Man-made diamond nuclear waste batteries last 5,000 years +

[DDY]

I think DanceswithUnix is on the right track and I hazard a guess that this 'new' technology is based on betavoltaics which has been around for some time.

[kalniel]

I presume you wouldn't be putting these in 'recycling' when you're throwing them away...

[crossy]

Cue the Daily Fail story about how EU-based ISIL terrorists will be buying up these batteries to build a dirty bomb...

More info and less hype would be welcome, (and not getting @mtyson, more pointing fingers at the Bristolians)

[Xlucine]

Some ballpark figures for performance:
A half life of 5730yrs, or 1.8E11 s, corresponds to about 2.31E12 Bq / mol. Carbon 14 gives 0.16MeV per decay, so being charitable and assuming 100% efficiency that means 3.6E17 eV / mol s, or about 60mW / mol. That's probably a bit too generous, so assuming 5% enrichment (idk, sounds reasonable?) then it comes to ~3mW for every 12g of battery. That means we might expect something on the order of 0.1mW/g or 1mW/cc for performance, which is probably ok for a satellite in the outer solar system or a pacemaker. It's certainly a neat use for nuclear waste, if they can bring it to market.

I presume you wouldn't be putting these in 'recycling' when you're throwing them away...

That's a problem for our children's children's children's children's children's children's children's children's .... children's children to worry about, when the batteries finally run out

[kalniel]

That's a problem for our children's children's children's children's children's children's children's children's .... children's children to worry about, when the batteries finally run out

It's a problem as soon as they are superceded. Tech gets thrown away as soon as the next model is out, regardless of whether they still perform as originally :/

[ik9000]

It's a problem as soon as they are superceded. Tech gets thrown away as soon as the next model is out, regardless of whether they still perform as originally :/

not in my house. Anyone want to swap some CPC tapes?

[mikerr]

That means we might expect something on the order of 0.1mW/g or 1mW/cc for performance, which is probably ok for a satellite in the outer solar system or a pacemaker.

Atomic powered pacemakers pre-date modern lithium ones:

a woman who had a nuclear pacemaker—the Numec NU-5—implanted in 1973, says the device was still functioning adequately 34 years later, in 2007. A normal pacemaker would’ve required replacement four or five times in that time. In fact, even after 88 years, when half the plutonium would’ve decayed, the batteries would still have enough power. For comparison, lithium pacemakers last 10 to 15 years.

Due to the extremely long battery life, nuclear pacemakers tended to outlive their users

http://uk.reuters.com/article/health...60427320071220