Scalable configurations for stacked nuclear voltaic power sources utilizing spherical cells in cylindrical battery form factor assemblies

A cylindrical nuclear voltaic battery assembly comprising:

• an external casing having dimensions conforming to an industry-standard cylindrical battery form factor;
• a plurality of disk-shaped slices disposed within the external casing in a stacked arrangement along a longitudinal axis of the external casing, each slice comprising a plurality of spherical nuclear voltaic cells arranged in a planar configuration;
• wherein each spherical nuclear voltaic cell comprises at least one radioisotope, at least one converting medium, and at least one pair of electrical contacts;
• an electrical interconnection arrangement connecting the plurality of spherical cells within each slice and connecting the plurality of slices within the stack;
• and
• positive and negative output terminals disposed on the external casing compatible with standard battery terminal specifications.

A method of manufacturing a nuclear voltaic battery in a standard cylindrical battery form factor, the method comprising:

• fabricating a plurality of spherical nuclear voltaic cells, each cell comprising at least one radioisotope, at least one converting medium, and at least one pair of electrical contacts;
• arranging a first subset of the spherical cells in a planar configuration to form a first disk-shaped slice;
• arranging a second subset of the spherical cells in a planar configuration to form a second disk-shaped slice;
• establishing electrical connections among the spherical cells within each slice according to a desired parallel or series connection topology;
• stacking the first and second disk-shaped slices along a longitudinal axis;
• establishing electrical connections between the first and second disk-shaped slices;
• and
• disposing the stacked slices within a cylindrical external casing conforming to an industry-standard battery form factor, the external casing including positive and negative output terminals.

A scalable nuclear voltaic power system comprising:

• at least two cylindrical nuclear voltaic battery units, each unit comprising:
• a cylindrical external casing conforming to an industry-standard battery form factor;
• a plurality of disk-shaped slices stacked within the external casing, each slice comprising a plurality of spherical nuclear voltaic cells;
• and output terminals on the external casing;
• and
• an interconnection arrangement connecting the at least two cylindrical nuclear voltaic battery units in at least one of a series configuration and a parallel configuration.