Nuclear Reactor

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Nuclear Reactor
Nuclear Reactor ig.png
Grid Nuclear Reactor.png
Properties
Type Generator
Tool Grid Wrench.png




Stackable Yes (64)





Energy Consumption


EU Per Operation 2,000,000(2M)-1680M
EU Production 5-6960 EU/t
Technical Details
Operation Length 20000(5:33:20) Seconds
UU Cost {{{uu_cost}}}
First appearance ?
ID IC2:{{{id}}}


The Nuclear Reactor is a generator that produces EU by slowly breaking down Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cells. As cells decay inside the reactor, they produce heat. Heat may be removed by several different cooling methods. If cooling is insufficient, the reactor will gradually overheat and eventually explode.

Copper Cable is sufficient for basic reactors, but advanced reactors will require Gold or HV Cable.

Each Uranium Cell will last 1 reactor cycle (20,000 seconds, ~5h 33min) inside the reactor, providing at least 5 EU/t power (at least 2 million EU per cell). A very efficient setup can give more than 32 million EU per uranium Cell.

You can enlarge the space of your reactor by placing up to 6 additional Grid Reactor Chamber.png Reactor Chambers directly adjacent to the reactor.

With IndustrialCraft2, the reactor system is fully recoded! Instead of lame Uranium refining, you now have to make a good setup for your reactor with all the reactor stuff you can find in the navigation. But one thing wasn't completely changed: nuclear meltdowns!

As of Minecraft 1.3.2, IndustrialCraft2 has had a second re-write of the Nuclear Reactor with additional components and removed environmental effects such as water and Ice cooling. For old mechanics and tips, see Old_Reactor_Mechanics_and_Components.

Helpful forum post

Recipe[edit]

Experimental v2.x[edit]


Grid Lead Plate.png


Grid Lead Plate.png
Grid Machine.png
Grid Lead Plate.png


Grid Lead Plate.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png

Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Generator.png
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Nuclear Reactor.png

IndustrialCraft v1.106[edit]


Grid Dense Copper Plate.png


Grid Dense Copper Plate.png
Grid Machine.png
Grid Dense Copper Plate.png


Grid Dense Copper Plate.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png


Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Generator.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png


Grid Nuclear Reactor.png

IndustrialCraft v0.90[edit]


Grid Copper.png


Grid Copper.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Copper.png


Grid Copper.png


Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png

Grid Copper.png
Grid Cooling Cell.png


Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png


Grid Copper.png
Grid Cooling Cell.png


Grid Integrated Heat Disperser.png

Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Integrated Heat Dispenser.png
Grid Machine.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png

Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Generator.png
Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Nuclear Reactor.png

Basic Reactor Setup[edit]

Once you have your reactor, you want to get some power out of it. The nuclear reactor acts like a chest. Place the right components in the reactor in the right locations, and voila -- nearly free energy! Place the wrong components or in the wrong locations, and BOOM!

The simplest reactor contains one Uranium Cell and one Heat Vent. Turned on and off with a lever switch. As of IC2: Experimental, any setup of this nature is referred to as "EU MODE" in the Reactor's UI which also states that the output is being reduced by half. This is intentional, as there are now two operating modes for a reactor, the second "HEATING MODE" being dependent on surrounding the reactor proper with other certain blocks. Heating mode uses Reactor Pressure Vessels to heat Coolant into Hot Coolant, which can then be used to generate EU.

Uranium Cell

Heat Vent


























If you apply a lever ON/OFF switch, this reactor will produce 5 EU/t. It will also generate 4 heat per second into the heat vent, and the heat vent will try to dissipate 6 units heat, only find 4, and dissipate that. Which brings us to a key concept in reactor design: heat.

Heat is generated every second by any uranium cell which is generating EU. It can either go into a component (such as the heat vent) or into the reactor vessel itself. If too much accumulates in a component, that component is destroyed. If too much accumulates in the reactor, the reactor will start doing Bad Things, such as poisoning players in the area, or exploding violently. Heat is bad. Fortunately, there are many tools to help you deal with heat.

Heat Manipulation Tools[edit]

Vents[edit]

These devices get rid of heat, releasing it to the outer air where it does no harm. They come in five varieties, each useful in different circumstances.

