 Many atomic batteries have been of the Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) type.The Plutonium-238 used in RTGs has a half-life of 88 years, as opposed to the plutonium-239 used in nuclear weapons and reactors, which has a half-life of 24,100 years.In April 1964 a SNAP-9A failed to achieve orbit and disintegrated, dispersing roughly of plutonium-238 over all continents.