Good comments from everyone. >From Axel:
> In the context of the new high temperature NiH reactor > designs, lead will melt at a lower temperature (327C) > as compared to the temperature of the high temperature > coolant (349C), therefore the theory of heat production > in lead is untenable. I agree. I already knew that lead has a much lower melting temperature. That factor alone bothered me. Needless to say, my "theory" needs to be tweaked. ;-) >From Alain: > from what I've read here, the gamma seems to appear > when the reactor is not in normal mode... > starting or stopping... > maybe is it that the reaction change in unstable > situation, and stops quickly, or evolve to heating > only mode... What kind of radiation is emitted from Rossi's eCats remains a frustrating trade-secret. It's obvious that Rossi has been deliberately deceptive on the matter. At present we don't really know for sure whether Rossi's eCats emit harmful radiation, particularly in the gamma range, or not. Rossi sez something to the effect that his eCat's don't produce (much) harmful radiation, but then he uses lead shielding, implying that some kind of harmful radiation must be produced. However, insofar as the public record on the matter goes, all attempts to record just the slightest hint of radiation appears to have failed. So, do the eCats really produce radiation, or is the pretense of generated "radiation" just another cover story Rossi is using to muddy the waters? Maybe the burst of gamma recorded back last January was just a glitch in the recording device. We just don't know. My "theory" is based on a premise that some kind of radiation (perhaps even harmful radiation) is produced from the eCats, and that some kind of protective external shielding (metal, and/or lead) of a thickness is capable of capturing the radiation and transforming (stepping it down) it into thermal heat. At this juncture I'm long on a premise but extremely short on a plausible theory that would explain such a mechanism. ;-) >From Nigel: > The 'fact' that the gamma only appears as a burst > during startup is one peice of 'evidence' that I think > suggests that the mechanism relies on a coherent state > within the nickel, probably an optical vibrational mode > within the lattice. Interesting insight. The he premise is worth exploring. > Once it is at a sufficient amplitide, it's existence > might stimulate the excited nuclei to emit their excess > energy after an LENR event has occurred into the mode > using the principle of a PHASER, rather than emit > it as gamma radiation (Like a LASER, but with phonons > not photons. Both are bosons). While the modes are > establishing themselves the excess energy still has a > significant probability of being emitted as gamma > radiation. > > Once established, the excess energy has a route to > thermal energy within the nickel, not the lead, which > does not involve gamma. Can you elaborate a little more as to what kind of gamma radiation could be produced? Perhaps more to the point, how much potential gamma radiation would we have to worry about (and subsequently have shield ourselves from) before the excess energy has a direct route to thermal energy? Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
