Nuclear reactor component

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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[edit]

The prime power production device of a reactor, without which you won't be generating any power (unless you're cooling off something else in a fluid reactor). You'll need an empty fuel rodGrid Fuel Rod (Empty).png(or several) to craft any of these, unless you manage to acquire them some other way.

Grid Fuel Rod (Uranium).png
Grid Dual Fuel Rod (Uranium).png
Grid Quad Fuel Rod (Uranium).png
Uranium fuel rods are the first fuel rod to be produced in the usual way, and come in single, dual, and quad varieties (the latter two crafted from single rods).
Grid Fuel Rod (Depleted Uranium).png
Grid Dual Fuel Rod (Depleted Uranium).png
Grid Quad Fuel Rod (Depleted Uranium).png
Depleted uranium fuel rods are the result of using up all 20K reactor-ticks of fuel (5h 33m 20s continuous operation) in a uranium fuel rod. They produce no energy or heat, but can be processed for valuable plutonium.
Grid Fuel Rod (MOX).png
Grid Dual Fuel Rod (MOX).png
Grid Quad Fuel Rod (MOX).png
MOX fuel rods are a combination of uranium and plutonium, and also come in single, dual, and quad varieties. They create more power the hotter your reactor gets (in the fluid reactor, just a flat 2x at >50% base reactor heat).
Grid Fuel Rod (Depleted MOX).png
Grid Dual Fuel Rod (Depleted MOX).png
Grid Quad Fuel Rod (Depleted MOX).png
Depleted MOX fuel rods are the result of using up all 10K reactor-ticks of fuel (2h 46m 40s continuous operation) in a MOX fuel rod. They produce no energy or heat, but can be processed for valuable plutonium, returning what was used to craft them plus a little extra.

Neutron reflectors[edit]

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 [Grid Fuel Rod (Uranium).pngGrid Neutron Reflector.png] produces the same output as the rod on the left (and on the right) here [Grid Fuel Rod (Uranium).pngGrid Fuel Rod (Uranium).png].

For each reflected neutron pulse, the Grid Neutron Reflector.png Neutron Reflector and Grid Thick Neutron Reflector.png Thick Neutron Reflector will lose 1 durability, having 30K and 120K respectively. The Grid Iridium Neutron Reflector.png 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[edit]

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) or the reactor hull (hull), and 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
Grid Heat Vent.png Heat Vent 6 0 1000
Grid Advanced Heat Vent.png Advanced Heat Vent 12 0 1000
Grid Reactor Heat Vent.png Reactor Heat Vent 5 5 1000
Grid Overclocked Heat Vent.png Overclocked Heat Vent 20 36 1000

There is also a unique heat vent: the Grid Component Heat Vent.png 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[edit]

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 to 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
Grid Heat Exchanger.png Heat Exchanger 12 4 2500
Grid Advanced Heat Exchanger.png Advanced Heat Exchanger 24 8 10000
Grid Core Heat Exchanger.png Reactor Heat Exchanger 0 72 5000
Grid Component Heat Exchanger.png Component Heat Exchanger 36 0 5000

Cooling cells[edit]

Cooling 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) cooling cell cannot be placed in a fluid reactor, unlike vents or exchangers; it must be placed in a basic ('EU mode') reactor and cooled that way.

Grid 10K Cooling Cell.png 10K Cooling Cells have a maximum of 10K heat (appropriately), while Grid 30K Cooling Cell.png 30K and Grid 60K Cooling Cell.png 60K versions have 30K and 60K respectively.

Condensators[edit]

Similar to cooling cells, condensators can absorb a large amount of heat. However, they remove it instantly, reducing their own durability instead. Because of this, they cannot be 'repaired' by heat removal through the use of heat exchangers; they are only repaired by either crafting with the appropriate item in a crafting table, or through the use of a Reactor Coolant Injector (in RSH or LZH versions, as appropriate) attached to the reactor. Because they require resources to repair, any reactor setup that utilizes condensators may be considered a Single Use Coolant or SUC type.

Notably, condensators will stay at 1 durability instead of being destroyed, allowing them to be repaired instead of losing them.

The Grid RSH-Condensator.png RSH-Condensator has 20K durability; Grid Redstone.png Redstone Dust restores 10K.

The Grid LZH-Condensator.png LZH-Condensator has 100K durability; Grid Redstone.png Redstone Dust restores 5K, Grid Lapis.png Lapis Lazuli restores 40K, and a Grid Lapis Lazuli Block.png Lapis Lazuli Block used by a Reactor Coolant Injector (LZH) restores 75K (with the benefit of not needing to remove the condensator from the reactor, to offset its low efficiency).