Dr. Pamela Mosier-Boss: On the Frontiers of Fusion

From her childhood dreams of becoming a scientist to having an awarded career at the frontiers of solid-state fusion, Pam’s story invites us to imagine new and exciting possibilities. Working with young researchers in the field, getting unexpected results, and remembering the people who nurtured her curiosity from the beginning all motivate her to keep exploring more

Pam had always known that she wanted to be a scientist. When asked to draw what she wanted to be when she grew up, Pam drew a lady dressed in black with glasses and a big stack of books next to her — a kindergartener envisioning what her future would look like. Her mother nurtured Pam’s interest in science throughout childhood, allowing her to stay up late and watch science fiction movies. Movies like “Them,” “It Came From Beneath the Sea,” “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die,” and “The Blob” showed new possibilities, inspiring imagination and curiosity in science and the workings of the world. Years later, her mother would watch movies like “Lake Placid” and “Anaconda” with Pam’s sons, keeping the tradition alive.

Pam realized her kindergarten vision of scientific curiosity as she started college. One of her biggest inspirations was her college chemistry teacher at Kent State, Dr. Patrick Flash, who took Pam under his wing. He taught her how to do research, and despite being the only student, he also taught her organic chemistry. Later in her career, Martin Fleischmann inspired her as one of the pioneers in the solid-state fusion field. She remembers that whenever she’d do literature searches in whatever area of her work, Martin’s name would always come up as one of the scientists on the frontiers of fusion. His work continues to motivate her solid-state fusion journey, hoping to someday vindicate Fleischmann and Pons in their 1989 discovery and all the chaos that ensued afterward.

Martin Fleischmann inspired her as one of the pioneers in the solid-state fusion field. His work continues to motivate her solid-state fusion journey, hoping to someday vindicate Fleischmann and Pons in their 1989 discovery and all the chaos that ensued afterward.

When the Pons-Flesichmann conference happened in 1989, Pam was working on thionyl chloride batteries with Stan Szpak. Stan knew Martin Fleischmann personally, and what they were working on, so when the news broke, he knew what he wanted to do. Knowing about the long incubation times needed for D/Pd (Deuterium/Palladium) loading, he conceived the idea of D/Pd co-deposition. They scrambled to get the necessary components in the lab and were able to do experiments. They conducted experiments with thermocouples in the cathode and solution, showing that the heat source was the cathode, not Joule heating. After showing their department head, Frank Gordon, the results, they got some funding for their efforts, and the rest is history.

Over her career, there have been several weird or unexpected moments, and things remain unexplained. One example was from their initial experiments when measuring tritium; it looked like the tritium concentration was oscillating between production and consumption. This went against expectations that electrolysis would result in the tritium enrichment in the electrolyte. Events like these, where results are unexpected, surprising, or weird, nurture the same curiosity that Pam felt about science in childhood. This is one of Pam’s biggest motivators in solid-state fusion — she says, “This is a challenging puzzle that I would like to see solved.”

For how solid-state fusion might fit in the energy sphere, Pam sees at least two channels. Depending on the conditions, you can get either aneutronic heat or energetic particles (neutrons, tritium, alphas, and protons), and there are uses for each. She explains, “Charged particles and heat can be used as power sources. Neutrons can be used to generate medically useful isotopes upon demand. Energetic particles can be used to remediate nuclear waste and we demonstrated the feasibility of a hybrid fusion-fission reactor (reported at ICCF-21). How the technology will be used in the end depends upon control and scaling.” With these channels, we can see a future with safe, accessible energy and remediation of nuclear waste — new and urgently necessary possibilities that would change our world for the better.

Over her career, there have been several  unexpected moments. It looked like the tritium concentration was oscillating between production and consumption... against expectations. This is one of Pam’s biggest motivators in solid-state fusion — she says, “This is a challenging puzzle that I would like to see solved.”

A few things give Pam a bright outlook on the future of this field. One of them is a growing public interest in solid-state fusion and increasing funding opportunities. With the EU funding the HERMES project, the upcoming ARPA-E funding efforts, and the University of Turku exploring D/Pd deposition, she sees more research possible, especially for the younger generation of scientists.

Another source of hope and inspiration is Pam’s interactions with students in this field. She’s been able to work with students from UCSD who did metal plating as part of their project in chemical engineering, and more recently, a student from Point Loma Nazarene University wanted to work on low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR). There is a growing openness to the solid-state fusion field in this new young generation of scientists and researchers, as the chaos after the Pons-Fleischmann announcement seems to have fizzled from memory. That openness and curiosity for young scientists is critical to continuing work in solid-state fusion and pushing those frontiers forward.

Importantly, Pam also finds hope in the future of solid-state fusion and the perceptions surrounding it when she recalls all of the technological advances that her grandmother lived through. Born in 1908, when the primary modes of transportation were horse-and-carriage and railways, her grandmother’s lifetime saw transformative technologies like automobiles, airplanes, electricity, computers, antibiotics, and more. Pam says, “She took it all in stride.” Solid-state fusion would change the entire landscape of energy and revolutionize it for the better. And while claims, to some, might seem too practical and disruptive, its promise should not be ignored, but instead be nurtured, advanced, and imagined. As a young Pam could imagine new futures and phenomena in science and beyond, so should we as we explore the frontiers of fusion for the future.