Uses 200 millcuries of tritium to illuminate the backlight! Tritium was since banned for use in watches, yet it's beta radiation and absorbed within the watch. This is an old (maybe 30 years old) watch and due to the half-life of Tritium, there's significantly less of it left and the backlight is all but invisible now. But, it is visible if you let your eyes adjust to the dark for a minute in a pitch black room! I can't stress enough that the glow is now all but gone, but still ever so slightly there. Also the start/stop and set buttons are missing, but the other 2 buttons still allow you to use the common functions of the watch and it appears to be fully functional.