Nuclear Powered iPad ?

Very cool research! Using tritium (3H) decay as a possible long term energy source is indeed an interesting concept. I did a quick search through the literature and it appears that a couple other groups have been looking at using radioactive nickel and sulfur under a similar principle.

If anyone is interested in the actual paper the authors have it freely posted.

 

I tried to make a "Betavoltaic" battery as my summer project but radioactive material costs too much The only way for a civilian/ebay user to get Tritium is by purchasing it in individual keychain cylinders of about 1 gram, and some tests I did showed that I would need a couple hundred dollars worth to generate any power.

The problem with an iPad powered by this is that a nuclear battery small enough to carry around with you would only generate a minute amount of electricity - barely even enough to power a wristwatch. The iPad would need a briefcase sized RTG weighing ~25 pounds to power it. (and it would also be *quite radioactive).

Just before the release of the last MBP I saw some people speculating that it might be powered by a fuel cell

 

Just trying to image using a 10 year old computer (or iPad) is enough of an exercise in itself.