Grid Heat Vent.png Heat Vent
The basic vent dissipates 6 heat from itself every second.
Grid Reactor Heat Vent.png Reactor Heat Vent
This vent moves 5 heat from the reactor vessel to itself and dissipates 5 heat every second. This has the advantage that it can function effectively anywhere in the reactor, not just next to the uranium cell.
Grid Advanced Heat Vent.png Advanced Heat Vent
An improvement to a basic heat vent, this component dissipates 12 heat from itself.
Grid Component Heat Vent.png Component Heat Vent
This vent dissipates 4 heat from each surrounding component.
Grid Overclocked Heat Vent.png Overclocked Heat Vent
This vent moves 36 heat from the reactor to itself and then dissipates 20 heat from itself. This will cause the component to overheat if steps are not taken to cool this component.

To summarize

name heat dissipated heat pulled from reactor maximum accumulated heat
Heat Vent 6 0 1000
Reactor Heat Vent 5 5 1000
Advanced Heat Vent 12 0 1000
Overclocked Heat Vent 20 36 1000
Component Heat Vent 4* 0 1000

Heat Exchangers[edit]

Another tool in your heat-control toolbox is heat exchangers, which do not dissipate heat, but instead move it around, hopefully to where it can be dissipated more easily. Heat exchangers work intelligently, seeking to make every component they interact be equally far from disintegration.

For instance, if a basic heat exchanger (which is destroyed at 2500 heat) was transferring heat from itself to the reactor (which usually is destroyed at 10 000 heat), and there was 1250 heat in between the two of them, would try to give the reactor 1000 heat (10% of the reactor's capacity) and itself 250 heat (10% of its capacity).

There are four types.

Grid Heat Exchanger.png Heat Exchanger
These will first exchange up to 12 heat with each surrounding component, and then up to 4 with the reactor itself.
Grid Advanced Heat Exchanger.png Advanced Heat Exchanger
These transfer up to 24 heat with each surrounding component, and then up to 8 with the reactor.
Grid Core Heat Exchanger.png Reactor Heat Exchanger
These transfer up to 72 heat with the reactor, but will not move heat to or from nearby components. These will usually be at the same percent capacity as the reactor, so they are useful as a kind of thermometer for your reactor.
Grid Component Heat Exchanger.png Component Heat Exchanger
These transfer up to 36 heat with each adjacent component, but does not transfer any with the reactor itself.

In summary

name transfer to adjacent transfer to core 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

Cooling Cells and Condensators[edit]

Cooling Cells and Condensators have the capacity to absorb large amounts of heat. Condensators play the role of Single Use Coolant.

Condensators absorb and eliminate heat instantly, but can only be recharged on a crafting table. Coolant Cells absorb heat instantly, but cannot dissipate on their own. (Some combination of Heat Exchangers and Heat Vents are required to cool off a Coolant Cell - or you can just let it melt and replace it.)

name heat dissipated before destruction
10k Coolant Cell 10 000
30k Coolant Cell 30 000
60k Coolant Cell 60 000
RSH-Condensator 20 000
LZH-Condensator 100 000

RSH-Condensator are recharged with redstone dust. Each redstone dust restores 10k of coolant potential. LZH-Condensators are recharged with either lapis lazuli, which restores 40k, or with redstone dust, which only restores 5k.

Efficiency[edit]

A single lone uranium cell will produce 5 EU/t, or a not-inconsiderable 1 million EU over its lifetime. But two cells next to each other will produce four times the power and energy. This is because of neutron pulses. Each second, each uranium cell sends a pulse to each adjacent component. A uranium pulse which receives a neutron pulse is made more efficient, and delivers an additional 5 EU/t.

For example if cell A and cell B are next to each other,

Uranium Cell

Uranium Cell

























A will make 5 EU/t on its own, B will make 5 EU/t on its own. But A will make 5 EU/t more because it receives a pulse from B, and B will make 5 EU/t more because it receives a pulse from A, for a total of 20 EU/t. This does not reduce the 10 000 s operating lifetime of the cells, so you get twice the power and energy per uranium cell used.

The efficiency of a cell is how many times over it produces 5 EU/t. In the previous example, the efficiency of the cells was 2, because each cell produced 10 EU/t = 2 * 5 EU/t.

