英国科学家用核废料造清洁电池 可供电5000年

Researchers at the University of Bristol have found a means of creating a battery capable of generating clean electricity for five millennia.

英国布里斯托大学的研究人员日前发现了一种可产生够使用5000年的清洁能源电池的制造方法。

Scientists found that by heating graphite blocks - used to house uranium rods in nuclear reactors - much of the radioactive carbon is given off as a gas.

这一成果是科学家们通过加热石墨块发现的，这种石墨块是核反应堆中用来嵌入铀棒的，其中放射性碳大部分会变成气体释放出来。

This can then be gathered and turned into radioactive diamonds using a high-temperature chemical reaction, in which carbon atoms are left on the surface in small, dark-colored diamond crystals.

然后这些碳气体被收集起来，利用高温化学反应，可以转化为放射性金刚石，碳原子以小小的黑色金刚石晶体的形式沉积于表面。

These man-made diamonds produce a small electrical charge when placed near a radioactive source.

当被置于一个放射源附近的时候，这些人造金刚石能够产生一个小电荷。

The radioactive diamonds are then encased safely within a layer of non-radioactive diamond. The surface of a complete diamond emits less radiation than a banana.

这些放射性金刚石随后被安全地包裹进一个非放射性金刚石层。因此形成的金刚石电池组表面发出的辐射量比香蕉还低。

The Bristol scientists have already created a working diamond battery from nickel-63, a radioactive isotope more stable than carbon-14, which is prevalent in nuclear waste.

布里斯托的科学家们用镍-63制造出有效的金刚石电池。镍-63是另一种放射性同位素，比碳-14还稳定，在核废料中十分普遍。

They will create their first carbon-14 batteries in the New Year.

在新年的时候，科学家们将制作出第一批碳-14电池。

"There are no moving parts involved, no emissions generated and no maintenance required, just direct electricity generation," said Tom Scott, Professor in Materials at the University of Bristol Interface Analysis Centre.

布里斯托大学界面分析中心材料学教授汤姆·斯科特表示：“这种电池没有活动部件，不排放废气，也不需要维护，就是直接发电。”

"By encapsulating radioactive material inside diamonds, we turn a long-term problem of nuclear waste into a nuclear-powered battery and a long-term supply of clean energy."

“通过将放射性材料封入金刚石，我们就把核废料这个长期问题变成了核电池，长期提供清洁能源。”