Context:
China introduced a battery that can lasts for 50 years without charging.
About Nuclear Battery:
- Technology – Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
- Developed by Betavolt
- World’s 1st miniaturized atomic energy system
- Energy source – Nickel 63
- Safe for use of medical devices inside body like Pacemaker, cochlear implants etc.
- Researchers in the Soviet Union and the United States successfully developed technology suitable for deployment in spacecraft, underwater systems, and remote scientific stations. Nevertheless, these thermonuclear batteries proved to be both costly and bulky.
About Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator:
- Also known as Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS)
- Purpose – Power production system
- Uses heat from decaying radioactive isotopes to generate electricity
- Utilize radioactive materials, such as Plutonium-238 or Strontium-90, which emit heat as they decay over time
- Used in – Spacecraft for propulsion.
About Nickel 63:
- Low energy beta spectrum and have long half-life
- An alternative for tritium
- Present
- Around the globe from radioactive fallout.
- At certain nuclear facilities as a contaminant from operating reactors and processing spent fuel.
About Nickel:
- Found abundantly in Odisha.
- Leading producer of world – Indonesia
- Leading importer in world – China
- India is also an importer
- Uses – Making coins, wires, Gas turbines and rocket engines
Source: The Economics Times
Previous Year Question
About three-fourths of world’s cobalt, a metal required for the manufacture of batteries for electric motor vehicles, is produced by
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2023 Prelims]
(a) Argentina
(b) Botswana
(c) Democratic Republic of the Congo
(d) Kazakhstan
Answer: (c)
