A quick question regarding nuclear reactor UU matter costs

[Servillo]

So I'm starting to look into nuclear power, built a simple reactor following some schematics in an IC2 thread, here

http://forum.industrial-craft.net/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=7681

One of the things they list is Running Costs in terms of UU matter, and I'm somewhat confused by what this means. My guess is that's the UU matter cost per cycle assuming replacement components outside of what's already listed (melted components, replacing dual or quad cells, etc.), but that's just a guess. Anyone have any ideas?

Also, just curious, what do people use their reactors for? I'm currently producing more energy than my twelve advanced solar panels put together with no chance of my reactor exploding. As it is, my solar array was enough to run all my machines without problem. Granted, it was only about a dozen machines, and not all of them at the same time, but still. I don't think I can reliably run a Matterfabricator (if I had enough iridium to make it) off of my small reactor, and I haven't really looked into automation yet. Any suggestions?

 

[Peppe]

If a reactor uses double or quad cells, or the IC2 reflectors then to run it a second cycle has a cost -- these are usually the only things counted in running costs. Its all copper in the case of the stacked cells, but if you use reflectors there are few other elements used. UU is a way to measure the running costs, but obviously you can source the operating costs from mined materials or other methods.

A reactor design should never melt components -- so running costs usually only counts the cells and reflectors.

Using the reactor planner you can see a simple efficiency of one cycle on the general information tab, but the real efficiency is on the resources needed tab -- look for the overall efficiency (this will give you the net energy and cost to run multiple cycles).

An example of one extreme:
140 EU/t efficiency 7 reactor. Pretty badass, right?
http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyo...izidw9f44784ggxl4ks3nvtbw3ty0gbfg5qt6blzlk3k0
To me that is a bad reactor. The overall efficiency is 2.97. Don't let the top line efficiency fool you -- if you had to use UU matter to run that reactor a full 58% of the output would need to go to UU production.

You would be better off burning your uranium rods in the cheap 100EU/t reactor @ a real 3.33 efficiency:
http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyo...qr867wl4ylcn4qdoix3yd83b78y8enonfoolys5g23280

4 overall efficiency is a good target to go for until you get into gregtech expensive stuff.

I haven't got to the gregtech nuclear stuff in my new world, but here is a progressive reactor design I ran in my last world with just IC2:
First reactor really should be get 2 reactors, a breeder and the single chamber 100 EU/t above. It is the most bang for your buck.

When you get the itch to expand:
Add 2 chambers and run double cells for 160 EU/t 3.78 overall efficiency
http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyo...ndgkeejubjuu4afa02rxfzg5c6rcvepq5eduqujd7vpxc

Expand another 2 chambers: 240 EU/t 3.78 overall efficiency
http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyo...ld8dobyd4yepqwiwcndfzoljkwz8fruo2o1nkz2l0m0hs

Finally add the last 2 chambers: Run either a quad and 5 doubles 300 EU/t (3.97 eff) or 2 quad and 2 doubles 280 EU/t (4.23 eff)
http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyo...wwt2ldu4jk5v8trvxgaz6zlqdnr3f60khgpuu9u6seznk
http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyo...mjl3jcyrvik49cb9h7w2yr0nnw00a4q6im89d3v9n8w74

To negate the copper operating costs with gregtech you can run lava through an industrial centrifuge.

In a test world I have ran all the way to 3000 EU/t reactor using redpower 2 to place/replace lapis cooling cells. That is truly some crazy stuff, but I think gregtech makes UU cost too much to make that even remotely doable in a real world. Gregtech's permanent reflectors are something to shoot for though -- will get the most out of your fuel for the least ongoing cost.

 

[Servillo]

Wow, that's awesome. Thanks for the tips on reactor progression, that's really given me some ideas.