Re:Nuclear battery produces power for 50 years without needi...
by gus_massa on Saturday January 13, 2024 @07:36AM
(#38979402)
It's "Nickel 63". Someone mistranslated it to "63 isotopes" and all press articles are cut&pasting the error.
Re:Nuclear battery produces power for 50 years without needi...
by eesmith on Saturday January 13, 2024 @08:07AM
(#38979601)
Thanks!
Article about Russian research into a ⁶³Ni battery at https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-powe... with a link to the scientific publication at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09259... .
That's only 20 years, vs. the 50 from this article.
What isotope(s) are they using for 50 years? All I see is "After the decay period, the 63 isotopes turn into a stable isotope of copper", which sounds very odd. Why 63 different isotopes? What decay chain ends up with copper?