Crafting Nuclear Fuel Rods and Operating the Reactor

guide

This guide details the process of creating nuclear fuel rods and operating the reactor within Create Nuclear. The mod introduces a nuclear system to Create, allowing for the generation of substantial energy. An optimized reactor can produce over eight million SU.

Preparing Reactor Fuel

To operate a reactor, you will need either Graphite Rods or Uranium Rods. Both are sticks used as input for the reactor. The process for creating Uranium Rods involves several steps.

First, Uranium Powder is mixed to produce Uranium. This Uranium is then used in a compacting recipe: 100 millibuckets of Uranium will yield Yellowcake.

Once you have Yellowcake, it needs to be enriched. The createnuclear:enriched process has two known recipes. One recipe involves transforming Yellowcake into Enriched Yellowcake. Another recipe within the createnuclear:enriched process is converting a Campfire into an Enriching Campfire. While the specific use of an Enriching Campfire is not detailed, it is part of the createnuclear:enriched system.

The Enriched Yellowcake is then used to create Uranium Rods.

Operating the Reactor

Reactors in Create Nuclear can be built in Tiers 1, 2, and 3, offering higher energy outputs and increased heat capacities. Operating a reactor requires careful management to prevent meltdowns. The mod also includes a coolant system, utilizing fluids like Nitrogen to help balance the reactor's heat.

When a reactor is assembled, you insert either Graphite Rods or Uranium Rods into its input to begin operation. Radioactive items, including fuel rods, emit ambient radiation. The mod provides an Iodine system and Anti-Radiation armor for protection against this radiation.

A reactor meltdown is a critical event that will trigger a large nuclear explosion, transforming the surrounding area into an Irradiated Land biome. Therefore, proper operation and heat management are crucial.

The fuel chain, start to finish

Both rods that go into a reactor have a full production line behind them, and neither is a single craft.

Uranium Rod, in order:

Crushed Raw Uranium crushes into 9 Uranium Powder
Uranium Powder mixes into 25 mb of Uranium
100 mb of Uranium compacts into Yellowcake
Yellowcake enriches into Enriched Yellowcake
Enriched Yellowcake mechanical-crafts into a Uranium Rod

Graphite Rod, in order:

Coal crushes into Coal Dust
Coal Dust presses into Graphene
Graphene plus a Steel Ingot mechanical-crafts into a Graphite Rod

Note the ratios buried in the middle of the uranium line: nine powder per crushed ore, twenty-five millibuckets per powder, and a hundred millibuckets per yellowcake. That is four powder to a yellowcake, so roughly one crushed uranium ore covers two.

Both rods do the same job

The game describes the Graphite Rod and the Uranium Rod identically: a stick "to be used in the reactor input to operate it". Graphite is the moderator and uranium the fuel, but mechanically both are inserted the same way.

The Reactor Blueprint is what arranges them — it lets you configure your own pattern and is filled with graphite and uranium rods by right-clicking.

Version warning

The two builds differ sharply. Smithing Transform carries 64 recipes on 1.20.1 and none at all on 1.21.1, crafting runs 104 against 63, and crushing 6 against 8. A guide written for one line will not match the other.

Covers the mod’s in-game guide topics: Graphite Rod Uranium Rod Enriched Yellowcake Yellowcake Uranium createnuclear:enriched

Enriched Yellowcake

Enriching Campfire Smithing Transform

Reactor Blueprint

Uranium Powder