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Cory Schmitz / Flickr Researchers in the U.K. announced this week that they've found a way to turn radioactive diamonds into miniature batteries that last 5,000 years. At a prestigious annual lecture event in Europe earlier this week, a team of physicists and chemists from the University of Bristol unveiled a nuclear-powered diamond battery, which runs off the radioactive energy salvaged from nuclear waste. The technique represents an entirely new kind of electrical generation system, according to the research team, which could solve multiple problems regarding clean energy, long-lasting batteries and nuclear waste disposal.
It works like this: In British nuclear energy plants, giant graphite blocks are used to facilitate energy production in the reactors. When those graphite blocks are used up, they're removed. But they're also highly radioactive and must be disposed of accordingly. The Bristol team has found a way to essentially scrape away the most radioactive parts of the graphite blocks — the parts containing carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon. That leaves the remaining graphite block less radioactive, making disposal easier, safer and less expensive.
The U.K. is currently storing almost 95,000 metric tonnes of graphite blocks in ground-level vaults. RELATED: Fungi Extracts Lithium from Discarded Batteries Then it gets really interesting: After scraping the nuclear waste, technicians use the extracted carbon-14, in gas form, to make artificial diamonds, using existing techniques. The manmade diamonds have the same molecular structure as natural diamonds, although in this case they're radioactive.
originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: JesusXst
How much mHa?
The battery might last for millennia, but does it make usuable power, or is the charge just big enough to run a wristwatch?
Cool find, nonetheless!
Edit:
For any members who don't know: seeker.com is a legitimate science news source, it is the new name for Discovery's website.
Someone developed nuclear batteries here in the US. I believe they were thorium based. You would not need to ever charge your phone or laptop, or any other electronic device.
originally posted by: swanne
The battery might last for millennia, but does it make usuable power, or is the charge just big enough to run a wristwatch?
originally posted by: GraffikPleasure
This would never hit the regular markets because it lasts too long...
originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: JesusXst
The battery might last for millennia, but does it make usuable power, or is the charge just big enough to run a wristwatch?
originally posted by: GraffikPleasure
a reply to: JesusXst
This would never hit the regular markets because it lasts too long. Just like in the case of free energy from the air whatever TPTB would see to it that it never happens.