Inside China's Nuclear Battery Breakthrough

[@aspzx]

Very cool to watch this video right after Veritasium's video on the blue LED so i can understand things like the band gap and valence bands and conduction bands.

[@joshuapartridge5092]

its almost like we were brought here by something

[@ajis555]

Same here

[@-eternal]

same

[@InvertOtaku-os9lj]

It's like KZbin's related video algorithm is finally improving in a way that understands logical continuity in a very abstract yet completely fantastic and practical manner. I love scientific rabbit holes and am excited to continue this journey 😽

[@xehpuk]

Veritasiums blue LED was great. I thought I already knew that stuff but good animations improved my understanding quite a bit.

[@cheezeckez6843]

“Lets start with the easy stuff: Nuclear physics.”

[@-eternal]

😂

[@alexdrockhound9497]

i mean, it really isn't that complicated conceptually. Outside of the areas of it that require math, its easy for most people to understand.

[@srobeck77]

@@alexdrockhound9497 ya like when your on acid and everything makes sense....

[@grimgor3068]

@@srobeck77 No, seriously, it's not that difficult, I had the basics in my high school physics class.

[@iAmNothingness]

Easiest topic

[@jwestney2859]

Love having reports from people who actually understand stuff. THANK YOU!

[@Rick_Cavallaro]

Yep! It's far too uncommon.

[@human_shaped]

For tracking, even the low powered modules are sufficient. They can charge a [super-]capacitor and once charged, send a location tracking burst. Many applications don't need to be continuously at full power and they may fit quite well.

[@FooBar89]

my dude, do some math, it would take a year to charge a cap that can deliver 1W of burst power, 1W will not be enough for a burst LTE transmission, nor transmitting a location once in a year has any use

[@striker6967]

Those applications are largely already well served by existing battery technology. Multi-year lifespan on one battery GPS trackers are already possible without the massive limitations of this technology. It's hard to find a niche where it makes sense right now.

[@streamerz1015]

Capacitors are brilemt things

[@soundsoflife9549]

pacemakers and cpu chips are useful @@striker6967

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

it would take a month or more to charge a capacitor that much

[@lintaphorn]

You missed one important issue with such batteries. Ni 63 has to be produced from Ni 62 in a reactor- Cost will be after irradiation/separation $5000 to $10,000 per gram. $per watt will be huge! serious limitation on applications

[@3dartstudio007]

That's the important math. How many $$$ per watt + weight will get an electric car to drive down the road.

[@christopherleubner6633]

Checks out, the stuff is about 200 a curie in bulk, with a lead time of 6 months, supplied as the chloride.... The deal breaker, it's from a Russian company that used to supply all kinds of radioactive materials, mainly to the industrial and scientific communities.

[@steffenjespersen247]

yea no way to use this on an electric car. The output to drive even an electric bike (300Watts) would require a semi-truck to carry the "battery" for you. @@3dartstudio007

[@pbtrading]

From a research perspective the $/w is irrelevant. If this technology proves viable, the process to produce Ni63 will need be improved on. Currently Ni63 is a niche material that costs around $4000/g. Anyone remember what lithium batteries used to cost? Or solid state drives? Now go out and buy a laptop without an HHD, or a brand new car with a lead acid battery - it's almost impossible. Important is also to think about the weight reduction of nuclear "batteries" compared to lithium. I recently read about the new mars rover, with 15 years (!) of runtime on a (Pu-238 powered) MMRTG that weighs only 99 pounds ("only" ~10 of which are plutonium dioxide, the rest mainly shielding materials afaik). Personally I'm really excited about this tech. It seems impossible that this will reach the general public (without limitations) at a reasonable price within my lifetime, but still exciting.

[@lintaphorn]

This is nothing like the development cycle of Li batteries- First you have to enrich the Ni sample to reach 96% Ni-62 (it starts at 3%). Then in a high flux reactor the sample will spend about two years in the reactor (25 cycles of refueling). It then waits 6-9 months to cool down (short-lived isotopes) and then it is refined and fabricated into the desired shapes--- not much room for cost saving. $/W is always the key for real applications. These are expensive steps for something making microwatts of power. Note Ni-63 is available from both Russia and Oak Ridge Lab. @@pbtrading

[@derekwood8184]

33uA at 3V is MORE than enough for a number of applications.... definitely interested, please do keep us up to date on this technology. (I'm an R&D engineer)

[@OmarExplains]

Amazing video.. Very smooth delivery for all levels of understanding. Great job mate

[@mmkrk4071]

It smells like a new Theranos.

[@Jianju69]

-with Chinese characteristics.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

Yea, propaganda announcement...

