IDEA: Nuclear Reactor Ideas

Rufus Thorne · Dec 13th 2012

Hey guys! I've seen the new Nuclear Reactor system on the wiki, and I am amazed. However, I am disappointed that the idea of cooling reactors with ice, buckets, and water blocks around the core has been dropped. In real life, this would actually work (and very well, to boot - buckets of saltwater were used to cool down Fukushima Daiichi), and I'm thinking it should be reinstituted as a modified version from the Minecraft v1.2.5 features. In addition, I have some new ideas for reactor components. Here they are:

Ice/Water Cooling: Very simple. Just insert buckets of water/stacks of ice directly into the reactor, and it will act as a non-renewable SUC (Single-Use Coolant). A single block of ice will dissipate 32 RTU (Reactor-scaled Thermal Unit) and a bucket of water 1080. However, you will lose the bucket due to radioactive contamination. These factors make these a last resort if your reactor is going critical and you don't have the resources to make expensive Condensators. Some reactors also still rise in temperature when SCRAMmed, making coolants such as ice necessary. Ambient water cooling, the principle used to cool a real reactor under normal circumstances, would increase Heat Vent capacity, allowing the reactor to dissipate more heat per tick (up to, say, 2 times capacity). It would also take heat from the reactor surface, at the cost of losing the water if the reactor temperature exceeds 2400 RTU. This will also make the Vents lose their "overclocking" over time.

Neutron Deflector Modification: Have you realized that the recipe for Neutron Deflectors contains coal dust? Did you also know that carbon actually ABSORBS neutrons? This is why I would want to modify the recipe, using Advanced Alloy.

=Copper Plate, =Adv. Alloy

Reaction Moderators: These are the opposite of reflectors, and reduce the neutron output of nearby uranium cells, allowing you to put uranium cells next to each other without heat generation spiraling out of control. They make single cells act alone, duals act like two singles but will not react with other cells, and quads act like duals. The recipe is as follows:

=Carbon Plate, =Heat-Capacity Plating

Bundle ( =Moderator Rod[above], =Iron Scaffold)

Bundles are 4.5x as effective, and take up one slot.

That's all I wanted to suggest. If you have any changes, or want to create an addon for this, just post it in the comments. See you soon!

-Rufus Thorne, Global Trust Council Vice-President

MatLaPatate · Dec 14th 2012

Quote from Rufus Thorne

Ice/Water Cooling: Very simple. Just insert buckets of water/stacks of ice directly into the reactor, and it will act as a non-renewable SUC (Single-Use Coolant). A single block of ice will dissipate 32 RTU (Reactor-scaled Thermal Unit) and a bucket of water 1080.they've

I saw you've understood the problem of the OP-ness of CASUC, and that's a good point. But CASUC weren't removed because of this, but just because it seems to the devs strange cooling down reactor with simple water. And of course it's working IRL, but do you remember why Fukushima reactor exploded, since you mentionned it ? Because they've thrown water in ... Even without speaking about water dismutation (generating H2+O2, what caused the reactor to explode), turning so much water into steam directly in your reactor seems no to me a good idea ... do you know what is PRESSURE ? I would say cooling down your whole reactor with Ice at the rate you mention would makes it go over 9000 Gibbl

Quote from Rufus Thorne

Reaction Moderators:

I like this. But as you describe it, it's useless ^^. It should be more like something that nullify/reduce heat generation for adjacent Uranium cells. But in fact, this would need for that to be between the cells, don't you think ? And cells aren't generating more energy/heat while not directly adjacent.

Rufus Thorne · Dec 19th 2012

@ Mat,

I understand your suggestion and will take them into account in revising my idea. Thanks.

Rufus Thorne

Rufus Thorne · Dec 19th 2012

Changes to the idea as of 12/19/2012:

Hydrogen Explosions: If too much water-based SUC is used inside a reactor (4 buckets water/2 stacks ice), the reactor will explode in a shower of fire and gravel. There is a 50% chance that this will happen during a normal meltdown. If any part of the reactor was somehow spared by the explosion, it will quickly overheat, as will reactors up to 32 metres away. This encourages players to manage reactors safely as well as save up for a Condensator. On a side note: any items not consumed by the blast will also be scattered around the reactor.

Moderators Change: Moderators can now be placed in reactor slots to stop cells from reacting with each-other. A single unit will hold regular cells, and a bundle will be able to hold doubles and quads. The moderators can be taken out by right-clicking them. Moderator slots will also cool down adjacent slots by 0.1 heat/tick.

Jivix · Dec 22nd 2012

how about.... Buildcraft pipes pumping water into reactors to cool them? *ducks from incoming*

SpwnX · Dec 23rd 2012

Quote from Jivix

how about.... Buildcraft pipes pumping water into reactors to cool them? *ducks from incoming*

That would be the same as Water/Ice CASUCS, denied.

brumster · Jan 1st 2013

I've got to admit, I too am a bit disappointed with the removal of cooling-by-ice/water

While I'm no nuclear engineer, granted, I play Minecraft for a bit of semi-realistic enjoyment and getting a powerful reactor going, with lots of investment in an ice-cooling system, was a nice challenge and gave me plenty of power on-tap when I needed it (mass fabricator for example). I'm not a regular on these forums as I just like to 'play' and get on with it... but the removal of this cooling approach seems a bit of a shame. To play the line "oh but it's not realistic to the real world" is a bit naive as, from what I've just read, we've now got some magical heat black hole devices we can put in our reactors to help cool them down?! WTF?!

