How i learned to stop worrying and love the bomb - Nuclear power guide and reactor designs

  • This is support to service as a short guide and reference thread for the wonderfull topic of nuclear power in industrialcraft 2. (Designs in post 2)


    Some other important concepts that are important to understand is how you measure the efficiency of a reactor. Here it is designed as the average amount of eu you get from each fuel rod during a complete cycle
    divided by one million [Meu/fuel rod].So This means a efficiency 5 reactor design with a total of 12 fuel rods will produce 12*5=60 million eu before you need to change fuel. Depending on fuel type this will be either
    10000s(mox), 20000s (enriched fuel) and 50000s (gregtech thorium).


    How to get into the design list:
    1. it needs to be either better or cheaper than current design (motivate why it is better)
    2. Only the best and commonly used designs are presented, ie 0-6 chamber reactors compete on the same playing field
    3. Should follow the template used in the design list
    4. State which mods are used to make it work
    5. Should be easy to automate, this means it's should not mix fuel rods. (they can still be added as a bonus design thought)
    6. The reactor should preferably be tested in game to make sure it's safe
    7. Bonus designs are reactors that fit a specific niche or mixed fuel rod designs that perform better than the non mixed designs.


    Nuclear power comes in many shapes and sizes and there are several different types of reactors each with it's perks and downsides. First is the reactor itself which is a modular multiblock
    structure which modifies how much space you have to play with when building the reactor core.Depending on if you have only the nuclear reactor or an additional 0-6 reactor chambers it will cost:
    iron 33-81, Lead 48-72, copper 2,Tin 2 1/3, lapis 2, redstone 8, glowstone 2, rubber 7


    The basic reactor:
    The regular reactor produces power directly and does not need further machinery to produce power. The easiest ones are the Mark 1 reactors. These are low risk reactors which does not require
    extra controles to avoid a crater where your base once was.These are the baseline for comparison with the other reactor types. Depending on the core design these are based around balancing
    efficiency vs power output. High efficiency means you get more out of your nuclear fuel but the power output will be lower than a lower efficiency reactor of the same size. Basically the
    higher the efficiency the larger the ratio between heat produced and power produced.


    Mark 2-5 reactors:
    These reactors produce more heat than they can handle and will explode if left on. This is solved by turning the reactor on and off to give it time to cool down.On average they will produce about the same power as
    the basic reactor but at a much higher efficiency. There are two ways of Controlling these types of reactors. The first way this is done is through the nuclear controle mod.This allows you to automatically turn the
    reactor on and off based on the reactor temperature.This also happens to be the only way to run mox in 5x5 reactors.
    Example:
    http://i.imgur.com/0FwtHwM.jpg
    The second way is to turn the reactor on and off at controled cycles (example: 5 seconds on, 4 seconds off) which can be done with a redstone clock and redstone repeaters. The redstone clock should be set
    to emit a redstone pulse once every complete mini cycle (9 seconds). You then extend this redstone pulse to the desired time you want the reactor on (5seconds).
    Redstone controle example:
    http://prntscr.com/7bxxzf


    Fluid reactors (or 5x5X5)
    The fluid generator is more complicated, more expensive but is a lot more efficient and will in most cases produce the most power of all nuclear reactors (Mox can sometimes produce more). Instead of producing power directly you pump coolant fluid into the reactor which in turn turns into hot coolant in the reactor. The hot coolant can then be sent to heat exchanger that heat either stirling generators or steam generators.Stirling generators produce power directly at a 50% ratio while the the steam generator produces superheated steam (with distilled water) which can then be sent to two steam turbines to produce power. A condensator is used to turn the remaining steam into distilled water again and it is sent back. This produces power at a 75% ratio.
    Tutorial for superheated steam setups
    http://youtu.be/_Zn7UGDkQn0
    The amount of hot coolant that is produces from the reactor is twice the amount of heat that the reactor produces. Since the ratio between power and heat increases at higher efficiencies this means that the efficiency of 5x5x5 actually scales more than linearly (a 7 efficiency regular reactor would actually have efficiency of 42 with superheated steam). And since the power output is based on the cooling the high efficiency designs are just plain better than low efficiency designs. So a good fluid generator design is basically a regular design but with as high efficiency as possible.
    It should also be noted that thorium designs and reflector designs are extremly well suited for fluid reactors as they don't loose power output and gain even more from the increased efficiency than regular reactors.


