Nuclear Engineering

Nuclear Batteries, Powered By Nuclear Waste, Generates Useful Electricity

Ohio State’s new discovery on a nuclear battery could change how we dispose of nuclear waste as we know it

By: Jack Gradishar, Journalist

March 7, 2025

Nuclear Batteries, Powered By Nuclear Waste, Generates Useful Electricity

How It Works

Researchers at Ohio State University discovered the capability of their newly designed battery that could generate useful electricity from nuclear waste. The battery works by using scintillator crystals to turn the gamma rays radioactive waste gives off to create light. By absorbing the light with solar cells the battery turns the light energy into usable electrical energy, just as solar panels do. “We’re harvesting something considered as waste and by nature, trying to turn it into treasure,” said Raymond Cao, the leader of the study at Ohio State University, “This nuclear battery concept is very promising,” added Cao. The battery is about the size of a four-cubic-centimeter cube. The researchers used two types of common radioactive isotopes to test the prototype, cesium-137 and cobalt-60, which are both found in used nuclear waste. The results showed the battery had generated 288 nanowatts with the cesium-137 and 1.5 microwatts with the cobalt-60, a bit more usable. Most houses are powered by the use of kilowatts, which is a big jump from nano and microwatts, but this is just the start of this new technology and could change the future of energy.

Changing Where Nuclear Waste Goes

The nuclear energy process, used to create electrical energy, isn’t a renewable energy source and isn’t good for the environment. The radioactive waste released by this process offers the environment negative effects. Gamma rays were hard to harness safely before but this newly developed battery could ensure the negative effects of nuclear waste stay out of the environment since the battery absorbs the harmful gamma rays. This offers a cleaner and more effective way to dispose of nuclear waste since the waste and gamma rays are being turned into energy. And since nuclear energy contributes to 20% of the US’ total energy production this could be a big step in the right direction. furthermore, the batteries design makes it particularly suited for environments that already have high levels of radiation, such as nuclear waste storage facilities and even space missions.