If the developers of IC2 want to be all real-world accurate with their nuclear physics then so be it (maybe it's not a mod for me then). How about a whole new range of reactor add-ons where you can effectively engineer a cooling circuit with BC/RP2 fluid pipes? Some cooling/condensing machines separate to the reactor chamber itself, and the appropriate piping, and then some sort of heat exchanger block that can be placed outside and dump heat to air? You could add environmental effects such as ambient temperature outside, which will affect the cooling rate (put the exchanger in a snow biome will result in much more efficient cooling - or maybe even place the exchange in water/sea, or high up a mountain where there is a natural wind effect?).

Balance these new machine blocks appropriately - so that cooling is expensive for high-end reactors - to keep a challenge there. Maybe introduce different coolant fluids so that standard MC water is not all that efficient at moving heat, but by changing the fluid to a dedicated special coolant you can effectively move more heat down your fluid pipes?

Apologies if this has all been discussed before - a quick search on "ice cooling" doesn't offer anything easily noticeable. Maybe consider some text in the wiki explaining why the ice/water cooling approach was removed? Was it even discussed on here? Maybe a sticky?

Anyway, thanks all for the work to date - shame about this one though, seems a backwards step to me

narc · Jan 1st 2013

Quote from brumster

To play the line "oh but it's not realistic to the real world" is a bit naive

I don't know where you saw that, but the IC2 team's motivation for removing CASUC was: "it's far too powerful, nobody was using non-CASUC anymore".

Ultimoos · Jan 1st 2013

Eventually the reactor has to be able to accept and hold large amounts of water. Not for the purpose of cooling it but solely for the purpose of generating steam.

brumster · Jan 3rd 2013

Quote from narc

I don't know where you saw that, but the IC2 team's motivation for removing CASUC was: "it's far too powerful, nobody was using non-CASUC anymore".

It was more meant pre-emptively, don't worry - I wasn't directly quoting

I've actually got 2 reactors - a small one, non-casuc, just a 0-chamber one that tickles away generating energy into an MFSU to run ovens, macerators, etc. My point being, there is a place for non-CASUC I think. I've then got a large multi-chamber reactor, a hark back from the casuc days although I'm now re-engineering it due to the changes made in IC2. It just powers a mass fabricator, nothing else.

I've started a new world now since the old one just doesn't work any more, and all those snow golems were looking a bit lost with nothing to do

Never mind... I will accept the changes and just get used to not generating EUs on quite such a grand scale, without investing in Computercraft and these condensators. I appreciate it *can* be done if I really want to, it's just a whole load of effort again. It's just a shame there wasn't a config file option to just keep the feature for those who wanted it.

inucune · Jan 5th 2013

i propose we reinstate CASUC reactors...but with the following change:
'heavy water' (deuterium oxide)

heavy water is what is used to cool reactors irl.
a recipe to craft it would be up to the devs...as i can't find a very good source on how it's made (probably for good reason.)

the reactors could be set to only accept heavy water (or heavy ice)

since it has to be crafted, perhaps a circulation system similar to the railcraft steam turbine. (with 'burn off' loss.) (non-casuc option)

i think this should also be a secondary system, similar to a 'second tier' within reactors...and work in conjunction with the current system

MatLaPatate · Jan 5th 2013

Quote from inucune

a recipe to craft it would be up to the devs...as i can't find a very good source on how it's made (probably for good reason.)

I like the Idea of cooling a reactor with a special Liquid (non infinite ^^) but ... as for what is heavy water, it's just ... water with Deuterium instead of Hydrogen ^^. So, puting water into a nuclear reactor would normally create some heavy water (a small proportion I think), but that would be creating cooling liquid with another nuclear reactor, heating and needed to be cooled down ... that seems strange ^^.
There is also 1 Water molecule out of 1000 which is "heavy". Exctrating and exctrating again ?

Sebra · Jan 6th 2013

Isn't that exactly the case of coolant cell?

MatLaPatate · Jan 6th 2013

Quote from Sebra

Isn't that exactly the case of coolant cell?

Yes it is ^^. Wait, that was old coolant cells.

xNiNELiVES · Jan 6th 2013

What was the last version that had the old reactors? Does anybody know?

Epic Lulz · Jan 7th 2013

Quote from xNiNELiVES

What was the last version that had the old reactors? Does anybody know?

IndustrialCraft² version: v1.103 (For Minecraft 1.2.5)</big>

Rufus Thorne · Jan 24th 2013

Changelog:

Steam/Hydrogen Venting: IF you have a Cooling Vent in your reactor, it will slowly vent the gases made by SUC use at one bucket's worth of water every minute. This means that you can then introduce one bucket of water or an equivalent into the reactor core every minute without causing an explosion.

Smoking Hazard: If you light a fire while a reactor is venting hydrogen gas, it will EXPLODE IN YOUR FACE. Solution: Ban Flint and Steel in your reactor complex. The radius for this event happening is 3 metres around the reactor. Take note that it will also explode if you do not take at least 30 seconds for the gas to diffuse into the air.

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