Comments by "John Cunningham" (@johncunningham4820) on "Exploring Why This Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Matters" video.

@I_SuperHiro_I . Actually , the Steam Side of the Equation is pretty damned Efficient these days .
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A Steam Turbine Engine , where the Boiler has been replaced with a Bomb .😂. Mind you , Boilers have been known to go BOOM too .
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@privatemale27 . Ah yes . The China Syndrome scenario . Agreed , the extra bit of U-235 boring its way towards the Iron Core wont be likely to cause a Cataclysm . But a LARGE area round where the Reactor USED to be , is uninhabitable for a good while .
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@codaalive5076 . Gas Turbines ? Gas Turbines are JET Engines , set up to Drive a Secondary Turbine . Called a " Free Power-Turbine " . Free , because it is not Directly coupled to the Engine Turbine . Technically BTW , Super Heated Steam IS a Gas . No longer a Vapour at all . I believe you have misread something to THAT effect .
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@codaalive5076 . That makes more sense now , to Some Degree . I assume the Gas Turbines are a Back-up for when they need to Re-Fuel the Main Reactor(s) .
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@codaalive5076 . I just read the Link concerning the Brayton Cycle . Basically using White Hot Helium DIRECTLY to drive a Gas Turbine . Good concept . Cuts out a step and thereby DOES improve efficiency .
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@codaalive5076 / Some Reason . Embarrassment ? Or Greed ?
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Well , ONE step at a time I guess . Early days yet . Get the Heat source producing a Net Output first . THEN work on the rest . Heat Transfer would be the SAME as for a Fission Reactor , BTW . Liquid Sodium as the Reactor Coolant medium , pumped through a Heat exchanger to Boil water to Super-Heated Steam , to drive Steam Turbine Alternators . Technology that is Already solved . Finding a CHEAP and efficient way to produce LARGE quantities of pure Hydrogen would be helpful , since THAT is actually the Optimal Fuel for this type of Reactor . And could also , possibly , be used for Hydrogen Fuel Cell power generation as well . Ultimately , the Reactor is the HEAT SOURCE , so there will always need to be some form of Heat Engine required to produce usable work .
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@lrrrruleroftheplanetomicro6881 . The Superconductors are Separated from the Plasma . Not in the same " Room " at all .
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@pierrechildress8875 . That's quite a Good Concept . But First they need to get a SELF SUSTAINING Reactor running . At this point it requires a MASSIVE Power Input to produce a Reaction at all . And only for a VERY short time .
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@johnpapiewski8232 . That goes on the " Would be Nice " List for now . Current problem is SELF-SUSTAINABILITY . Direct conversion could come later . ONE STEP AT A TIME . Currently just trying to make a Stable HEAT Source for Conventional Heat Engines .
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@jrsgarage7623 . The POINT of the whole Concept , is to GET AWAY from Combustion Engines . Fusion Reaction is basically the REVERSE of Fire .
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@lrrrruleroftheplanetomicro6881 The Cooling circuits for the Magnet Array would actually BE the Primary Heat extraction mode to run an External Heat Engine in the First Iteration of this Concept . Identical to what's done with a Fission Reactor . Liquid Sodium to Water/STEAM Heat Exchange to drive a Turbine Engine .
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