Comparison between helium contents of unused and used palladium after heat production in a molten salt cell. Helium contents of unused palladium, and palladium exposed to ion bombardment and shielded from the ions. He in the gas while an active study produced 552 ppm during the same time. This amount of helium is far in excess of any possible contamination. Unfortunately, this work is not yet described in sufficient detail to make an evaluation possible.
Contamination is the only experimental reason for rejecting helium as a nuclear product.
If present, this helium must be either in the initial palladium or result from an air leak. Air leaks are expected to produce random amounts of helium with an upper limit equal to the concentration in air. The reported results do not show this random nature and are, on a few occasions, above the air-concentration value. Furthermore, absence of helium when a H 2 O-based electrolyte is used demonstrates a low probability for air leaks during the study. Although better data are desired, a good case has been made relating helium and energy.