Atomexpo nuclear battery. Atomic battery in the modern world. How an atomic battery works

Finally, Rosatom showed up in our battery meadow, showing at the Atomexpo-2017 forum nuclear battery with a service life of at least 50 years. Taking advantage of this significant occasion, we will consider the prospects for the use of the peaceful atom for mobile devices.

Atomic (nuclear) battery- this is still a battery, not a battery, since by definition it is a one-time source of electric current, without the possibility of recharging. Despite this, the public imagination is actively excited by the prospect of using atomic batteries in mobile devices. But first things first.

What exactly did Rosatom present at the forum? Pavel Zaitsev, General Director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "NII NPO Luch", said that the presented source, operating on the Ni63 isotope, is capable of delivering 1mkW with a voltage of 2V for 50 years. Pavel Zaitsev quite frankly speaks about modest current-voltage characteristics, focusing on long service life. Probably, solely out of personal modesty, the General Director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "NII NPO Luch" indicated in the technical specifications only power, and not the generally accepted capacity. But we will not attach much importance to this and simply calculate the capacity:

C = 0.000001W * 50 years * 365 days * 24 hours / 2V = 219mA

It turns out that the capacity of a nuclear battery, the size of a small universal battery, is just like a lithium-polymer (Li-Pol) battery for bluetooth headphones! Pavel Zaitsev suggests using his nuclear battery in cardiology, which raises serious doubts given such a huge size. Perhaps this nuclear battery can be considered as a kind of prototype for generating electricity from isotopes, but Rosatom will need to reduce the battery thousands of times to match modern pacemakers.

Not at all happy with the price nuclear battery- the director of the state unitary enterprise announced the price of nickel isotope in dollars (!) 4000USD/gram. Does this mean that the main component will be purchased outside of Russia? And how many grams is needed to make one battery? At the same time, it was noted that diamond elements would also be required (it is also not clear how much?), But the cost of which (already in rubles) ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 rubles apiece. What will be the total cost of such a battery? In Russia, pacemakers are installed under the CHI policy free of charge in emergency cases or if there is a quota. If the quota is insufficient and for foreign-made pacemakers, patients have to pay on their own. Will nuclear batteries be installed at the expense of the MHI budget or will the elderly have to purchase them separately? If the leadership of Rosatom remembered that Russian pensioners live in the mode of "stay day and hold out at night", then they would probably realize that absurd dissonance between space service life and cost. This suggests that the respected Pavel Zaitsev is actively using the funds allocated for R&D, without thinking at all about the end users. A similar assessment of the "invention" of Rosatom is given by users of social networks:

It's unlikely to be used anywhere. I am more than sure that the budget, as always, was mastered, part of it was spent on the presentation, and no one will ever see the product itself :)

The declared service life (50 years), as we guessed, is just half the half-life of Ni 63 (100 years). The same logic is used by scientists at the University of Bristol in a concept video. Unlike the Rosatom battery, the Bristol atomic battery uses the C 14 isotope and can last 5730 years! The University of Bristol forgot to divide by 2, but 2865 years is too long for a pacemaker. The uniqueness of the Bristol concept lies in the fact that the problem of nuclear waste is solved by processing them into nuclear batteries.

If you carefully listen and translate the text of this video, you will find much more interesting information. First, the origin of the C 14 isotope is described in detail.

Since 1940, England has made many nuclear reactors for scientific, military and civil purposes. All these reactors use uranium as fuel, and inside the reactor is made of graphite blocks. These graphite blocks are used in the nuclear fission process, allowing the control of a chain reaction that produces a constant source of heat. This heat is then used to turn water into steam, which then turns turbines to make electricity. Nuclear power plants produce nuclear waste that must be disposed of safely. You just have to wait for this waste to stop being radioactive. Unfortunately, this takes thousands and millions of years. It also requires a lot of money to keep the security under control for these many years. Since we use graphite reactors, England has created 95,000 tons of graphite blocks containing radiation. This graphite is only one of the forms of carbon, a simple and stable element, but if you put these blocks in a highly radioactive place, then part of the carbon turns into carbon 14. Carbon 14 can turn back into regular carbon 12 when its extra energy is gone. But this is a very long process because the half-life of carbon 14 is 5730 years.

