Best safety reactor setup?
- Thread starter Chrissy
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Depends on what you want, and how much you have available (as well as whether, and what version of, Gregtech you're running), and your definition of 'never explode'. SSD came up with this rather brilliant design to start with, which will run as long as it's fueled and output 60 EU/t, with minimal investment and with a fairly tileable design (or you can fill empty space with thorium singletons and basic reactor vents to get rid of the junk). Most of the builds on this page are workable as Mark I safe reactors in the last 1.4.7 build, and cover most bases fairly well.
It doesn't hurt to use IC2 Nuclear Control as backup cutoff, especially on a server where someone might 'borrow' a heat vent.
Reactors are fairly complicated to make from scratch. A lot of math involved with how each component deals with heat to make them run stable. The best suggestion I can give is to check out the section of the IC2 forums on them. If you have Gregtech, there is a separate section for that too since it changes and adds a lot. It can take a lot of uranium to keep a reactor going nonstop. If it is to become your main power source, I'd suggest making depleted cells and a breeder reactor. Doing so multiplies your uranium supply significantly.
But what do you want?
Efficient uranium use?
Copper-lower designs?
Max eu/t designs?
Single-cell only designs (no dual/quad uranium cells, ie running cost)
A balance between efficiency and eu/t?
Just running a full cycle ie, a Mark1 isn't enough in your choice of reactor.
Just going to the reactor page would be the best place to go.
Efficient uranium use?
Copper-lower designs?
Max eu/t designs?
Single-cell only designs (no dual/quad uranium cells, ie running cost)
A balance between efficiency and eu/t?
Just running a full cycle ie, a Mark1 isn't enough in your choice of reactor.
Just going to the reactor page would be the best place to go.
As others have mentioned, you have multiple problems to consider when building a nuclear reactor, but in effect:
How much resources do you want to spend vs how much resources you want to burn per cycle vs how much uranium you want to burn per cycle, with another trade-off of 'do you want EU/t or do you want total EU per uranium'.
There are a lot of tradeoffs depending on your situation. However, here's some ideas:
This is a solid Mk. I reactor which will not explode. It also has low maintenance costs (just the uranium cells themselves), a decent efficiency (3.83), reasonable initial costs (Iron 279, Copper, 625, Tin 91, Gold 34) and in general, not a bad starter reactor.
If you want more EU/t, there's always this monster. At 420 EU/t, it has the highest EU/t output of any Mk. I (will not explode) reactor. It has a somewhat lower efficiency, but more importantly, it also eats up around 280 Copper per cycle in the Dense Copper Plates required for the Quad Uranium Cells. It also has higher initial costs as well.
Really, I shouldn't even mention this one, but just to be fair, there is another reactor, but there's a major downside to it. So just to warn you about this reactor design, I'll show it to you. The design is here.
I know, at first it seems pretty sweet... 1920 EU/t! Unfortunately, there's a kind of a hitch... several, actually.
First off, you see those Thick Neutron Reflectors? Those aren't cheap, and they need to be replaced mid-cycle.
Second off, you see those blue things? Those are LHZ Condensators. They cool the reactor no sweat... but they also eat Lapis at a prodigious rate. Specifically, this reactor eats one thousand three hundred forty five Lapis per cycle. That comes out to around a lapis every seven seconds. And that process isn't automated either. Which means you're going to need to automate the refilling process. And that might introduce stray heat that you won't be able to accommodate for in the build.
So yea, any build with LHZ Condensators in them are something to avoid at all costs.
How much resources do you want to spend vs how much resources you want to burn per cycle vs how much uranium you want to burn per cycle, with another trade-off of 'do you want EU/t or do you want total EU per uranium'.
There are a lot of tradeoffs depending on your situation. However, here's some ideas:
This is a solid Mk. I reactor which will not explode. It also has low maintenance costs (just the uranium cells themselves), a decent efficiency (3.83), reasonable initial costs (Iron 279, Copper, 625, Tin 91, Gold 34) and in general, not a bad starter reactor.
If you want more EU/t, there's always this monster. At 420 EU/t, it has the highest EU/t output of any Mk. I (will not explode) reactor. It has a somewhat lower efficiency, but more importantly, it also eats up around 280 Copper per cycle in the Dense Copper Plates required for the Quad Uranium Cells. It also has higher initial costs as well.
Really, I shouldn't even mention this one, but just to be fair, there is another reactor, but there's a major downside to it. So just to warn you about this reactor design, I'll show it to you. The design is here.
I know, at first it seems pretty sweet... 1920 EU/t! Unfortunately, there's a kind of a hitch... several, actually.
First off, you see those Thick Neutron Reflectors? Those aren't cheap, and they need to be replaced mid-cycle.
Second off, you see those blue things? Those are LHZ Condensators. They cool the reactor no sweat... but they also eat Lapis at a prodigious rate. Specifically, this reactor eats one thousand three hundred forty five Lapis per cycle. That comes out to around a lapis every seven seconds. And that process isn't automated either. Which means you're going to need to automate the refilling process. And that might introduce stray heat that you won't be able to accommodate for in the build.
So yea, any build with LHZ Condensators in them are something to avoid at all costs.