But this efficiency comes at a cost in heat. Uranium cells which produce more energy generate more heat. The heat to be generated is calculated by the following formula:

heat/second =
n(n+1)/
× 2; where n is the efficiency (or number of adjacent components which send neutron pulses)

Here, n is the efficiency of the cell, not the efficiency of the reactor setup.

efficiency heat generated heat/efficiency
1 4 4
2 12 6
3 24 8
4 40 10
5 60 12
6 84 14
7 112 16
17 612 36

EU / tick

Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cell Grid Dual Uranium Cell.png Dual Uranium Cell Grid Quad Uranium Cell.png Quad Uranium Cell
reflections 0 5 20 60
reflections 1 10 30 80
reflections 2 15 40 100
reflections 3 20 50 120
reflections 4 25 60 140

HU (Heat) / tick

Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cell Grid Dual Uranium Cell.png Dual Uranium Cell Grid Quad Uranium Cell.png Quad Uranium Cell
reflections 0 4 24 96
reflections 1 12 48 160
reflections 2 24 80 240
reflections 3 40 120 336
reflections 4 60 168 448

HU (Heat) / tick equivalent of hot coolant output (Fluid Reactor)

Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cell Grid Dual Uranium Cell.png Dual Uranium Cell Grid Quad Uranium Cell.png Quad Uranium Cell
reflections 0 8 48 192
reflections 1 24 96 320
reflections 2 48 160 480
reflections 3 80 240 672
reflections 4 120 336 896

One of the major problems of nuclear engineering is to balance efficiency against the problems the extra heat generates.

Dual and Quad Uranium Cells[edit]

Important tools to help make more efficient generators are the Dual Uranium Cell and the Quad Uranium Cell. A dual cell is a single component which functions like a pair of uranium cells next to each other. Alone it generates 20 EU/t, 24 heat, and sends two neutron pulses to each adjacent component. It efficiency is calculated as how many times each cell produces 5 EU/t, so a dual cell producing 20 EU/t has an efficiency of 2, and so produces 12 heat per cell, or 24 heat total. Every time a dual cell receives a neutron pulse it generates an additional 5 EU/t.

The Quad Uranium Cell is similar, but considered four uranium cells in a square, in one component. It thus generates 60 EU/t, and 96 heat if alone. These components allow efficiencies as high as 17, but normally won't exceed 7.

Bug: In version 1.106, the dual/quad cells last 1/2 or 1/4 as long as they should (20 000 s).

Reflectors[edit]

Another important tool for increased efficiency is the Neutron Reflector and the Thick Neutron Reflector. Both of these reflect neutron pulses back to the uranium cell which produced them. This means that a single uranium cell surrounded by 4 neutron reflectors will receive 4 neutron pulses, and so have an efficiency of 5. Quad Uranium cells will output 80 EU/t instead of 60 EU/t. Dual Uranium cells will output 30 EU/t instead of 20 EU/t. One Uranium cell will output 10 EU/t instead of 5 EU/t.

A disadvantage of these reflectors is that they wear out over time. The neutron reflector can reflect 20 000 pulses (one complete cycle from one uranium cell). The thick neutron reflector is more durable, allowing it to reflect 120 000 pulses before failure.

EU Reactor[edit]

Grid Nuclear Reactor.png Nuclear Reactor works in this mode by default.

This type of reactor utilizes EU yield of Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cells.

Heat yield of Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cells considered as a side effect problem, which needs to be solved by cooling the reactor.

EU mode Reactor is much less efficient compared to Fluid mode Reactor unless Grid Fuel Rod (MOX).png Fuel Rod (MOX) combined with high core temperature is used.

However, one can use Coolant cells to store heats then transfer heated coolant cells into a fluid reactor to power steam turbines

Fluid Reactor[edit]

In order to build Grid Reactor Pressure Vessel.png Fluid Reactor, you need to completely coat ordinary EU Reactor into a 5x5x5 hollow cube of lead blocks (Grid Reactor Pressure Vessel.png Reactor Pressure Vessel, Grid Reactor Access Hatch.png Reactor Access Hatch, Grid Reactor Fluid Port.png Reactor Fluid Port, Grid Reactor Redstone Port.png Reactor Redstone Port)

This type of reactor utilizes HU (Heat) yield of Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cells.

All heat is transferred to Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant, which is the only product of such a Reactor.

In order to be transferred to Hot Coolant, Heat must be dissipated from the reactor by cooling components, meaning that the cooling problem is identical as it is for EU mode Reactor.

EU yield of Grid Uranium Cell.png Uranium Cells is ignored completely. This means that using Grid Fuel Rod (MOX).png Fuel Rod (MOX) combined with high core temperature is completely useless.

EU is generated by utilizing heat from Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant outside the Reactor. It is up to you how to generate power from heat. For example, Grid Steam Generator.png Steam Generator combined with Grid Kinetic Steam Generator.png Kinetic Steam Generator can be used.

The only way to extract HU (Heat) from Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant is by using Grid Liquid Heat Exchanger.png Liquid Heat Exchanger. It accepts Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant, transfers heat to the machine it faces with heat side and returns coolant back as (cold) Grid Coolant.png Coolant, which then must be returned back to the Reactor.

