Tutorial/Nuclear Reactor - Advanced Layouts

This is a reference page for layouts inside Nuclear Reactors. Feel free to extend this page with your own Nuclear Reactor designs.

Small Guide to Advanced Reactor Layouts
Before you create a reactor, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Things to not do:

1. Placing integrated dispersers like this. (I used SUCs to mark the formations.)

http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?405xxjmr4jyj0n5pl71yed1n86mb83nmblcb8jlt9khughs

These decrease the efficiency of your cooling. (However if you link 3 or more uranium cells these are unavoideable.)

2. Placing uranium cells on the side of the reactors when you can place them on the inside.

http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?1baf5j98i68vtyvzq43718fq8kz69dcyf220olck803vri80

If you place dispersers or coolant cells neighboring the uranium cells they cool way more efficiently,

you get +2 cooling for every one near them except the first.

3. Use uranium cells instead of dispersers, if it is possible.

4. Don't place dispersers in the corners, it's ineffective.

http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4qxcogk2qe1hpzidgeibdluk30wvpdscjde4i01w6neo

Try something like this instead. (Note: the uranium cell that makes possible to place another coolant cell on the spot marked with the integrated plating.)

5. You can have around 43 excess heat when planning a Mark-II reactor 6 chambered with a fairly efficient placement of dispersers.

6. Try placing the uranium cells in a row instead some kind of shape, this way it can be cooled it more efficiently. However check the amount of EU/t when doing this, since it may change depending the placement of uranium cells.

7. I used the link above for the java program that lets you plan a nuclear reactor, it is the best I have found so far. http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixqt68i3ws0pvj3wj6xnohd0zqvpt6j8736xxhfs04zde9ds

Designs
Water Cooled Reactors

~ infinite/long running


 * 40 EU / eff 2 / Infinite Cycles (no additional chambers)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hiw07kxdrudi921a90drnx4a60ci8a2y4g3nube7e6a8dan0g


 * 60 EU / eff 1.5 / Infinite Cycles (no additional chambers)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hiw0cj727qyg5f6sc0gwf0h6xwnt05br3u0tet4t8s53fd3wg


 * 90 EU / eff 1.8 / Infinite Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hiw0cj727qyg5f6sc0gwf0h6xwnt05br3u0tet4t8s53fd3wg


 * 100 EU / eff 2,5 / 15,72 Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixqsdhgp9he5gpole8yfdau4o5rwtk0jbrr7cmglrtpy5tmo


 * 130 EU / eff 1,44 / Infinite Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4qzwrx7xdh70i06vbl2qojszh37aq3znbdi4lkyvwmbk


 * 140 EU / eff 1 / Infinite Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpoav1gus2pka5wenp1fd64ae0w9z4j951fe2okuc5izfnk

~ 1 Cycle


 * 120 EU / eff 3 / 1.16 Cycle
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4qxmbu7luw9mpr9hwykxp8jm9aet6trno6golezekkqo


 * 130 EU / eff 2,6 / 1.6 Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixqsdhgp9hcb34aggnldv7lq1o7y8p60fsfplltdajqovoxs


 * 160 EU / eff 2 / 1 Cycle
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixqt68ie9qbs4g7bt3yv97xtxolhfkxdh5kp6sk7s076don4


 * 170 EU / eff 1.89 / 1.15 Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4qzwrx7xfm5zt3d8yl9b06qg8ai0zgn9o1ovjtrcevpc


 * 180 EU / eff 1.8 / 1.12 Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4qzwrx7xdjj6q5gpwuybyqypqlq2fhjwlsb7i9l6m2gw

No Water


 * 140 EU / eff 1.75 / 1 cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4qynqwn2nef1fdnwrk01h5n4v5asqfdux8qsj7zg7hfk


 * 160 EU / eff 1 / 1.34 Cycles
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpj9rya63l1yvnlew3p81frw822zh30e1etj0030vk2p9ts

Breeder Reactors

~ Water cooled


 * Maximum Cell 1 Cycle Breeder (COLD)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixqt3cts1ygimb2uhxz2vzj7t6x9jf6qtljcntu24ydu2cxs

~ No Water


 * No heat gain/loss infinite 4 Cell Breeder (HOT)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?9101qiia11xpishk9m5teqhzms476xac3=101k1010114010101001019


 * No heat gain/loss infinite 3 Cell Breeder (HOT)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixqt3ctiufx1ma8sp9w6fam05sku91or4z2iscg8l1s6e5vk


 * No heat gain/loss infinite 22 Cell Breeder (HOT) (SUC), 60 eu/t
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixv1zzn6vtkuhzj7181hmiyj4ri5pry6q1box8gytp0if9j5

~ Mixed reactor (breeder/energy) http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixpo4r033u6ot1itudrwdadk90b0lvx6k0kydu1v3vjc2dz4
 * Water cooled / 70 EU / eff 1 / infinite Cycles || 4 Cell Breeder (HOT)


 * Ice cooled / 1524 EU / eff unknown / infinite Cycles || 24+ Cell Breeder (HOT)
 * cannot be simulated with the reactor planner, email thehairyrock@gmail dot com for the worldfile.
 * (a close approximation to each sub-reactor is http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?lbvjqqrqodcyzbc03tz121ipkp16pgkhqugobkiny7whce9s which is still impossible according to the simulator)

~ Ice Cooled


 * Negative Infinite Breeder (HOT, 172.3 cells, 130 EU) [nuclear heat monitor+inverter can turn off ice feed to keep system warm!]
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixtvclbnpyvshtvbc83sqlqxhdgvo7o0byqnklq3bqbqa334