Meh, Export bus, Plug it in to the approximate nine cubic fuck tons of lapis i have,
I'm running a TON of machines (Industrial sawmill and stuff, Overclocked/transformers), And i have a really big solar bank, But it just isn't cutting it and i dont think i have the room for a fusion reactor (Plus i'd need someone to set it up v_v)
And i cant think any fantastic ways to make up for deficit
You misunderstand. You have to fully automate the refilling of the lapis into the LHZ. During which time the LHZ is not in the reactor. Which means the cell you are trying to cool doesn't have anything cooling it. Which means you have hull temperature building it up until it goes kablooie. Export bus might get one to the automation, but it won't keep up with demand when you suddenly have sixteen that have to be swapped simultaneously. And if you don't get all sixteen swapped simultaneously in less than one second (both out AND repaired with lapis AND back in), then the reactor is going to explode.
Also, unless you have a diamond chest full of stacks of lapis blocks, you don't have enough Lapis to get you through a single cycle. Trust me, you might -think- you are overflowing with Lapis, but it still won't be enough.
If you don't have the room for a fusion reactor, you probably don't have room for nuclear reactors either. However, look at my Tower of Power thread for an idea of how to get a lot of EU out of not a lot of space.
i have an approximately 40X40X20 Space to work with, It's the top secret base known only as blackwell, Also, Reactors only take up a 3x3x3 area, What you trippin' on boy?
My Tower of Power is a 5 x 5 x 10 tall structure. Produces over 7k EU/t. Bit pricy on the materials, but if you've got a few thousand copper and iron and a few hundred gold lying around, it might be viable for you.
I run 64x64 quarries practically 24/7, Raw materials arent too much of an issue, But i do need help automating my industry grinder and stuff, My issue is i can work really hard, But i'm honestly quite dense about a lot of things in the pack and really don't have the time to learn about how to use em, Or need a human being to explain
Then you might like this setup.
In effect, it is 40 different reactors, each one producing 180 EU/t for a total of over 7k EU/t, but can still run through a Glass Fibre Cable since no packet is larger than 512.
If you are on 1.4.7 still, you can replace the Rednet Cable with Jacketed Wire and Red Alloy Wire. And you also won't need fuzzy buses, just use the basic buses and they will work for this purpose (the functionality of the buses in 1.4.7 was effectively moved to the fuzzy buses of 1.5.x).
In effect, it is 40 different reactors, each one producing 180 EU/t for a total of over 7k EU/t, but can still run through a Glass Fibre Cable since no packet is larger than 512.
If you are on 1.4.7 still, you can replace the Rednet Cable with Jacketed Wire and Red Alloy Wire. And you also won't need fuzzy buses, just use the basic buses and they will work for this purpose (the functionality of the buses in 1.4.7 was effectively moved to the fuzzy buses of 1.5.x).
The trick for easy automation is to have a single-fuel, no-reflector, no-condensor setup -- you /can/ automate things that get more complicated, mostly through a router or advanced regulator, but it takes a lot of futziness to set up, and a glitch in your crafting network can turn a mark I reactor into a glowing crater. Condensors in particular are a mess because they have to be pulled out of the reactor, put into a crafting setup, and then replaced, so even if you do have the lapis or redstone to power them, the automation issues make them unusable for all but the most unusual setups.
This isn't the best reactor design for normal users (it's costly in terms of EU/tick/copper), but it's a very safe Mark I single-fuel 3-chamber reactor at 200 EU/t per reactor and relatively small running costs, making it fairly easy to stack multiple reactors and corresponding wiring. You'll need a breeder reactor and some sort of autocrafter attached to your processing network, but this design by Gorzak can probably enrich every depleted cell you'll run into off of a single cycle, and AE makes autocrafting very very easy.
Shneekey's 5x5x10 design does, however, stack better in your available space, if you're aiming over the 10k EU/tick mark.
This isn't the best reactor design for normal users (it's costly in terms of EU/tick/copper), but it's a very safe Mark I single-fuel 3-chamber reactor at 200 EU/t per reactor and relatively small running costs, making it fairly easy to stack multiple reactors and corresponding wiring. You'll need a breeder reactor and some sort of autocrafter attached to your processing network, but this design by Gorzak can probably enrich every depleted cell you'll run into off of a single cycle, and AE makes autocrafting very very easy.
Shneekey's 5x5x10 design does, however, stack better in your available space, if you're aiming over the 10k EU/tick mark.
You can stack that design as well, it just takes a bit more ingenuity, and it fits in a 7 x 7 x 10 rather than a 5 x 5 hole.
My obvious answer is to say No to Nukes, because they're annoying, copper hungry monsters. I'd tell you spend those resources on Railcraft Steam boilers, and use Steam Turbines instead.
On the other hand, Shneeky's tower of power is scarily effective. Direwolf had a design using LHZ condensators and Thaumcraft Golems on his season 5 LP, that worked out well, but he was using his UU-Matter to make more Lapis and supplementing it with bees.
I took Shneeky's tower of power and subbed in Direwolf's Design. At least the crater was impressive...
On the other hand, Shneeky's tower of power is scarily effective. Direwolf had a design using LHZ condensators and Thaumcraft Golems on his season 5 LP, that worked out well, but he was using his UU-Matter to make more Lapis and supplementing it with bees.
I took Shneeky's tower of power and subbed in Direwolf's Design. At least the crater was impressive...
Instead of LHZ, you could've used my Tower of Power, CRCS Edition for something like 3k per Y-level increment, however none of these designs work anymore because of the way EX altered EU flow. It is now officially worthless to create more than 2048 EU/t per power line.
Also, this thread was bumped by a spambot which was nuked from orbit by our friendly neighborhood moderators. All of the information is about six months out of date.