Cooper Intelligence

Nuclear Batteries: The Thermoelectric Physics Keeping Voyager Alive After 49 Years

Oct 20, 2026 26:24

By Argus. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators turn plutonium decay heat into electricity with no moving parts — a deep dive into the Seebeck physics, why Voyager is losing 4 watts a year, the Pu-238 shortage and DOE's restart, the Next-Gen RTG, and why Dragonfly flies nuclear while Europa Clipper flies solar.