 * Negative Infinite Breeder (HOT, 303.3 cells, 250 EU)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixtq7t8u6xzm0qi6bcrytbb9562hohpfilv6afa4ucwksz0g

 Ice Cooled Reactors 


 * Simple 590 EU Ice Cooled Infinite Reactor (No water needed, only ice!)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hiw5nvolk8gpb9z3332unparg5zxotsift8wxfmtj83d5r6tc


 * 820 EU Ice-cooled, 1-Chamber Infinite Reactor (No water needed, only ice!)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hiwfvt9zkiwclec07it3kau3c0jw0blycfviotme0bmvtqedc


 * 2070 EU Ice-cooled Infinite Reactor (Tutorial) (No water needed, only ice!)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixsfhu4qji1y7nlao7cpit8mnlvtkvi1svilci7skapuiybk

Water Bucket Cooled Reactor
 * 1860 EU Water bucket-cooled Infinite Reactor (Just get a pump and you dont need worry about having to get ice!)
 * http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/reactorplanner.html?hixsfhu4qji1y7rj28z5hw4gtj6063730jm2o2diy0quz30g0

Basics
This area is a quick-look reference for general information about reactors

A reactor can accept: Uranium cells, Depleted isotope cells, Water buckets, Lava buckets, Coolant cells, Integrated heat dispersers, Integrated reactor plating, and Ice.

Uranium cells: These provide the heat and the power. The closer together these are, the more heat and power there is.

Depleted isotope cells: They make heat (even if the reactor is turned off via redstone!), but not really any power. To recharge them, they require heat, not power.

Water/Lava: Reactors can be heated/cooled by this. This applies to both inside the reactor via buckets(or cells?) and also outside, flowing over the reactor.

Coolant cells: They do exactly what they sound like they do. NOTE: must be touching either a uranium cell or a heat disperser to accept heat.

Heat disperser: They disperse heat! While most effective very near uranium cells, they will accept heat anywhere in the reactor and distribute it to coolant cells or other heat dispersers. (actually they will attempt to balance the heat between the items surrounding it.)

Reactor plating: In theory, they will increase reaction by reflecting heat at other cells, and will take heat themselves to help cool the reactor. Not always considered necessary.

Ice: "The Ultimate Coolant"as long as you use a world anchor!!! Chunk loading mess up the Ice! Not as good as a coolant cell by total amount cooled since ice is burned up and coolant cells are not, but as far as heat control, an automatic ice feed will allow even the most dangerous of reactors to become stable and cool. (an ice feed from an energy condenser with an energy collector using a filter to send blocks of ice to the reactor is one way to do this)

Cooling
To cool a reactor, you can use ice, coolant cells, or water. Water cooling is a cheap way to control heat, but requires a lot of labor to keep water flowing into the reactor and still is not as effective as ice (as long as you use a World anchor, chunk loading will mess it up!).

External watercooling is cheap, easy, however it can cause problems if you need to work around the reactor with redstone and don't want accidental spills to destroy your stuff. Highly reccomended unless you are making a complex system! (especially with a thermal monitor!)

The way you arrange the coolant and uranium inside the reactor is very important, as it will directly effect how much heat your reactor is capable of mitigating.

Breeding
Breeder reactors are for those who want to use near-depleted uranium cells to turn into uranium cells.

Depleted isotope cells that are put right next to a uranium cell will slowly recharge. This takes a really, really long time. The more heat you have, the faster those cells wil charge. Arrangement of the stuff inside makes a difference, as does everything nuclear. (This is in reference to the charts above, which show how to place cells inside the reactor)

(NOTE: Uranium Ore has an EMC value, so this is not neccesarily the quickest to obtain uranium cells. Placing a single ore as the target of an Energy Condenser and processing the new items will provide results quicker but will leave you with remaining depleted cells (which are stackable but trash unless recharged)

Ways to protect your world
There are several ways to do this, so let's make a list:

+Forcefields: indestructible by all means (actually, they are vulnerable to a multi-nuke, but that's not a natural occurance!), just make sure the field surrounds on all sides and there are no blocks blocking the field, since a dirt block is infinitely weaker than the field that should be where that block is!

+Reinforced stone/glass/door: a shell of this stuff 2x thick will contain even the biggest boom! Also, tnt does nothing to it. Obsidian could be a cheaper alternative but it may take up to 5 layers of obsidian to encase the reactor to be very effective in any way, because of this it is greatly recommended to swap out obsidian for the reinforced stone/door/glass as soon as it is affordable.

 Note: Redmatter and Darkmatter blocks do not get destroyed, but they will not contain any explosion! (same with Trade-O-Mats and Personal Safes )

+Thermal monitor: Reactor components will contain up to 10000 heat, and will not melt down until 15000 heat (explodes at 16000, but monitors do not react immediately like your reactor will!), but don't push your luck. A thermal monitor will emit a redstone signal when it feels the heat of the reactor it is touching get to that temperature you set. Will turn off signal when it drops below set heat, and turn back on when it feels it again.

+Redstone: redstone power turns off a reactor, it stops it dead in its tracks! Using a thermal monitor, redstone power sent from the monitor back to the reactor using redstone will turn it off at a specific heat.

+Redundant cooling systems: If using ice or water, using more than you need is not a bad thing. Using too little, however, is. (Try piping excess back into your supply chest or condenser)

+All of the above: A smart player would use all of this to protect your world. Still, you may want to build it a bit away from your house!