New Battery Harvests Energy From Radioactive Nuclear Waste

Unlike burning fossil fuels, nuclear power plants release very few greenhouse gases. They’re safer than they’ve ever been, and currently generate around a fifth of the U.S.’s electricity. However, nuclear power plants produce hazardous waste, and scientists are still searching for effective ways to manage this dangerous byproduct. What if we could do more than just store it—what if we could use it to create more energy?

Inspired by this idea, researchers in Ohio have developed a small battery powered by nuclear waste. They exposed scintillator crystals—a material that emits light when it absorbs radiation—to gamma radiation, which is produced by nuclear waste. The crystals’ light then powered a solar battery. The study, published January 29 in the journal Optical Materials: X, demonstrates that background levels of gamma radiation could power small electronics, such as microchips.

“We’re harvesting something considered as waste and by nature, trying to turn it into treasure,” lead author Raymond Cao said in an Ohio State University statement. He is the director of Ohio State’s Nuclear Reactor Lab.

The team tested the battery prototype with cesium-137 and cobalt-60, common radioactive byproducts of nuclear reactors. Using cesium-137, the battery produced 288 nanowatts of power, while cobalt-60 generated 1.5 microwatts—enough to power a small sensor.

Though this might seem like a small victory—a standard 10W LED light bulb requires 10 million microwatts—Cao and his colleagues argue that their approach could be scaled up to power technology at the watt scale (as opposed to microwatts) or even higher. Such batteries could be used in environments where nuclear waste is produced, such as nuclear waste storage pools. They have the potential to be long-lasting and require little to no routine maintenance.

“The nuclear battery concept is very promising,” said Ibrahim Oksuz, co-author of the study and an Ohio State mechanical and aerospace engineer. “There’s still lots of room for improvement, but I believe in the future, this approach will carve an important space for itself in both the energy production and sensors industry.”

The researchers also noted that the structure of the scintillator crystals may affect the battery’s energy output, theorizing that larger crystals absorb more radiation and emit more light. A solar battery with a larger surface area can also absorb more light, and consequently produce more energy.

“This two-step process is still in its preliminary stages, but the next step involves generating greater watts with scale-up constructs,” Oksuz explained.

Currently, scaling this technology would be expensive, and more research is necessary to refine the findings. Nevertheless, the study proves that with enough ingenuity, one person’s waste can really be another person’s treasure—or in this case, a source of energy.