This battery is proposed to run on the radioactivity of waste graphite blocks (previously used as neutron moderator material in graphite-moderated reactors) and would generate small amounts of electricity for thousands of years.
Instead, the diamond battery is aimed at applications where a low discharge rate over a long period of time is required, such as space exploration, medical devices, seabed communications, microelectronics, etc.
[9] These beta particles, having an average energy of 50 keV, undergo inelastic collisions with other carbon atoms, thus creating electron-hole pairs which then contribute to an electric current.
[12] When the graphite blocks are removed during station decommissioning, their induced radioactivity qualifies them as low-level waste requiring safe disposal.
The resulting diamond made of radioactive 14C would still produce beta radiation which researchers claim would allow it to be used as a betavoltaic source.
[13] Due to its very low power density, conversion efficiency and high cost, a 14C betavoltaic device is very similar to other existing betavoltaic devices which are suited to niche applications needing very little power (microwatts) for several years in situations where conventional batteries cannot be replaced or recharged using conventional energy harvesting techniques.
In September 2020, Morgan Boardman, an Industrial Fellow and Strategic Advisory Consultant with the Aspire Diamond Group at the South West Nuclear Hub of the University of Bristol, was appointed CEO of a new company called Arkenlight, which was created explicitly to commercialize their diamond battery technology and possibly other nuclear radiation devices under research or development at Bristol University.