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The heat transfer is not (will not be) directly from the plasma to the water. The fusion neutrons will impact a "blanket", which is water-cooled, and kept at a temperature of around 600-800 C. Weakening of the pipes and all other structural components will primarily be from neutron irradiation. Not to say that any of it's easy, just not for the reasons you suppose. :)


Ah, cool! I wasn't sure how it would work, but it seems the hard part is the stuff leading to and including the "blanket? Thanks for clarification.


It won't happen at all, because it would be astronomically expensive, way more than fission, and fission is already not competitive.

So it is all castles in the sky.




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