Science Fiction In this Realm
Open in the Citadel

Bucky Batteries

From the Citadel · by axlerowes

 

Bucky Batteries are power generators built around a man-made radioactive core with a half-life of 91,634.4 years.  The core is constructed by generating short-lived rare earth metal atoms inside buckyballs made from radioactive silicon isotopes.  The steric and ionic forces of the buckyball extend the half-life of the metal. The battery's hardware converts radiation into useable energy. They are inefficient to produce, less than a 10th of the initial energy cost will be released as radiation.  They tend to be large; the battery in deep space buoys has a mass of 36 metric tons and produces 144 kilowatts a day.Â