[@smithtorreysmith]

As a maker of robot pills for micro-robotic telemedicine, I find myself dealing with those ashes frequently.

[@ScribblyPoppo]

​@@Jianju69😂

[@Visiorary]

She's Cute!

[@MStrong95]

Low energy seems like a good fit for certain things like an air tag or bios battery or something basic like a smoke detector. I could be wrong since I don't really have knowledge about this but it seems doable with some capacitors and other battery technology to collect the trickle charge

[@SilvaDreams]

Not nearly enough power. These are the type of batteries used in pacemakers and they don't scale.

[@caspertucker]

Great vid man - love the balanced info, kept it simple for us but explained it perfectly thoroughly

[@DerrickGray-co7vx]

Thanks for the numerical explanation about battery volume. Easiest way for me to determine if a battery technology has a future given the constant demand for maximum power from the tiniest possible source.

[@DavidDavid-ej3ir]

when I listened to your descriptions I got two problems with their projects: - can they get the authorizations to sell to the large public? - how much will it cost? both can very limit the general use of these batteries

[@mrmunchkin2181]

That is actually an amazing point where trackers on cargo containers would be absolutely amazing.

[@seanhewitt603]

Alot of Northern towns and reserves in Canada have high expense fuels to generate their electrical needs. Diesel generators which are aging out, aswell causing greenhouse gas emissions need replacing, Nuclear diamond batteries , maybe part of the answer. Perhaps you would consider a segment on compact reactors, "rtg"s and other designs, that would be swell. Keep up the good work sir..

[@ABaumstumpf]

"Nuclear diamond batteries , maybe part of the answer." No. You are asking if a moscito is the answer to powering an oiltanker.

[@DwynNWynns]

Our first priority so be to get power and heating to our people as cheaply and efficiently as possible, acceptable "greenhouse gas emission" is at what ever the level it is need to do this. We should not impoverished our economy and society in the name of "green gas emission". Nuclear powers is part of the solution to our growing power consumption need. For remote location, enclose micro reactors can be use.

[@lassikinnunen]

Mini nuclear generators would be much more realistic. Even the rtg's would be much more realistic. The thing with this "new" battery is that it isn't new. You can buy modules already if you have something that needs very very little power in complete darkness.

[@ntal5859]

@@ABaumstumpf Mosquito

[@ntal5859]

@@DwynNWynns ldiots like you selling the greenhouse gas propaganda. You couldn't even tell me as a percentage how much CO2 is in air. Do not google the answer because it's well below 1% ... Water vapour IE clouds are far more active in trapping heat then any CO2.

[@moderntube1]

Dr Miles you are wrong about the definition of battery, battery does not store energy, the old zinc carbon batteries produce energy by a reaction, they do not store external energy, are they "chemical generators"? The italian word for battery is "pila" (translate stack) and the inventor of it was Alessando Volta, the name pila refer to the "sanwitch" of different elements like the chinese nuclear battery, so in Italy we call it "pila atomica" that is the right name.

[@moderntube1]

update: i found on wikipedia that in english the original Volta battery is named "voltaic pile" so you should call it just Atomic Pile like we do.

[@RideBikes_Walkplaces]

Absolutely fascinating, what a video! Thanks.

[@johnatkinson1111]

This was actually really interesting and something I hadn't really heard about. I think if Nuclear "batteries" are to arrive in the consumer market they either need the significantly improved energy density like you said but an alternative could be powering more energy efficient devices such as say clocks in schools or calculators or something that would be in a bag all day like an airtag/tile tracker.

[@striker6967]

Why would someone use expensive technology to power those devices when they already have multi-year lifespans with a single battery? Infinite lifespan with a small solar cell in the calculator example.

[@przemysawpawlinski5536]

It's Utopia. It's expensive and it has a very, very low current. It's not worth a single thought. This is nothing else than Clickbyte.

[@pedro.alcatra]

You guys have no idea how excited i am to carry a radio isotope around in my pocket just to overpass the hurry to recharge my phone 3 times a day

[@milutzuk]

Haha, good one, but actually it's even funnier. Assuming you don't have an old phone with a very tired battery, recharging the phone 3 times a day suggests a very aggressive use case. Your pocket surely is not enough. Try a backpack full of radioactive power sources. A rather big one. But look at the bright side, you don't need to change or recharge that backpack for the next 50 years!

[@pedro.alcatra]

@@milutzuk ma men. I have a S22 for like a year. It is under warranty yet.....

[@milutzuk]

@@pedro.alcatra Well, then definitely you really need a strong and big backpack. A nuclear battery outputs less than 1mW. You'll likely need more than a couple of thousands of them. Don't try to buy one of those bright yellow and orange backpacks since the backpack itself will glow, especially at night.