Recently, scientists from the University of Bristol's Cabot Institute demonstrated that carbon 14 is concentrated in blocks by radiation from the outside. This means that it is possible to remove most of the radiation by heating them - most of the radiation comes out as a gas, which can then be collected. The remaining graphite blocks are still radioactive , but not as much, which means that it will be easier and cheaper to dispose of them.Radioactive carbon 14 in the form of a gas, can be converted at low pressures and high temperatures into diamond - this is another form of carbon.Man-made diamonds, made from radioactive carbon, emit a stream of beta radiation that can create an electric current.This gives us the nuclear energy of a diamond battery.To be safe for our use, it is coated with a layer of non-radioactive diamond, which completely absorbs all radiation and turns it into electricity by almost 100%.There there are no moving parts, no maintenance, the diamond just produces electricity. Since diamond is the hardest substance in the world, no other substance can provide such protection for radioactive carbon 14 . Therefore, a very small amount of radiation can be detected outside. But that's about the same amount of radiation as a banana, so it's completely safe. As we said, only half of the carbon 14 decays every 5730 years, which means that our diamond battery has an amazing life - it will be discharged by 50% in only 7746 years. These diamond batteries will be best used where conventional batteries cannot be changed. For example in satellites for space exploration or for implanted devices such as pacemakers.

We ask everyone to send their suggestions to #diamondbattery. The development of this new technology would solve many problems, such as nuclear waste, clean electricity and longer battery life. This will take us to the "diamond age" of energy production.

A very beautiful concept of scientists from Bristol in 2016 and a very modest box of Rosatom may (?) Someday be finalized to diamond power plants, but not nuclear batteries for mobile devices. It will be difficult to persuade people to walk around with Fukushima in their pocket, even if they start paying extra for it.

The use of the atom for peaceful purposes is one of the controversial issues of our time, given that energy is the most monopolized sector of the economy, when more than 90% of the price of KW electricity is taxes and fees. The effectiveness of the peaceful atom is questionable, since the price of conditionally cheap nuclear energy does not include the cost of man-made consequences. Therefore, some countries, including Germany and Japan, have decided to completely abandon the use of the atom in the energy sector. Indeed, by developing renewable energy sources, one can not only completely abandon nuclear energy, but also create a high-tech industry with millions of highly qualified jobs.

Summing up, we most likely have another "Superaccumulator" techno-fool, and not a breakthrough "invention" of the diamond age. In other words, using a peaceful atom in micro-energy is like shaving a pig - there is a lot of squealing, but little wool!

At the moment, science is progressing and developing. To date, the nuclear battery has already been invented. Such an energy source can serve up to 50, and sometimes up to 100 years. It all depends on the size and what kind of radioactive substance is used.

The first statement about the production of an atomic battery was made by Rosatom. In 2017, this company presented a prototype at the exhibition.

The researchers were able to optimize the layers of a nuclear battery that uses the beta decay of the nickel 63 isotope to generate electricity.

1 gram of such a substance contains 3300 milliwatt hours.

How an atomic battery works

Energy production is based on a chemical reaction using different types of isotopes. During beta decay, an electrical potential is created. And it gives current.

Are nuclear batteries dangerous?

The developers claim that such batteries for ordinary citizens are completely safe. And all because the design of the body is made soundly.

It is known that beta radiation harms the body. But in the created nuclear battery, it is soft and will be absorbed inside the energy element.

At the moment, experts identify several industries in which it is planned to use the nuclear battery "Russia A123":

The medicine.
Space industry.
Industry.
Transport.

In addition to these areas, new durable energy sources can be used in others.

Advantages of a nuclear battery

There are a number of positive qualities:

Durability. They can last up to 100,000 years.
Ability to endure critical temperatures.
The small size will allow them to be made portable and used in compact equipment.

