Fran Tanzella: Getting In Front of the Wave

Fran Tanzella, a scientist driven by curiosity and innovation, embarked on a transformative journey into cold fusion and Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR). Tanzella advocates for embracing unconventional ideas, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and nurturing the next generation of researchers. LENR, he believes, offers a promising tool for cleaner energy solutions, complementing existing technologies in a positive societal shift towards sustainability.

Fran Tanzella was always a scientist at heart. Like many others of his generation, the space program captured his imagination and spurred him toward a career in science. Tanzella's scientific journey began with a strong foundation in chemistry and math. But because he wasn’t great at mechanical drawings, he decided against an engineering major, built on his aptitude in chemistry and math, and majored in chemistry. His undergraduate studies in chemistry laid the groundwork for his research career, leading him to graduate school, where he delved into laboratory research, finding fulfillment in the tangible outcomes of scientific inquiry.

Tanzella's career took a significant turn when he joined SRI International in 1986, where he initially engaged in electrochemistry and battery research. Pons and Fleischmann's announcement of cold fusion in 1989 marked a pivotal moment, prompting Tanzella and his team to focus on this new and controversial field.

Despite the skepticism surrounding cold fusion, Tanzella's open-mindedness and his background in electrochemistry made him a crucial part of the team exploring this phenomenon. The group had already been working on hydrogen sensors for nuclear power plants and fission reactors at SRI International. The project involved using a palladium wire that would fill up with hydrogen. One problem in nuclear reactors is oxygen corroding metals, so hydrogen is added, but too much can embrittle the metals. The project aimed to create an instantaneous sensor to regularly measure hydrogen levels using a palladium wire with current passing through it. This research primed Tanzella to understand and be intrigued by the announcement of cold fusion, and he began his journey into Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR). His initial forays involved reproducing the experiments of Fleischmann and Pons in the Tritium Laboratory at SRI, taking a cautious approach to handling potential radiation.

Tanzella notes his observation of excess power during experiments, a phenomenon no one could predict or explain easily. This unexpected result underscored the mysterious and challenging nature of LENR research, sparking curiosity and driving further investigation. Over the years, Tanzella's work also involved detailed measurements of helium and radiation, adding to the complexity and depth of understanding in the LENR field.

His work at SRI, spanning over three decades, involved significant contributions to cold fusion (later termed LENR), including electrochemical studies, calorimetry, and various other multidisciplinary investigations. After retiring from SRI in 2018, Tanzella continued his LENR research through his Energy Research Center, collaborating with Brillouin Energy and contributing to the broader LENR community.

Fran Tanzella's technical achievements and experiments span a broad range of areas. Before delving into LENR, Tanzella worked on various innovative projects, including lithium solid-state and sodium-sulfur batteries. His work in these areas showcased his ability to explore and develop technologies that could replace existing solutions, challenging prevailing skepticism and demonstrating the transformative potential of new battery technologies.

Tanzella holds a pragmatic and open-minded perspective on scientific progress and innovation, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, persistence, and interdisciplinary collaboration. He believes in pushing the boundaries of conventional wisdom while maintaining a rigorous scientific approach, saying, "The thing about doing R&D, in general, is, if you're not in front of the wave, then you're not doing something exciting, and you're likely to be left behind and not get the rewards and promotions. That has nothing to do with whether or not the topic is controversial. It's true in all topics. So you can get in front of the wave on something new and afford to take that opportunity. It's very important in growing your research and your professional personality."

Tanzella advocates for exploring unconventional scientific theories, such as cold fusion, as potential breakthroughs often lie in the areas initially met with skepticism. His career reflects a commitment to exploring the unknown, driven by the conviction that perseverance and collaborative efforts are vital to achieving significant scientific advancements. He often pursues investigations that begin with recognizing that something weird is happening. He explained,, "Sometimes you're doing something, and suddenly, something pops out of left field!" For Tanzella, these are opportunities for further exploration.

