3 ms·

Both Voyagers have nuclear reactors (of sorts) in them.

• donw 17y ago
  Nuclear batteries, powered by thermocouples that transform the heat of decay into a small amount of electricity. For long-running batteries, they've got pretty good energy density, although even the most advanced designs struggle to hit 15% efficiency. The nice thing about these is that there's only a few kg of radioactive material, and an accident high enough to generate fallout will also burn up both the fuel and the shielding.
  • ars 17y ago
    It will still be radioactive even if you burn it. Instead they are actually designed NOT to burn up, but rather fall to the ground in one piece.
  • tocomment 17y ago
    I'd love to get one of those for a laptop. Does the power, size, weight work out? Imagine running your laptop for 20 years without ever plugging it in!