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Re:Nuclear battery produces power for 50 years without needi... by eesmith on Saturday January 13, 2024 @07:17AM (#38979298)
More context about the technology at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device which mentions "Betavoltaic nuclear batteries can be purchased commercially. Available devices include a 100 μW tritium-powered device weighing 20 grams[12]" linking to a press release at https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-batte... about a product from https://citylabs.net/ .

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?

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... .