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Americium: How a small element could power the next century of space exploration
(interestingengineering.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2025
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Technology
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It also costs about 10 times as much as gold. Still actually cheaper than Pu-238 though but hard to put a price on Pu since it isn't for sale.
As an alpha emitter it is as dangerous as Polonium but it doesn't dissolve in water. It is easily shielded but if it gets in your body it causes lots of damage, similar to Plutonium.
To -make-, yep. As the article pointed out, there's a lot of Amercium in waste dumps where old smoke detectors ... and anyone can make it. Five times the half-life means it can power much longer missions.
The length of missions is not currently and will not in the short or medium term be limited by the lifespan of plutonium.
Except in regions where there is no access to Pu ... as the article itself pointed out.