Cons of a vigorous battery

The complexity of production.
There is a risk of exposure. Especially if the hull is damaged.
High cost. One nuclear battery can cost from 500,000 to 4,500,000 rubles.
Accessible to a narrow circle of people.
Small assortment.

Research and development of nuclear batteries is carried out not only by large companies, but also by ordinary students. So in Tomsk, a student developed his own battery, on nuclear power, which can work without recharging for about 12 years. The work of the invention is based on the decay of tritium. Such a battery does not change its characteristics over time.

Nuclear battery for smartphone

For 2019, they release atomic energy sources for phones. They look like the picture below.

They resemble a certain microcircuit, which is inserted into special connectors in a mobile phone. Such a battery can last 20 years. And all this time it does not need to be charged. This is possible due to the process of nuclear fission. True, such a source of energy can scare many. After all, everyone knows that radiation is harmful and destroys the body. And few people like to carry such a phone next to them throughout the day.

But according to scientists, such a nuclear battery is completely safe. Since tritium is involved as an active substance. Its radiation, which appears during decay, is harmless. You can see the work of tritium on a quartz watch that glows in the dark. The battery withstands frost at minus 50 degrees. It also functions stably at plus 150 C 0 . At the same time, no hesitation was noted in her work.

It's nice to have such a battery at hand, at least in order to recharge the phone on a regular battery.

The voltage of such a battery ranges from 0.8 - 2.4 volts. It also generates from 50 to 300 nano amps. And all this has been going on for 20 years.

The capacity is calculated as follows: C = 0.000001W * 50 years * 365 days * 24 hours / 2V = 219mA

The battery is currently valued at $1,122. If translated into rubles at the current rate (65.42), then this will come out to 73,400 rubles.

Where are nuclear batteries used?

The scope is almost the same as that of conventional batteries. They are used in:

Microelectronics.
Pressure and temperature sensors.
Implants.
As power banks for lithium cells.
identification systems.
hours.
SRAM memory.
For powering low power processors, such as FPGA, ASIC.

These are not the only devices in the future, their list will expand significantly.

Nuclear battery on nickel 63 and its characteristics

This atomic energy source, made on 63 isotopes, can last up to 50 years. It works due to the beta voltaic effect. It is almost similar to the photo electric effect. In it, electron-hole pairs in the crystal lattice of a semiconductor are created under the action of fast electrons or beta particles. And with the photoelectric effect, they appear under the influence of photons.

An atomic battery on nickel 63 is produced by irradiating nickel 62 targets in a reactor. Researcher Gavrilov claims that this takes about 1 year. The necessary targets are already available in Zheleznogorsk.

If we compare the new Russian nuclear batteries on nickel 63 with lithium-ion batteries, they will be 30 times smaller.

Experts say that these energy sources are safe for humans, as they emit weak beta rays. In addition, they do not go outside, but remain inside the device.

Such a power supply is currently perfect for medical pacemakers. But the developers do not talk about the cost. But you can calculate it without them. 1 gram of Ni-63 currently costs about $4,000. From here we can conclude that a full-fledged battery will require a lot of money.

Nickel 63 is mined from diamonds. But in order to obtain this isotope, it was necessary to create a new technology for cutting durable diamond material.

In general, a nuclear battery consists of an emitter and a collector separated by a special film. As a radioactive element decays, it releases beta radiation. The result is a positive charge. At this time, the collector is negatively charged. After that, a potential difference appears and an electric current is formed.

In fact, our atomic battery is a layered cake. Between 200 tons of diamond semiconductors there are 200 energy sources made of nickel 63. The height of the energy source is about 4 mm. Its weight is 250 milligrams. The small size is a big plus for the Russian atomic battery.

It's hard to find the right size. The large thickness of the isotope will not allow the electrons that have appeared in it to escape. A small thickness is not beneficial, since the number of beta decays per unit time decreases. The same is true for the thickness of the semiconductor. The battery functions best with an isotope thickness of about 2 microns. A diamond semiconductor is 10 microns.