    Mox reactors.
    Mox fuel increases its output as the temperature of the reactor increases. For regular reactors this means that at higher temperatures it will produce more power. The higest safe temperature a reactor an be without melting the enviroment is 85% which increases it's output by (0,85*4+1)= 4,4 at the most. This enables extremly compact reactors than can produce large amounts of power while being relatively inexpensive. The mox designs are built so they pull no heat from the core but only from the fuel rods. This means that the reactor won't cool down over time. By removing one or several of the heat vents closest to the fuel rods the reactor can then safely be heated up into the desired temperature at which point you put them back again. The reactor will then keep this temperature and produce power at a much higher rate.
    Fluid mox generators behave differently than the regular generators as it doubles it's het output when it goes over 50% heat. This means a reactor that produces 600 heat at 0-50% heat will producel 1200 heat at 51-100%. Because of this fluid mox designs must use the nuclear controle mod and use a design that only pulls heat from the core. Theoretically It could also be made by using advanced heat vents able to handle the output above 50% heat as a regular mox design however this would be quite low in output.


    The new reactor simulator can be found here
    https://github.com/MauveCloud/Ic2ExpReactorPlanner/releases
    By: MauveCloud

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

    Edited 7 times, last by Blackpalt ().

  • Recomended reactor designs list


    Beginners or stacked reactors:
    These can be stacked for cheap and easy power early game and are quite good for the production of plutonium.


    0D140D0000000000000C0D0C0000000000000D140D0000000000000D0C0D000000000000010101000000000000010101000000000000
    http://prntscr.com/8493ea
    Eu/t: 100
    Efficiency: 6,66[Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 123,33 copper, 36 gold, 117 iron, 4 redstone, 12 rubber, 28 tin, 6 uranium fuel
    by: Zombie


    Bonus:
    higher output
    150D0C0000000000000D030D0000000000000C0D150000000000000C0D150000000000000D030D000000000000150D0C000000000000
    http://prntscr.com/84931z
    Eu/t: 120
    Efficiency: 6 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 4 advanced alloy, 132 copper, 32 gold, 146 iron, 4 lead, 28 tin, 8 uranium fuel
    By Rick


    Full scale reactors:
    150D0C0D0C0D0C0D150D140D140D140D140D0C0D030D0C0D030D0C0C0D030D0C0D030D0C0D140D140D140D140D150D0C0D0C0D0C0D15
    http://prntscr.com/849249
    Eu/t: 320 (640-940)
    Efficiency: 8 (16-23,5) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 4 advanced alloy, 474,66 copper, 136 gold, 452 iron, 4 lead, 16 redstone, 48 rubber, 110 tin, 16 uranium fuel
    By: Natesky9
    Also good for 5x5


    030C0D140D0D0C0D15150C0D0D0C0D0D030D150D030D0D030D0D0C0C0D0D0C0D0D0C0D150D030D0D030D0D030D150D0C150D0C150D0C
    http://prntscr.com/8491c8
    Eu/t: 420
    Efficiency: 6 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 7 advanced alloy, 453 copper, 116 gold, 473 iron, 7 lead, 2 redstone, 6 rubber, 86 tin, 28 uranium fuel
    By: SSD


    Bonus:
    Highest efficiency but mixed design
    0302150C0D110D0C1502030C0D0C0D0C0D0C150C0D0C0D140D110D150D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D140D140D140D140D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C
    http://prntscr.com/84902b
    Eu/t: 280
    Efficiency: 9,34 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 4 advanced alloy, 437 copper, 108 gold, 468 iron, 4 lead, 14 redstone, 42 rubber, 128 tin, 12 uranium fuel
    By: Zombie


