China unveils nuclear battery that could last 50 years.

[Chock Full o Nuts]

China unveils the ultimate battery: 50 years without recharge, but with dangerous energy

China has developed a new battery that can run for 50 years without recharging, but the kind of energy it utilizes comes with risks to people's health.

www.eldiario24.com

The concept is not that farfetched after Chinese company Betavolt developed a battery the size of a coin that runs on nuclear energy and lasts for an incredible five decades. The technology is also applicable to drones and laptops and the energy density is 10 times more powerful than standard lithium-ion batteries of the same size.
Betavolt’s nuclear battery uses 63 nuclear isotopes positioned within a thumb-sized module. The energy created by the decaying isotopes is converted into electricity, a concept that has existed since the 20th century.

Betavolt’s initial nuclear design delivers 100 microwatts of power and 3V voltage. It’s only 15x15x5 cubic millimeters big, which is great news for smaller electronic devices like phones. Betavolt’s plan includes developing a battery with 1 watt of power by 2025.

Betavolt is certain that the design of their battery ensures its safety. It’s built with a layered structure to prevent it catching fire or exploding when exposed to a sudden force. The battery can also operate under a wide range of temperatures, from -60°C to 120°C.

After the radioactive element has finished decaying, a stable, harmless, non-radioactive isotope of copper is left behind, which has no environmental threat.

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

 

[Felis Leo]

China unveils the ultimate battery: 50 years without recharge, but with dangerous energy

China has developed a new battery that can run for 50 years without recharging, but the kind of energy it utilizes comes with risks to people's health.

www.eldiario24.com

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

When it comes to Chinese innovation announcements, I believe nothing of what I hear and only half of what I see.

 

[coyote505]

China unveils the ultimate battery: 50 years without recharge, but with dangerous energy

China has developed a new battery that can run for 50 years without recharging, but the kind of energy it utilizes comes with risks to people's health.

www.eldiario24.com

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

I haven't seen ANYTHING out of China I would expect to last 50 years. Five years is past their life expectancy. Buy Chinese: Support your local landfill !

 

[Donatello]

I haven't seen ANYTHING out of China I would expect to last 50 years. Five years is past their life expectancy. Buy Chinese: Support your local landfill !

Any chance you're wrong? Do you see how this kind of tech development threatens the US auto industry?

 

[Helix]

Well, shit. We're finally to the Great Old Ones stage of The Dark Tower series. I hope that no one builds Andy the messenger robot. It was a ****ing asshole.

 

[Captain Adverse]

China unveils the ultimate battery: 50 years without recharge, but with dangerous energy

China has developed a new battery that can run for 50 years without recharging, but the kind of energy it utilizes comes with risks to people's health.

www.eldiario24.com

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

Nowhere near me.

I don't trust Chinese products under normal circumstances. There is no way I'd allow a "nuclear powered battery" in my vicinity.

 

[Northern Light]

They didn't invent it. The concept has existed for quite a while. It's just not being used because nuclear material in consumer devices is not really the best idea. No matter how much they claim the nuclear isotopes are protected by the "super strong" casing, there are always going to be situations where it gets broken open. Also there is the issue of pollution. We already have landfills full of electronic devices including batteries that are not supposed to go into general waste, yet people still put batteries in the garbage. Now imagine nuclear batteries.

However, it could be useful for businesses and industries that have responsible protocols.

 

[phoenix2020]

Betavoltaic batteries are not a new concept, and the concept is sound with the primary advantage being life and pretty dang good energy density over that life, and the primary disadvantage being exceptionally low power density. Just take a look at the OP's article - 100 microwatts at 3V in a 15mm x 15mm x 5mm is a tiny amount of power. This isn't going to power your phone, much less the grid.

I can see these having some targeted applications, like RTC battery backup, power sources for implantable devices like pacemakers, perhaps some "perpetual nightlight" consumer products, that sort of thing. Although it's weird to suggest it now in light of recent events, a receive-only pager-type that never needs to be charged could be interesting. The other application could be if you have something with very intermittent spikes such that you use the betavoltaic to continuously top off a small cap that periodically discharges e.g. a very low intensity strobe. If you don't need to or want to service or charge it, and having some microwatts of power lets your device do something useful, then this may be a good application.

 

[coyote505]

Any chance you're wrong? Do you see how this kind of tech development threatens the US auto industry?

