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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl

Tiny Atomic-Power Drive Unit  
  A very small power generator that is atomic powered.  

In the future, those tiny atomic-power units will be everywhere... Well, maybe not. But in this story, you can at least read about them.

The atomic-power drive units were used to provide power for a special kind of space suit used on planets with gravity greater than that of the earth.

Presently he was deeply engrossed in the delicate task of readjusting the tiny atomic-power drive units he had fixed in the space suits...

Slowly he turned up the lift-control at his belt. A slow creaking of straps and an unhappy wriggling on [his] part attested to the increasing power of the atomic drive mounted on his suit... "I can't even stand up without the aid of this thing. Let's go."

Technovelgy from The Brain Pirates, by John W. Campbell.
Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1938
Additional resources -

In the early 1960's, I read books like "Our Friend the Atom" that insisted that atomic power would be used in cars and small planes.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Brain Pirates
  More Ideas and Technology by John W. Campbell
  Tech news articles related to The Brain Pirates
  Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell

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