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Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by Muromec on Friday August 09, 2024 @07:53PM (#41206365)
> Is it really just heat that it produces?

Yep, it's a big nuclear powered boiler. Boil water, get the steam, spin the turbin, cool the water, repeat.

Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by lazide on Saturday August 10, 2024 @01:44AM (#41207589)
It’s amazing how many generators basically boil down to the same ‘boring’ process of ‘boil water. spin turbine. repeat.’
Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by Iulioh on Saturday August 10, 2024 @02:56PM (#41211455)
I mean, that's just because water is a simple medium we can just literally trow out in the environment after use, using basically anything else to spin said turbines would require a closed system and cooling.

Gravity batteries could be a thing but pumped water is the best version of that system, in this case we don't boil the water tho

Re:DARPA wants to bypass the thermal middleman in nuclear po... by lazide on Saturday August 10, 2024 @04:53PM (#41212132)
Water has really awesome phase change properties and is nearly ideal for this kind of situation too. Only thing better is potentially super critical co2.