Wyrollite Generator
Wyrollite is a crystalline material capable of converting radiation into electricity with great efficiency. The material is naturally occurring and extremely difficult to synthesize, making it a valuable commodity throughout the known worlds. However, despite the potential, the Wyrollite Generator is not widely used. Wyrollite is highly unstable, and when exposed to too much radiation, it can itself undergo spontaneous fission. The Foundation has forbidden the use of Wyrollite in power generation outright throughout their own territories and joint space. In some Alliance-run nuclear plans, power generation is augmented by capture systems in the reactor core(and for emergency power in same). Outside of the Alliance and Foundation control, the technology is used widely as a 'shortcut' in a wide variety of applications ranging from starships to cityscapes to man-portable energy weapons.
Design
A typical Wyrollite Generator uses a matrix of crystals spaced around a radioactive source. To generate usable quantities of electricity, a very high-energy source is required. This makes small reactors actually more dangerous than larger systems because the radiation typically cannot be controlled.
Similar Technologies
The Wyrollite Generator is often compared to the Nuclear Battery produced by Consolidated Power. The battery works along the same principle, converting radiation into electricity; however it does it through a much less efficient process that is also orders of magnitude safer.
