Nuclear reactor component

A nuclear reactor component can be loosely defined as one of the many devices placed into a Nuclear Reactor or fluid reactor in order to make it work.

Components can be categorized according to their purpose.

Fuel rods

The prime power production device of a reactor; you typically won't be generating any power without one of these. The currently functioning fuel rods (lithium doesn't count) all come in single, dual, and quad varieties.

Description/Attributes	Variants
Uranium fuel rod First nuclear material available. Lifetime: 20,000 reactor ticks (5h 33m 20s continuous operation).	Fuel Rod (Uranium)  Dual Fuel Rod (Uranium)  Quad Fuel Rod (Uranium)
Depleted uranium fuel rod The result of using up all 20K reactor-ticks of fuel in a uranium fuel rod. No energy or heat output; reprocess for valuable plutonium.	Fuel Rod (Depleted Uranium)  Dual Fuel Rod (Depleted Uranium)  Quad Fuel Rod (Depleted Uranium)
MOX fuel rod Combination of uranium and plutonium. Lifetime: 10,000 reactor ticks (2h 46m 40s continuous operation). Increased power output with increased reactor heat (in the fluid reactor, just a flat 2x at >50% base reactor heat).	Fuel Rod (MOX)  Dual Fuel Rod (MOX)  Quad Fuel Rod (MOX)
Depleted MOX fuel rod The result of using up all 10K reactor-ticks of fuel in a MOX fuel rod. No energy or heat output; reprocess for the plutonium used to craft, plus a bit extra.	Fuel Rod (Depleted MOX)  Dual Fuel Rod (Depleted MOX)  Quad Fuel Rod (Depleted MOX)

Neutron reflectors

A special component to make fuel rods more efficient (producing more energy and heat) in the absence of other fuel rods. Every neutron pulse that hits a reflector will be returned to the rod that created it.

As an example, the rod on the left here [] produces the same output as the rod on the left (and on the right) here [].

For each reflected neutron pulse, the  Neutron Reflector and  Thick Neutron Reflector will lose 1 durability, having 30K and 120K respectively. The  Iridium Neutron Reflector, on the other hand, is indestructible no matter how many neutron pulses it reflects - and is appropriately expensive to craft.

Heat vents

The prime method of dumping waste heat into the environs (in the basic reactor) or into your coolant for power generation (in the fluid reactor). Vents can remove heat from themselves (self) and absorb heat from the reactor hull (hull), and they have a maximum heat amount they can absorb (max heat) before melting. Note that vents do not automatically absorb heat from adjacent components (other than fuel rods) just from being next to them; it must be transferred to them somehow. (Reactor and Overclocked vents can absorb reactor hull heat regardless of where they are placed, though.)

Vent Type	Self	Hull	Max Heat
Heat Vent	6	0	1000
Advanced Heat Vent	12	0	1000
Reactor Heat Vent	5	5	1000
Overclocked Heat Vent	20	36	1000

There is also a unique heat vent: the  Component Heat Vent, which does not absorb heat at all (making it indestructible, unless your reactor explodes and vaporizes it) but instead cools down any adjacent component by 4 heat, providing a maximum of 16 total cooling if surrounded on all sides.

Heat exchangers

The prime method of moving heat around between components. Heat exchangers have a significantly higher ability to absorb heat than heat vents, and attempt to intelligently balance heat on a percentage-of-max-heat basis; if a basic Heat Exchanger (2500 capacity) has 1250 heat to deal with and only the reactor hull (base 10K capacity) to share it with, it will attempt to move heat until it has 250 (10%) and the reactor hull has 1000 (10%). Naturally, as heat continues to move around and is dissipated, percentages change, and so heat exchangers are constantly making adjustments, depending on their rate of transfer with adjacent components (near) and with the reactor hull (hull), as well as their maximum heat capacity (max heat).

Remember, heat exchangers cannot actually dissipate heat. You will need some other method for that.

Vent Type	Near	Hull	Max Heat
Heat Exchanger	12	4	2500
Advanced Heat Exchanger	24	8	10000
Reactor Heat Exchanger	0	72	5000
Component Heat Exchanger	36	0	5000

Coolant cells

Main article: Coolant cell

Coolant cells store a large amount of heat, compared to heat vents, but they have no inherent self-cooling, requiring the use of heat exchangers to remove their accumulated heat (and vents to dissipate it). A 'damaged' (partially heated) coolant cell cannot be placed in a fluid reactor, unlike vents or exchangers; it must first be placed in a basic ('EU mode') reactor and fully cooled.

A coolant cell's maximum heat is evident from its name. There are three types:  10k Coolant Cell,  30k Coolant Cell, and  60k Coolant Cell, each used to craft the next.

Condensators

Main article: Condensator

Similar to coolant cells, condensators can handle a large amount of heat. However, they destroy it instantly, reducing their own durability instead - and making them ineffective in a fluid reactor, since the heat is eliminated completely instead of transferred to the coolant.

Condensators can only be repaired through the use of  Redstone or  Lapis Lazuli, and so their use in a reactor setup makes it a Single Use Coolant or SUC type.

Item	Durability	Repair methods
RSH-Condensator	20,000	Redstone in crafting grid: 10K  Block of Redstone via  Reactor Coolant Injector (RSH): 17-20K
LZH-Condensator	100,000	Redstone in crafting grid: 5K  Lapis Lazuli in crafting grid: 40K  Lapis Lazuli Block via  Reactor Coolant Injector (LZH): 85-100K