Magic Plutonium

This is the kind of device that really impresses me -  RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator).  They are used on deep space satellites to provide electrical power for decades, far from the sun were solar cells are useless.  They are amazing.  I was going to say cool, but as you can see the plutonium is self heating to the point that it is red hot.

I stole this picture and information from Kirk Sorensen.  You can access his entire Google Tech Talk here. I highly recommend it.  It is well worth reading.  I just wish that these RTGs were not so astronomically expensive.  I would love a battery that puts out hundreds of watts for decades on end.

This is plutonium-238.  It’s a radioactive material that has a half-life of 87 years*.  Every year about 1% of this plutonium decays and emits high-energy helium and a lot of heat.  Don’t confuse plutonium-238 with its more well-known sister isotope plutonium-239.  Plutonium-238 has no use in nuclear weapons.