Run Your Laptop On Nuclear Energy

Reader zymano points to this news.com artcle on innovations in portable power sources. Would you feel comfortable with a radioactive power source inside your laptop or cellphone?

Comments

great even worse toxic waste

[Anonymous Coward]

Even now we read the horror stories about kids in third world countries combing toxic piles of computer cast offs for valuable bits and pieces. Do you really want to think about adding (more than normal background) *radioactive* junk to the mix?
It sounds like the researchers are considering something with a relatively long half-life. That means a) long after one of the fuel pack mechanical energy converters gives up the ghost, the radiation will continue and b) there will be sufficient value for scavengers to go after the stuff.

Once again the fundamental question is not "Can we do it?" but "Should we do it?" While I agree that on the whole the "Protect Mother Earth" crowd is over the top, we do have a responsibility to protect fellow members of our species. Are kids better off scrounging in rice fields in SE Asia or combing through old Mobo's?