There’s radioactive and then there’s radioactive. It beta decays with particles that would only penetrate 5 cm of air or .01 cm of tissue.
You could get a thousand of these batteries, grind them up into a powder, explode them in a crowded place as an improvised dirty bomb…and you would still cause less harm than if you did the same with countless chemicals you can buy at the hardware store.
There are many forms of radiation. Something like this going into a landfill is perfectly safe.
A half life of 100 years means that after 100 years half of it is copper while the other half is still nickel 63.
It does NOT mean that after half that time all of it will be copper
It can indeed be recycled after it degrades into copper, but it will take far longer that you claim for it to do so.
The half life of nickel-63 is 101.2 years which means that after 101.2 years approximately half of the core will have degraded to copper, then after 101.2 more years approximately half of the remaining will have degraded, leaving approximately a quarter, then after 101.2 more years there’ll be approximately one eighth, and so on. This is how radioactive decay works.
The battery, they claim, functions for 50 years or so, which is probably because after 50 years the radioactive decay has slowed by over 25% (can’t be bothered to work out the actual amount but its at least this much). This 50 years doesn’t mean that all the radioactive material has decayed, just that a portion of it significant enough to render the battery dead/less effective/etc.
They decay into copper, which can be easily recycled.
Yeah, but it’s radioactive nickel-63 for many decades until it all decays.
There’s radioactive and then there’s radioactive. It beta decays with particles that would only penetrate 5 cm of air or .01 cm of tissue.
You could get a thousand of these batteries, grind them up into a powder, explode them in a crowded place as an improvised dirty bomb…and you would still cause less harm than if you did the same with countless chemicals you can buy at the hardware store.
There are many forms of radiation. Something like this going into a landfill is perfectly safe.
Yeah, that’s how the battery works.
Which is why your suggestion of simply recycling copper won’t work. You don’t have copper, you have a radioactive alloy.
Not after 50 or so years. Then it’s just non-radioactive copper.
Patience is a virtue (and profitable!)
A half life of 100 years means that after 100 years half of it is copper while the other half is still nickel 63. It does NOT mean that after half that time all of it will be copper
That’s not how radioactive half lives work.
Learn about radioactive decay and what half life means.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-life
Prove it. Prove that the manufacturers claim that it can be recycled after it degrades into copper are false.
Your link doesn’t do that.
It can indeed be recycled after it degrades into copper, but it will take far longer that you claim for it to do so.
The half life of nickel-63 is 101.2 years which means that after 101.2 years approximately half of the core will have degraded to copper, then after 101.2 more years approximately half of the remaining will have degraded, leaving approximately a quarter, then after 101.2 more years there’ll be approximately one eighth, and so on. This is how radioactive decay works.
The battery, they claim, functions for 50 years or so, which is probably because after 50 years the radioactive decay has slowed by over 25% (can’t be bothered to work out the actual amount but its at least this much). This 50 years doesn’t mean that all the radioactive material has decayed, just that a portion of it significant enough to render the battery dead/less effective/etc.
LOL I’m not your chemistry teacher, kid.
So you admit that you made claims which you could not back up with evidence.
Just as I thought