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Fission Coolers

Coolers are the primary heat management components of a Fission Reactor. They are placed within the reactor structure to dissipate the massive amounts of thermal energy generated by fuel rods.

❄️ Types of Cooling

1. Passive Cooling

Every reactor has a small amount of passive heat decay. However, for industrial operation, dedicated cooler blocks are required. - Idle Cooling: When a reactor is turned off, active coolers still provide about 25% of their cooling capacity to bleed off residual heat.

2. Active Coolers

Active coolers provide significantly more cooling but often require specialized infrastructure. - Coolant Requirements: Many high-tier coolers require specific fluids (like Water, Sodium, or specialized Coolants) to be pumped into the reactor's Input Hatches. - Cooling Power (HU/t): Each cooler type has a specific Heat Unit (HU) capacity. If your total HU production from rods exceeds your total HU removal from coolers, the reactor temperature will rise.

🛠️ Cooler Tiers

Coolers are tiered (T1 to T5) based on the materials used to construct them: - T1 (Basic): Uses simple materials like Copper or Iron. Low cooling power, usually doesn't require fluid. - T3 (Advanced): Requires specialized alloys and a constant supply of liquid Sodium. - T5 (Ultimate): Utilizes exotic materials and "Supercoolant" fluids for extreme heat dissipation in high-tier reactors.

💡 Engineering Tips

  • Primary Cooler: The reactor identifies the most common cooler type in its structure as the "Primary Cooler." This determines which coolant fluid the reactor expects in its input hatches.
  • Redundancy: Always build in a 10-20% cooling overhead to account for fluctuations in fuel rod efficiency or temporary coolant supply interruptions.
  • Coolant Loops: Use Input/Output Hatches to cycle hot coolant out for reprocessing or secondary power generation (Steam/Gas turbines).