Perreault-Bruce · Source catalogue

A one-claim apparatus patent for a sealed insulating vessel holding radon gas, a negatively charged corona wire of germanium, silicon or lead sulfide (the electron emitter) and a coaxial palladium or activated-carbon collector. The inventor says alpha particles from radon and its daughters strike the wire, which he calls an 'alpha fusion reaction' (delta rays, i.e. high-energy secondary electrons), and that the cathode also heats and emits thermionic electrons, so the pins act as cathode and anode and give direct current. Example reactions are printed for beryllium (Be-9 + alpha -> C-12 + n, then Be-8 -> 2 alpha) and for germanium (Ge-72 + alpha -> Se-75 + n; Se-75 EC -> As-75; Ge-76 + n -> Ge-77; Ge-77 -> As-77 + beta; As-77 -> Se-77 + beta). The prose says Ge-72 yields stable Se-77, but equation 1 gives Se-75, and Ge-76 in equation 3 is not produced by equation 1. No reaction energies, cross sections, yields or rates are given. The patent states a 6.06 MeV threshold for the Ge-72 reaction: Po-212 (8.78), Po-214 (7.68), Po-216 (6.78) and Rn-220 (6.29 MeV) qualify, while Po-218 (6.00) and Po-210 (5.30) do not. The Rn-220 route is justified by Th-228 and Th-232 abundance. Operation: 1000 V or more is applied initially (negative at the corona wire, positive at the collector), with the cavity evacuated of air to a residual pressure of about 1/10 atmosphere (this is the air pressure, not a radon pressure; too low a vacuum risks X-rays). Fig. 2 shows a block chain: step-up converter 7, valve 8, HV capacitors 9, step-down converter 10 to 12 V, LV capacitors 11, inverter 12, loads 13, with a feedback line from the capacitors to the step-up converter. The patent says an external voltage source is preferably kept on to hold the valve 'in a constant energized state'. Alternatives for priming: strong alpha/beta/gamma source, or a raised antenna and earth ground (slow, unpredictable). A mercury or vapour variant is said to rectify high-voltage RF into DC even without the radioactive substance. Prior art cited: Corliss, Direct Conversion of Energy (GPO 1964, Sr-90 beta cell), US 2,926,268 (Ralph, 1960), US 2,958,798 (Anton, 1960, face list only), Fermi US 2,206,634 (Be + alpha neutron source). The inventor, an interested party, characterises prior nuclear batteries as 'millionth of a watt' devices and his own as giving greater amperage per density than anything before; no numbers, units or net-energy accounting are given. He disclaims the geometry and the activating voltage source, staking his claim on the 'method' of generating power by alpha fusion. Radon source (QE addition): the radon comes from 'radon gas emissive radioactive material 4 ... at the base inside vessel 1', and 'it is preferred that a natural alpha source be used' [read: p.5]; claim 1(c) recites radon gas that 'expands and thereby fills the cavity'. The source is thus a long-lived emanating material (radium, uranium or thorium bearing), not a sealed charge of radon. [memory, high] Rn-220 (thoron), the patent's preferred isotope, has a half-life of about 56 s, so little leaves its source. Fig. 2 feedback: lines run from the high-voltage capacitors 9 and low-voltage capacitors 11 back to step-up converter 7, the drawing's version of a closed, self-powered loop [read: deep read, page image]. Patent text on helium: helium from the alphas makes the device 'electrically blocked' because 'helium gas is electrically non-conductive' [read: p.5]; QE estimate [calc] about 3.5e18 He atoms (about 0.1 mm3 at STP) per curie-year of Rn-222 chain alphas.

Key claims

• Alpha particles above a 6.06 MeV threshold striking germanium, silicon or lead-sulfide produce an 'alpha fusion reaction' that emits high-energy secondary (delta-ray) electrons.
• A radon-filled vessel with a negatively charged germanium/silicon/PbS corona wire and a palladium or activated-carbon collector delivers direct-current electrical power.
• The device produces greater amperage per unit density than any previous nuclear battery, which the patent says delivered only about a millionth of a watt.
• The cathode heats thermally from the reactions, giving positive feedback in alpha-hit rate, heat and thermionic emission.
• After an initial high-voltage priming, the pins act as cathode and anode and the device is 'self-generating', although the preferred mode keeps an electronic voltage source on.
• With mercury or other vapour in the vessel the device rectifies high-voltage RF/AC into DC even without the radioactive substance.

