Is there a source (chaos, you count) for finding out more about the mundane parts of the BT universe?  I'm interested in areas such as power generation, how the structure the bases, how they cool things and supply air all while staying protected.

For instance, I'm sure any base consumes a great amount of power, if for nothing else than building, testing, and repairing mechs.  I would put the entire operation under ground for protection, but then how do they keep the reactor cool?

It's no coincidence that I'm an energy engineer with an emphasis on HVAC.  I just dig that shit.

Can't wait for you to come up with that! I always thought Star Trek had a unique set of information on almost anything out there. Lets hope you can come up with that kind of information too

Power amplifyers

Any unit not powered by a fission- or fusion-power plant that also
carries heavy energy weapons, such as lasers and PPCs [and Plasma
Weapons –EB], must mount power amplifiers in order to operate
these weapons. These “amplifiers” are actually banks of capacitors
that are constantly recharged by the operation of the vehicle’s engine,
harnessing and converting the raw power of ICE, fuel cell and other
non-fission/non-fusion power sources. Mated to the unit’s on-board
weapon systems, they add roughly 10 percent to the overall mass of
such energy weapons, but at a negligible increase in bulk.
It should be noted that power amplifiers are generally used
for heavy weapons only—the kind typically mounted on Combat
Vehicles and BattleMechs. They are not required for infantry-scale
weapons, even those of the medium (support) class; the mounts for
such equipment, after all, normally include an allotment of space for
independent power cells.

Source: Battletech - Techmanual

BattleMechs, aircraft and aerospace fighters feature ejection seats
as a standard component of their cockpit design. These seats enable
the pilots of these units to make a speedy escape in the event of an
imminent catastrophe. Unfortunately, this technology is simply not
always available or possible in other vehicles, such as Combat Vehicles,
which rely more heavily on too many all-encompassing armor plates
and structural supports that make a blast-off ejection system practical
or reasonably safe.

Still, it is not unheard of for some Support Vehicles—ranging from
high-performance fixed-wing craft and VTOLs to some of today’s
more extreme stunt cars and IndustrialMechs—to incorporate ejection
seating in place of standard seats. In most cases, of course, these
systems are after-market upgrades and are hardly what one might
consider “street legal.” So buyers, beware: if you’re shopping for an
Avanti or a Hurricane that boasts a bail-out mechanism, don’t assume
the manufacturer will pay your medical bills when your car—and your
dramatic egress system—don’t measure up to all expectations.
The IndustrialMech ejection seat is more complex and bulky, adding
weight and requiring extensive modifi cation to the typical IndustrialMech
cockpit—including the addition of canopy blasting bolts and the rearrangement
of the cockpit’s safety cage. Because such units aren’t supposed
to be in a position to ever require such a speedy bail-out system
(and perhaps because manufacturers fear lawsuits from ejection system
misuse), this equipment is fairly uncommon in IndustrialMechs.

"Fusion engine explosions: an urban legend that won’t die. Let’s
see if I can kill it on this planet, at least. Where to start?
All right. First of all, when I said earlier that the magnetic
fields of a fusion engine keep the plasma from melting the
engine, I was already anticipating this question. In fact, the
issue is actually kind of the opposite and counter-intuitive,
so I didn’t bring it up. The magnetic fields do provide some
protection to the reactor walls from the plasma, but primarily
they protect the plasma from the cold, cold walls of the reactor
chamber.

The fusion reactions in a BattleMech’s fusion engine occur
only under very narrow conditions of temperature and pressure.
Generally, the hotter and higher the pressure, the faster the
reactions, and below a certain minimum, fusion simply ceases.
If you remember your ideal gas laws from chemistry…eh…the
condensed version is that when you heat up a gas, it wants to
expand. If it can’t expand, its pressure increases. When a gas expands,
its temperature drops. Remember those rules of thumb
and if you have trouble remembering them, hit the ‘net when this
lecture is over.

When a BattleMech’s fusion reactions spike a bit, the plasma
gets hotter. More fusion reactions mean more heat means hotter
plasma. But the magnetic confi nement fi elds are not rigid.
In fact, an ancient fusion engineering description that dates to
the twentieth century says that, “Trying to hold onto plasma with
magnetic fi elds is like trying to contain a roll of jelly with rubber
bands.” When the plasma gets hotter, it pushes against the
magnetic fields because its pressure is rising, and the magnetic
fields give a bit. The expansion cools the plasma, and the reactions
drop. There’s some elbow room in the reactor chamber for
just this purpose.

Now, I said the fusion reactions drop when they get cooler.
There are ways for the plasma to cool other than expansion.
One way is when the plasma touches the relatively frigid walls of
the reaction chamber. If they do, the plasma will chill so rapidly
that fusion ceases instantly. That only leaves you with a puff of
hot gas, with no continuing source to damage the reactor walls.
When confinement fails so badly that the plasma hits the walls,
the walls are usually only scuffed.

Surprising, isn’t it? But remember, all the heat energy comes
from the fusion reactions. It’s not stored as latent heat in the
plasma. In fact, there’s so little plasma mass to store heat that the
“dead” plasma is barely able to warm up a multi-ton reactor—
even if the cooling system completely fails. You might scorch your
hand if you touched the outer casing, but it’s not enough to melt
the shielding or damage critical components.

And, no, you can’t just keep powering the fusion reaction while
it gnaws through the reactor walls. Evaporating the lining of the
reactor will mix kilograms of cold, heavy, non-fusible elements
into the plasma, which is much lighter. The eff ect would be like
dumping a ton of wet sand on a welding torch. So, the short version
of all that is that when a fusion reactor gets out of hand, it
usually shuts itself down and is unable to do more than warm up
the reactor a bit.

And you protest, “But I saw a ’Mech explode on the news in
a blinding flash of light! It had to be a nuke!” Or is it, “Well, what
about that MechWarrior that buried a bunch of Clanners in a canyon
with his exploding reactor?” (think Kai Allard) Or would you ask, “Well, what
about Tharkad City?” Okay…

Fusion reactors do occasionally die in spectacular manners. But
most of the time, the fireworks are not actually from an exploding
reactor. What typically happens is that some heavy weapon
manages to puncture the reactor itself. Since the reactor interior
is a vacuum, air would get sucked in and mix with the plasma,
stopping the fusion reaction. Kilograms of cold air mixing with
a tiny mass of plasma…well, that’s the wet-sand-and-torch analogy
again. And, no, there’s not enough hydrogen in the reactor to
really explode with the oxygen."

Source: Battletech TechManual

I would prefer the AT-AT style of blowing up when dealt an internal blow.

mechwarrior library of congress LOL... wow thanks for the compliment... thats only the tip of what i know and have at my finger tips... if there is something specific you want please request, and i'll start delving through my stuffs.

The heat is from both but primarily it is the reactor spiking to accommodate the energy demands.