Nuclear Fuel

#Summary Removes Kovarex process and replaces it with new technologies and recipes to create two fuel cycles to manage your nuclear power supply. U-235 is now only available through processing uranium ore in the centrifuge, at the standard 0.7% chance. In addition to U-238, reprocessing depleted uranium fuel cells now yields plutonium, which can be used to make more uranium cells (MOX fuel) or breeder cells. The MOX fuel cycle yields just enough plutonium from reprocessing its waste to regenerate its fuel supply, as long as additional U-238 is provided. The breeder fuel cycle produces a large plutonium surplus which can be used to produce nuclear weapons or produce more MOX to allow your nuclear industry to expand more rapidly than waiting for U-235 to trickle out of your centrifuges. Nuclear rocket fuel provides a minor sink for U-235 and plutonium if desired.

#Tech Progression

1. Nuclear power (Chemical science)

Fuel production is slow, as only uranium-235 from centrifuges is available to make cells with, and used up cells accumulate.

1. Nuclear fuel reprocessing (Production science)

10 depleted uranium cells can be reprocessed to recover some uranium-238 and 1 plutonium.

1. MOX fuel (Production science)

Plutonium can now be combined with U-238 to produce more fuel cells. Using this cycle allows a reactor to sustain operations without additional U-235, as long as additional U-238 is provided. Increasing the amount of fuel in circulation (or removing some plutonium for other purposes) still requires additional U-235 from centrifuges.

1. Plutonium breeding (Production and Utility science)

Breeder cells and breeder cell reprocessing consume plutonium and U-238 to produce more plutonium, analogous to how the Kovarex process produced U-235. A single reactor burning breeder cells non-stop takes 1000 seconds to consume 10 cells, which then yield 6 plutonium after reprocessing. After using 1 plutonium to create 10 new breeder cells, the surplus 5 plutonium is enough to make an additional full stack of breeder/MOX fuel cells. Or you could use all 6 plutonium to make an atomic bomb.

#Changes & Additions

####Nuclear Power

• No change from vanilla: 1 U-235 combined with 19 U-238 yields 10 uranium fuel cells.

####Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

• Reprocessing spent uranium fuel cells now produces 1 plutonium and 5 uranium-238 per 10 spent cells (the chance of receiving plutonium can be changed in the mod settings).

####MOX Fuel

• 1 Pu + 19 U-238 produces 10 uranium fuel cells.

####Plutonium Breeding

• 1 Pu + 9 U-238 produces 10 breeder fuel cells. These only provide half as much energy as uranium cells (can be changed in mod settings).

A lower energy value for breeder cells means shorter burn times and a faster reprocessing loop, increasing the speed at which plutonium is produced

• Reprocessing 10 spent breeder cells produces 6 Pu (this amount can be changed in the mod settings).

####Natural Uranium Processing

• Additional uranium ore processing recipe to quickly produce U-238 without extracting U-235
• Enabled by default, can be disabled in mod startup settings

####Nuclear Rocket Fuel

• A new technology to unlock nuclear rocket fuel, as Kovarex research is no longer used
• Also adds an alternative recipe using plutonium instead of U-235

####Atomic Bomb

• Atomic bombs can now be made using 6 plutonium, as well as the original recipe using 100 U-235. This makes it slow but still possible to produce nuclear weapons without operating reactors.

####Kovarex Enrichment Process

• Disabled by default, can be enabled if you want to use it alongside the breeder cycle, or as preparation for uninstalling this mod

#Settings

• Plutonium recovery chance: probability of recovering 1 plutonium when reprocessing 10 depleted uranium fuel cells (default: 100%). Reduce this if you don't want the MOX cycle to be self-sustaining on its own.
• Plutonium from breeder fuel reprocessing: amount of plutonium recovered when reprocessing 10 depleted breeder fuel cells (default: 6, min: 1, max: 10). Change this to adjust the rate at which the breeder cycle produces plutonium.
• Energy per breeder cell (GJ): gigajoules per breeder cell (default 4). 1 GJ powers a reactor for 25 seconds.
• Natural uranium processing: enables rapid processing of uranium ore into U-238 without extracting U-235 (enabled by default).
• Kovarex enrichment: re-enables Kovarex enrichment recipe and technology (disabled by default). Enable this setting and re-save your game before removing this mod.
• Plutonium biolabs: biolabs crafted using plutonium instead of U-235 (enabled by default).
• Plutonium captive biter spawners: captive biter spawners crafted using plutonium instead of U-235 (enabled by default).
• Reactor glow colour: colours reactor glow to match fuel type (enabled by default)

#Uninstallation

• Re-enable Kovarex process in the mod startup options
• Load and save your game
• Disable/remove this mod

#Credits Reactor fuel glow colour adapted from Bluetonium by S6X