[@ml3141]

Great review! Great analysis!! Excellent content!!! Thank you 👍👍👍. 🧡

[@furrybear9416]

Your narration and and easy understandable vocabulary is well above average, and your intelligence and critical thinking, great video Sir first time ive ever seen you so u got my sub for now anyway 👍

[@TayoTheT1000]

Id be interested to see if these would allow small electronics to enter a more efficient power saving mode. Being able to shut off core features to save power while still being able to boot up again on standby.

[@ntal5859]

Um as electronic engineer I can tell you we already do this with embedded designs IE CPUs have sleep modes going usually into micro amps. This has been done since day one in battery crital applications.

[@emmettobrian1874]

It's arguably still a battery. A battery is just an array of the same thing lined up. Hence why you can have a battery of cannon. What it is not is a dry cell (or wet cell)

[@daveh6356]

The claim for a 1W battery depends on how much of the 15x15x5mm package isn't Nickel/Diamond.

[@christopherleubner6633]

I am almost certain that anyone buying one will probably get ripped off. If not an outright scam they would probably get a small lithium battery with a resistor in a fancy looking case.😂

[@genephipps6421]

15mm x 15mm x 50m (yes meters)

[@daveh6356]

@@genephipps6421 I think you've missed the point. If the smaller package contains components which don't require the same scaling, it won't be 50m.

[@genephipps6421]

@@daveh6356 he literally said stack the existing battery and showed an illustration of just that. His point was it's not currently scalable for all but a small handful of cases.

[@timseguine2]

@@genephipps6421 he also said that was a guess because they didn't provide any details on their plans

[@stevemason4753]

TLA - my favourite Three Letter Acronym 😎

[@ajm511]

I have some bad news that I was informed of only recently. TLA would be an Initialism. An Acronym has to spell or at least sound like a word when pronounced. EG: Mutually Assured Destruction = MAD. Every day’s a school a day!

[@shishkabobby]

My favorite, ETLA, Extended Three Letter Acronym. To account for all the Energy Resolved, High Energy and similar prefixes.

[@DeanRockne]

The energy density becomes less of an issue for devices that draw very little power. Smoke detectors are a great example on the consumer side. Pacemakers are another possibility, currently those last ~5 years if you don't have a rechargeable version. Getting an extra decade between replacements is huge. Embedded sensors is another area. A GPS wildlife tracker for example.

[@marklewus5468]

I think there is a large market for home/industrial monitoring in this power range. I designed a IOT sensor that sends hourly updates with a range of ~1 km. It uses off the shelf components and runs at an average power of 150uW which is equivalent to 3 AAA batteries replaced every 18 months. Sensors for home/small business alarm systems use even less power, perhaps 75uW.

[@FooBar89]

that's milli Watts you've got there, not micro Watts, you're using the wrong units

[@ntal5859]

@@FooBar89 As electronic engineer myself you are wrong we get designs in microwatts... If the device is in sleep mode your CPU is pulling maybe 1 micro amp..yes 1 millionth of and amp. Why he is getting 75 microwatts is when you power up to send data your peak power shoots up , but as it's all averaged out over time so his 75 microwatts sounds spot on.

[@FooBar89]

@@ntal5859 maybe read what I wrote again, you are going to need many orders of magnitudes more power to send data, it isn't about MCU sleep time you are going to need a lot of current, and you are going to need a lot of power, how much of it? it depends on the transmitter, and range

[@DavidDavid-ej3ir]

For the moment they "propose" a "battery" that doesn't store energy but produce energy 24/7. I saw years ago the publication of about an atomic external charger for phone, the "Asus ZenPower Atom". Their idea was that the atomic generator would be enough to automatically recharge its battery of 1200mA within 24 hours. That was enough to charge 2 phones at the time

[@arglebargle42]

I think the limitation is the relatively tame radioactive source. Something more energetic would require heavier shielding but at this point in our energy density technology, we have so few other options if we are going portable forever sources.

[@robertmatch6550]

"Probably 100% yes." Gonna steal that.

[@bakutie]

very very well thought out and reasonable conclusions

[@kwandakekana9890]

The depth of info is amazing 👏 🎉

[@tonysales3687]

Just finished my 240 V 100 year battery. It works really well. Its blue glow means You can even find it in the dark. That's all for now, got a bit of a migraine coming on.

