RTGs power many space missions — including NASA's Cassini and New Horizons probes — as the slow decay of small pellets of radioactive material produces heat that can be turned into electricity.
The control rods are also used to shut the reactor down from 100% power to about 7% power (residual or decay heat).
它也用来关闭反应器，可以从100%的动力降到7%动力（残留的延迟的热量造成）。
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A variety of chemical batteries have been tried, as well as inductive recharging schemes and even plutonium power cells that convert the heat from radioactive decay into electricity.