    Gregtech adds thorium as a fuel rod which produces small amounts of power but a lot of heat(the ratio between heat and output is higher). This makes it very well
    suited for fluid reactors.The output per fuel rod is still half of uranium with the same rod configuration


    Thorium beginners reactor:
    0D1C0D0000000000001C0D1C0000000000000D140D0000000000001C0D1C0000000000000D140D0000000000001C0D1C000000000000
    http://prntscr.com/848xjn
    Eu/t: 84
    Efficiency: 3 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 148 copper, 44 gold, 141 iron, 4 redstone, 12 rubber, 28 thorium, 15 tin
    By: Blackpalt


    Bonus:
    Higher efficiency
    0C0D0C0000000000000D140D0000000000000C0D0C0000000000000D140D0000000000001C0D1C0000000000001C151C000000000000
    http://prntscr.com/848wvw
    Eu/t: 64
    Efficiency: 4 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 1 advanced alloy, 136,67 copper, 36 gold, 152 iron, 1 lead, 4 redstone, 12 rubber, 16 thorium, 33 tin
    By: Blackpalt


    Thorium Full scale reactors:


    1C1C1C150C150C09121C1C1C0C0D0C0D0C0D1C1C0C0D0C0D0C0D0C150C0D0C0D0C0D0C0A0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D140D140A0C0D14090C0D
    http://prntscr.com/848vg8
    Eu/t: 176 (580-830)
    Efficiency: 5,5 (18,125-25,9375) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost:3 advanced alloy, 402,67 copper, 2 diamond, 76 gold, 539 iron, 4 lapis lazuli, 3 lead, 14 redstone, 42 rubber, 32 thorium, 132 tin
    By: Blackpalt
    Also very good for 5x5


    1C1C1C0C0D120A0C1C1C1C0C0D0C0D0C0D0C1C0C0D0C0D0C0D0C1C0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0A0C0D0C0D0C0D0C1C1C0A0C0D120A0C1C1C
    http://prntscr.com/848uaf
    Eu/t: 208
    Efficiency: 4,33 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 416,67 copper, 4 diamond, 60 gold, 613 iron, 8 lapis lazuli, 16 redstone, 48 rubber, 48 thorium, 140 tin
    By: Blackpalt


    Gregtech also adds iridium neutron reflectors that enables higher efficiencies for both thorium and uranium reactors. These are the best fluid reactors by a large margain but also work as regular reactors


    Iridium Neutron reflector designs
    Thorium
    1523230D140A0C0A12231C1C0C0D0C0D0C0D231C1C230C0D0C0D0C231C230C0D0C0D0C0D0C230C0D0C0D0C0D120A120D0C0A120D0C0A
    http://prntscr.com/845f21
    Eu/t: 136 (532-782)
    Efficiency: 6,8 (26,6-39,1) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 1 advanced alloy, 1024 coal, 994,33 copper, 5 diamond, 60 gold, 8 iridium reinforced plate, 522,5 iron, 16 lapiz lazuli, 1 lead, 34 redstone, 102 rubber, 20 thorium, 1155 tin
    By: Blackpalt


    Uranium:
    2303230C0A120D0C0A03230C0D0C0D0C0D12230C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D140A140D120D120A12
    http://prntscr.com/845im0
    Eu/t: 240 (672-976)
    Efficiency: 12 (33,6-48,6) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 512 coal, 793 copper, 4 diamond, 84 gold, 4 iridium reinforced plate, 558 iron, 20 lapis lazuli, 44 redstone, 132 rubber, 655 tin, 8 uranium fuel
    By: Blackpalt