[@OwenWithAHammer]

Pretty exciting, I wonder what happens if you accidently puncture it, and what the recycling process will entail. I think there's a good chance something like this will enter a consumer device such as a smart watch or airpods within the next 25-40 years. It will be interesting to see how efficient we get with electronic devices. If we achieve roomtemp superconductors, I could envision an eInk display watch taking a few milliwats an hour, which might negate the need for low voltage longterm nuclear batteries, since you could generate electricity with photovoltaics and an accelerometer on the watch.

[@DrBenMiles]

good question. I guess Ni-63 has relatively low energy radiation - but probably not something you'd want to hang around with too long 😅 I didn't include it in the video but I was surprised Airpods are ~100 mW vs 100uW of betavolt

[@Hectoricisboss]

decays to copper and its not enough to harm a fly

[@ArdimNovid-ys1xq]

thanks for explaining

[@JonDeth]

*Portable Nuclear Generator(PNG)* I've been awaiting these for years. Fortunately, I have enough schooling completed in engineering to understand everything you said and deeply so. 😀 Fortunately, competition drives technological advancements and it's likely a similar but alternative technology will be developed within immediate years after this is introduced to industrial applications, and this is aside from those already in development.

[@Zorolina_chupichupi]

It's funny that all the concerns is just because the technology and solution is coming from China and not from the UK, USA or any other European country. When it's China that produces something interesting, there's always someone to belittle it or say it's no big deal, or even say it's a lie.

[@catchdog5759]

All of the concern is not because it comes from China

[@maxdepasquale2351]

Thank you for this informative video. I made a quick back-on-the-envelope calculation. 1 gram of Nickel-63 has an activity of 2.1×10^12 Becquerel. It means that in 1 gram there are 2.1x10^12 beta decays (=56.8 Curie). Each beta decay has a variable energy, but on average we have roughly 20 keV = 20,000 * 1.6x10^{-19} = 3.2x10^{-15} joule/decay. So, eventually we have 2.1x10^12 * 3.2x10^{-15} = 0.00672 Watt. This is the amount of power produced by 1 gram of Nickel-63. Even if you were able to convert 100% of the radioactive decay energy into electric energy (impossible of course), you couldn't make more than that. The battery label reads "50 Curies", so it there should be 50/56.8 = 0.88 grams of Nickel-63 in each battery. So each battery produces 0.00592 W; thus the efficiency on converting the decay energy into electric energy is 0.0001 / 0.00592 = 0.017, or 1.7% if you will. Not very impressive, if you ask me. To produce 1 W, you would need 1 / (0.00672 * 0.017) = 8860 g of Nickel-63, or about a 9 kg of this radioactive isotope. I am aware that Nickel-63 can be made "relatively easily" in a nuclear reactor, by letting the non-radioactive and non-rare Nickel-62 be bombarded by neutrons... but a 9 kg lump to make the claimed 1 watt? Besides, these 9 kg would have to be spread over a very thin film; if you make a bulky amount of Nickel, most electrons are stopped inside the mass itself. All of this, of course, does not apply if you use some other radioactive isotope that produces more energetic electrons and/or at higher activity (more Becquerels/g) and/or a generator with higher efficiency when converting into electric energy. I may be wrong, but I think I've seen refereed papers in which beta voltaic efficiencies of ~10% are claimed. Moreover, the whole nuclear battery gets warm by the non-used beta particle energy, so it could double as thermocouple - converting thermal energy into electric energy via Seebeck effect. The efficiency of a good thermocouple is ~10%. Thus, as 0-th order approximation, ~20% of the beta decay energy could be converted into electric energy. This still means 0.0013 W/g for Nickel-63, but 0.06 W/g for Tritium (hydrogen whose nucleus has 2 neutrons in addition to the proton). However, Nickel-63 has a half-life of 100 years, while Tritium half-life is only 12 years. And it is expensive, since it is mostly directed to keep thermonuclear warheads endowed with their "explosive" that vanishes rapidly over the years. I think that Dr. Ben Miles is right - this technology is exciting and interesting, but it likely to have niche applications only. But we will see what the future has in store for us.

[@CraigRison]

Very thorough and exciting to watch! I want to get an Einstein T shirt like the one your wearing?

[@adamrak7560]

One big problem: If you optimize your battery chemistry for very low max power (like 100uW), you can relatively easily make a battery which lasts 50 years. It will be cheaper than betavolatics, would weight 10x more though. So unless you are extremely weight and size constrained, current nuclear battery technology does not make much sense, the market is extremely small.

[@cyberlizardcouk]

3v at what amperage. these things have such low power output that the usecases will be significantly limited.

[@przemysawpawlinski5536]

Quite. And Dr. Ben called his video: "Inside China's Nuclear Battery Breakthrough".

