Tilde Lowengrimm on Nostr: Furthermore, since regular nuclear fission reactors produce Americium 241 as waste, ...

Furthermore, since regular nuclear fission reactors produce Americium 241 as waste, why don't we use Americium nuclear-thermal batteries for stuff? Nuclear-thermal batteries can't melt down and require no maintenance during their lifetimes. The whole thing can be built solid state with no moving parts and fully encased in shielding. It needs to be disposed of slash recycled safely at the end of its life, but that waste Americium was going to need to be stored safely anyway, so why not use the heat it generates to power a lighthouse or something in the mean time? A kilo of Americium (about 80 cubic centimeters or a cube less than two inches on a side) can put out 100 watts for a long time, and 100W is a pretty considerable power budget for a remote monitoring facility or something.