Today is set to be the start of a new era of cheap power, as a new type of low-cost nuclear reactor goes live in front of an audience of scientists and media representatives in Bologna. Once the mystery customer who commissioned the device has confirmed that it really is producing one megawatt, they'll pay the developer, Andrea Rossi.
Unless, of course, it all goes horribly wrong.
Update: Rossi's demonstration a success!
Rossi's "energy catalyser" or E-Cat is based on a Low Energy Nuclear Reaction which produces vast quantities of energy from a few grams of hydrogen. Otherwise known as Cold Fusion, it's a field largely shunned by mainstream physicists. Rossi's work may have a significant number of followers, but it's still extremely controversial and some critics accuse him of outright fraud.
A demonstration earlier this month in Bologna with a smaller E-Cat was intended to answer some of the criticisms. Previously, Rossi had used the E-Cat to produce steam; this has led to arguments about the measurement method used to determine the weight and temperature of the steam. In a demonstration on 6 October, an E-Cat with a heat exchanger warmed a quantity of water. After initial electrical input from an external source, the E-Cat ran in "self-sustaining" mode for three and a half hours.
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