[@randomkitty2555]

Maybe enough to power a game controller....lol

[@przemysawpawlinski5536]

@@randomkitty2555 It's 100uW (100 micro Watts). It's 0.0001W. That kind a battery it is.

[@randomkitty2555]

@@przemysawpawlinski5536 oh shit, maybe a calculator then.

[@przemysawpawlinski5536]

@@randomkitty2555 For you to have big energy from an atom you need to have high temperatures and this is not the case here. Actually, that kind of battery isn't anything new. Voyager Probes have the same thing only much bigger.

[@antonnym214]

Good point that it is too early for consumer use. As for solid state batteries, they all use a glass or ceramic electrolyte, and there's your problem: extremely brittle. It's no good putting it to use in an EV that will shatter the battery the first time the body flexes while going down the road.

[@aussieausbourne1]

In my opinion a hybrid system where the micro reactor does its thing to keep a pair of battery cells alternately charged giving you portable power for little things like phones and tablets

[@timseguine2]

The wattage/kg of the system described here is much too low for anything resembling that to be feasible.

[@ntal5859]

M0R0N, that is like having two large buckets with holes and filling them with an eye dropper.

[@williamapalla6831]

This concept is revolutionary, imagine we use all radio active waste as power

[@soundsoflife9549]

As technology on this improves and we are able to use longer lasting isotopes in conjunction with better electron capture, we might be able to see phones and smart watches being able to last 100 years seeing also that the power requirements of these devices also decreases as technology improves. This seems feasible in the future to me.

[@steffenjespersen247]

Good video. You provide an actual scale of how many you would need to get a current, most people can relate to. As most do no see how tiny amount of energy a single cell produces. Can you drive you smartphone on cells like this, properly yes, but you have to be in very good condition and like carrying a backpack the weight of a person on your back.

[@sleepib]

I don't think these will ever make it to mass-market consumer products, they just don't produce enough power to justify the cost, let alone the logistics of collecting and disposing of the radioactive waste when the device they're in reaches end of life. Why would you spend thousands of dollars on a betavoltaic cell when you can get 10 years of life out a non-rechargeable lithium cell the same size?

[@gorkskoal9315]

For the "waste". That could be a gold mine for a breeder reactor. Since by design a thorium, or even a plutonium breeder reactor can easily keep re-using material that was broken down. Getting to about 80% or so of that "waste" The corium that's left can also be used for low powered gizmos, hell with propper shielding it can be used in consumer novelties and play things. Potentially as large as a small hotwheels car. Maybe even glow in the dark novelty clothing. It'd dead useful for small things like timers and smoke detectors. If small single home breeder reactors ever got made the "waste" would perfectly safe to provide power to a house. The water used to cool down anything left can be stored and is safe to drink in an emergency. I don't suggest making drinking heavy water from deuterium a daily habit . But in a pinch if you don't have regular water due to a disaster, you'll be fine for a short time. Er um short meaning a few days at most. Just a hopeful perspective.

[@sleepib]

​ @gorkskoal9315 We're not talking about nuclear reactors here, these are like solar cells, except powered by ionizing radiation instead of light(spontaneous decay). They're also extremely low power output devices. The output is generally measured in microwatts, and the cost is measured in thousands of dollars. What you're talking about is completely different, nobody's been that optimistic since the 1950s, maybe the 1930s for the radioactive water part. Every child's toy a high level orphan source!

[@gorkskoal9315]

@@sleepib Oh I know. I was thinking that after the battery wasn't useful as a battery. Like why not chuck it into a nuclear reactor as fuel? Or is that not a good idea or possible? Though it's a fair hit, about reactors. :( .. Like for every person like me that can see the benefits as wickedly amazing, Are many times more that'd say no way in hell (sadly). But that's still a fair hit. Just as a side note. I for one would ( I HOPE!!!) be beyond thrilled to find out they want to build something close to my house. lol. I'd be the type to say: if ya'all drink coffee I'll put some out, and thanks!

[@sleepib]

​@@gorkskoal9315 I don't think that would be practical, you have very diffierent considerations when picking fuel for a breeder reactor vs something that works on spontaneous decay. You can use tritium for a betavoltaic cell, but you'd need to figure out fusion to use it as reactor fuel. I don't think any reactor will be able to use Ni-63 as a fuel. There may be other isotopes you could use for a fission reactor and also for a battery, but I think it's more likely the reactor waste would be refined and put into batteries than the other way around.

[@gorkskoal9315]

@@sleepib Mmmm that's also a fair hit. And now that I think about it yeah. reactor waste into a battery might be more practical.

