Here’s an interesting exchange from the Journal of Nuclear Physics today on a topic that I don’t think has been acknowledged very much by Andrea Rossi.
1. Have you finally found a way to supply additional heat to specific regions of the E-Cat, after these last few years of trying? A. Yes.
2. Are the heat spots that we recognize in the various photos of the E-Cat, caused by the same phenomenon that you were trying to eliminate from the E-Cat over the last few years? A. Yes.
3. Do these heat spots damage the physical integrity of the E-Cat? A. Yes.
4. Will all the production models of the E-Cat, including the domestic, come equipped with the activator? A. Yes.
If we recall from the recently leaked photo of the hot cat pushed to an extreme there is an almost white hot region in one section of the hotcat which according to Rossi here is undesirable, and can damage the hot cat.
The issue that Rossi has always been fighting is that of control. It seems like the nature of the nuclear reaction he is working with is to roar out of control until it causes physical destruction of the reactor, which of course is unacceptable. The photo above is of the first version of the hot cat, which does not include the mouse and cat configuration, and perhaps part of the reason for the new version is to help eliminate this concentration of energy. In the answer to the last question Rossi indicates that all versions of the e-cat will now have an activator, so it seems to be something that is very important in optimum operation of these reactors.