Entirely possible, just as other Cheap Chinese Crap threatens other industries, when consumers insist on "always low prices, always", without regard to quality. Detroit hasn't helped things with a similar attitude. At least when Japan cleaned their clock, consumers got quality cars. That probably won't be the case with China.

Many motorcycle mechanics refuse to work on Chinese motorcycles, because they will have pissed off customers coming back when the repair breaks within weeks, when it is actually the factory's design to break within weeks.

 

[Helix]

DESIGN 4 GUARDIAN
SERIAL # AA 24123 CX 755431297 L 14
TYPE/SPECIES: BEAR
SHARDIK
NR SUBNUCLEAR CELLS MUST NOT
BE REPLACED NR

 

[Deuce]

Ok so if you scale that up to about 26 gallons in volume you can power a cell phone.

 

[Deuce]

Any chance you're wrong? Do you see how this kind of tech development threatens the US auto industry?

…are you aware that you would need about two billion of these to have the power output of a Tesla Model 3?

That’s not me being hyperbolic. That is the actual math. It would be somewhere around half a football field, ten feet tall.

 

[brianpatrick]

So the Chinese made Trump’s Bible AND a nuclear battery that only needs to charge once every fifty years? Cool. Just in time for Halloween.

 

[Mr Person]

Well, shit. We're finally to the Great Old Ones stage of The Dark Tower series. I hope that no one builds Andy the messenger robot. It was a ****ing asshole.

I've always wondered how long it'd be until we blew our great old asses up.

 

[Helix]

I've always wondered how long it'd be until we blew our great old asses up.

Before I discovered Stephen King books, I grew up reading After The Bomb. At least we didn't have duck and cover drills. Now we have Russian Republicans to remind us almost daily that they're gonna nuke us. You don't even have to go to a book fair to get the doomsday content these days, so that's measurable progress.

 

[phoenix2020]

…are you aware that you would need about two billion of these to have the power output of a Tesla Model 3?

That’s not me being hyperbolic. That is the actual math. It would be somewhere around half a football field, ten feet tall.

Most people do not understand the difference between energy density and power density.

Beta-voltaic energy sources have terrific energy density and abysmal power density. They’ll be perfect for pacemakers, but they’ll never power a fan, much less a vehicle.

 

[Mr Person]

Before I discovered Stephen King books, I grew up reading After The Bomb. At least we didn't have duck and cover drills. Now we have Russian Republicans to remind us almost daily that they're gonna nuke us. You don't even have to go to a book fair to get the doomsday content these days, so that's measurable progress.

In that direction, yes. But my son is going to have active shooter drills, which somehow seems worse. Not a vague threat of vaporization but a waking nightmare.

 

[Helix]

In that direction, yes. But my son is going to have active shooter drills, which somehow seems worse. Not a vague threat of vaporization but a waking nightmare.

My family, too. I worry about it regularly. My wife and I were just discussing it like twenty minutes ago.

 

[Logician Man]

I haven't seen ANYTHING out of China I would expect to last 50 years. Five years is past their life expectancy. Buy Chinese: Support your local landfill !

Suppression of freedom of speech and other basic human rights and comes to mind.

 

[Helix]

Richard Bachman (Stephen King) also covered this darker topic in Rage. It's out of print now on purpose.

 

[Deuce]

Most people do not understand the difference between energy density and power density.

Beta-voltaic energy sources have terrific energy density and abysmal power density. They’ll be perfect for pacemakers, but they’ll never power a fan, much less a vehicle.

Oh come on I'm sure the electric 4-door sedan can tow an Olympic swimming pool sized slab of copper just fine. (the article says it decays into an isotope of copper, so it must be at least that heavy)

 

[phoenix2020]

Oh come on I'm sure the electric 4-door sedan can tow an Olympic swimming pool sized slab of copper just fine. (the article says it decays into an isotope of copper, so it must be at least that heavy)

I suppose with the right gearing, it might be possible to achieve a few centimeters per hour.

 

[Deuce]

I suppose with the right gearing, it might be possible to achieve a few centimeters per hour.

Actually, I just realized there's a potential workaround. They don't specify what the materials are, but some radioactive materials do have a point where scaling up high enough does radically increase the power output.

Spoiler: "Spoiler"

It's called critical mass.