    Bonus thorium (efficiency 7 (28-40,5) but lower output
    0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C00110D140D140D1109000D0C0D0C0D23230C00110D140D231C1C23000D0C0D0C231C1C23000C0D110D0C23230B00
    http://prntscr.com/845mo9
    Eu/t: 112 (448-672)
    Efficiency: 7 (28-42) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 1024 coal, 923,67 copper, 76 gold, 8 iridium reinforced plate, 358 iron, 14 redstone, 42 rubber, 16 thorium, 1118 tin
    By: SSD


    Bonus uranium
    1523150C0D0C0D00002303230D140D14000015230D140D140D00000C0D0C0D0C0D0C00000D140D140D140D00000C0D0C0D0C0D0C0000
    http://prntscr.com/845s7x
    Eu/t: 140(448-672)
    Efficiency: 14 (44,8-67,2) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 3 advanced alloy, 512 coal, 619 copper, 96 gold, 4 iridium reinforced plate, 314 iron, 3 lead, 14 redstone, 42 rubber, 600 tin. 4 uranium fuel
    By: Blackpalt
    Best efficiency possible for 5x5x5


    Mox reactor designs:


    090C0A0C140A0C15001409140A0A0C090C00090C090505091409000914090505090C09000C090C0A0A14091400150C0A140C0A0C0900
    http://prntscr.com/84uy0v
    Eu/t: 704
    Efficiency: 17,6
    Cost: 2 advanced alloy, 280 copper, 8 diamond, 32 gold, 512 iron, 2 lead, 8 mox fuel, 16 redstone, 48 rubber, 114 tin
    By: Dmitry Sharangovich


    0A140A0C150C0A140A0C0A060A0C0A060A0C090C0A0C0A0C0A0C09140A0C0A060A0C0A140A060A0C0A0C0A060A0C0A14090C09140A0C
    http://prntscr.com/848len
    Eu/t: 1320
    Efficiency: 13,2 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 1 advanced alloy, 393,33 copper, 22 diamond, 24 gold, 828 iron, 1 lead, 20 mox fuel, 12 redstone, 36 rubber, 146 tin
    By: Dmitry Sharangovich


    Bonus
    Higher output and more expensive but with mixed rods
    0C0A0C0A0C0A0C0A0C0A140A140A140A140A0C0A14050405140A0C0C0A14050405140A0C0A140A140A140A140A0C0A0C0A0C0A0C0A0C
    http://prntscr.com/850idg
    Eu/t: 880
    Efficiency: 17,6 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 393,33 copper, 22 diamond, 48 gold, 747 iron, 10 mox fuel, 24 redstone, 72 rubber, 150 tin
    By: BlackPalt


    Mark 5 reactors using nuclear controle.
    Keep above 0% heat
    0303160C130C0A140D03030C0D0C0D0C0D0C160C0D0C0D0C0D0C130C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C1314090C130C0D140A0C
    http://prntscr.com/8570t2
    Eu/t: 400 (624-936)
    Efficiency: 10 (24-36 [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 2 advanced alloy 402,33 copper, 2 diamond, 76 gold, 536 iron, 2 lead, 6 redstone, 18 rubber, 140 tin, 16 uranium fuel
    By: Blackpalt


    With reflectors
    152315150D140A0C0D230323120C0D0C0D142303230C0D0C0D0C0A15230C0D0C0D0C0D0C150C0D0C0D0C0D0C1215120C0D140A0C1215
    http://prntscr.com/84af7p
    Eu/t: 119 (on avarage) (500-750)
    Efficiency: 14 ( 44,8-67,2) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost:7 advanced alloy, 768 coal, 823,667 copper, 3 diamond, 64 gold, 6 iridium reinforced plate, 444,5 iron, 16 lapis lazuli, 7 lead, 38 redstone, 114 rubber, 900 tin, 8 uranium fuel
    By: Blackpalt
    Best efficiency possible for 5x5x5


    mox 5x5x5: Keep at 51%+ heat
    0606160C120C160C1606060C0D0C0D0C0D0C160C0D0C0D0C0D0C160C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C160C0D0C0D0C0D0C1616160C130C130C1616
    http://prntscr.com/84unfy
    Output: 500-750 eu/tick
    Efficiency: 24-36 above 50% heat [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 11 advanced alloy, 411 copper, 52 gold, 461 iron, 4 lapis lazuli, 11 lead, 16 mox fuel, 8 redstone, 24 rubber, 134 tin
    By: Blackpalt


