What is the point of Nuclear power now?

[webnoob]

Hi All,

I never got to Nuclear power before Tekkit Lite came out and now that I have started using it, it seems a little underpowered when comparing it with HV Solar Arrays. I followed Reactor build 11 on the following link and breeder example 2 (http://forum.industrial-craft.net/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=7681). One reactor can pump out 420 EU which is great as that runs all the time. My issue is with cost. Uranium isn't exceptionally plentiful and I would need about 5 breeders running in order to re-use my spent uranium cells. This makes for a lot of materials so I don't understand the point of it.

Am I missing something or is it just pointless in Tekkit Lite without EMC?

[ice445]

Nuclear has always been "underpowered" compared to HV arrays because they don't take nearly as much time or resources to make. HV is absurd to make by hand, you basically NEED to hand build a factory to produce the more common components. The resource cost is also astronomical. Nuclear is kind of a "mid game" power source while you upgrade your infrastructure and materials gathering to the point where you can even think about HV solar arrays.

[Xylord]

If you have breeders set up properly, uranium cells aren't all that expensive, and a good reactor can output multiple times the energy of a HV solar array for a fraction of the price.

[ice445]

If you have breeders set up properly, uranium cells aren't all that expensive, and a good reactor can output multiple times the energy of a HV solar array for a fraction of the price.

I feel like that last bit is misleading. A reactor that can output more than an HV array is typically risky and can't run a full cycle without some player intervention.

[webnoob]

@Xylord - If you have a tekkit lite reactor / breeder setup that you can share that outweighs a HV I would appreciate a chance to see it. I don't mind the fact that it can blow up, part of nuclear power is building the structure safe to contain the explosion and also managing the red stone signals so it doesn't; this to me is part of the process.

[Xylord]

@Xylord - If you have a tekkit lite reactor / breeder setup that you can share that outweighs a HV I would appreciate a chance to see it. I don't mind the fact that it can blow up, part of nuclear power is building the structure safe to contain the explosion and also managing the red stone signals so it doesn't; this to me is part of the process.

Using LHZ condensators, you can make pretty damn powerful reactors while using all this pesky and useless lapis. Don't forget to get thermometers though.

[Desecration]

it's not really possible to get a reactor with a high EFFECTIVE EU/tick

[Typee]

This one has a 2792 EU/tick effective output. Yes, it's including the cost of making lapis from UU matter.

http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v3/reactorplanner.html?7a8tz5hg44ahcnbrfi1si64tx31sgtlnq4s3yigiqegc8mzmar5zk8is8a4tg4hvhfl371yhkydc

The effective efficiency isn't that bad either, 3.49.

Overall I think the best effective efficiency I've seen is around 4.5.

Also, I have no idea why you would need multiple breeders per reactor, especially for a 420 EU reactor.

A good breeder will charge about 80 cells with one uranium cell, in one cycle.

But it is true that solar arrays are generally too good. Mostly, the problem is they are too quick to make.

HV is absurd to make by hand, you basically NEED to hand build a factory to produce the more common components.

Half a dozen autocrafting tables hardly count as a "factory".

[CashanDraven]

it's not really possible to get a reactor with a high EFFECTIVE EU/tick

That is not the case at all, I can get a full cycle reactor that gets about 2k eu a tick if I want to, those condensers are very good, albeit expensive to make and maintain but since you're making it from UU matter it's not really an issue is it?

Fact is, every other method of power production is just not as good as a single HV solar array. It saves space, is more power than most people will ever need, and even if you build it by hand. (Not that hard since barrels are around now, just throw your items into them until you can make full stacks of solars at a time)

Nukes are fun to play around with but solars are fire and forget, and if you don't mind the set up, windmill towers are stupidly good. I prefer my massive geothermal farms with tesseract pumping lava into them. Makes me feel accomplished and what not.

[ice445]

That is not the case at all, I can get a full cycle reactor that gets about 2k eu a tick if I want to, those condensers are very good, albeit expensive to make and maintain but since you're making it from UU matter it's not really an issue is it?

Fact is, every other method of power production is just not as good as a single HV solar array. It saves space, is more power than most people will ever need, and even if you build it by hand. (Not that hard since barrels are around now, just throw your items into them until you can make full stacks of solars at a time)

Nukes are fun to play around with but solars are fire and forget, and if you don't mind the set up, windmill towers are stupidly good. I prefer my massive geothermal farms with tesseract pumping lava into them. Makes me feel accomplished and what not.