Relevance: Primary technical document of the project and the only one with a claim set, nuclear equations and an operating scheme. The central nuclear and energy claims depend on it.

Mainstream conflict: Alpha capture by Ge-72 is called 'fusion' (the more usual term is an (alpha,n) reaction), and the printed germanium chain is internally inconsistent in its isotopes. Mainstream nuclear-battery theory treats the alpha particle energy (5-9 MeV) as the available energy per decay, so the claim of 'high power density' and of a self-sustaining output without net-energy accounting conflicts with energy conservation unless the input is quantified. No data, power, current or efficiency figure is reported.

A 2-page explanatory leaflet from the inventor's own trust (advocacy, not a technical report). Page 1 reproduces a Carl Betz circuit 'drawn from memory' on 1 Jan 1954 after visiting T. H. Moray's laboratory and seeing patent drawings 'that were never filed'. Its own notes say it is 'only correct in a rough detail', and it speculates that a radioactive clay or ore, or salt on the copper element, might supply ions. A Moray patent-drawing excerpt (21 Mar 1931, from 'The Sea of Energy', 5th ed., p.71) is described: the filament is an inductor in a tank circuit tuned to radiant energy from an antenna detector, which heats the cathode indirectly; the device was primed by moving a magnet near an external inductor until the cathode warmed, and 'the key to generating high power is the cathode material'. Page 2 quotes John E. Moray's book (1927 affidavit diagram, fig. 14, p.68): valves may be rectifiers or oscillators and 'the stone ... made of very very pure germanium mixed with various substances which is explained elsewhere'. Fig. 2 is a Fleming oscillation valve detector circuit (Nature, 5 April 1917) that needs a battery B and rheostat r. Fig. 3 is the 'Perreault Alpha Fusion Valve Direct Energy Conversion Circuit', four stages in series, each with a tuned antenna/earth transformer, a valve with anode plate, 'alpha particle emitter', semiconductive cathode and filament heater, ending in 'Output to Lights'. The text says the cathodes contain 'a small amount of radioactive material', that the cathode ejects 'an avalanche of electrons' when slightly heated, that each stage heats more than the last so emission is 'multiplied exponentially', and that this circuit 'is a continuation of U.S. Patent No. 7,800,286'. It gives no numbers: no power, voltage, activity, isotope, efficiency or test data. QE additions: the leaflet gives its patent filing date as 7 May 2007, whereas the patent was filed 4 May 2007 [read: US7800286 p.1]; 'continuation' appears informal, as Google Patents lists no family members [web: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7800286B2/en, per Investigator]. The Betz note also carries 'Remember - It's the ions, not the electrons! Moray', mentions three types of oscillator tubes, starting with a static discharge such as a spark coil, and lead and silver bars [read: deep read p.1]; the ions remark bears on claim 5 and on the inventor's later shift to atmospheric ions (2018 plasma valve, per Investigator).

Key claims

• Moray's valve used a pure germanium 'stone' cathode heated indirectly by a resonant tank circuit fed from an antenna detector.
• Carl Betz's 1954 recollection of Moray's circuit suggests radioactive material may have supplied ions in Moray's tubes (posed by the note as a question).
• The Perreault valve with a radioactive-material-bearing semiconductive cathode needs no battery or rheostat for heating, unlike the Fleming valve.
• In a multi-stage chain of such valves, each stage's cathode is more heated than the last and electron emission multiplies exponentially, powering lights.
• The circuit is a continuation of US 7,800,286.

Relevance: Shows how Perreault links his alpha-fusion valve to T. H. Moray's 'Radiant Energy' device and gives his multi-stage antenna-fed circuit. It is the only place where the Moray connection and the radiant-energy input are stated.

Mainstream conflict: The multi-stage 'exponential' emission gain with no external power or energy accounting implies output exceeding the energy input from a small radioactive source. Tuned antenna 'radiant energy' as a power source is not accepted. The Moray device's reliability rests on family and witness accounts, and Moray's 1931 demonstrations were disputed. The leaflet supplies no data.