But what scientists have managed to achieve at the moment is not the limit. The exhaust can be increased at least three times more. And this means that a nuclear battery can be made 3 times cheaper.

Nuclear battery on carbon 14 working 100 years

This atomic battery has the following advantages over other radiation sources of energy:

Cheapness.
Ecological purity.
Long service life up to 100 years.
Low toxicity.
Safety.
Able to work in extreme temperature conditions.

The radioactive isotope carbon 14 has a half-life of 5700 years. It is absolutely non-toxic and has a low cost.

Active work on the modernization of the nuclear battery is carried out not only by the United States and Russia, but also by other countries! Researchers have learned how to build up a film on a carbide substrate. As a result, the substrate has fallen in price by as much as 100 times. Such a structure is resistant to radiation, and this makes this energy source safe and durable. Using silicon carbide in nuclear batteries, it is possible to achieve its operation at a temperature of 350 degrees Celsius.

Thus, scientists managed to create an atomic battery with their own hands!

The power supply can also be used in medicine

Rosatom presented at the IX Atomexpo-2017 forum one of the latest developments - a nuclear battery based on the nickel-63 radioactive isotope. The unique power supply can be used in medical and space applications, saving millions of dollars in equipment costs. At the same time, the exhibition model has a miniature size - only 1 cubic centimeter, and its service life is at least 50 years.

“In simple terms, this is a nuclear battery, and in scientific terms, it is a source of beta radiation, which consists of a beta-voltaic element and a diamond-based semiconductor converter. Nickel-63 does not exist in nature, it is obtained by irradiating the natural isotope nickel-62 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor with further radiochemical processing and separation in gas centrifuges, ”said the deputy head of the laboratory of the Research Institute NPO Luch in an interview with MK, enterprises scientific division of "Rosatom" Alexander Pavkin. He noted that the properties of nickel-63 make the battery a very convenient, compact, and most importantly safe battery with a power density of 1 microwatt and a voltage of 2 volts. The specialist explained the safety of such a power source by the fact that nickel-63 is considered a “soft” beta emitter, since in its case there is neither neutron nor gamma radiation, and beta radiation electrons are completely absorbed by the converter and are completely harmless to humans.

At the same time, the power of the battery can be increased or decreased based on the needs: the larger the dimensions, the greater the power. According to Pavkin, a power of 1 microwatt is enough to use a battery in a pacemaker or neurostimulator. The specialist also added that in addition to medicine, such power sources can be used in astronautics, as well as a battery in hard-to-reach areas and extreme conditions.

It is still difficult to calculate the cost of such a miracle battery: it all depends on the customer's requirements for its power. But in any case, the use of such an element will pay back its purchase price very quickly. “For comparison: it takes $1 million to send 1 kg of wires into space, if we replace them with a wireless power source, the benefit is obvious,” the representative of Rosatom emphasized.

The development was carried out jointly by the Research Institute "Luch", based in Podolsk, together with the Technological Institute of Superhard and New Carbon Materials (TISNUM, Troitsk). Currently, the battery is a prototype, but Rosatom is already preparing to launch the device into mass production. As Alexander Pavkin noted, many companies and potential investors who got acquainted with the sample at the exhibition showed interest in the development. Rosatom plans to enter the domestic and foreign markets with its invention. Representatives of the state corporation note that due to the innovative properties, the price of the novelty will be very competitive and will allow it to gain popularity not only in Russia, but also in the West.

According to scientists and experts, the use of nickel-63-based power supplies will create the prerequisites for a technological breakthrough in many areas. In industry, such elements can be used in sensors for monitoring the condition of buildings, pipelines, they will be useful for ensuring the operation of electrical equipment, including projects for the development of the Arctic, for ensuring the operation of space technology and robotics. Serial production of new sources will make it possible to create a new line of devices in microelectronics, in particular, autonomous microprocessor-based digital devices with a built-in power source. At the same time, Russia is an innovator in the production of highly enriched nickel-63: it is not used in any other country.

