RTG

A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG) is an electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. In such a device, the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material is converted into electricity by the Seebeck effect using an array of thermocouples. RTGs can be considered as a type of battery and have been used as power sources in satellites, space probes and unmanned remote facilities. RTGs are usually the most desirable power source for unmanned or unmaintained situations needing a few hundred watts or less of power for durations too long for fuel cells, batteries and generators to provide economically.

The design of an RTG is simple by the standards of nuclear technology: the main component is a sturdy container of a radioactive material (the fuel). Thermocouples are placed in the walls of the container, with the outer end of each thermocouple connected to a heat sink. Radioactive decay of the fuel produces heat which flows through the thermocouples to the heat sink, generating electricity in the process.

A thermocouple is a thermoelectric device that converts thermal energy directly into electrical energy using the Seebeck effect. It is made of two kinds of metal (or semiconductors) that can both conduct electricity. They are connected to each other in a closed loop. If the two junctions are at different temperatures, an electric current will flow in the loop.

Plutonium-238, curium-244 and strontium-90 are the most often cited candidate isotopes which are used as fuel for RTGs.

On April 8 2003 the governors of the province of Finnmark and the Murmansk Region signed two agreements concerning the worked-out RTGs recycling and Russian solar panel evaluation.

A Russian-Norwegian project aimed at step-by-step replacement of RTGs with solar batteries is now working in the Murmansk Region.
A solar battery accumulates energy during daylight time and gives it back at night. Krasnodar factory “Saturn” takes part in the project. The batteries are going to be evaluated on Murmansk and Finnmark beacons.