[@yakuzaclan5704]

Imagine the government release it, you pay $20,000 for a single AAA nuclear battery, because the limit per family household is ONE battery 🔋 and it simply can power up your home all together of your fancy appliances, and electronic devices at once for 500 years. 😂 Dude, your great grandson will be thankful to you.

[@AusGuerila]

A very good way to keep e scooters maxing out at a certain speed with maybe a conventional battery for torque if needed.

[@landofstan246]

A battery is a bank of cells as in a car battery. What you are talking about is an atomic electric cell versus a chemical electric cell such as a Duracell.

[@StitchesLovesRats]

Power Cell. The best descriptive would be "power cell". Maybe "nuclear power module"?

[@VRWarLab]

5:38 a battery is not something that stores stuff for later being used, a "battery" refers to a collection or series of similar objects or devices grouped together for a common purpose. The first "batteries" and most of the commonly used ones nowadays are just that, a collection of cells

[@jamesstepp1925]

I live in Alaska and a decent density nuclear generator would definitely be a benefit for our off grid market.

[@uwuwuewuewueunjetjemuwueub2385]

It‘s funny to think that crossing photovoltaics with nuclear physics could actually resolve the problem of the left over, abundant, unfissile material, which decays over a long time. Imagine building facilities where the nuclear unfissile waste would be isolated and stored after a refinement process, whereafter it could be utilized to create high yield dc currents by raising the surface area of the diamond layer? Does it even necessarily have to be diamond, there must be a more cost effective alternative, like quartz?

[@theirrydamiens5840]

Thank you

[@grugbug4313]

Solid! Top KEK! Peace be with you.

[@Howtoeatrocks]

Oh my god a time traveler from 2016. Dude when you go back you’ve gotta warn people about how the worlds gone to hell

[@grugbug4313]

It'll be fine, Skippy. Enjoy the show. Solid! Top KEK! Peace be with you.@@Howtoeatrocks

[@kevinavillain4616]

I worked on the original nuclear batteries for pacemakers mid to late 80s? I recently found out that 29 of the original units are still being used as of 2024? So apparently they did have a highly successful design. I have no clue why these pacemakers were not replaced for newer designs.

[@ntal5859]

Patients dead or refused surgery.

[@n-da-bunka2650]

good summary

[@seasong7655]

There's also another interesting unlimited battery technology, which uses graphene to harvest energy from brownian motion.

[@exazebra]

it sounds like I could hire a guy to spin a dynamo for 50 years way cheaper. But then again, he'd probably be hard to fit in a pacemaker.

[@DenethorDurrandir]

5:40 This is a nitpick, but it is not a generator, it is a battery as it is releasing power stored within, even if it is converting the power from different state, in order for it to be generator there would need to be a way to replenish "fuel" that was spent in the generation.

[@striker6967]

RTGs aren't usually refuelable either. They're still considered generators by engineers regardless of technicalities. It's not practical to think of either as a battery.

[@DenethorDurrandir]

@@striker6967 "it's not practical to think of either as a batter." why do you think that? It would seem to me that it is more practical to think of them as a battery, like a battery it doesn't need maintenance, refueling and just puts out power until the "charge" is spent.

[@Jancuks04]

I imagine these types of batteries being used as regenerative chargers. For example, a phone, when battery is empty, set it on standby and within X time battery gets recharged by this nuclear generator.

[@kirkellis4329]

I think a stationary battery capable of running an individual home would be a great application for a 50 year lifespan. It wouldn't matter if it cost $10k and took up 4 cubic meters buried in the yard to produce a continuous 10kw. Allowing offgrid power generation with no moving parts and nothing exposed to weather would be worth a premium compared to PV or wind. It sounds like both these companies are a long way from that cost and package size, however.

[@patrickmorse7549]

Combined power and maybe radiation source for smoke detectors?

[@Muonium1]

Current photoelectric smoke detectors use a little 3v lithium cell the size of a fingertip and are already designed to work 10 years though. Throw in a second battery and now it lasts 20 years. Beyond that you'd want to trash it anyway simply due to dust and cobwebs inside the optical sensor and the aging electronics.

[@arthurzettel6618]

I tend to think the power is coming from decaying plutonium using thermoelectric generators, which Coverts the heat from decaying plutonium into electricity.

[@jackt6112]

I've been thinking of ways to do them for years. The concept runs into problems when you start doing the math. Historically, barriers seem to fall as tiny bits come together from other developing areas that create a synergy that ends up creating the solution that becomes part of our lives. Think of solid state electronics and what it has meant for computing, communications, and the medical field. The military almost always brings these things to life. A long time ago they realized that for every dollar spent on the space program, it returned $6 over not a lot of years, and business has learned from that from an investment perspective. 1/2TB solid state drives of a few years ago cost 10x what they cost today and cheaper than mechanicals in many cases.

