AI Insight
This study investigates how 14 MeV neutrons produced by deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reactions could be used to manufacture radioisotopes suitable for nuclear batteries at production rates many orders of magnitude higher than current methods. Using OpenMC neutron transport simulations, the authors evaluate multiple feedstock materials and identify promising candidates including Promethium-147, Nickel-63, Argon-39, and Cesium-137. A key finding is that certain blanket designs for tokamak reactors, such as an enriched Neodymium-148 blanket, can simultaneously produce tritium fuel for the fusion reaction and over one ton of high specific activity Promethium-147 per gigawatt thermal year, equivalent to roughly one billion Curies annually.
Why it matters
Nuclear batteries power devices requiring long-lived, maintenance-free energy sources such as space probes, remote sensors, and medical implants, but their deployment is currently limited by the scarce supply of suitable radioisotopes. If fusion energy becomes commercially available, this approach could dramatically expand the availability of nuclear battery fuels and open new applications across medicine, industry, and space exploration.
arXiv:2605.20260v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Nuclear batteries require radioisotopes with specific combinations of half-life, decay mode, and radiation properties, yet most candidate fuels lack scalable production routes. We show how the future availability of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion neutrons could enable manufacturing nuclear battery radioisotopes at many orders of magnitude higher rate than at present. We assess the capability of 14 MeV D-T fusion neutrons to produce nuclear battery radioisotopes by simulating feedstock material irradiation with neutrons. Promising radioisotope candidates include ${}^{147}$Pm, ${}^{63}$Ni, ${}^{39}$Ar, and ${}^{137}$Cs. Some feedstocks allow a radioisotope to be produced at scale while also closing the tritium fuel cycle, resulting in hundreds to over one thousand kilograms of high specific activity radioisotope per gigawatt thermal year of D-T fusion irradiation. We perform OpenMC simulations of an enriched ${}^{148}$Nd blanket for a tokamak, demonstrating that tritium self-sufficient designs can produce over one ton of ${}^{147}$Pm per gigawatt thermal year, equivalent to $sim$one billion Curies per year of ${}^{147}$Pm. Operation of such a blanket would represent an unprecedented increase of nuclear battery radioisotope production capability.
Source: Production of Nuclear Battery $beta^{-}$ Emitters Driven by Fusion Neutrons