Turning Nuclear Waste into Super-Efficient Diamond Batteries

Even if it's sort of a crappy power output battery, a beta device can produce blinding light. You could have really great light bulbs that never need any power, basically forever. Except you can't easily turn it off.

You can even make a beta powered laser. It'll lase for thousands of years.

a reply to: RickinVa

I do not have to read the article.

Then I suppose I have nothing more to say to you. What's your point in coming in here and running off about something you apparently have no clue about?

If you had watched the video or even attempted to read the article... You would know that all of the nuclear waste, the debris that is being radiated by those same disasters....

you know what... never mind. You didn't care enough to actually read the post. You only came in here to argue something and avoid all of the facts listed in the report. So you're that kind of ATSer.. Got it. Carry on...

originally posted by: StallionDuck
a reply to: RickinVa

I do not have to read the article.

Then I suppose I have nothing more to say to you. What's your point in coming in here and running off about something you apparently have no clue about?

If you had watched the video or even attempted to read the article... You would know that all of the nuclear waste, the debris that is being radiated by those same disasters....

you know what... never mind. You didn't care enough to actually read the post. You only came in here to argue something and avoid all of the facts listed in the report. So you're that kind of ATSer.. Got it. Carry on...

Nice deflection.. I TOLD YOU I READ THE ARTICLE AND IT PROVES ME 100% CORRECT. Here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Care to dispute that the article that you linked proves my point?

Care to explain how you recycle nuclear waste so deadly even robots can not function near it?

Or would you rather tuck tail and run? Ball is in your court.

originally posted by: MuonToGluon
a reply to: StallionDuck

He is actually right about trying to recover or recycle the fuel from severely damaged reactor cores such as at Chernobyl and Fukushima, it cannot simply be done at this time, and will probably wont be able to be done anytime in the near future, while he has a grunt way of saying it, he is very much correct.

The diamond idea about containment is an interesting concept, however it is severely flawed; diamond is not very strong, it can be shattered very easily, and that effect is multiplied via thermal heat of radioactive decay.

While it is a super strong cutting material keep in mind it requires a constant high pressure water pumped constantly on a basic diamond cutting blade to give it that ability, cease the water injecting while it is in action and you will get to experience the extreme high speed destruction of a rotating diamond infused cutting blade...

We have a long way to go.

The article gave the indication that whatever waste you could get to could be stored and the surrounding material (like granite in this case) would become radioactive. That could then be used as the fuel source for these diamonds. In the case of Chernobyl, the shield would obviously get radiated and that in turn could work the same way. What's already there isn't the point. It's still a fuel source so it's not without benefits. I get that the site will be doomed until we have the technology or knowhow to get to the point of being able to clean it up and store it but until then, we could still harvest that fuel in the way of creating carbon 14 and making the diamonds. That's my point. The other guy stated that it would be "Only works for contained nuclear waste.... Doesn't do anything for Cherynoble or Fukushima or the future plants that haven't melted down yet".

It doesn't stop the contamination... That's not even what this post was about in the first place but "Mr Obvious" here needed to point it out. However, those locations can still be used to create these diamonds. The dirt, the structures, the contaminated water (perhaps) can still be used towards these new fuel cells.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Dude.. for the last damn time... how do you propose to recycle the nuclear fuel at Fukushima where the radiation readings can be deadly in minutes?

The only solution is robots, and that solution has failed miserably.

So the answer to the article is that ALL nuclear fuel CAN NOT be recycled.

So before you get on that high horse touting the benefits of nuclear power... you need to take real hard look at the negatives to nuclear power.

a reply to: Bedlam

Yes indeed! Especially LED lights. So much potential. I imagine that as technology gets smaller and smaller, the use for these diamonds would increase.

Besides.... The vid mentioned that when the diamond is surrounded by another radioactive diamond, the efficiency is nearly 100% and creates more energy. I wonder if you just keep covering one over another if it'll put out even more energy.

a reply to: StallionDuck

You just can't see the irony of blindly promoting recycling of nuclear waste while totally ignoring that nuclear waste that no one, including robots, can get near enough to recycle it.

