ORNL Restores US Capability To Produce Plutonium-238 (ornl.gov)

hypnosec writes: Oak Ridge National Laboratory has successfully produced 50 grams of plutonium-238, an isotope that produces heat without a lot of other, problematic radiation. This makes it suitable for use in radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which can power space probes. The new sample effectively revives the U.S.'s end-to-end plutonium-238 production capabilities, which have been dormant for around 30 years since work was stopped at the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina. The ORNL is optimistic this important milestone will pave the way for regular production of the material, ensuring constant supply for NASA's future missions.

Comments

Wonder if this can be used for some more items

[mlts]

Yes, it is radioactive, and yes, it is a very nasty heavy metal... but there are still pacemakers ticking away with this stuff as the "battery" 25+ years later.

I wonder if Pu-238 might have some use in areas where batteries are needed and extremely hard to replace other than space projects. Definitely not for a battery for a smartphone, because we don't want Youtubers like TechRax to get radiation poisoning, but airline flight data recorders come to mind.

Re:Convoluted process to convert existing 237Np

[eis2718bob]

This is the only comment (out of 49 so far) in this thread which is intelligent, useful, and constructive. There was a time (oh you youngsters!) when this was the rule, not the exception, on slashdot. The hamster comment deserves credit for humor, though.

Is there a better site for news for nerds?