I have no idea who this customer might be. I do not like to guess, speculate or read the tea leaves when I have no information, but I believe it is unlikely that a major corporation is involved. I say this for the following reasons:
Several large corporations and institutions such as Georgia Tech have contacted me about this test. They say it would be unwise to test such a large reactor without first doing a series of small-scale tests at lower power levels. Jumping up to high level without first doing these tests would be dangerous. They are baffled by this plan. I have echoed their remarks here. So I do not think they would countenance such a large increase. I asked Rossi whether he has a permit to do this test. He did not respond. I do not know whether he has one or not, but it seems unlikely to me. I simply cannot imagine that any sane government official would issue one. I hate to speculate about these things but that seems impossible. Large corporations are sticklers for the rules. They *write* the rules, in cooperation with government regulators. I doubt they would get involved in a test of a large nuclear reactor that is probably an egregious criminal violation of health and safety standards. I do not know about Europe but in the US or Japan this would cause a major scandal, with people being arrested and perp-walked in front of reporters. This is not something GE or Mitsubishi would let themselves get involved in, ever, under any circumstances. If a subordinate at GE were to suggest getting involved, I suppose management would demand a copy of the permits and certifications for the reactor as the first step. They would demand technical documents showing that the reactor was designed by a professional engineering firm that specializes in pressure vessels. They would want to see computer simulations of pressure and heat conditions, and certificates showing that the welding was done by certified experts. I sure as heck would. Testing a laboratory scale device is one thing; industrial equipment is quite another. A machine of this size and power is dangerous, even when it is designed with the best modern computers and simulations, and when it is fabricated by experts and then carefully examined by an inspector. A conventional combustion reactor of this size is dangerous. If a hose connection fails, the hose may fly off with enough force to crush someone's skull, and the steam may scald them to death. This is not a damned toy, or something you casually turn on after a few weeks of partial testing. The test on October 6 clearly did not involve any professional engineering or instrumentation such as a corporation would bring. Terry Blanton remarked that a corporation would use large, professional grade instruments with recent NIST certification stickers. You can recognize this kind of thing. I did not see any. They did not even have a computer or flow meters for some of the critical data. To be blunt, the October 6 test was so half-assed, the students at my local high school could have done a better job. (Granted several of those kids got into MIT and Georgia Tech.) I find it hard to believe that a major corporation would jump into this project and be prepared for a 1 MW test three weeks after the test that produced somewhere between six and 10 kW but you can't tell because the instruments were so bad. Videos and photographs of the equipment outdoors to not show any sign of professional instrumentation being deployed around it. Again, I do not think that a professional organization would jump in and be prepared to do a major test with the outside equipment in three weeks. - Jed