Nickel-63 is a very convenient basis for miniature, but at the same time safe and maintenance-free beta-voltaic power supplies with a service life of at least 50 years and high power density. They can be used in various fields, including cosmonautics and medicine, as well as in various extreme conditions and hard-to-reach areas.

ON THIS TOPIC

According to the participant of the project, Alexander Pavkin, deputy head of the Luch laboratory, the model of a compact power source based on nickel-63 is the result of a completed research work carried out on an initiative basis. "In this case, we have received a source power of the order of one microwatt - it is already sufficient to ensure, for example, the operation of a pacemaker," he stressed.

It should be noted that nickel-63 does not exist in nature. It is obtained artificially by irradiating the natural nickel-62 isotope with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. Subsequently, the resulting material is subjected to radiochemical processing and separation in gas centrifuges.

The work of the presented source is based on nickel with an enrichment level of 20% for nickel-63, said Alexander Pavkin. However, if you use a more enriched nickel, he added, you can increase the power and at the same time reduce the size of the device. "Nickel-63 is the so-called "soft" beta emitter. In this case, there is no neutron or gamma radiation. And beta radiation electrons are completely absorbed by the converter, so, say, if a source is used to operate a pacemaker, they will not even be reach the surface of the skin," said the deputy head of the Luch laboratory.

Let us recall that earlier Rosatom launched a large-scale project in the south of Russia. We are talking about the construction of wind farms in Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory. The total amount of financing for the next 10 years exceeds 63 billion rubles.

An agreement on the construction of the first wind farm in Adygeya with a capacity of 150 megawatts was reached last year at the International Investment Forum in Sochi. The implementation of the project will reduce the deficit of the energy system of the republic by about a third.

A wind farm or a wind farm is a series of wind turbines assembled in one or more places and integrated into a single network. Large wind farms can consist of 100 or more wind turbines, which allow the use of energy from even the weakest winds - from 4 meters per second in a cost-effective manner.

At the enterprise of the state corporation "Rosatom" "Mining and Chemical Combine" (MCC, Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory), the conversion (conversion) of gas enriched in the target isotope nickel-63 (Ni-63) into a form suitable for application to a semiconductor converter for obtaining a prototype energy source. This was reported to RIA Novosti by a representative of the press service of the enterprise.

At the moment, the delivery of the corresponding components for the application of Ni-63 and the final assembly of the prototype "nuclear battery" is expected.

The principle of operation of beta-voltaic power sources is the conversion of the energy of radioactive beta decay into electricity using a semiconductor converter. The properties of nickel-63 make it a very convenient base for miniature, safe and maintenance-free beta-voltaic power supplies with a long service life (at least 50 years) and high, up to 100 microwatts per cubic centimeter, power density. Such power supplies can be used in hard-to-reach areas and in extreme conditions. From a consumer safety point of view, the advantage of nickel-63 is that it is a so-called "soft" beta emitter, so the radiation is completely shielded by the battery case.

Batteries based on Nickel-63. Photo: YouTube

Nickel-63 does not exist in nature, therefore it is obtained by neutron irradiation of the natural nickel-62 isotope in a nuclear reactor with further radiochemical processing and separation in gas centrifuges.

"Mining and Chemical Combine" acts as a system integrator of the project. The MCC organized work in two directions: obtaining a highly enriched Ni-63 isotope and creating a special structure for a semiconductor converter. The project involves Rosatom enterprises with unique competencies. In particular, the Electrochemical Plant (Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory, part of the fuel company Rosatom TVEL) is responsible for the enrichment of nickel in the Ni-63 isotope. The final stage, the assembly of a prototype power source, will take place at the MCC.

As a representative of the MCC press service noted, the design of the semiconductor converter is based on a new design, which qualitatively improves the efficiency of all components. According to experts, power supplies based on highly enriched Ni-63 and with a new converter design create a breakthrough platform for designing next generation devices in the field of cybernetics and artificial intelligence. This is a new type of device that will become the basis for a new architecture of electronic devices.

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