The irony runs very very deep on this thread.

And you can't figure out the difference between titling a thread:

Turning Nuclear Waste into Super-Efficient Diamond Batteries

and

Turning contained Nuclear Waste into Super-Efficient Diamond Batteries

or


Turning some Nuclear Waste into Super-Efficient Diamond Batteries

One thread I posted in... the others I would not have.

In other words... at the very best, the title of this post is misleading.

This type of technology has been around for a few decades and is always being refined.

The issue is, it's not very profitable YET!

Regulations and public fears are still a hurdle as well as the coal and oil folks.

We have now enough nuclear waste to power the planet for a while. But until the above is handled the profit margins aren't going to be tempting enough. Wait till we need that power to grow our garden boxes and power our augment reality job industry.

Give it time, the technology is incredible and for those in the renewable corner is a pretty damn awesome angle.

originally posted by: StallionDuck
a reply to: Bedlam

Yes indeed! Especially LED lights. So much potential. I imagine that as technology gets smaller and smaller, the use for these diamonds would increase.

Besides.... The vid mentioned that when the diamond is surrounded by another radioactive diamond, the efficiency is nearly 100% and creates more energy. I wonder if you just keep covering one over another if it'll put out even more energy.

No, you don't need LEDs. Just use the beta particles to excite phosphor directly. A beta light panel can be designed from nightlight to blinding, the only issue is there's no good way to turn it off.

And, no, for a given amount of a specific substance you get a certain specific activity. That's what you have. It doesn't really change. You can inefficiently gather the resulting energy, but you can't get better than what you have to work with.

15J/day is 0,000173 J/s that equals to 0,000173W/s and is literally nothing, although, if you can convert the energy 90% into mechanical work, you could fire a match air piston rifle (7Joule) roughly two times a day.

Here are some more numbers on the diamond beta battery.

Average fast electron energy is 50keV, and the β particles create successive electron hole pairs due to inelastic impacts with other carbon atoms, generating a cascade of lower energy electrons that are collected at a metal contact on the diamond
...
Diamond beta battery at a glance
•voltage – 2V estimated (Ni-63 1.9V measured)
•energy – 2.7TJ over first 5,730 years
•prototype size – 10 x 10 x 0.5mm (plus electrodes)
•temperature – physically stable at 750°C

Electronicsweekly.com - Updated: Diamond nuclear battery could generate 100μW for 5,000 years.

They made a prototype using radio active Nickel. Jumping up to carbon-14 is the next step hence the "estimated" in their voltage rating. They plan on CVD the carbon-14 onto the diamond substrate then cover it with another pane. The article is a decent overview/explanation.

There is a way to disconnect from the power (turn off the lights) so that can be done. I wonder why they have the operating temperature there?

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Diamond nuclear battery could generate 100μW for 5,000 years

And there's your gotcha. 100uW is doodly, which is typical for a beta battery.

a reply to: Bedlam

Yeah, so little for the effort. I think the guy makes a good point about not just chucking all your nuclear waste in a barrel then storing it underground which costs money too. The breakdown is at the end of the article which in the end saves taxpayers the expense of high level waste disposal.

I like the idea. Any method to reduce nuclear waste is a blessing. Thorium salt reactors, fast neutron breeder, and beta battery are all great ideas. Better than doing nothing. And the battery is a neat idea on its own.

Hey, beta decay is going to happen... why not put it to good use?! 2V at a time (lol)

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: Bedlam

Yeah, so little for the effort.

You could make self-illuminating beta light road markers with it. Stay lit for 5000 years, no wiring.

a reply to: Bedlam

There is already too much light pollution!

Infrastructure seems like a no brainer. Throw down some carbon aerogel, hook up a beta battery, and know what your road is doing at all times.

Autopilot: Pot hole is coming in 10 days! Hey, the roadway is about to be washed out ten miles ahead. No cars for 85 miles!

Works for foundations, airplane wings, ships, etc., a real good use of a better IoT.

a reply to: Bedlam

Or fire a airpiston rifle two times a day.