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Chapter 88 鈈238 Nuclear Battery

In space exploration, solar cells and isotope thermoelectric generators are most commonly used. The former is relatively cheap, but the disadvantage is that it does not have to rely on the sun and cannot be used at night. The latter is a more ideal power supply device.

The isotope thermoelectric generator is also called "nuclear battery" or "atomic energy battery". , converted into electrical energy through thermocouples, has the characteristics of small size, light weight, stable and reliable performance, long working life, and good environmental tolerance. Automatic observation stations or signal stations on the seabed provide energy.

Isotope batteries have been practically used in major countries such as the United States, Lucia, and Dongguo, and are mainly used for energy supply of spacecraft.

This kind of thermoelectric generator is composed of some excellent semiconductor materials, such as bismuth telluride, lead telluride, germanium silicon alloy and selenium compound, etc., and many materials are connected in series.In addition, there must be a suitable heat source and transducer, and a temperature difference between the heat source and the transducer can generate electricity.

In fact, this generator itself does not have any technical difficulties. The difficulty lies in the production cost, and the key lies in the raw material Pu-238.

Plutonium-238 is an isotope of plutonium, a silver-white metal, with a melting point of 640°C, a boiling point of 3234°C, and an atomic number of 94. Less, safe and stable, so it becomes the most important nuclide for isotope batteries.

But it is not a naturally occurring isotope. At the end of 1940, American scientists Seaborg and McMillan discovered plutonium-60 when they bombarded uranium with 16 MeV deuterium nuclei accelerated by a 238-inch cyclotron.

Now the industrial use of p-238 is mainly obtained by neptunium-237 irradiation with neutrons, the cost is extremely expensive, and the output is very low.

The average value per kilogram is more than 1400 million pounds...

For example, the P-238 nuclear battery used by the Perseverance Mars rover in the United States has a total weight of only 4.8 kilograms, but the cost is about 7000 million pounds... And so far, the total production of P-238 in the United States is only a few hundred kilograms...

However, what the world has not noticed is that the current production cost of Hawk Island 238 is only 33 pounds per kilogram!

Because they improved the production technology of plutonium 238, the material was changed from neptunium 237, a by-product of nuclear reaction, to uranium 238, which is relatively abundant in nature...

As for where the uranium 238 comes from, Hawk Island itself has uranium mining, but the current output is not much...

Don't underestimate this small technical improvement, its entry difficulty is more than 300 million! ...

With this technology, the cost of the nuclear battery produced by Hawke Island is only one-fortieth of that of the United States. If the United States builds a nuclear battery, Hawke Island can manufacture forty of the same power, and the output is also greatly increased. Can produce 500 kg...

what does this mean?
This means that Hawke Island can maintain stable heating and power supply for a long time without being restricted by night during landing exploration on the moon and Mars!
Yes, the p-238 nuclear battery can not only provide electricity, but also directly provide heat, because the decay of p-238 itself will release energy. If this energy is used to generate electricity, part of the energy will be lost. It is more cost-effective to directly supply heat. ...

This is also the reason why Hawke Island dared to build a moon base in advance. In fact, for the United States, the moon base has not been a problem in terms of technology. The problem lies in the cost.

The lunar base is different from the space station. It has dark nights, and the nights are very long, lasting 14.77 days. This also means that the solar power generation equipment cannot provide stable power supply for the lunar base. The long night, the temperature of more than 100 below zero, Failure to provide sufficient power would surely freeze any astronaut to death...

Solar panels use more lithium batteries to store electricity, or generate electricity with fuel oxidants such as hydrogen and oxygen, which can theoretically solve this problem.

But the cost is unacceptably high, this is the moon!

Since the moon is farther away from the blue star than the low-earth orbit where the space station is located, the transportation cost is higher. With the strongest rocket carrying capacity in the United States, it can only transport 30-40 tons at a time, and the launch cost is almost 40 billion pounds...

The power supply efficiency of lithium batteries or hydrogen-oxygen generators is too low. If you want to meet the power supply problem of the moon base at night, you may not be able to solve the problem without launching hundreds of times...

The p-238 nuclear battery is completely different. Although the power it can provide is not high due to the conversion rate problem, it can directly provide a large amount of heat energy for a long time and stably!
During the decay process of each gram of plutonium-238, the heat generated spontaneously can generate 0.6W of electric energy, and about 20 times the heat.

根据霍克岛方面的计算，只需要差不多1000千克的鈈238核电池，就可以保证一个5人核心舱的供电供热需求！而且由于鈈238的半衰期长达86年，所以这个设备有效期可达10年以上！
According to the cost of the United States, 1000 kg of P-238 nuclear batteries would cost about 150 billion pounds, and it would be difficult to manufacture them in a short period of time. However, according to the new technology of Hawke Island, the cost of 1000 kg of P-238 nuclear batteries would only need to be about 3.3 million Pounds... Counting the launch cost, the launch cost of 1000 kilograms in the United States is about 1 million pounds, Musk's launch cost is almost 6000 million pounds, and Hawk Island is almost 3000 million pounds...

A total of 3.6 million pounds!

This price is cheap enough for space exploration and is completely acceptable!
Now Hawke Island's biggest advantage is the cost advantage.

The production technology of P238 has not been disclosed to the public, and the outside world does not know that they have been able to reduce the cost to such a low level.

Because He Xiao plans to sell a little after the follow-up production capacity is raised, of course at a high price.

Lack of money!Space exploration is too expensive, and there is no return in the short term. Most people are unwilling to invest, so the oil rich country is willing to raise some funds for him. Many of them are actually for the sake of seawater desalination equipment...

One kilogram sells for 1000 million pounds, and the US and Dongguo must be scrambling to get it. After all, their supply is far short of demand.It's cheaper to buy directly...

The United States even wants to import 鈈238 or its production material 鈿237 from the rival country of Lucia...

Of course, you can't sell too much. If you sell too much, it will arouse the suspicion of the United States...

But it's not a problem to be so worried about the United States messing with itself.

It's time to improve the military strength of Hawke Island, at least to prevent the United States from beating itself...

Although with the current military strength of Xiaoliu Blind on Hawke Island, there is a high probability that the United States will not dare to fight.

And no matter what, Hawk Island is also an overseas self-government of the Tulip Country, and there is no reasonable reason and it is not convenient to make a move.

But it's not safe!One's own destiny must still be in one's own hands!
(End of this chapter)