From: Rodneykelp605@hotmail.com   
      
   Well then, a practical use for high level nuclear waste would be in electric   
   cars with RTG's.   
      
      
   "Damon Hill"  wrote in message   
   news:Xns95A7F3E07840damon161attbicom@216.196.97.134...   
   > "Rodney Kelp"  wrote in   
   > news:3smdnZ9h5IoaFwPcRVn-qQ@adelphia.com:   
   >   
   >> How long do plutonium batteries last?   
   >> What voltages do they come in?   
   >   
   > Radiothermal generators (RTGs) aren't batteries; they're   
   > thermocouples with a radioisotope heat source.  The   
   > voltage and current will vary with the number of   
   > thermocouples in series/parallel and the temperature   
   > of the system at a given time.  I don't know what   
   > the specific voltages are, other than likely a few   
   > tens of volts with electrical power in the   
   > couple of hundreds of watts, maximum.  Efficiency is   
   > very low, so there's plenty of heat that has to be   
   > dissipated.   
   >   
   > One can reasonably expect several decades of useful   
   > power, gradually decreasing as the plutonium decays.   
   >   
   >   
   > --Damon   
   >   
      
      
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