[PSUBS-MAILIST] Cold Fission

I found something on the net a few years ago that may be quite interesting to you all, as it is to me. It was an article written by an independant researcher who had built a Cold Fission Reactor and was powering his house with it. Cold Fission works by harnessing the ionizing radiation resultant from the decay of a radioactive isotope. The reactor simply consisted of a cylinder filled with Chlorine gas I believe and a mounting with a small amount of a radioactive substance on it. The cylinder was initialized with a large power surge provided by a car ignition coil. after this was done, the cylinder produced quite appreciable amounts of power for the next few days (after which it had to be re-initialized, that only took a few seconds though).

As far as I know, the process could take place at room temprature, independant of air and with no refuelling as long as the radoactive substance was decaying (perhaps some 10,000 years). Obvious problems include disposal of contaminated gas and parts, safe replacement of radioactive material and constant monitoring of the device whether in operation or not.

The details I can remember are sketchy, and I have not found any reference to this technology since. Perhaps one of you has the expertise to experiment with a device of this kind. If so, let me know how it goes!!! Happy adventuring, everyone!!