    With gregtech reflectors 51%+ heat
    2306230C120C160C1606230C0D0C0D0C0D0C230C0D0C0D0C0D0C160C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C160C0D0C0D0C0D0C1616160C130C130C1616
    http://prntscr.com/851xtf
    Eu/t: 500-750
    Efficiency: 33,6-50,4
    Cost: 9 advanced alloy, 512 coal, 679 copper, 52 gold, 4 iridium reinforced plate, 447 iron, 4 lapiz lazuli, 9 lead, 8 mox fuel, 8 redstone. 24 rubber, 646 tin
    By: Blackpalt


    On/off reactor with vanilla redstone controle
    Mixed design
    030303160D0D0D0D0D030303160D0D0D0D0D030216160D0D0D0D0D16160D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D0D
    http://prntscr.com/84up0p
    Eu/tick: 300 avg (800-1200)
    Efficiency: 10,94 (28,8-43,22) [Meu/fuel rod]
    Cost: 6 advanced alloy, 595,33 copper, 160 gold, 452 iron, 6 lead, 40 tin, 30 uranium fuel
    By: BlackPalt
    Runs 10 seconds on, 17 seconds off.

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

    Edited 11 times, last by Blackpalt ().

  • I have a few comments/questions:
    1. MOX in a fluid reactor does not actually scale its heat output linearly with reactor heat. It doubles as soon as reactor heat goes over 50%, and further reactor heat doesn't help.
    2. MOX in an EU reactor at 85% reactor heat is actually 4.4x output (4 * 0.85 + 1), not 4.25.
    3. A few of the designs you listed don't have complete descriptions with eu/t and costs.
    4. What about paired fluid reactor designs, where one reactor heats up 10k/30k/60k (or 180k/360k with GregTech) coolant cells, and one or more copies of an auxiliary reactor design use vents to transfer heat from the coolant cells to the reactor's coolant fluid?

    • Official Post

    4. What about paired fluid reactor designs, where one reactor heats up 10k/30k/60k (or 180k/360k with GregTech) coolant cells, and one or more copies of an auxiliary reactor design use vents to transfer heat from the coolant cells to the reactor's coolant fluid?

    This has been done by bloodyasp in the past. Atm i'm too sleepy to look for them, but 4 quad mox cells (2x2 setup) had an enormous output.

  • 1. MOX in a fluid reactor does not actually scale its heat output linearly with reactor heat. It doubles as soon as reactor heat goes over 50%, and further reactor heat doesn't help.
    2. MOX in an EU reactor at 85% reactor heat is actually 4.4x output (4 * 0.85 + 1), not 4.25.
    3. A few of the designs you listed don't have complete descriptions with eu/t and costs.

    1. Did not know that, could you give me a more detailed explanation? Does it produce normal heat untill 50% and then double from 50-100%? it seems kinda low.


    2. Good to know, will change it asap


    3. The bonus designs are a bit trimmed down because i was not sure how much space i would have. I will complement them later when i have time.


    The problem i see with this is that you won't be able to get higher efficiencies than 6 with this (cant have neutron reflectors on all sides). Wouldn't it be better to just make 2 seperate reactors with this http://prntscr.com/845im0 instead?


    Would be higher in output, efficiency and wouldn't need nuclear controle.


    I forgot to add a mark 5 reactor without gregtech reflectors but something like that would also perform better i think. What is the maximum cooling capacity of that cooling reactor?

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

    Edited once, last by Blackpalt ().

  • 1. Did not know that, could you give me a more detailed explanation? Does it produce normal heat untill 50% and then double from 50-100%? it seems kinda low.


