Tutorial:Nuclear Power

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Nuclear Physics 101[edit]

Welcome, to the Industrial Craft School of Nuclear-arity!
Here, we shall give some tips and tricks to avoid turning your new home into a melting slag heap!

Step 1: Finding Uranium Ore[edit]

Uranium ore.png

There is no easy way to find Uranium Ore short of mining, mining, mining. It appears randomly in very small veins, and has been seen on the surface at sea level. It also appears rarely in the walls of caverns. It must be mined with an Iron or better Pickaxe, and will drop 1× Uranium when successfully mined.

Step 2: My First Reactor(tm)[edit]

The Chernobyl-2 Nuclear Reactor is expensive to build, relying as it does on hard-to-obtain elements like Glowstone and energy-intensive materials like Advanced Alloy Plates. Don't expect to build one in your first week.

If you think you've got the stocks make one, then let's do it! Advanced materials you will need:

14 Advanced Alloy Plates

4 Integrated Reactor Plating

4 Advanced Circuits

1 Generator

2 Reactor Chambers

Wait... what? Reactor chambers? What on Earth? It's the core of the nuclear reactor, containing all your precious reactor components and fuel. Well, hopefully containing it... more on that later.

First you'll need 2 cooling cells, each made by putting a Water Cell through an Extractor:

Grid Water Cell.png
Grid RE Battery (Charged).png
Grid Cooling Cell.png



After this, craft our Reactor Plating.


Grid Copper.png


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


Grid Copper.png


Grid Integrated Reactor Plating.png


Got it? OK. Have a biscuit, and carry on. You now need 2 Integrated Heat Dispenser units, to manage internal heat distribution:

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 Dispenser.png


Once you have these, you can create your Reactor Chambers:

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


Almost there!

Using the remaining Alloy Plates, Advanced Circuits, and your new Reactor Chambers, craft the wonder that is the Chernobyl-2 Nuclear Reactor:

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


Congratulations! World Domination is a step closer to reality!

Step 3: Finding Your 3-Mile Island[edit]

Siting your Nuclear Reactor is crucial! Proximity and Containment is key here.

These two considerations are interdependent- heavily shielding a reactor with carefully placed Reinforced Stone means it can be safely sited quite close to your precious mansion/fortress/hobbithole; whereas an unshielded reactor should be sited far, far away from anything and everything you hold dear.

Step 4: Heavy Water[edit]

In SMP environs, you may wish to site your reactor somewhere more... secluded. Building a Reactor Containment Vessel will be essential. Nothing less than Reinforced Stone should be used in the construction. Using buckets to place water as you build should allow you to create the necessary cube of water surrounding your Reactor. Use a Reinforced Stone Door for access. Ensure that there is sufficient blast shielding to minimize destruction of property in the case of an accident!

Step 5: The Green Glow[edit]

Ok, so now you've got a Reactor suspended in water, with or without cables attached. You've got at least one piece of Uranium Ore. Congratulations, world domination your nuclear future awaits!

Step 6: Cells of Plenty[edit]

But, you can't just use raw uranium, you have to Compress it into shiny new Uranium Fuel Ingots, then shove those ingots into an Empty Cell to make a Uranium Cell! These are the only source of power generation in a Reactor.
Now process the rest of your Uranium Ore into Uranium Cells.
Never mix fuel ingots with gunpowder in an attempt to make a nuke!

Step 7: The Soothing Hum of Power[edit]

So, here is the point of the Nuclear Reactor. By placing 1 more Uranium Cell into the Reactor and surrounding it with Coolant Cells. Each Cell will provide a staggering TWO MILLION EU of Energy, and your Reactor outputs 10 EU/t. That's equivalent to a coal-burning Generator, but the uranium lasts so much longer than coal!

Step 8: Holy Fukushima! (with apologies to the easily offended!)[edit]

If the proper precautions are taken, a Nuclear explosion can be mostly contained and the damage sustained minimal. In the wrong situation though, a Nuclear disaster can leave you with a pretty impressive hole in the ground where your prized workshop used to be. ALWAYS ensure your reactor has at least 1 square of water surrounding it in every possible direction, and screen it with Reinforced Stone for maximum protection.


Optional Step[edit]

Nuclear reactors are very valuable and without a doubt have a decent learning curve.

A complete breakdown of how each reactor component works is available on the IC2 forum Here