Reply To: would nuclear energy really be accessible to all?

[belbear]

Allan Brewer wrote:
That’s reassuring, but where does most of the heat arise?
Presumably we can’t pump water or sodium through the anode or cathode as that would make the coolant electrically live?
Would coolant around the vacuum chamber block the X-rays to the onion?
Are there any tentative plans as to how cooling could be done?

Contrary to common belief, water CAN be used to cool electrically live components. Unlike tap water, fully deionized water is nonconductive. This is standard technology in high-powered transmitters that use triodes or klystrons, where the bare anodes, carrying up to 40KV, are in direct contact with the coolant water. A short length of glass or ceramic pipe is used to connect the HV component, for the rest ordinary metal pipes do the job. Saw it with my own eyes.

Disadvantages of water are its viscosity when liquid, its low boiling point and its corrosiveness when gaseous at high temperature. Helium has none of these drawbacks, so it may be a better primary coolant.

The X-ray “onion” has to be put inside the vessel, and cooled as well. Again, for cooling the X_ray converter, helium coolant is ideal because it does not block X-rays.
For the vacuum vessel and other electrical components (capacitors, switches, beam converter, transformers), ordinary water cooling can be used.