SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF NUCLEAR INVOLVEMENT IN THE FATAL EXPLOSION OF A COLD-FUSION EXPERIMENT

Forensic analyses of debris from the fatal explosion of an electrochem ical ''cold fusion'' cell at SRI International were conducted at LLNL at the request of Cal-OSHA. One investigation focused on the possibili ty of conventional nuclear reaction mechanisms contributing to the tot al energy inventory of the incident. Selected metal components of the electrolysis apparatus were subjected to nondestructive gamma-ray spec trometry with high-sensitivity, low-background Ge detector systems. Th e anticipated analytes in these studies were radioactivation products potentially induced in the explosion residue by either fast or thermal neutrons. The results of this investigation were negative within the temporal constraints of the incident and the analytical sensitivities of the instrumentation.