According to Andrea Rossi today on the Journal of Nuclear Physics, the first round of third party testing of the E-Cat SKL has begun. Mason asked simply if the testing had begun, and Rossi answered, “yes”.
I think this is an important step, especially that it is taking place during the continued coronavirus pandemic which had seemed to be a big obstacle to progress on validating the E-Cat SKL. In hindsight, however, it could turn out to have been a benefit to Andrea Rossi in the sense that he says that he has used this pandemic period to further develop the SKL. He has stated that the third party testing will be on the model of the E-Cat SKL that he claims can produce 95 per cent electricity and 5 percent heat.
Rossi has stated that it is not up to him to release the results of the current tests, since it is being done under an agreement with a business interest, and it is quite possible that this entity will not publish the results of this testing.
Still, I think it is progress that someone other than Andrea Rossi can be physically present during the testing of the SKL. I hope if the testing goes well that further testing will be done in short order and that we can get some third party to publicly publish their results.