It is important to remember that Liquid Heat Exchanger will not work if the heat is not accepted from it by another machine (Steam Boiler, Stirling Generator, etc.)

Total dissipated heat from the Reactor is doubled. Then that doubled amount is transferred to Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant, 1 mB for each 20 HU.

For example, there is one Grid Dual Uranium Cell.png Dual Uranium Cell in the Reactor with 2 adjacent Grid Neutron Reflector.png Neutron Reflectors. This will generate 80 HU / tick. This amount then doubles and becomes 160 HU / tick. The

Reactor will produce 8 mB Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant / tick, which can be transferred back to 160 HU / tick using Grid Liquid Heat Exchanger.png Liquid Heat Exchanger.

Each Liquid Heat Exchanger is limited to handle 100 HU / tick. (5 mB of Grid Hot Coolant.png Hot Coolant / tick) This is because it has 10 slots for Grid Heat Conductor.png Heat Conductor, which transfers 10 HU / tick each.

For this example, 2 Grid Liquid Heat Exchanger.png Liquid Heat Exchangers are required to handle 160 HU / tick. One with 10 Grid Heat Conductor.png Heat Conductors and one with 6 Grid Heat Conductor.png Heat Conductors.

Safeguarding your reactor[edit]

Even a safe reactor design can be dangerous if misused, and honestly, what's the fun of a safe design when a dangerous one can be so much more efficient? But no one wants to see their base reduced to slag. There are ways to protect yourself in the event of a meltdown.

Planner[edit]

Rather than testing all of your ideas out next to your vault of diamonds, try using the planner. It's a Java application which allows you to test to see if a design will work before implementing it.

Dangers of reactor heat[edit]

As the reactor temperature rises, different bad things begin to happen. The exact heat effects for reactors are:

% of max hull heat Environmental effect
40% Flammable blocks within a 5x5x5 cube have a chance of burning.
50% Water blocks within a 5x5x5 cube (both sources and flowing) will have a chance of evaporating.
70% Entities within a 7x7x7 cube (instead of a 3x3x3 cube) will get hurt from the radiation exposure.
85% Blocks within a 5x5x5 cube have a chance of burning or turning into lava ('moving' lava only, no source blocks).
100% What environment? That hole in the ground?

Blast shields[edit]

Other than placing your reactor far, far away, the simplest way to protect yourself is to construct a strong wall between your reactor and your base. This may mean encasing the whole reactor room, or just the side facing your stuff. In either case, a three meter thick wall of reinforced stone or glass will suffice to contain even the most devastating reactor meltdown.

Plating[edit]

Another way to protect yourself is to place reactor plating components into your reactor.

Grid Reactor Plating.png Reactor Plating
This component will increase your reactors maximum temperature by 1000 and will reduce the reactor's explosion range by 5%.
Grid Containment Reactor Plating.png Containment Reactor Plating
This component will increase your reactors maximum temperature by 500 and will reduce the reactor's explosion range by 10%.
Grid Heat-Capacity Reactor Plating.png Heat-Capacity Reactor Plating
This component will increase your reactor's maximum temperature by 1700 but will only decrease the explosive range by 1%
name maximum reactor temperature explosion range
Reactor Plating +1000 -5%
Containment Reactor Plating +500 -10%
Heat-Capacity Reactor Plating +1700 -1%

Reactor Classification[edit]

All reactor designs fall into a set of pre-defined categories. This makes it easier to see, at a glance, how effective a design can be when either looking up designs on the IC forums or posting a design yourself.

Mark level[edit]

Reactors are classified first by how much they can operate. This is known as their mark.

Mark I[edit]

Mark I reactors generate no excess heat each reactor tick and thus are safe to use continuously for as long as you supply Uranium. Mark Is tend have a low efficiency, but that's the price of a completely safe reactor.

Mark Is have two sub-classes: Mark I-I for design that do not rely in outside cooling in anyway and Mark I-O for those that do.

Mark II[edit]

Mark II designs produce a small amount of excess heat and will need to be given a cool down period eventually to prevent the hull reaching 85% maximum heat or melting component. A Mark II must complete at least one full cycle before encountering heat problems.

The sub-class for Mark IIs denote how many cycles the design can run before reaching critical heat levels. For example Mark II-3 will need a cool down period after running 3 cycles in a row. Mark II s that can run 16 times or more get the special sub-class 'E' (Mark II-E) for almost being a Mark I.