[@michaelcalibri3620]

That mini-rap lyric was nice.

[@yuvalhuck5437]

"Breakthrough " pretty sure that thw Betavolt (tritium betavoltaic) board mounted nuclear battery was a thing 2-3 years ago. It was like 600$ a piece & out of stock when I last checked Edit. It wasn't called Betavolt it was Nanotritium , made by CityLabs

[@solarfluxman8810]

It reminds me of the time that I caught Siri ordering an uninterruptable power supply for her friend Hal using my credit card. I think our AI overlords will be paying attention to this emerging technology.

[@er404]

Inventions in battery department has been long due! We have been using same batteries for quite a long time.

[@Mandragara]

Convert 1 watt to a particle count, then convert that to an activity level for an isotope, then convert that to grams of isotope. Idea is nonsense, amount of isotope needed is dangerous. For C-14 I calculate 4E13 Bq to get 1 watt, that's ~240g of C-14.

[@Nusremmus]

Direct conversion is very interesting. Could power a probe orbiting Jupiter for a very long time just off the energy potential that Jupiter emits.

[@QuinnMallory-od1hw]

Interesting concept, but I doubt you could get enough voltage or amps off the design. Great for medical or small probe devices but can't be scaled. Furthermore there is always someone who will do something stupid, like trying to extract the nuclear material or use it in a way that is harmful. Diamonds as a shell can still be burnt off. The regulation of such a technology would be a nightmare!

[@mahinfayaz]

I think it can work in higher power demand conditions if paired with the required li-ion pack in a hybrid setup.

[@LRK-GT]

Missed PoVs: IoT and IT. Semi-passive sensors for IoT, and 'keep alive' voltage (instead of the classic CR2032, Etc.) for IT come to mind first and foremost. If Betavolts 'current stage' claims are anywhere near accurate, and could be scaled to production (w/o the ire of the NRC, etc.), they'd have wide applications. -potentially even opening entire 'tech branches' (per se) for IoT proliferation [for better or worse]

[@Chamieiniibet]

5:35 alkaline battery does not store anything either then, as you can't charge it, it just generates current from the chemical reaction between its components. You're mixing up the terms "battery" and "rechargeable battery".

[@SaranjivacSRB]

*Don't put to much hope on Li-ion batteries. Lithium is difficult to mine and leaves devastating long-term consequences on the environment. There is going to be less and less of it as more developed countries don't want to build one on their grounds (aka Germany even tho it's teeming with Lithium ore findings), instead they want to push it to less developed countries such as Serbia and Peru.* I live in Serbia so I was forced to learn about this in more depth as we are actively pushing Rio-Tinto away (that is supported by our corrupt government) from building the lithium mine on a ground that would do far better economically with tourism. I actively look for development of batteries that don't use lithium for this reason, and that's how your video caught my attention in the first place.

[@happmacdonald]

I agree, any analysis on power storage tech *absolutely has to* do a deep dive on materials sourcing. Honestly it's criminal to even breathe a word about "scaling up" without looking at where the materials will come from and how sustainable that side of the equation is.

[@corey__wm]

I would love for this product to get up to scale for consumers and have 1 watt or more output at 5V (maybe 3V). These would be fantastic for remote micro controller projects that power would be clunky to get to.

[@SilvaDreams]

These are far from "new" and are commonly used in pacemakers for decades now. They don't scale as they are the same tech as the RTGs which have been in use since the 60's by both the US and Russia in satellites and the like.

[@corey__wm]

@@SilvaDreams I am referring to the Chinese manufacturers claims of 1 watt by 2025 with reference to betavoltaic technology. Also RTGs uses heat differentials and betavoltaics don't (at least not at the massive scales that RTGs, there might be some minor heat generation but who knows and they don't primarily generate electricity through heat differentials). So these are not the same RTG tech as the 60s.

[@stephenkneller6435]

Great analysis. Thank you.

[@P.G.Wodelouse]

this is the problem with UK investors they won't invest in UK manufacturing because UK manufacturers need investment to compete with the big countries.

[@przemysawpawlinski5536]

The problem with UK investors is that they are smarter than you. That battery is a Utopia. It's expensive and it has a very, very low current. It's not worth a single thought.

[@P.G.Wodelouse]

@@przemysawpawlinski5536 i never said the battery was a good investment it sounds fanciful, i was talking about his reasoning for not investing. try listening to the video fool

[@przemysawpawlinski5536]

@@P.G.Wodelouse Oh... You calling me names. OK. Take care.

