One of the troubles with disposing nuclear waste is that it consists of valuable radioactive isotopes that are needed in nuclear industry and in medicine, or can be reprocessed to produce more fuel. So, the challenge for many scientists working in the field is, how do you keep the waste safe, and also get at it later when needed.
In a scientific breakthrough, a team of physicists and chemists at the University of Bristol have found a way to convert thousands of tons of nuclear waste into man-made diamond batteries that can generate a small electric current for thousands of years.
Instead of burying it, the Bristol team’s solution is to remove most of the c-14 from the graphite blocks and turn it into electricity-generating diamonds. The nuclear diamond battery is based on the fact that when a man-made diamond is exposed to radiation, it produces a small electric current. According to the researchers, this makes it possible to build a battery that has no moving parts, gives off no emissions, and is maintenance-free.
Check out the video to see, how the nuclear diamond battery works.
