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apple_achia t1_izw69mu wrote

Reply to comment by _B_Little_me in Just today someone posted a Twitter thread about Nuclear Fusion... by natepriv22

It’s always a good guess that it uses the standard power generation technique of any plant: use the heat to boil water, use the steam to generate power through a turbine. That’s how fission works, that’s how coal works, that’s how most things work, excepting solar and hydroelectric

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Nanaki_TV t1_izwy93k wrote

That always seemed like a waste to me. Imagine if aliens came down and saw us using fusion. They'd be like "yea then you use that energy with the... wait, you're BOILING WATER!? To turn a turbine!? Like a watermill of your ancestors!?"

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dasnihil t1_izxfsfs wrote

yes, it's not very efficient output method even for fission, but it doesn't even apply to fusion imo.

the energy output of fission is mostly heat, so it makes sense to use it for boiling water, but the energy output of fusion is more diverse including neutrons and alpha particles etc. we're going to need some revolutionary ideas to capture most of the fusion output. it'll just get better once we have a working prototype. just like everything else we've invented and perfected over the years.

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imnotknow t1_izwzc3w wrote

I'd like to think they would be impressed by our ingenuity

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2D_VR t1_izweslc wrote

I think in some cases thermal couples can also be used. But yeah steam is pretty robust honestly

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