Whoa - an observer must possess a great deal of blind hope to imagine
that weaponization of LENR is impossible simply because neutrons are
lacking. In fact, dense hydrogen is physically similar to the neutron.
Most importantly, the number of documented runaway LENR reactions makes
the statement of "impossibility" almost silly, based on experience.It
has happened. As for slow ramp up - Holmlid shows us the gain can happen
in nanoseconds.
Let's back track a bit. Neutrons are required for one kind of chain
reaction, but the modality is broader. A chain reaction is any
self-expanding sequence of reactions where a reactive product
(by-product or emission) causes additional reactions to take place.
The prototypical chain reaction is actually combustion in an internal
combustion engine, initiated by a spark or by compression. Fission is
another but there are more including, of course, the domino effect. The
key to all chain reactions is *positive feedback.* Positive
feedback**leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. in a number of
physical systems including these:
1) Chemical reactions of many kinds, esp. combustion
2) The neutron chain reaction of nuclear physics
3) The avalanche cascade - breakdown in gases
4) The avalanche breakdown in semiconductors
5) Population inversion - lasing
6) QM entangled systems of many kinds
7) Domino effect and meme effect
8) Audio feedback loop
9) Mossbauer effect
Even if neutrons were required for the most energetic kind of
weaponization, dense hydrogen is similar enough to the neutron that it
could substitute -- and in the case of Holmlid - exceed by orders of
magnitude the gain from the nuclear fission chain reaction.
Jed Rothwell wrote:
Most researchers think that a runaway reaction or explosion is
impossible for three reasons:
1. Cold fusion only works with an intact metal lattice.
2. It ramps up relatively slowly, so it would destroy the lattice
before it could increase to high levels.
3. It is not a chain reaction. In a uranium fission chain
reaction, one event directly triggers two or more others, and the
reaction can increase exponentially over a very short time (80
generations in 1 microsecond).
I hope that is right.
- Jed
