Nuclear reactor

The Nuclear reactor is the core power-building in the nuclear processing chain. It uses heat exchange to produce steam for turbines, and it also includes a separate emergency-cooling connection on the main reactor building. The grouped ports at the edge of the reactor are the main heat exchangers, while the single port on the reactor body is reserved for emergency cooling. Under normal operation, that emergency port does not provide steam.

Safe operation depends on maintaining a stable supply of water and a stable consumption of steam. If either side is insufficient, Reactor Heat begins to rise. This makes the reactor sensitive to upstream water shortages and downstream steam demand drops, so the whole setup must be balanced rather than simply powered on and left unattended.

When Reactor Heat reaches the red marker in the UI, emergency cooling activates automatically. If no emergency-cooling water is stored, or if the stored water is exhausted, heat continues to build. Once the reactor reaches maximum heat, it goes critical and releases a very large amount of radiation, which can kill many citizens. Overheating does not stop the reactor immediately and does not warn you early enough to prevent trouble once the critical state is close, so monitoring must be proactive.

• Keep the water input steady at all times; interruptions will raise heat quickly.
• Make sure steam output has enough demand, since backed-up steam also destabilizes operation.
• Treat the emergency-cooling water supply as a separate safety buffer, not part of normal production.
• Do not rely on the reactor to shut itself down before a crisis; it will continue heating until the critical threshold is reached.
• Plan the surrounding industrial layout so the reactor’s steam can be consumed reliably by turbines and the cooling system can be replenished without interruption.

Historically, the reactor was shown in an official nuclear-process infographic released by the developers, and its older appearance existed before version 0.5.0.