The team have already created a prototype “diamond battery” using man-made diamonds placed inside a radioactive field produced by the isotope Nickel-63, which triggers a flow of electrons through the diamond. But they are now working on a version that uses carbon-14 extracted from graphite blocks used in nuclear power stations. By turning this nuclear waste into a long-lived battery, Scott and his colleagues hope to find new ways of using a problematic waste from nuclear power stations as they are decommissioned.
