I just realized I have a little correction/addendum to make to my own
comments, here. I think technically, nuclear batteries use the nuclear WEAK
force, not the strong. Strong holds nuclei together. IIRC, the weak is
responsible for decay.

Sean

At 09:44 PM 7/7/99 -0500, you wrote:
>> The next step beyond this,of course,is to harness the nuclear strong
>force,
>> and its potential energy. Anyone ever seen nuclear batteries? I have seen
>> pictures, but never one in person. The theory behind the ones I've seen
>was
>> using a target to absorb the particles emitted by the source,which turns
>> the energy into heat,which is used by thermocouples.
>
>
>There's another route, use an alpha emitter, and a metal target that catches
>the alpha particles. Vaccum between. Just how high a voltage did you want?
>
|
| Sean Breheny
| Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM
| Electrical Engineering Student
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