[@marcusaurelius49]

I cannot see this technology reaching the consumer markets any time soon. It seems like a hazardous waste risk, since consumers are likely to just bin devices carrying these batteries as they become obsolete. A few of these radioactive batteries in the landfill is insignificant, a few million in the landfill is a potential problem.

[@dingdinglhz001]

My guess is that the first customer is still space sector? China has a few deep space mission proposals where a nuclear battery can be a good backup? I think this does outperform traditional RTG? Also the power density can be improved for this use cases by using more concentrated isotopes?

[@stevemartin7464]

Hmm, sounds like the perpetual motion idea. It would be great and the idea sounds plausible but lets see it in practice.

[@Shadow_of_Christ]

People have to understand that this doesn’t have to be big even just something like 12 volts over a long time is still A LOT of energy. Just like solar the main factor is TIME

[@beaudavis3808]

The moment a nuclear powered pacemaker is installed into my chest, it is staying. I am not going through that surgery again.

[@FixItStupid]

To Bad The Dr. Got YOU

[@beaudavis3808]

@@FixItStupid Well, they can forget it. I went through that once. It is staying my chest until the day that I die.

[@ntal5859]

Is that you Tony Stark? Reactor in your chest ...my god it is you.

[@jmorrison5206]

It’s always a risk/benefit analysis. If the improvements in the newer technology are sufficient, it becomes worth the squeeze. And pacemaker placement is a really minor surgery.

[@beaudavis3808]

@@jmorrison5206 Not for me.

[@TolulenePictures]

Watt-Hours is the more important measurement. This is a generator, not a battery. If the 70kg, 1W battery charges a capacitor for 1 hour, it gains 1 W-hr. In 1 day that's 24 W-hr per 70 kg = 0.34 Whr/Kg in 1 year it produces 124Whr/kg ... etc

[@ianburton9223]

Really rational and relevant reporting.

[@acridineorange]

Beta particles have some great properties for energy generation, and I rather enjoyed your commentary. I’ve become numb to “Battery Breakthrough” news/PR releases. When I’m not watching videos, I’m a global program manager for vaccines development at a *big* pharma, where the tracking/tracing use case could be invaluable. Having used lots of P32 in grad school, I often demonstrated to students that beta particles (despite being incredibly energetic/damaging) are completely blocked by a sheet of plastic. Thus, I immediately thought of medical devices which you went on to mention. As a patriotic consumer, though, it’s hard to imagine use cases for it in the jungle of daily life.

[@prolarka]

wireless smart home or factory sensors, that is where these are useful

[@ThinkingBetter]

More output power = more radiation danger. Forget about Watts and consumer safety in a standard mobile battery size.

[@bleakwar]

I think emergency transponders would be a perfect use for these types of batteries, like backpack full of emergency gear that you need to recharge or can be left alone until needed, and wireless headphones could probably use them really easily as they down to really little energy usage.

[@ABaumstumpf]

No, they are 3 orders of magnitude to weak for that. That is the difference between a toy-car and a sportscar.

[@katzajamas934]

There are a number of old technologies for that: Metal air, dissolved oxygen, and other chemical batteries can be left alone until needed. The components that react to produce power are not brought together until needed. Metal air hearing aid batteries have a little sticker to keep the air out Peel off the sticker and install in your hearing aid...

[@びゅういんた]

リボンを折り畳んで一点でまとめるように、接合面を多くとって発電量を稼ぐプロセスが今後重要だと思います❤

[@glennkrieger]

Flashlights, or torches as some may call them. A flashlight that doesn't need a battery change. Everyone gets it.

[@msromike123]

Like my "nuclear" wristwatch dial? Maybe the press and scientific community should dial back the inflammatory rhetoric if we want to see wide adaptation of new technologies.

[@catnium]

As we say in my country, who btw been trading with the Chinese since 1601 Chinese magic. Makes your money disappear. 🙌

[@thelastnoise9210]

I don't see mass production, or mass implementation. I can only see limited implementation of specific applications. Likely small applications. Or applications not public.

[@JohnboyCollins]

Im much more interested in alphavoltaics, which have useful power output potential. There's been recent progress in seleniumm sulfur self-healing cells.

[@robertpearson8546]

I invented a nuclear battery in 1966. The only problem was the voltage (5,000,000 V) and the low current. All you need for useful nuclear batteries is the ability to modify the weak nuclear force.

[@danielster8878]

when i saw the thumbnail i was like "what does Max Holloway know about nuclear batteries?"

[@andreholobiont265]

Thanks

[@HotelPapa100]

For people who don't measure lengths in football fields: 0.01 m3 is 10 liters. Quite a hefty chunk of volume and weight for 1 W.