Radioactive batteries keep going and going

[BURNING MAN]

Minuscule amounts of radioactive elements could safely power handheld electrical devices for months or even years, according to new research from the University of Missouri.

Such electronics could help to eliminate mildly radioactive substances while providing cheap and reliable power.

"This is not a nuclear reaction. Nothing will explode; there won't be a mushroom cloud on your property," said Jae Kwon, a professor at the University of Missouri developing radioactive batteries.

"We are using the radiation coming from the material and turning that into electricity," he added.

The material in question is sulfur 35, an energy packed isotope of an element most people associate with the smell, and color, of rotten eggs. In nature, sulfur 35 forms when cosmic rays break apart argon in the upper atmosphere.

Within a battery, sulfur 35 spits out mildly radioactive electrons as it decays. To harvest those electrons and convert them into electricity, Kwon surrounds the sulfur with selenium, a liquid semiconductor. The selenium traps the electrons trying to escape, channeling them into a source of electricity.

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[Area-51]

Wow! This sounds great. Not even is there enough energy available for smaller devices, but it could (to a certain degree) recycle radioactive matter, which is stored in big areas underground (a few are here in Germany).

So I would definitely give thumps up to that. Great idea!