The production of electricity from nuclear energy is quite controversial. We all have the Chernobyl accident in mind, but the truth is that these extremely serious incidents are a minority. A nuclear power plant has hundreds of safety and control measures to avoid these disasters again.
A nuclear battery in our pocket?
You may not know it, but in this type of plant, control the graphite rods. Without going into more technical and complex aspects, these bars avoid possible disasters that end up causing explosions. The problem is that when these bars are “used up”, it’s one more residue that is very difficult to deal with.
Apparently, a California company has thought of a way to take advantage of them and make them useful. They have developed a kind of carbon-14 diamonds that could produce electricity for about 28,000 years. Come on, may laptops, electric vehicles and the like never need charging again. Moreover, it could solve a large part of the current energy problems, which would be a great relief with the high price of electricity.
The company responsible for this is called NDB (which stands for Nano Diamond Battery). This company offers a battery that is quite practical and also quite ecological, based on the recovery of unused nuclear waste. Specifically, they convert 14 diamond carbon graphite bars. The interesting thing about these “diamonds” is that act as a semiconductor and have a high heat dissipation capacity.
We think carrying something radioactive in your pocket isn’t the best idea, and it’s true, but there wouldn’t be any risk. These “diamonds” coated with a layer of carbon 12 diamond
With this material, a battery cell is developed, where different layers of these nano-diamonds are stacked and stored. They are connected by an integrated circuit board and a large capacitor, which collects, stores and distributes energy.
Say goodbye to the electricity bill
Even though it is still very green, more than one will have felt a tingle thinking about the possibilities. One could say to the electricity bill, stop depending on electricity companies that manipulate prices. Using these batteries we could light the house, have heating and everything we want, without additional costs.
This in turn is ideal for computing, autonomous vehicles, satellites, smartphones, etc. We will no longer need to charge these devices indefinitely, since they can generate electricity for 28,000 years. Additionally, all sorts of sizes could be generated, from AA batteries to various formats of commercial batteries.
But, being realistic, it looks like something like this could end up being commercialized. Not because of the risks it may entail or the complexity of the manufacturing process, but because of what it involves. This would mean that the current battery industry is over, goodbye energy companies, we depend on planned obsolescence and countless technological and environmental problems.