LENR, for Tanzella, was just another one of these moments. He told me the story of one of his early experiences running a LENR experiment, wherein he observed clear excess power:

“There was no way to predict when and how or why that would happen. It just happened! And so it was one of those weird things that you're trudging along and sometimes for weeks, doing the same thing, and then suddenly excess power pops up, and you go, ‘Boy, that's something weird!’ I've been analyzing for two and a half weeks, and suddenly there's power here that wasn't there before.” He added that over the years, these experiences have led to novel approaches, all of which contribute to “the field's richness."

Tanzella is a big believer in the richness of the LENR field and remains an ardent optimist despite the challenges and the ups and downs of the fledgling area of inquiry. Throughout his career, Tanzella has steadfastly advocated open-minded scientific exploration, willing to venture into uncharted territories despite skepticism and controversy. His technical achievements and experiments exemplify a commitment to advancing knowledge and exploring the potential of emerging technologies to contribute to a more sustainable and energy-efficient future.

Even after retiring, Tanzella has continued his scientific investigations. Tanzella's motivation stems from a profound desire to contribute to societal betterment through scientific innovation. His work in LENR is driven by the belief in its potential to revolutionize the energy landscape, offering cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions. Tanzella envisions LENR’s crucial role in addressing global energy challenges, including water desalination and reducing reliance on inefficient and polluting energy sources. He emphasizes the importance of engaging new generations in LENR research to ensure the field's progression and eventual realization of its potential to contribute significantly to a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Fran Tanzella's reflections on the field of LENR reveal his deep-seated optimism and belief in the potential of LENR to contribute significantly to the future of energy. He sees the field as being at a crucial juncture with two primary directions: the ongoing pursuit of excess power and heat generation and the theoretical efforts to explain these phenomena.

But, he insists, we must bring in new people and integrate young researchers into the field. This involves helping current researchers keep their momentum, through funding and moral support. But, crucially, it also involves getting younger people involved. "It's time to pass the torch," he said. There’s an opportunity to recruit new faces, he explains, because there was a point where it skipped a generation because of all the original backlash. He says we may now have new open minds who want to take a look and join LENR's collective research project.

For Tanzella, this is vital for ensuring the field’s continued progress and realizing its potential to address global energy challenges​​. Indeed, he explained that the key to advancing LENR lies in human ingenuity rather than solely in technological innovation. This people-focused approach is central to his vision, emphasizing the role of committed individuals over time in overcoming current challenges and advancing the field. His comments reflect a belief in the transformative power of collective effort and the importance of nurturing a new generation of researchers to carry forward the promise of LENR and carry out the crucial “fundamental work” needed to build stronger foundations for the field​​.

In essence, Tanzella's perspective is a blend of optimism, recognition of the challenges ahead, and a call to action for the scientific community to embrace and explore the potential of LENR. “I think there will be reproducible and transportable experiments, and I hope those experiments will be scalable to something significant,” he said. He acknowledged the field’s stumbling blocks, namely reproducibility, theorization, and scalability. These challenges, for Tanzella, should not cause despair. Instead, he thinks it presents opportunities for current and future researchers to contribute to a field that stands on the cusp of contributing to the global quest for cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions.

He says, “It has the potential to make society a better place to live and work.” But he’s also a pragmatist and doesn’t think LENR will be the only solution. As he explained:

“It’s a tool in the toolbox. I don't view it as overwhelmingly disruptive because I think there will be many answers to providing energy and hopefully clean energy soon. And this is just going to be one of them. I view it as being only positive. I don't see any negative disruptions. But then, I'm an optimist that people can be retrained. And you often hear people complaining, ‘No, I've been doing this for 20 years. You can't teach me anything new. I can't learn to do what all this new stuff is about.’ But I honestly don't believe that. With enough impetus and motivation, the different jobs in energy and the different energy sources right now can be replaced with cleaner energies, whether they come from LENR or something else—or maybe not all of them will be clean. Maybe, in general, there will still be many fossil fuels, but hopefully, they'll be carbon-neutral. I see [LENR] as part of the solution, but I don't see it as having negative disruptions."