A non-ultratech proposal for fusion power

Someone must have thought of this previously, but I'm not aware of it.

Let's say you have a technological base only slightly in advance of our own -- in particular, you can spend lots of money on engineering projects, but you don't have usable fusion as a power source. Here's a method that might work.

This technique is easier in freefall, but that's not actually required.

Start with a large stretchy balloon full of water. Very large. In the center, set off a fusion bomb. The balloon expands, as the water turns to steam. Water is a good neutron moderator, too. Now you have a large hot mass of gas under pressure. Let it out through a turbine-generator. Extract all the heat energy you can. If you don't have cheap supply of water. store the outflow in another balloon. You won't want to let it out, anyway, as there's probably a high degree of contamination.

Repeat as desired. Monitor the integrity of the balloon carefully.

A non-ultratech proposal for fusion power

Someone must have thought of this previously, but I'm not aware of it.

Let's say you have a technological base only slightly in advance of our own -- in particular, you can spend lots of money on engineering projects, but you don't have usable fusion as a power source. Here's a method that might work.

This technique is easier in freefall, but that's not actually required.

Start with a large stretchy balloon full of water. Very large. In the center, set off a fusion bomb. The balloon expands, as the water turns to steam. Water is a good neutron moderator, too. Now you have a large hot mass of gas under pressure. Let it out through a turbine-generator. Extract all the heat energy you can. If you don't have cheap supply of water. store the outflow in another balloon. You won't want to let it out, anyway, as there's probably a high degree of contamination.

Repeat as desired. Monitor the integrity of the balloon carefully.