Depending on the pack, you can use the steam consumers and EU producers (whatever voltage you prefer, up to EV, +energy bridge) to turn steam to EU directly without need of a turbine or any other such shenanigans. You can do the same to steam to make MJ directly without engines, Universal Electricity (I think, not 100% on that one), and Factorization power.
I'm not sure if it still holds true for the 1.4.7 edition of IC2, but the 1.2.5 edition had a reactor planner you could download and use which allowed you to make designs, run simulations, and get pretty detailed stats on exactly how efficient your design is in terms of power production, downtime, and such, without running the risk of turning your base into a smoking crater.