Nuclear Noob Question

[Casey Ryback]

Hi

I am yet to start on Nuclear Power Plants (I have them unlocked but instead using 70 Fuel Generators).

I would like to automate as many of the parts to make Uranium Fuel Rods inside my Megafactory rather than building a second "fuel" factory further away.

Apart from uranium waste, which I understand is highly radioactive, are any of the other ingredients/parts in the fuel making chain radioactive when relatively close to it? I would like to avoid having to put on my hazmat suit whilst in the factory.

Thanks

[Heiinz]

If you build it in you main factory you put yourself in a world of hurt.
Everything that requires uranium to make (and what is made out of these components) is radioactive and the more of it is in one place the more horrible it gets.

[Dreadlow]

All the items in the game that have uranium or plutonium in their name are radioactive, so it's bet to set up their production away from your main base. My first nuclear set up had uranium refinement in an exclusion zone at my main base, even used the large truck to bring in uranium for a while, but then realised it wasn't a long term option.

[Vectorspace]

For my nuclear fuel factory most of the non radioactive components are made in an easily accessible factory.
At the reactors themselves in the radioactive zone, I make the fuel from raw uranium (2 sets of manufacturers) and make plutonium rods for sinking from the waste. All the radioactive machines.

There is a small amount of non-radioactive production in the radioactive zone, just for ease of balancing water byproduct from radioactive machines.

The radioactive zone is on the ocean at the north west, far from the coast.
The supply factory is on the land, the two are linked by a long conveyor belt causeway.

Unfortunately this does mean I have 9 or 10 belts plus a sulfuric acid pipe and nitrogen gas pipe linking the two!

[Verios44]

- uranium cells
- encased uranium cells
- uranium fuel rods
- uranium waste
- non-fissle material
- plutonium cells
- encased plutonium cells
- plutonium fuel rods
- plutonium waste

Those are all the radioactive items in the game.

I would you recommend that you use these alts in your nuclear builds. They maxamize your uranium ore to fuel rod ratio. That said they are hy no means “mandatory”.

1. Infused uranium cell
2 uranium Fuel Unit

As others have said you can setup the non-radioactive components in your main base and ship them out to the reactors/fuel plant no problem!

[Casey Ryback]

Thanks all for the feedback, so that means pretty much everything, including the reactors need to be far away from base :(

Where should I store waste? Is having it a few kilometres in the air (before the ceiling limit) good for taking away a lot of the distance, thus radioactive potency?

[Vectorspace]

No need to store uranium waste. You can recycle it into plutonium fuel rods (multi stage process) which you can then feed into an AWESOME Sink

[AnLambdy]

or u can use the lizzard doggos and a jump platform and launch it into the void

[Enigma]

I built my nuclear plant inside the cave with the uranium deposit. Walled off both ends with some radioactive signs. Currently storing nuclear waste along the ceiling of the cave until i decide to start the plutonium process. I conveyor everything into the cave from nearby deposits, but all radioactive material stays inside the cave.

[AnLambdy]

Originally posted by Enigma:

I built my nuclear plant inside the cave with the uranium deposit. Walled off both ends with some radioactive signs. Currently storing nuclear waste along the ceiling of the cave until i decide to start the plutonium process. I conveyor everything into the cave from nearby deposits, but all radioactive material stays inside the cave.

good idea. will have to try that

[kLuns]

When you seal your nuclear factory, you might want to make a double entry/exit system so you can change and put on/off your hazmat suit

[nfgman]

Nuclear takes lots of water, and that's typically the biggest location issue. Two uranium reactors require 5 water extractors (not overclocked). About the only component moderately complex is control rods, which require stators and caterium. Aside from that there is a small amount of steel, concrete, sulfur, and possibly silica that is usually fairly simple until you get to extremes. I have a factory dedicated to control rods, that I also use for motors, and drones easily handle the demand rate.

Instead of getting too weird with storage of uranium waste, plan to recycle it to plutonium fuel rods. It builds up quickly.