Is this a joke? It's not April 1st.

[DIYrich]

Lesser of 2 evils. Choose wisely.

 

[DPC]

Half life of Nickel 63 is 100 years
So at 50 years your looking at a 25% power reduction....

SO where is this Nickle 63 mine lol?
You would need to make the material

Also this is not RTG technology it BETAvoltaic

The one main advantage of this is the decay product of nickel 63 is copper and a Helium atom its a beta decay relatively harmless... ( I could require a fact check on that i'm not a physicist )

 

[Deleted member 109795]

the pollution caused by the refinement of nuclear fuel, not to mention, how do we safely dispose of something that remains deadly for hundreds, if not thousands of years?

My thoughts exactly. I came across the betavoltic cells technology at work and thought I came across the perfect application for them. But the handling risks when they get damaged from water ingress or the such was ridiculous so swiftly abandoned it. We used lithium thionyl chloride cells as the primary power source for remote telemetry as those could be recycled.

 

[DIYrich]

The eVinci microreactor, which Westinghouse says “has very few moving parts, working essentially as a battery,”

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[DPC]

The eVinci microreactor, which Westinghouse says “has very few moving parts, working essentially as a battery,”

MSN

www.msn.com

I would not put much stock into anything with that name on it

Westinghouse isn’t really a company anymore
It’s mostly brands liscenced out

Nuclear assets held by a Canadian asset management company after last bankruptcy

It’s a ghost company kept alive fir name recognition

 

[curiouscarbon]

Voyager's battery used the heat of decay to convert to electricity.

*ahem*

"are using"

there are still currently two voyager spacecraft actively operating. elapsed mission time, 47 years 1 month and change as of today.

the power output has declined over time, and some instruments have been turned off; see more here

Where Are They Now? - NASA Science

Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have reached "interstellar space" and each continue their unique journey deeper into the cosmos.

science.nasa.gov