Components & Hardware
Heat Exchanger
Transfers fusion heat to the power cycle while isolating loops.
- Role
- Heat transfer
Heat exchangers pass fusion heat from the primary coolant to the power-conversion cycle while keeping the loops separate — important for tritium containment on the breeder. Conventional power-plant equipment.
Common questions
What does the heat exchanger do?
On the breeder it transfers the blanket's captured neutron heat from the primary coolant to the power-conversion loop. It is conventional thermal-plant equipment sized to the machine's heat load.
Is this the breeder's route to electricity?
Yes — the breeder recovers energy as heat through a thermal cycle, unlike the burner's direct conversion. But the breeder's commercial case rests on neutrons, tritium and helium-3, not on that electricity.