How thulium-based nuclear power could run the next generation of underwater robotsThulium? It sounds like something straight out of Comic-Con: “Then lo, Thor brought forth his nightstick of purest thulium, power-metal of Thule, and did beat the daylights out of Loki, etc.”
If you’ve never heard of the soft, silvery metal it shouldn’t surprise you; thulium (Tm), atomic number 69 on the periodic table, is the rarest of the rare earths, a group of related elements that include cerium, europium, neodymium and other mouth-filling names. Rare earths are added to alloys and glasses to create critical qualities in magnets, sensors, lasers and other devices.
Thulium’s rarity limits its uses, but its oddity — a metal that fluoresces — make it useful in lamps (the first halide lamp was thulium-based) and in dentistry, where low radiation exposures are required. However, four scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory once proposed an ocean future for the rare metal, by demonstrating the feasibility of thulium-based nuclear power sources for unmanned underwater vehicles.
Batteries can only take you so far at sea, as literally tons of silver-zinc batteries are needed to drive manned submersibles and big unmanned underwater vehicles. Fuel cells hold great promise, but will be relegated to auxiliary power roles for some time.
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/b09c4bc447c0