Mark III[edit]

Mark III reactors tend to have an emphasis on efficiency at the cost of safety. Mark IIIs are unable to complete a full cycle without going into meltdown and thus need to be shutdown mid-cycle in order to deal with the high amount of excess heat. This can be done manually or by using Redstone.

Mark IIIs have the additional condition that they must run at least 10% of a cycle (16 mins 40 secs) before reaching critical heat or losing any components.

Mark IV[edit]

Mark IVs still have to run at least 10% of a cycle, just like Mark IIIs. The difference being that Mark IVs are allowed to lose components to overheating, and that must be replaced before the reactor goes critical.

Mark V[edit]

Mark Vs are for those who want to squeeze every last scrap of EU from their uranium cells; they cannot run long without needing a cool down period. You'd better have great Redstone timer skills, or you'll never be able to turn your back on these things.

Suffixes[edit]

The reactor's mark leaves much unsaid. Specific properties of the reactor (such as single-use coolants which need to be replaced during operation) are described with suffixes

As well as being Mark I to V, reactor designs also have one or more suffixes to better inform people about their performance.

Single Use Coolants (SUC)
A reactor that relies on a supply of condensator or any other consumable in order to maintain its classification should be suffixed with '-SUC'.
Breeder
This suffix is for designs that also recharges isotope cells. Isotope cells charge up faster when the reactor runs hot, so heat management is important. There are three breeder types:
  • Negative-Breeders slowly lose heat over time and will need heat to be added manually, or they can be left for a safe slow way to recharge isotopes.
  • Equal-Breeders have exactly the same heat generation as they do cooling ability and usually only require a user to boost the reactor's heat level manually at the beginning.
  • Positive-Breeders gain heat over time and will require more precise cool down management for the reactor to remain hot.
Reactors whose sole purpose is to recharge cells may not even have a 'Mark' classification and are simply called Breeders instead, with the efficiency/SUC suffix added.

Efficiency[edit]

The efficiency of a reactor is also appended to its classification. To calculate efficiency, take the number of uranium pulses a design makes per tick and divide it by the number of uranium cells it possesses. Efficiencies of five or greater are not possible without neutron reflectors and/or dual or quad cells, which were introduced in 1.106.

The number provided will show the efficiency rating a design has:
Number Rating
Exactly 1 EE
1 < eff < 2 ED
2 ≤ eff < 3 EC
3 ≤ eff < 4 EB
4 ≤ eff < 5 EA
5 ≤ eff < 6 EA+
6 ≤ eff < 7 EA++
7 EA*


Pre 1.106[edit]

For information on nuclear reactor mechanics and components for old versions of IC2Experimental (pre-Minecraft 1.3) and IC2, see Old Reactor Mechanics and Components. Note that cooling has changed significantly, so if you're used to an old version of IC2, be sure to read about the new mechanics carefully!


GUI


This is the new GUI (fully upgraded with 6 additional Reactor Chambers):


























Don't think about using them as a mad scientist's large chest; a reactor will spit out any item that is unrelated to its function. (Other than empty buckets.)

HAYO[edit]

IT'S TIME FOR THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, HAYO!


And since there's no revolution without sacrifices, we shall now remain quiet for 2 ticks to show our sympathy towards a lone, unnamed engineer, who managed to obtain the ultimate blueprints of Nuclear Engineering. There, silence done, let's check out the blueprints! >>ACCESS GRANTED<<

Step I: Craft the future

First of all, you will need to craft a Nuclear Reactor itself. Of course you can't just summon a complex Reactor out of some iron and other stuff! That would be unrealistic. Instead, you first need to craft Nuclear Chambers. These chambers are, duh, CHAMBERS. Accordingly, you merely need a Machine Block and a half'o'stack of Copper. How to craft 33 elements together? Well, use your head, it's all about compressing numbers into quality.

(Be advised, I do not take any responsibility to injuries taken due attempts to compress Coppy by hammering it with your head.)

After you successfully crafted three, not two, not four, but three, to be spelled, 3, which is the number following after the 2 and going before 4, chambers, you can now easily create a Nuclear Reactor, by combining the side-wards aligned Chambers with a Generator below and an advanced Circuit above. You say that's much easier then before? Well, I say HAYO. Due to improvements in various blueprints, we managed to cut down useless wasted resources by 2%, resulting in the new and awesomely cheap recipe. Once you craft your Reactor, it's already fully operational. Placing it down can be done anywhere, since the new Copper-based isolation will ensure the Reactor to be 100% immune to outward influences, accordingly it does neither heat up or cool down by itself or by surrounding blocks.

