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Americium Power Source Tuesday, October 03, 2006 - Iddo Genuth Home >> Articles >> General Technology   
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A team of scientists in Israel has developed a concept that could serve as a future power source for space vehicles and other space-based applications such as the International Space Station. The new battery-like device includes a core of americium 242, which generates a very efficient fission reaction. Unlike conventional nuclear reactors, the new design contains no moving parts and, according to the team's calculations, it will be able to power the space station for approximately 80 days before requiring refueling.
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According to calculations by Ronen's team, a 175 cm (69 inch) 10.5 ton Am-242 battery could produce 140 kW of electricity for a period of up to 80 days, after which its 3.2 kg (7 lb.) Am-242 "core" would require replacement. To learn more about the concept of the Am-242 battery and its potential, TFOT recently conducted a short interview with Professor Yigal Ronen who heads the americium battery research team.
Q: What are the advantages of the americium 242 over existing nuclear fuels such as plutonium and uranium 235? A: Americium 242 is the best known nuclear fissile material; it makes possible building nuclear reactors with nuclear fuel less then one micron thick. Q: What is the benefit of such thin nuclear fuel? A: In the nuclear battery concept, the use of an ultra-thin fuel allows the highly charged energetic fission products to escape from the fuel and "catch" onto the cathode, thus allowing the production of electrical current without the need of a generator. Q: Is americium 242 radioactive and does this pose any danger to the people working next to a device containing this material? A: Americium 242 is radioactive, but this should not pose any special problem as we have already been working with materials much more radioactive than americium 242 in close environments for many years. (Nuclear subs are the most obvious example). Q: How is americium 242 currently being manufactured? A: Americium 242 is created when americium 241 absorbs a neutron. This process is currently done in the most effective way in the kind of nuclear reactors know as "fast reactors". Americium 241 exists in large quantities as a by-product of regular power reactors. The process that turns it into americium 242 is still expensive today. Q: What could be the possible applications of the americium 242 battery? A: One of the possible applications of the battery will be as a power source for the international space station (ISS). In the more distant future it might also be used as a power source for a manned mission to Mars. Q: The americium 242 battery will only be able to provide 140 kW for a period of 80 days. Will this be enough for the ISS and how is this better than the existing solar power cells that the station is using? Q: Did you present the battery concept to NASA and what was their reaction? A: We presented the americium battery concept in a conference sponsored by NASA. There was interest in the concept and we are continuing the research. Q: What's aspects of your recent battery concept are new relative to your previous work? Q: Could you estimate how long will it take to bring your current americium battery concept into production? A: Development depends on the funds allocated for the project. We estimate that with proper funding we can have a battery in 5-10 years. |
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| Carlo Rubbia was studying AM-242 for spaceflight as well. | |||
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Such a small,lightweight powerplant payload for rocket launches would indeed be the ideal thing for lots of power in a small,lightweght package.The generated power / payload weight ratio (launch costs) would be enormous. |
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is it possible to fly an object with nuclear battery so that the object will be stable at perticular height from the earth surface? |
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Im trying to make a device that can give power to a battle suit which I have designed. According to me this battery can be of help but please provide me more details of the project and feasibility to make it work at my home. anupam.jaiswal@live.com |
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@ Rashmi; the height above Earth has no affect on stability, which is one reason this reactor would be beneficial for spaceflight out to the Moon or Mars (without relying on solar panels). The drawback here is that there would have to be a constant supply-chain of cores. @Jaiswal; the entire battery weighs 10.5 tons, which I don't think would be very convenient for a battle suit. Additionally, the AM-242 is not commercially available since it's proliferation is controlled and is very difficult and expensive to manufacture. More likely, this power source would be excellent for remote research stations, such as on Antarctica. Long-term space exploration would not benefit due to the short life of the battery. For this purpose, a high-temp gas reactor (HTGR) would probably be much more convenient (given they can go years between refueling), even with it's higher maintenance. |
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The photo identified as americium in this article appears to be "trinitite" - melted radioactive sand from the "Trinity Test" in New Mexico in 1945. |
