Yes, it's been tried.

Hashizume et al. attempted to use semiconductors (variants of which are also used in normal solar cells) which were subjected to gamma radiation from a radioactive isotope of cobalt. They generated up to 0.2"‰Watts/meter² "” certainly not a lot. The energy conversion efficiency? 1%. Furthmore, the cells were, as the authors put it, "unstable". However, none of this means that this method won't work "” it just won't be very effective in the near future.

For comparison, solar cells can generate energy at about 25% efficiency, and solar irradiance is orders of magnitude higher than what was generated by these gamma-ray semiconductors (1361"‰Watts/meter²). These devices won't be widespread any time soon.

I suppose you could try to use something like a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which produces heat via radioactive decay and then converts that heat into energy. However . . .

• These devices avoid gamma radiation because it is too energetic.
• You'd need materials more radioactive than normal to generate the required gamma rays.
• Nuclear power is not wholly popular as is. You'd have to convince a lot of people that the whole setup is safe in order to deploy it on a large scale.

Jan Dvorak suggested essentially surrounding a reactor with electricity-generating semiconductor cells sensitive to gamma rays, which would both generate electricity and perhaps provide some radiation shielding. It's an interesting thought, and could certainly work. I do wonder what the irradiation would be at different points within the reactor chamber.

posted almost 7 years ago

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