As you knew from before, a simple Reactor only contains 3 chambers and accordingly offers you 3 columns of space for installment of your personalized reactor setup. You can expand this setup to up to 9 columns by placing more chambers (for the math-weak of you: 6) adjacent to the Nuclear Reactor core.

Unless you intend to use your Reactor as hayo-ish replacement for a TNT-cannon, I advise to use Reinforced Stone to encase the Reactor in a resistant layer to ensure minimal area destruction in case of 'slight miscalculations'.


Part II: Uranium and you (the radiated individual)

Of course the fuel, the source of energy, the symbol of life, the ultimate answer to the question of the sense of life, the universe and how to obtain enough power for everything else, is Uranium. Mined as raw chunks, compressed into craftable Brickets, filled into strangely durable tin cells, you obtain Uranium cells.

Be advised that, for your own security, Uranium cells do only do 'something' when the reactor is receiving a direct redstone signal.

Uranium cells last for 10,000 seconds (and accordingly 10,000 ReactorTicks) each. The lifetime of an Uranium cell is considered 'one reactor cycle'.

Uranium cells constantly and reliably (why? who cares?!) 'pulse' every full second. Every pulse causes Uranium cells to send out a load of neutrons, whilst consuming 1/10000th of themselves. Due to the critical-mass-of-compressed-uranium-in-small-tin-cells-for-whatever-reasons-hayo-rule, only a fraction of the Neutrons will actually cause Nuclear Reaction within the cell (Reactions are good, they produce energy!).

In effect, this causes a single cell to merely produce one 'pulse' of energy. Every pulse of energy produces enough useable heat for the Nuclear Reactor to produce 100 EU, spread out amongst the next 20 ticks, effectively granting 5 EU/t.

However, if you place Uranium Cells adjacent to other Uranium Cells, the normally 'lost' Neutrons will hit the adjacent Uranium Cell, creating another pulse (for each adjacent Uranium cell). Therefore, 2 neighbouring cells will create a total of FOUR pulses, as opposed to two pulses if they are separated.

This is called 'efficiency'. Since the lifetime of a cell is not dependant on the amount of pulses it effectively creates (but on its 10k second lifetime, duh), one piece of Uranium can produce 1 or x million EU. Naturally, you will want a higher efficiency to maximize the energy gain of your Reactor.

However, the more efficient a cell is, the higher is the not-useable heat produced by it. Whilst useable heat is good, unuseable heat is not. It's like the dark side of good heat, just without cookies. A cell creating 5 EU/t will produce 4 heat per second. 10 EU/t produce 12hps. 15 is 24hps, 20 is 40hps, etc... You will shortly learn how to deal with reactor heat.

Lastly, it should be mentioned there are theoretical approaches to condense more Uranium into less space. Of course way too dangerous to attempt this in practical applications, condensing Uranium Cells into more compact arrangements would permit users to reduce the amount of slots needed for actual Uranium Cells. Additionally, it would permit the Uranium Cells to more effectively use its own emitted Neutrons.

For example, a theoretical setup of a 'Dual Uranium Cell' would not just produce twice as much energy (and heat) compared to a single cell, but it would additionally pulse by itself TWO TIMES (per cell element!), for a total of up to 6 pulses per Neutron emission. With a 'Quad Uranium Cell', this would even increase to a maximum of 7 pulses, the highest efficiency theoretically possible. Though such a setup would create whopping 448 heat per second... which isn't exactly hayo...

Part III: Reactors in heat. ... Wait a second...

A reactor can only take so much heat before it will start melting and finally explode (which is a safety measure to prevent in from leaking dangerous radioactivity). Per default, the reactor hull can survive up to 10k heat without lasting damage. However, as the reactor's temperature rises, it will start affecting its surrounding. Reactor heat can set wooden structures ablaze, melt stone into lava and harm living beings. It is ill-advised to approach hot reactors without full Hazmat-Equipment.

To prevent the reactor hull from heating up, you can make use of various Reactor Components. The most simple of those are Coolant Cells. Uranium Cells emit heat to all surrounding components (which can accept it) and will only heat the hull itself if there is no (suitable) component present. For example, a Uranium Cell surrounded by four other cells will always heat the reactor hull.

Coolant Cells can be constructed in multiple layers of coolant water, permitting the cells to store 10k, 30k or even hayoish 60k of heat. However, by themselves these cells do merely STORE the heat, but don't DISSIPATE any heat and will eventually melt as well (causing the cells to heat the hull again).