    Yes, it simply produces default heat (same as a Uranium fuel rod) up to 50%, and doubles at 50.00001%-100%.


    The problem i see with this is that you won't be able to get higher efficiencies than 6 with this (cant have neutron reflectors on all sides). Wouldn't it be better to just make 2 seperate reactors with this http://prntscr.com/845im0 instead?


    I think the point of Blood Asp's dual-reactor design was to keep the reactor temperature constant for the MOX fuel in the primary reactor. Since it has no vents, there's no need to worry about losing temperature while replacing the fuel rods, and there are presumably ways to suspend the redstone signal while swapping in fresh coolant cells to keep the reactor temperature from going up in that interval.

  • Then this should be an improved gregtech version
    161616161616161616161616162223161616161616230606221616161616220606231616161616162322161616161616161616161616
    http://prntscr.com/851rib
    Efficiency (33,6-50,4)
    This is far better than any other mox design i might add


    So if i understand you correctly it would produce 1344 heat between 0-50% heat and 2688 heat between 51-100%?


    I might add this as a new type of reactor. Any good sugestion what the name of this type should be?


    Edit: Tested some more and they seem decent. The only issue i see is the cooling tower. They avarage in cooling of about 1130 or so while they actually pull 1152 from the reactor so they slowly increase in temperature over time. For the setup you are using you would need at least two cooling reactors (1920Hu/s) and mine would require 3 (2688 ).


    With 3 cooling towers and round robin on the cooling cells it should remove the need for a cooldown period on the cooling tower thought.


    It also gave me the idea for this: http://prntscr.com/851xtf
    Same concept but single 5x5x5 producing 1000 Hu/s instead of 4 5x5x5 producing 2688.


    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

    Edited 6 times, last by Blackpalt ().

  • Is there any possibility we could stick this post as an important post in the nuclear engineering subforum? Feels like the current design/guide threads up there are very much outdated
    Edit: Thanks!

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

    Edited once, last by Blackpalt ().

  • The talk about 5x5x5 Mox got me thinking something like this should be a very nice 5x5x5 reactor.


    16230C130C0A140D0C2306230C0D0C0D0C0D0C230C0D0C0D0C0D14130C0D0C0D0C0D0C0A0C0D0C0D0C0D0C0D0C120C0D140A0C0A140D
    If it works it should be better than the one i sugested above. A bit more difficult to go with only superheated steam but damn is the efficiency good.


    Stats should be something like
    Eu/t: 628-928
    Efficiency: 44,8-64,8(it outputs 1792 Hu/s above 50% heat)


    Ile test it later, if it works it blows the previous design out of the water. Might actually make it worthwhile making

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

  • Nice blackpalt


    When you say "above 50% heat", is that a magical threshold? Or does it still linearly improve after that? e.g 80% heat is better than 60% heat, etc.

  • Blackpalt, I just realized you gave me credit for a reactor design.


    Just an FYI, I got that from somewhere on this forum. I would have assumed it was yours.


    I don't wanna take credit for someone else's cleverness :)

  • It was not made by me, before you mentioned the thorium designs i didn't even know you could make stuff like that :)


    You don't happen to know where you got the design from? Don't think i can remember seeing it before.


    Should really get to testiing that mark 5 5x5x5 mox reactor design....

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

  • I've heard several times that a lot of people think that nuclear is a bit technical to get into so im thinking of adding a basic guide for how you set up the different reactor types. Would this be helpful or is there already one out there somewhere that i could link to?

    A question that sometimes drives me hazy; am i or are the other crazy

  • Was playing around with a MOX design that I could easily spam with 0 chambers and I ended up with this. I think it's nicely space efficient.


    Code: 0C0A0C0000000000000A050A0000000000000A050A0000000000000C0A0C0000000000000A140A0000000000000A050A000000000000


    http://imgur.com/xRklQki


    EU/t: 352
    Efficiency: 11.7


    Obviously not as fuel efficient as some but it's pretty easy to spam as you're trying to increase your plutonium stockpiles.