![[IMG]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/432031707592654849/432064945622876161/Solarium.png)
Hailed as the most efficient nuclear fuel ever created, solarium is used extensively for power generation in all sectors, civilian, commercial, and military. It is used extensively on ships to power the extensive electrical requirements of warp drives, and can be used for military vehicles and power generation for cities. Solarium is utilized using solarium reactors. Solarium is an artificial composite and alloy of several different fissile heavy elements, primarily emitters of beta radiation. These elements fission into other fissile beta emitters to form a sustainable chain reaction, and most common solarium composites include isotopes such as Strontium-90 and Radium-228, pure beta emitters. The strength in solarium lies in the fact that its a beta emitter - its radiation is in the form of high-energy electrons, which can be directly captured instead of a reactor turning the fuel’s heat into electricity; in addition, when sub-critical, solarium is a superconductor and can generate an electric difference, allowing it to act as an atomic battery (also called a betavoltaic cell); it absorbs its own beta decay and conducts it, a property unique to solarium. In addition, when a reverse current is applied to solarium, it glows a bright golden light and heats up.
As a beta emitter, the radiation emitted by solarium alloy is ionizing, and exposure to sub-critical solarium for too long can cause cancer in the long term. Exposure to critical solarium is extremely dangerous, capable of killing a human within a week just from a few seconds of exposure. To make solarium safe to handle by consumers, the solarium alloy is typically encased in a shell in the form of a solarium ‘star’; this shell is a few millimeters in thickness and is composed of graphite lined with cerullium, acting as both a neutron moderator so the solarium cannot accidentally go critical and as a radiation shield. The casing is also typically electroplated a golden color, for aesthetic purposes, and is ejected once upon insertion into the reactor; they are reusable. The solarium star is the typical unit of fuel for solarium reactors; a star contains around 10 lbs of solarium and typically costs around 2000 px, able to power a corvette for months of repeated warp sequences.
Solarium is expensive to create compared to other stellar metals, even impervium; however, because nuclear fuel can generate a huge amount of energy with just a small amount, it is financially viable. Generally, the constituents of solarium are first mined from the earth, primarily uranium and thorium ores, and then refined. After they are refined, they must be transmuted using neutron irradiators and nuclear reactors that can fission them into the beta emitters needed for solarium. Then, the constituents are melted together into a graphite lattice that acts as a neutron moderator, slowing down the nuclear reaction as well as ensuring the alloy’s constituents cannot be used in nuclear weaponry. Afterwards, the solarium is molded into stars and encased and then shipped. The constituents making up solarium are found in different abundances throughout terrestrial planets; however, planets near supernova remnants tend to contain a much greater quantity of such heavy metals.
WEIGHT: 0.68 lbs per cubic inch.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY: High.
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY: Superconductive below 1190 K
HALF LIFE: 90,200 years
AVERAGE PRICE: 300 Px / in^3 (2000 px per star)