Walt Well, This is a Pretty Awesome Idea! However, I do see some Potential in a couple of the Misgivings, or their Notes:
Walt (My favorite idea being destroying a power storage starts a fire in any reactor its connected to.)
Well, I think another thing you can do is have the Conduits themselves explode. How I picture it, It won't explode the entire block into structure, but instead convert the Blocks the Conduit was placed on into a Half-Health Corridor. Although this would at first sound strange, I think you should let crew walk on said Conduits. The Reason being is because if a Crew member is Standing on the Conduit beneath him while it's detonating, They'll be on the Receiving end of some DIRE REPRECUSSIONS. Although this will make for one bad day for the Crew Member, it would mean that you can either incorporate the Conduits into a corridor, making the Ship more Accessible at the Cost of your Crew's Safety, or you can Isolate the Conduits, at the Cost of making your ship more densely packed; something Designs cannot usually afford.
These Conduits, upon detonating, would also Cause a Miniscule amount of Damage to whatever is not either it's neighbouring conduits or their Home Generator around itself, Say 100 Damage, to create some Aesthetic in the Explosions. This would also prevent a Non-Connected conduit network from detonating near it. However, The Conduit's Detonation will, Unsurprisingly, Detonate it's neighbours as well, creating a Chain Reaction that will cause (Fortunately Minor!) Damage, also detonating in a similar fashion to a chain of Self-Destruct Charges. However, Upon reaching it's Home Reactor, It'll deal some more damage; Namely, A... Highly Complicated Formula of damage. Bear with me for this one... 😓
Alright... So, One Conduit Chain Detonating on it's Home Reactor will deal half of it's health, and Start a Fire in the Local Area. However, Things get a little complicated if said Reactor wasn't connected to just one Conduit. If one Reactor with two Conduit Chains gets dealt the Recoiling Damage, It'll factor in how many other Conduit Chains there are in the area, and round down it's damage to it's home reactor to compensate. Namely, if there are two reactors, the Formula for damage Looks like this for a 2X2 Reactor.
Reactor HP: 4000, Divided by 2 = 2000 Damage.
2000 Damage, Cut down to 50% (one Half Remaining) = 1000 Damage.
Although this Formula would make you think that adding more Conduits to one Reactor would be a great idea, it definitely WOULD NOT be, as That means that your Reactor, Isolated in it's Armour Casing, would have to deal with More Fires throughout it's lifetime until it's Armageddon, Which would Translate into EVEN MORE damage to the reactor. And Sure, you could stick a couple Extinguishers near the Reactor, but that doesn't mean that the fire will stop Immediately, without causing any extra damage. So, It's your Move on what you Choose to do.
Walt Fewer explosive parts means designing ships to account for explosiveness is less challenging. It also means that there are fewer high-value targets for enemy ships to shoot at, and potentially prolonged combat as well.
I guess My Addressing of the Notes of Issue 2 Sort of Fixes this already... But, I guess I can touch up on a Couple of Specifics here:
There will actually be two Fires will both happen in the Middle of the Reactor, or the Outermost Layer of the Reactor where the Crew could Put it out, AND also at the 1X1 Space that was Connected to the Conduit Line.
I think there should actually be a Slight Delay in the Conduit's Power Delivery, although this should be obvious. I think a Battery or Unit of power inside of a Conduit Line should move at the Speed of 10 Tiles/Second, or something around this speed.
Perhaps the Conduit should attach to a small module that is attached to a Power Storage; This would fill Battery Casings with the Energy from the Conduit it's Receiving... Or, you can just make this a Small, AC Unit-like detail on the Power Storage's and Reactor's Walls. These linking Transportation Devices would behave like walls, and would also be the cause of the second fire I mentioned earlier. I Prefer this Second Method, Now that I think about it...
Walt It encourages compartmentalization since now a single reactor can be shared between multiple compartments without having to share their crew.
Well, Perhaps not every curse cannot also be a Blessing; This could lead to some new, interesting ship designs... And I guess this is another nod to my earlier method of nerfing the Conduits.
And then, that's when Sombrero Remembered this:
Walt The maximum distance that power can travel down a conduit depends on the size of the reactor. A larger reactor can "push" power farther than a smaller reactor. Tentatively, a 2x2 reactor can push power 3 tiles, a 3x3 can push power 6 tiles, and a 3x3 reactor can push power 9 tiles.
Oh.
Well, I have an idea to Expand a Reactor's Pushing Limit, as to keep things interesting: Repeaters!
I'm pretty sure everybody knows what I mean by these Repeaters; Devices that continue a charge, just like in Minecraft. Now, It may not be that original, but this could also have it's own play and counter-play opportunities: a Repeater will need energy, but it automatically Recharges itself by stealing one Power Unit for every Ten Units sent. This Slight Decrease in Power gain would already be a deterrent to making longer chains; However, there is another deterrent to using too many of these Repeaters: Remember the Chain Reactions caused by the destruction of the Power storage connected to the Conduit Line? Well...
… Not only will the Repeaters deal two times as much damage upon a self-destruction, but it'll also leave behind a parting gift: a Fire, where the Repeater used to be before it's detonation. Given, These Repeaters will Share the Same Properties of the Regular Conduit Wires otherwise... So what are these said Properties?
A Conduit can go through other Modules, Save for any Module that is Manned, Such as an engine room, or a Laser Turret. Also, the Conduits will connect to Power Storages, instead of passing through them. Conduits can also pass through other Reactors, but the Conduits placed in a reactor's tiles will act like a Repeater upon detonation.
Crew will move 15% Slower while moving over Conduits, making it easier for them to get caught in a Fatal accident if the Conduit they're walking over is actually about to explode. Repeaters amp up this slowing effect, causing your Crew member to move at a semi-sluggish 25% as fast as a crew member walking on corridor.
I think it would be interesting if the damage to a Power Storage "Rippled" Through a Conduit Line, although I am aware that this could cause a massive amount of Lag. As for what I mean by this, If a Power Storage Gets hit for 10% of it's HP, the Conduits would also create a Chain Reaction from the Power Storage, each losing 10% of it's own Health. This could also make the Chain Reactions that happen due to Conduits behave in a more Unique way.
Anyway, that's My Take on nerfing the Conduits.