutrons that would have been produced. How do you answer that since you're obviously still alive?

A. One of the properties of our experiments is that the neutron flux is several orders of magnitude less than that predicted by conventional theory. The current flux levels are not hazardous however we are currently working to optimize the experiments to increase the flux. We recognize the dangers of high-energy neutrons and take appropriate precautions.