What is the deal with U-235

[DragonHarrier]

I have just got to nuclear power and i have been refining my uranium (luckily i have been mining it since i had sulfuric acid)

Now i don't mind the 10x ore to 1 uranium, but the uncertainty of getting U-235 is putting me off nuclear. I know that i only need 1 U-235 for 10 cells, but is it reliable? I have 5 centrifuges and they have only got 3 after about 20 mins of refining.

[Lady Naween]

Once you researched the kovarex enrichment you wont have any trouble. Until then, yeah it takes a while to get.

[loonitun]

kovarex is very important for neclear power, it will let you get lots more stable supply of u-235- so keep 40 units to get the process to start, and after that well you are set :D

[juliejayne]

Kovarex enrichment process is needed if you want nuclear power, but uranium bullets are great fun.

[Ghosrath]

i had the same feeling, but after doing the kovarex enrichment for a while i feel more confident (also, i now have 2 steel chests full of U-235 and one chest full of energy cells, so i think i'm ok for a while)

[Roxor128]

You can certainly get by without the enrichment process. A single reactor can run a decent number of turbines and just two or three centrifuges can find enough U-235 to keep it running (each cell lasts several minutes). You'll just end up stockpiling a lot of extra U-238 and depleted fuel cells for a while.

[Ghosrath]

u-238 makes for great ammo :)

[GMC]

Originally posted by DragonHarrier:

Now i don't mind the 10x ore to 1 uranium, but the uncertainty of getting U-235 is putting me off nuclear. I know that i only need 1 U-235 for 10 cells, but is it reliable? I have 5 centrifuges and they have only got 3 after about 20 mins of refining.

The U-235 you get from mining is used to bootstrap Kovarex, which provides the U-235 you use for fuel.

Kovarex consistently produces one U-235 every 50 seconds. You'd need around 100 drills to get the same rate from mining and refinement (one drill with no bonuses gives you 945 ore per hour = 94.5 crafts per hour = ~0.66 U-235 per hour).