For this reason, I hereby present you: HeatSwitches (commonly known as HD or HeatDissipator, HeatDistributer and Strange-Thing-Which-Can-Magically-Alter-Temeperatures).

The standard HeatSwitch can store 2500 heat, has a 'sideTransfer rate' of 12 and a 'coreTransfer rate' of 4.

All HeatSwitches work the same way: They calculate the % of heat stored in all surrounding tiles, themselves and the reactor hull, calculate a median and then attempt to reach that median on all components. A heatSwitch will first shift around (component <-> switch) the heat of adjacent components, to a max of sideTransfer. Then he will try to balance the heat between itself and the reactor to a max of coreTransfer.

The 'Core Heat Switch' does have a sideTransfer rate of 0 (thus no heat balance between adjacent components), but a coreTransfer rate of 72, and a maxHeat of 5000.

The 'Spread Heat Switch' does not have a coreTransfer, but instead 36 sideTransfer, and a maxHeat of 5000.

Lastly, the 'Diamond Heat Switch' has a sideTransfer of 24 and a coreTransfer of 8, and a maxHeat of 10000.

Opposed to the old HD's, the switches do NOT dissipate heat, have a LOW heat storage and do go by %, not my static values. F.e. you have a core heat switch (5000 max) and a reactor with some plating (20000 max). The system has a total of 5000 heat. The switch will balance 1000 heat to itself and 4000 to the reactor, resulting in 20% heat for itself and the reactor.

Now you can spread heat through all reactor components and balance it amongst all storage units. But unless you intend to constantly replace the storage components, the heat will merely accumulate all over the time. To solve this, our engineers designed HeatVents (aka Vents, Heat Ventilation, Ventilators, Fans, Followers...).

Vents have a maxHeat of 1000 and a 'selfCooling rate' and a 'reactorTransfer rate'.

A vent will always first draw heat from the reactor in height of it's reactorTransfer rate, regardless of it's own heat level. They do not 'balance' as heatSwitches do. Second, they will reduce their own heat by the selfCooling rate, venting the heat into the air = Mystically gone.

'Basic Vents' merely have a selfVent of 6.

'CoreVents' have 5 selfVent and 5 reactorTransfer (effectively applying continuous -5Heat/tick to the reactor hull.

'Golden CoreVents' are tricky to use. They provide an amazing 20 selfCooling, but have 36 reactorTransfer. Effectively, this means they will always melt themselves if the reactor has enough heat avaible. It's up to you to figure out how to use them properly.

'Diamond Vents' have 12 selfCooling, but 0 reactorTransfer again.

There is one special, the 'SpreadVent'. It can NOT take up any heat. However, it automatically cools down all adjacent components by 4 per tick.


Part IV: Have your uranium breed itself

By now, you should have run low on Uranium supplies. But luckily, we still have Breeding to re-enrich and reuse spent Uranium!

Whenever a Uranium Cell is used up, it has a 25% chance to turn into a Depleted Uranium Cell without enough uraniumized remains to be recycled. Refilling such a depleted cell with Coal Dust will provide the necessary raw material, resulting in an 'Isotope Cell'.

During normal Reactor operations, Uranium Cells send out Neutrons every full seconds (as mentioned above). If an Isotope Cell is struck by 10000 Neutrons, it will turn into an Re-Enriched Isotope Cell. Combine this result with some more coal dust and it will turn into a fully useable Uranium Cell again.

The process of re-enriching Isotope Cells, however, creates the same amount of heat as the interaction between Uranium Cells, WITHOUT actually producing the according energy. But considering you can obtain a full new Uranium Cell as a 'byproduct' it should still pay out. That's the way of Nuclear Engineering, GangnamHAYO style.

Even better though, the re-enrichment of Isotopes by Neutrons seems to be temperature-dependant. For each 3000 units of heat, basing on the reactor hull, there will be one additional Neutron affecting the Isotope. Accordingly, breeding Uranium with reactors on higher temperatures (f.e. 9001 heat) is much more effective (f.e. 4x fast).

However, with all your awesome coolant engineering... how could a reactor possibly heat up that much? The solution has a name: Lava Buckets Heating Cells!

Heating Cells, also known as HeatPacks, are special components, harnessing the intense heat of lava to act as UNDIMINISHING source of heat. These things are sort of cheap and stackable. Placing them inside of a reactor will cause them to heat up all surrounding components by 'stackSize' (=the amount of heat cells placed into the same slot).

