Mastering Factorio’s Nuclear Power: A Complete Guide with Blueprints

The main idea of Factorio is the development of a complex network for resource gathering, processing and transportation of products. The first stage of electricity generation is done in steam engines and later in solar panels. However, it comes to a point when you need a more powerful and more predictable source – nuclear (Factorio Power).

Nevertheless, setting up the Factorio nuclear power plant might be difficult for most players. In fact, there are many operations that are initially not clear to the player, from mining uranium and using sulfuric acid to create fuel cells and building large turbine arrays. In our comprehensive guide, we are going to make a complete and comprehensive explanation of every aspect, give a lot of blueprints and tips, as well as lead you practically through the process of becoming a nuclear energy master in Factorio.

Why Should You Go for Nuclear Power in Factorio?

Firstly, solar energy and steam engines are good choices in the beginning stage, but in the later stages, they become inefficient. Steam engines consume a large amount of space, and solar panels are not useful at night, and they take up a lot of space.

The main advantages of choosing Factorio nuclear power are the following:

1. Regular Power: It is available all the time and the supply is not affected by weather conditions as is the case with solar power.
2. Energy Density: A compact reactor setup can produce 40-160 MW and more, which is a lot more than a typical solar field can produce, and at the same time, it takes up little space compared to the solar panel arrays.
3. Low Pollution: The Pollution is minimum, which makes the evolution of the Biter enemy easier to control.
4. Expandable: It is easy to increase it with more reactors and new equipment.
5. Looks Cool: Who can deny the visual of steam coming from turbines that are powered by colorful reactors? This is not only satisfying but also super cool.

If one doesn’t go for a megabase establishment, having nuclear as a backup will guarantee that their factory won’t be paused, especially during the construction of big modules like, for example, rocket silos or massive train systems.

How Nuclear Power Works In Factorio

At the main Factorio nuclear power plants are the nuclear reactors that take uranium fuel cells and produce heat. In order to convert the heat, heat pipes take it to heat exchangers. Finally, the exchangers turn the water into steam that can rotate the turbines that produce electricity. 

The presented energy flow is as follows:

• Uranium Ore → Mined
• Uranium Ore + Centrifuge → U-235 + U-238
• Combine U-235 + U-238 → Uranium Fuel Cell
• Insert Fuel Cell into Reactor → Generates Heat
• Heat Pipes → Transfer Heat
• Heat Exchangers → Boil Water into Steam
• Steam Turbines → Produce Electricity

The procedure of nuclear energy is one of the most important steps of all. It is possible to prevent any invalidation step such as unsuccessful water or fuel providing. One of the things you can do is, for example, Cheap Factorio Server Hosting by which you will have a seamless gaming experience. The servers possess very high performance and are low in latency which means that you will be able to present your strategies and defenses without worrying about anything else. The main task of creating and making it work perfectly would be left in your Factorio server’s hands in the background so you could focus on these staying optimally productive.

Uranium Mining & Fuel Production

In the first place of nuclear energy, you are to mine uranium ore. The ore is typically green and can be found in patches.

Actions:

1. Electric mining drills will be used to pull out uranium ore.
2. It is mandatory to have sulfuric acid to be supplied on the miners to produce the ore.
3. Put the uranium in the centrifuge and you will get:
4. U-238 (the most common, looks less bright)
5. U-235, which is rare and looks extremely brilliant green

The next step is to make these into fuel cells. A fuel cell can work for 200 seconds and produce heat the whole time. At the outset you may run into a great shortage of U-235. Therefore, it’ll be wiser to unlock Kovarex enrichment later because this way you can solve the excessive U-238 problem and get more U-235.

The Kovarex Enrichment Process

One of the many things that can be unlocked through the tech tree is the Kovarex enrichment. Furthermore, this process which takes place at the end of the game, really has a drastic impact on your uranium efficiency.

The reason behind it:

• Uranium-235 (U-235) is scarce and the production time is longer.
• Kovarex allows you to switch U-238 (40 units) + U-235 (5 units) to 41 U-235, increasing your yield.

