Nuclear

A render showing how to properly align Nuclear control and fuel rods. The colour of the bolts has been changed to red to be more obvious

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Nuclear power is a method of creating thermal energy, which can then be converted into rotational energy using steam, and thereby electrical or mechanical energy.

Very basics;

• Stormworks nuclear run of the idea of Nuclear Fission, not fusion. Nuclear fusion is not possible.
• In a reactor, fuel rods produce heat, and control rods control that heat. If a fuel rod is to exceed *1500° C* it will fail and leak radiation.
• The temperature of fuel rods depends on cooling and control rod position. Inserting cool water into a sealed reactor vessel for example, will reduce fuel temperature.

Basics;

• Liquids distribute heat evenly across fuel rods. Fuel rods submersed in liquid will be within *~5° C* of each other.
• Gases do not distribute heat well, which can cause uneven temperatures. Fuel rods submersed in gas can have significantly different temperatures.
• Removing control rods increases fuel rod temperature and reactor power.
• Inserting control rods decreases temperature and reduces power.

*Basic Reactor Concept*

A very simple way to think about a Stormworks nuclear reactor is:

1. Fuel rods generate heat through fission.
2. Control rods regulate how fast the fission happens.
3. A coolant (typically water, can be anything in theory) carries heat away from the fuel rods into a boiler or similar.
4. The heat is used to produce steam or drive turbines/pistons.
5. Turbines/pistons convert the energy into electricity or mechanical power.

• Fuel and control assemblies can be aligned using the nuts on the reactor components.

Essential components

1. Nuclear Fuel Rod:

• Takes 9 uranium pellets to construct, or 225 uranium ore units.
• Stores a large amount of energy, lasts for practically infinity in stormworks terms; A rough estimate is about 91 real days at ~180c.
• Max temperature 1500c; if impacted or damaged in anyway, radiation will be released.

1. Nuclear Fuel Assembly

• Holds your fuel rod
• Reports temperature data

1. Nuclear Control Rod

• The aforementioned control rod in the basics section; regulates thermal output. (Actually, neutron output, but simplified)
• Insert it to reduce thermal power, remove it to increase thermal power.
• 0-1 input, no electricity required. Powered by John Deltars himself.

1. Coolant

• Typically, fresh water, but you can use literally anything. Even gasses, albeit they will be less effective.
• Allows cooling
• Allows transfer of heat to a boiler, or any source requiring heat.

Less than essential components

1. Radiation detector

• Detects radiation. 2 units is harmful to players w/o hazmat. 8 units is harmful to players with hazmat gear.
• A relative way to gauge reactor period (stability) but not very accurate for this purpose. Good fo rreference and emergency detection.
• A large spike in your reactor would be BAD!!!

How the reactor Reacts

Unlike real nuclear reactors, Stormworks reactors are primarily governed by fuel rod adjacency rather than a full neutron transport. Therefore, real reactor designs may struggle. But also, please do replicate them (at 1/2 scale typically is good for sw). its hella fun. and hella hard.

1. Adjacent fuel assemblies multiply your heat production
2. FOR A CONTROL ROD TO WORK, IT MUST STOP A NEUTRON FROM REACHING ANOTHER FUEL ROD ENOUGH TO BRING THE FUEL SUBCRITICAL. CONTROL RODS CANNOT BE JUST ON THE EDGE AND NOWHERE ELSE.
3. The reactor does not produce electricity. It makes heat.

Optimizing your reactor

1. Bigger is not always better; you wont really ever need more than 9 fuel rods unless youre either doing crazy stuff, or just like the look (real)
2. 180c tends to be the sweet spot temperature wise unless you have high thermal demand.
3. Anything over 300c burns fuel like crazy. Above 800c you can expect a few hours of fuel life.

Controlling your reactor

• You almost never need a pid, yippee!!!
• You can use a function. Just current temperature divided by desired.
• You will want a hard stop at a certain temperature. On my reactors; i tend to choose about 300c fuel temperature among other conditions to 'SCRAM' the reactor.

Problems, solutions.

• Reactor wont heat;

Add more fuel, or have it less interrupted by control rods.

• Reactor heats too much :(

More control rods that interfere with fuel rods

• Reactor melts instantly (as in, on spawn)

No one really knows the fix. Sometimes a seperate sealed space above the coolant with gas can help? Run less fuel rods too. Its a stormworks bug.