They will keep doing that, until the components heat level reached stackSize*1000. This way you can easily configure your reactor to remain on a specific heat level.

Be advised you should use coolant cells next to the heat packs, as heating f.e. vents to 30k doesn't really work. At least not for me, HAYO.


Part V: How to turn your Reactor from hayo to HAYO!

You probably are asking, right now, 'What the hell? How can a reactor possible contain the heat necessary for successful breeding?!'

The answer is Plating. There are three kinds of plating.

The 'Integrated Plating' increases the maximum amount of heat your Reactor can contain by 1000. Additionally, it serves as a buffer and stabilizer in case of emergencys, and will reduce a Reactor's explosion range by 5%. Since this is real life and not some exploitable computer game, using 20 platings will NOT make your reactor unexplodeable, don't try! Additionally, it reduces the strength of heat-based reactor effects (burning your cookies and setting your factory ablaze) to the same degree.

There are, additionally, two modified Plating versions. The 'Heat Plating' grants +2000 maxHeat, but only a 1% modifier, whilst the 'Explosive Plating' grants only +500 maxHeat, but a 10% reduction.

Platings DO NOT take or redistribute any sort of heat and accordingly can be safely carried in larger stacks. These stacks (opposed to HeatPacks) don't influence the way they work, though.

And, to make things even 'more better', you can now directly enhance the effectivity of single Uranium Cells WITHOUT the use of other Uranium Cells, by the use of Reflectors.

Neutron Reflectors. As their name implies, they will 'reflect lost Neutrons', causing Uranium Cells to pulse equally as if they would be surrounded by more Uranium. Whilst this increases the Uranium Cells heat output, the Neutron Reflector itself will of course not produce additionally heat (opposed to a second Uranium Cell).

Neutron Reflectors have a limited life length of 10000 ticks. You can, however, craft a 'Thick Neutron Reflector' with a lifetime of 40k ticks. Be advised: Neutron Reflecters surrounded by multiple cells will diminish faster (2 cells adjacent to the same reflector will deplete it in half of a cell cycle).

To give you an example of this astonishing technology: Surrounding a single uranium cell with 4 Reflectors will grant it efficiency class 5.

And if all these methods just don't cut it: Condensators.

Condensators are special tools to reduce Reactor heat. They come as Redstone and Lapis Lazuli versions (latter one being an upgrade of former).

Condensators will accept any amounts of heat from surrounding components (though they don't balance heat around themselves), and INSTANTLY disperse the heat by using their fuel. Yes, you heard right: INSTANT dispersion of UNLIMITED amounts of heat. Effecively a black hole. For heat. Within your Nuclear Reactor. Uhm... HAYO!

A Redstone Condensator can absorb 20k heat, refilling it (crafting) with redstone will restore 10k of its capacity.

Lapis Lazuli Condensators can absorb 100k heat, redstone refills 5k and Lapis Lazuli 40k.

Part VI: Last and most likely least...

Due to copyright issues and nostalgic ideals, it's still recommended to use the 'old' system of labelling your Reactor designs. You can find the somewhat outdated notes here: Handbook for Reactor-Labelling.

History[edit]

Version Changes
Industrial Craft²
0.90 Nuclear Reactors are re-released as part of the 1st Nuclear Revolution. Their recipes then were:


Grid Copper.png


Grid Copper.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Copper.png


Grid Copper.png


Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png

Grid Copper.png
Grid Cooling Cell.png


Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png


Grid Copper.png
Grid Cooling Cell.png


Grid Integrated Heat Disperser.png

Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Integrated Heat Dispenser.png
Grid Machine.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png

Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Generator.png
Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Advanced Alloy.png
Grid Nuclear Reactor.png

1.106 Nuclear Reactors had their recipe changed again as part of the 2nd Nuclear Revolution and works totally differently.


Grid Dense Copper Plate.png


Grid Dense Copper Plate.png
Grid Machine.png
Grid Dense Copper Plate.png


Grid Dense Copper Plate.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png


Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Generator.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png


Grid Nuclear Reactor.png

2.? (experimental) Reactor Chambers use lead plates instead of dense copper plates. Reactor use Dense Lead Plates in the corners as well.
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Advanced Circuit.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Generator.png
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Reactor Chamber.png
Grid Dense Lead Plate.png
Grid Nuclear Reactor.png


Grid Lead Plate.png


Grid Lead Plate.png
Grid Machine.png
Grid Lead Plate.png


Grid Lead Plate.png


Grid Reactor Chamber.png