by iio7 on 5/20/23, 12:33 AM with 2 comments
by duskwuff on 5/20/23, 4:52 AM
Reality check: the power density of these devices is abysmal, on the order of 10 µW/cm^3. It's unclear that they would have any practical use cases even if they could be manufactured at scale.
The claim that these devices could reduce or negate the need for disposal of nuclear waste is largely wishful thinking. Manufacturing these devices specifically requires purified Carbon-14; it cannot make use of other isotopes. It's possible that small quantities of C14 could be extracted from used graphite moderators, but these make up an extremely small fraction of all nuclear waste. (I'm not sure there are even any commercial graphite-moderated reactors currently operating in the US.)
by WhereIsTheTruth on 5/20/23, 4:11 AM