I think what he meant was that there's no way to store the full 2kEU that you can produce, unless I'm missing something. No storage device will accept more than 512 and using an HV transformer steps whatever you were producing down to that level (unless something was changed in IC2).

[lukeb28]

Whats wrong with using a transformer? There is no power loss. you just have to hook up all the sides of the transformer to different MFSU's and your good. No power loss and a EU flow of 2K thats still at 512EU/tick. It just transports 4 packets of 512.

[theprolo]

I think what he meant was that there's no way to store the full 2kEU that you can produce, unless I'm missing something. No storage device will accept more than 512 and using an HV transformer steps whatever you were producing down to that level (unless something was changed in IC2).

It reduces it to packets of 512eu. No power is actually lost, it's just in smaller packets.

Anyway, you people seem to be forgetting: a nuclear reactor is a nuclear reactor. Not only are they awesome, but a huge solar farm doesn't look anywhere near as awesome as nuclear reactor complex.

[lukeb28]

It reduces it to packets of 512eu. No power is actually lost, it's just in smaller packets.

Same as what I said.

you people seem to be forgetting: a nuclear reactor is a nuclear reactor. Not only are they awesome, but a huge solar farm doesn't look anywhere near as awesome as nuclear reactor complex.

Very true.

I use HV sloars for my primary power but I have two, 2400EU/tick SUC reactors in my classic server just for the cool factor.

[Lethosos]

Do what some of us do: build stupidly big "cooling towers" as part of our nuclear facilities. Too bad we can't create big steam plumes to further enhance the effect.

[lukeb28]

create big steam plumes to further enhance the effect.

Webs?

[Lethosos]

Webs?

Not dynamic enough, IMO.

[Stone Rhino]

Reasons to use a reactor:

• Nuclear is great when you're trying to get resources using a mass fabricator
  
• 2 hour run time vs 10 useful minutes of a stack of coal
  
• Uranium is plentiful
  
• Making solar cells is an absolute PITA
  
• Locations where the sun is not available [End/Nether] and geothermal is not an option due to chunk loading.
  

I go for reactors as quickly as possible because they're dastardly safe lower than 320 EU/t and the material costs are lower than HV's. Eventually once you get the UU-matter churning, you can then mass produce resources needed for HV arrays.

[lukeb28]

Not dynamic enough, IMO.

You artful types... So hard to please.

For me if it works its awsome. Who cares what it looks like if its got pipes and tubes every where with rewire and bundled cable and ice flowing through the tubes and uranium cells dashing every where with the ominous 6 chambered reactor in the middle of it all! That to me is EPIC!

[Lethosos]

Hey, I just want to build my very own Chernobyl. Right before I explode it.

[lukeb28]

Hey, I just want to build my very own Chernobyl. Right before I explode it.

Sounds like fun! Blowing up something that took you so long? Amazing!

(Seriously though, sounds like a blast!)

[Kiwionrails]

IMHO the best(early and mid) game power generation source is Geothermals with a pump station in the nether. For instance my setup(below) can generate 780EU/t and powers my Mass-fab and a bunch of recyclers feeding it. I'm also in the process of adding some HV arrays into the roof, but these certainly got me started. :-)

[lukeb28]

Thats impressive. I have a simmilar set up but smaller powering a quarry in my tekkit world.

[Lethosos]

Back in Tekkit Classic I pretty much TP-pipe pumped a shitton of lava into multiple tanks and had a button/timer to deliver one bucket's worth from all those tanks directly to one Geo generator for all my general-purpose needs. Add an MFSU and I was happy.

I'm definitely considering an alternative design for other modpacks, though, but the basic idea will still work--I'll just set up some tanks for each stations I wanna use and employ the usual setup at each area.

[Torezu]

Not dynamic enough, IMO.

You need some carefully placed rapid-cycling deployers spitting out white and gray wool, or maybe snowballs or something. Feel free to collect and reuse all of it. It'll be fun!

[lukeb28]

You need some carefully placed rapid-cycling deployers spitting out white and gray wool, or maybe snowballs or something. Feel free to collect and reuse all of it. It'll be fun!

Can it be done? Building contest!