SEMINAR PRESENTATION ON

NUCLEAR BATTERY
A PORTABLE ENERGY SOURCE

By:
SUDIPTA AMBAL
MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
ROLL NO:-85, 3rd YEAR
 CONTENTS
1. Why Nuclear Battery?
2. Historical Developments
3. Understanding the terms used
4. Types of Nuclear Batteries
5. Fuel Considerations
6. Applications
7. Advantages
8. Disadvantages
9. Conclution
10. References
Q. WHY NUCLEAR BATTERY ???
ANSWER:
• Chemical batteries require frequent replecements and are
bulky.
• Fuel and Solar cells are expensive and requires sunlight
respectively.
• Need for compact, reliable, light weight and long life power
supplies.
• Nuclear Battery uses emmisions from radioisotope to
genetare electricity so there is no fear of hazardous
radiations.
• Can be used in easily inaccessible and extreme conditions
and reduce the rate of replacements.
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPEMENTS
1. Nuclear Battery was introduced in the beginning of 1950,
and was patented on 3rd March, 1959 to TRACER lab.
2. Paul Brown first developed radioisotope electric power
system.
3. Brown’s discovery of a method to harness magnetic
energy emitted by the alpha & beta particles inherent in
nuclear material was the key to Nuclear battery.
4. He organized an approach to harness energy from the
magnetic field of alpha and beta particles using Radium-
226.
 UNDERSTANDING THE TERMS USED
Radioisotopes
Radioisotopes are artificially produced, unstable atoms
of chemical element, which have a different number of
neutrons in the nucleus, but the same number of
protons and the same chemical properties.

Radiations
• Alpha - These are fast moving helium atoms. They
have high energy, typically in the MeV range. They
also are magnetic in nature
• Beta - These are fast moving electrons. They
typically have energies in the range of a few
hundred keV to several MeV.
• Gamma - These are photons, just like light, except
of much higher energy.
 TYPES OF NUCLEAR BATTERIES DIRECT
ALPHA

CHARGE
BATTRIES
BETA

P-N JUNCTION
NON-THERMAL
CONVERTER
RADIOISOTOPE
DIRECT
GENERATORS CONTACT
THERMAL CONVERSION
POTENTIAL
BATTERIES
CONVERTER
INDIRECT
SECONDARY
CONVERSION
ELECTRONS
BATTRIES
FUEL CONSIDERATION
The major criteria considered in the selection of fuels are:
• Avoidance of gamma in the decay chain
• Half life( Should be more)
• Cost should be less.

MAIN FUELS:
Nickel-63 (Ni-63), Strontium-90 (Sr-90)
Promitium-147 (Pm-147), Uranium-238 (U-238)
Uranium-235 (U-235), Tantalum-180m
 APPLICATIONS
1. Space appications
• Unaffected by long period of
darkness and radiation belts like
Van-Allen belt.
• Compact and lighter in weight.
• Can avoid heating equipments
required for storage batteries.
• Used in long duration missions
where fuel cells, batteries and solar
arrays would be too large and
heavy.
2. Automobiles
• It is on initial stages of development.
• Nuclear batteries could replace conventional fuels then
there will be no case of running out of fuel.
3. Medical application
• It is used in pacemakers, implanted deep fibrillators
and other implanted devices.
4. Military applications
• Radioisotope power
sources to provide very
high density battery power
to radio frequency
equipment tags, sensors
and ultra wide-band
communication.
ADVANTAGES
• Fuel source
• Oil dependency
• Adaptability
• Cost/Efficiency
• Power output
• Radiological Damage
• Repair & Maintenance
DISADVANTAGES
• High initial cost of production
• Energy conversion methodologies not much advanced
• To gain social acceptance
• Regional and country specific laws regarding the use and
• disposal of radioactive materials
CONCLUSION
As the Technology grows need for power also
grows. Also we don’t have much abundant fuels present in
the earth’s crust to meet this need. Thus the use of power
as heat & electricity from the radioisotopes can be used to
meet this need which has high longevity.
REFERENCES
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery
• https://www.google.com/search?
q=NUCLEAR+BATTERY&rlz=1C1CHBD_enIN864IN864&
source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwji_8_puq_k
AhVbnI8KHZfeDDYQ_AUIESgB&biw=1280&bih=689#im
grc
THANK
YOU