Useful comments, Jed, The intent of my original query was to ask if there exists any kind of a perceived battle or struggle going on (subtle or not-so-subtle) pertaining to whether the use of the term, nuclear "fusion", must imply a mechanism of overcoming the Coulomb barrier by some brute force procedure such as thermonuclear fusion.
I'm trying to make get a clarification on whether the nuclear "fusion" definition could also legitimately incorporate other theoretical mechanisms, including as-yet unproven mechanisms. For example, there has been fertile debate about muonic interactions, as well as hydrinos being possibly responsible for certain LENR related phenomenon. Or does there exist significant resistance coming from somewhere, possibly coming from conservative scientific branches, that would prefer not to muddy up the so-called nuclear "fusion" waters by allowing alternative or exotic explanations other than mechanisms that must be capable of smashing through the Coulomb barrier. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
