--- title: "Researchers Test Battery Powered by Nuclear Waste" description: "Startup NDB is creating a nano diamond battery that's powered by nuclear waste. Learn how nuclear batteries could be the future of energy." date: "2020-08-25" modified: "2020-09-02" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/researchers-test-battery-powered-nuclear-waste" categories: - "Energy" - "Nuclear Fusion" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "battery" - "nuclear waste" - "the digest" - "transportation" --- # Researchers Test Battery Powered by Nuclear Waste ![An energy startup called NDB says it's making progress on a battery technology powered by small pieces of nuclear waste. Oh, and they say it's safe.]() *\Image: Dirk Rabe/Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Waste Potential An energy startup called NDB says it's making progress on a battery technology powered by small pieces of nuclear waste. In fact, [it's claiming]() that a pair of tests at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Cambridge University show that the battery is already managing a 40 percent charge. When the tech matures, it hopes the batteries could last for between a decade and 28,000 years — an extraordinary energy breakthrough which, if it actually came to pass, could revolutionize everything from electric transportation to personal electronics. ## Double A A [detailed writeup]() in *New Atlas* lists a series of incredible claims by NDB. The nano-diamond batteries give off less radiation than the human body, according to the company, would be safe in car accidents, and could cost less than a lithium-ion battery. The cells could be made in any form factor, it says, including iconic ones like AA. "Think of it in an iPhone," company spokesperson Neel Naicker told *New Atlas*. "With the same size battery, it would charge your battery from zero to full, five times an hour. Imagine that. Imagine a world where you wouldn't have to charge your battery at all for the day. Now imagine for the week, for the month… How about for decades? That's what we're able to do with this technology." ## Simple Battery Long story short, it sounds too good to be true. But if what the company's execs are saying holds up, it could be a gamechanger. "So if you're talking about electric vehicles, our battery could run for around 90 years without the requirement of recharging," Nima Golsharifi, NDB's CEO, told *New Atlas* in an [extended interview transcript](). **READ MORE:** [Nano-diamond self-charging batteries could disrupt energy as we know it]() \[*New Atlas*\] **More on batteries:** [*New Battery Tech Could Double Electric Car Driving Range*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()