Neat, but we are way behind in this area as a species. We should be processing spent nuclear reactor fuel and extracting Strontium-90 ( sr-90 ) in mass. Sr90

Neat, but we are way behind in this area as a species. We should be processing spent nuclear reactor fuel and extracting Strontium-90 ( sr-90 ) in mass. Sr90 is a heavy beta emitters, orders of magnitude more energetic than carbon14, with a 28.8 year half-life. This lower half-life means a higher specific activity, which allows for more practical uses. Of course, higher energy beta emitters are more dangerous, but we've been playing with fire for a long time now, so that shouldn't stop anyone. At 10% beta emissions capture, a beta-voltaic device can be built now with sr90 that emits roughly 5w in a form factor slightly larger than a AA battery. With the current price and availability of sr90, this battery would cost around $3 million on raw materials alone. By increasing the use of nuclear energy and reprocessing fission byproducts, sr90 could be made significantly more plentiful. If you couple an sr90 betavoltaic with a power reservoir, such as a lithium ion battery, you would drastically increase the lifespan of the li-ion battery and be capable of peak-power outputs greatly in excess of what the sr90 micro generator can provide. With more developments in betavoltaics, efficiency would likely increase significantly -- beta emissions are electrons, after all, they just need to be captured and utilized. If photons can be capture and used at such a high efficiency in solar panels, you better believe electrons can as well.