4 ms·

Nuclear battery produces power for 50 years without needing to charge

2 points by hiyer 3y ago

pfdietz 3y ago
100 microwatts over 50 years. At $.10/kWh, that's less than half a penny worth of electricity.
eesmith 3y ago
More context about the technology at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device which mentions "Betavoltaic nuclear batteries can be purchased commercially. Available devices include a 100 μW tritium-powered device weighing 20 grams[12]" linking to a press release at https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-battery/23720/ https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-batte... about a product from https://citylabs.net/ https://citylabs.net/ . That's only 20 years, vs. the 50 from this article. What isotope(s) are they using for 50 years? All I see is "After the decay period, the 63 isotopes turn into a stable isotope of copper", which sounds very odd. Why 63 different isotopes? What decay chain ends up with copper?
- gus_massa 3y ago
  It's "Nickel 63". Someone mistranslated it to "63 isotopes" and all press articles are cut&pasting the error.
  - eesmith 3y ago
    Thanks! Article about Russian research into a ⁶³Ni battery at https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-power.html https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-powe... with a link to the scientific publication at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925963517307495?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09259... .
6R1M0R4CL3 3y ago
those batteries have not produced 50 years of energy. they claim to but we have not yet seen if indeed they can last 50 years (hint : very, very probably not). and you will only reach those 50 years with very, very low power use..
z_ack 3y ago
Fake news: battery producing electricity using beta decay aren't a new technology, are arounds for decades, those devices produce electricity in order of micro ampere/h, 1 / 1'000'000 of ampere, currents, so small can only fit to niche application, like preserve the status of few bytes of RAM. A phone needs million of time that current not only to operate but even to have a detectable recharge level increase. So article stating they can power or recharge phones and drones are pseudo-science and fake news, I'm reporting this because I observed a proliferation of articles with the same topic, this "50 years miracle battery", without reference, scientific documentation, tests, any paper with scientific value : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38966352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38966352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38978085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38978085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38970438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38970438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38980963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38980963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38943144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38943144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38951104 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38951104 maybe they are a scheme to deceive potential investors.
simonblack 3y ago
Sound like a dumb journo wrote this. Is the battery a primary cell? Or it is a secondary cell? One is a producer of energy and usually can't be recharged. The other is merely a storage for energy and needs to be charged and recharged to be useful.

2 points by hiyer 3y ago

100 microwatts over 50 years. At $.10/kWh, that's less than half a penny worth of electricity.

More context about the technology at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device which mentions "Betavoltaic nuclear batteries can be purchased commercially. Available devices include a 100 μW tritium-powered device weighing 20 grams[12]" linking to a press release at https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-battery/23720/ https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-batte... about a product from https://citylabs.net/ https://citylabs.net/ . That's only 20 years, vs. the 50 from this article. What isotope(s) are they using for 50 years? All I see is "After the decay period, the 63 isotopes turn into a stable isotope of copper", which sounds very odd. Why 63 different isotopes? What decay chain ends up with copper?

gus_massa 3y ago
It's "Nickel 63". Someone mistranslated it to "63 isotopes" and all press articles are cut&pasting the error.
- eesmith 3y ago
  Thanks! Article about Russian research into a ⁶³Ni battery at https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-power.html https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-powe... with a link to the scientific publication at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925963517307495?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09259... .

6R1M0R4CL3 3y ago

those batteries have not produced 50 years of energy. they claim to but we have not yet seen if indeed they can last 50 years (hint : very, very probably not). and you will only reach those 50 years with very, very low power use..

z_ack 3y ago

Fake news: battery producing electricity using beta decay aren't a new technology, are arounds for decades, those devices produce electricity in order of micro ampere/h, 1 / 1'000'000 of ampere, currents, so small can only fit to niche application, like preserve the status of few bytes of RAM. A phone needs million of time that current not only to operate but even to have a detectable recharge level increase. So article stating they can power or recharge phones and drones are pseudo-science and fake news, I'm reporting this because I observed a proliferation of articles with the same topic, this "50 years miracle battery", without reference, scientific documentation, tests, any paper with scientific value : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38966352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38966352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38978085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38978085 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38970438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38970438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38980963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38980963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38943144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38943144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38951104 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38951104 maybe they are a scheme to deceive potential investors.

simonblack 3y ago

Sound like a dumb journo wrote this. Is the battery a primary cell? Or it is a secondary cell? One is a producer of energy and usually can't be recharged. The other is merely a storage for energy and needs to be charged and recharged to be useful.