RTG-Ion Battery

An RTG, or a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, is a type of nuclear battery that converts the heat generated by a radioactive material into electricity, normally by use of thermocouples. Generally, they generate a low amount of power, and are meant to generate a constant source of energy and heat over a very long period of time, on the order of decades. There are some batteries with significantly shorter lives that can generate much more power, but aren't generally used that often.

An RTG-Ion Battery, is an invention of the Regalti, perfected by the Tissa Corporation, that integrates a particle accelerator that bombards the nuclear material, either speeding up the decay and releasing much more alpha particles and therefore much more energy, or rebuilding the decaying material, which recharges the battery. The specific process depends on the type of particle being used.

Human knowledge on RTGs: Wikipedia Author's Note

I recommend reading the above wikipedia article for an idea of what RTG's are, but after this point, this article quickly becomes science fiction again. Possibly plausible, but still fiction. Also, this article goes way out in the boonies with some math, which I apologize for...

Cutdrawing of an GPHS-RTG by NASA

Example of an RTG design

Nuclear Material

Polonium 210 is an isotope with a half-life of 138 _Edays. A single gram of this material can generate 140 watts, or 140j (joules) of energy per second, until it decays into Lead 206. Across 138 days, this means it generates 1.67 Gj of energy, then generates half as much through each sucessive half-life until it fully decays into stable lead. It will also glow and generate over 500°C of heat. It has an extraordinaly energetic decay process, but it is also extraordinarily toxic.

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"Maybe we shouldn't tell anyone how toxic it is...."

"Not to mention all the sensors the government is making us install to keep it 'safe'"

"I agree, but, what if we played this to our advantage, charge our customers for a...uhm...Battery Reclamation/Replacement Service!"

"That way, the government is happy and the customer thinks they're happy?"

"Genius! I like it!"

-Tissa Corporation Marketing meeting

Battery Design

RTG-Ion Batteries at their core contain 0.5 grams to hundreds of kilogram of Polonium-210, suspended in Helium gas, encased in a coffin of layers of graphene. There is also a small, heat-shielded particle accelerator inside of this space. The innermost layer of Graphene is lined with Alphavoltaic cells, which absorbs the energetic alpha particles emmited by the decay process and converts it to electricity. The other layers of Graphene are classic thermocouples, generating electricity from any excess heat generated by the decaying material. Wires connect outward to electrical connections.
From here there is a metallic connection to external cooling fins that route excess heat, and if the Polonium is excited, there is quite a bit of excess heat. This is because the decay process cannot be stopped. There is also a tank of water that surrounds the graphene, which can be routed to provide heat or provide additional cooling to the RTG itself.
1 Kilogram of Polonium 210 is so toxic, it can kill half a billion people, though it does require ingestion. Due to the toxic nature of the material used, At every level of the RTG, there are polonium sensors. If it is detected, through a defect or a collision, or is any cracks in the outer layers of graphene are detected, the manufacturer of the battery is immediately notifed, and a team is sent to collect the battery and offer a replacement. Generally, the construction of the graphene casket is such that it can withstand atmospheric re-entry and impacts at several thousand kilometers per hour.

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Exciting and Recharging the RTG-Ion

Polonium 210 can be excited by bombarding it with Ions, making it less stable. The onboard particle accelerator generates ions from the helium gas inside the chamber, which excite the Polonium, which causes it to release neutrons at a faster rate, converting it into Lead at a faster rate. the decay can be increased 1000-fold, but it also reduces its half-life by 1000-fold.
The fuel is generally unusable after its first half-life. After being depleted into Lead, it must be turned back into Polonium. This is accomplished by bombarding the lead with Neutrons. This cycle can repeat hundreds, even thousands of times, until the battery's supply of helium runs out, then the battery must be replaced.

"We'll call it Fusion Reclamation Technology!"

"But there isn't any actual Nuclear Fusion and matter is actually los--"

"no, no! We're Marketing, not Scientists! We come up with the cool phrases, we don't explain anything!"

-Tissa Corporation Marketing meeting

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Power Generation specifics

7.5 grams of Polonium-210 generate 1 horsepower. In order to power an NC35-Tricopter, 900 horsepower is required, which requires 671 Kj of energy, or 4.7 kilograms of non-excited polonium...if we were powering the vehicle for 138 days straight....The NC35 can actually only be run at max. speed for 3.75 hours. It is exciting the Polonium decay by a factor of 883.2 times, and actually uses only 6 grams of Polonium.