Researchers at the University of Bristol have found a means of creating a battery capable of generating clean electricity for five millennia¹.

英国布里斯托大学的研究人员日前发现了一种可产生够使用5000年的清洁能源电池的制造方法。

Scientists found that by heating graphite blocks - used to house uranium rods in nuclear reactors² - much of the radioactive carbon is given off as a gas.

这一成果是科学家们通过加热石墨块发现的，这种石墨块是核反应堆中用来嵌入铀棒的，其中放射性碳大部分会变成气体释放出来。

This can then be gathered and turned into radioactive diamonds using a high-temperature chemical reaction, in which carbon atoms are left on the surface in small, dark-colored diamond crystals.

然后这些碳气体被收集起来，利用高温化学反应，可以转化为放射性金刚石，碳原子以小小的黑色金刚石晶体的形式沉积于表面。

These man-made diamonds produce a small electrical charge when placed near a radioactive source.

当被置于一个放射源附近的时候，这些人造金刚石能够产生一个小电荷。

The radioactive diamonds are then encased safely within a layer of non-radioactive diamond. The surface of a complete diamond emits less radiation than a banana.

这些放射性金刚石随后被安全地包裹进一个非放射性金刚石层。因此形成的金刚石电池组表面发出的辐射量比香蕉还低。

The Bristol scientists have already created a working diamond battery from nickel-63, a radioactive isotope³ more stable than carbon-14, which is prevalent in nuclear waste.

布里斯托的科学家们用镍-63制造出有效的金刚石电池。镍-63是另一种放射性同位素，比碳-14还稳定，在核废料中十分普遍。

They will create their first carbon-14 batteries in the New Year.

在新年的时候，科学家们将制作出第一批碳-14电池。

"There are no moving parts involved, no emissions⁴ generated and no maintenance required, just direct electricity generation," said Tom Scott, Professor in Materials at the University of Bristol Interface⁵ Analysis Centre.

布里斯托大学界面分析中心材料学教授汤姆·斯科特表示：“这种电池没有活动部件，不排放废气，也不需要维护，就是直接发电。”

"By encapsulating radioactive material inside diamonds, we turn a long-term problem of nuclear waste into a nuclear-powered battery and a long-term supply of clean energy."

“通过将放射性材料封入金刚石，我们就把核废料这个长期问题变成了核电池，长期提供清洁能源。”