Minimum technical requirements for the safety of radionuclide batteries for cardiac pacemakers

Long-life radionuclide batteries are used, among other applications for cardiac pacemakers. In order to prevent the spread of radioactive materials into the environment, for example in accidents, guidelines were worked out at an international level for the encapsulation of such batteries. The encapsulation must offer sufficient resistance to very large forces, temperatures, and long-term corrosive effects. The author gives an outline of the tests provided according to the guidelines. He describes the impact test, the pressure test, the fire and corrosion experiments. The quality monitoring of the manufactured batteries is also dealt with. (ZDE)