A proper advanced circuit setup can make this automation possible. To manage the centrifuge’s operation, use inserters, filters, and circuit wires that can help in turning it on when there is enough U-235 stored. Moreover, after this process becomes automatic, it will become impossible for you to be without fuel, no matter how energy-intensive your factory is.

A Simple Blueprint for 1-Reactor Nuclear Setup

The 1-reactor setup is recommended for beginners. Although it is the least power-efficient one, it is still easy to grasp.

Essential:

• 1x Nuclear Reactor
• 4x Heat Exchangers
• 8x Steam Turbines
• 4x Heat Pipes
• 1x Offshore Pump (for water)
• Inserters for fuel delivery

Projected Output: ~40 MW

Locate your heat exchangers near the reactor to minimize heat loss. Also, the best output is obtained by the direct connection of turbines to the exchangers. It is really easy to find 5 reliable blueprints in Factorio from sites such as factorioprints. After finding the blueprints, you should always try them out first in the sandbox mode before using in your real saves.

Advanced Reactor Grid Blueprint (4-Reactors)

Once the basics are comprehended it’s the moment for the scaling up. A 2×2 reactor grid is the best thing you can do for taking advantage of the neighbor bonuses. When the reactors are put next to each other they bring +100% additional heat, which in result makes them much more dynamic and efficient.

Recommendable Setup:

• 4x Reactors (2×2)
• 16x Heat Exchangers
• 28–32 Steam Turbines
• 20–30 Heat Pipes
• Fuel delivery via logistic chests or trains

From these resources about the design, the entire setup at an estimated 480 MW is suitable for the creation of megabases and rocket launching operations.

Safety & Automation Tips

In Factorio, you won’t see any situations having the potential of nuclear meltdowns (phew!), however, poor design can cause energy loss, overheating, or fuel waste. Easiness of use with automation can solve these problems.

Advice:

• Accumulators can play the role of power buffers, accumulating overly produced power.
• Return only that part of the fuel your accumulators have that is less than 20% of the capacity of the circuit by turning on and off the inserters.
• Locate buffer chests with a small amount of fuel cells so that the consumption does not result in excess.
• Constant combinators will be of much help when you are syncing multiple reactors at a time.

Along with it, alarms and those light bulbs that flash red when the power is insufficient can also be a part of the same system, which will be of dual benefit—aesthetic and functional.

How to Maintain a Balance Between Heat and Steam in Your Plant

Achieving the correct ratio is essential. More than enough turbines and not enough heat can keep your system weak.

Basic principle:

• 1 Heat Exchanger = 103 Steam/sec → powers 1.8 Steam Turbines

Therefore, for 1 reactor:

• Use 4 Exchangers
• Use 7–8 Turbines

Do not make use of very long heat pipe lines, because heat power reduces when we go away. It is suggested to put exchangers as near as possible to the reactor.

How to Power Nuclear Mega Bases

It is not an easy task to run a megabase that consists of thousands of assemblers, trains, bots, and defenses in Factorio without needing GW-level energy.

Approaches:

1. Construct nuclear plants to receive their uranium via train and have the outposts dedicated to each plant
2. Save your designs in blueprint books and use them to make standardized reactor blocks by a simple copy-paste process
3. Attach the requester chests to the U-235 transport logistics system so deliveries take place automatically
4. Keep excess steam in tanks for instances like fuel swap delays preventing a shutdown

With a couple of 4×4 reactor arrays, you can easily surpass 2–3 GW of power.

The Most Essential Factorio Nuclear Power Plans

There are 3 blueprints that you can find and make use of:

1. Compact 1-Reactor Starter Blueprint This is applicable for the early setups with an output of ~40 MW.
2. Mid-Game 2×2 with Circuit Automation This blueprint includes Kovarex, accumulator logic, and effective layouts.

Late-Game 4×4 Modular Nuclear Grid Full automation, logistic bots, circuit wire control, GW output.

Conclusion

Getting nuclear energy under control in Factorio is one of the major progress points in the journey of your factory. First of all, it may seem difficult, but after you’ve gotten the know-how. Extracting uranium, fabricating the fuel cells, dealing with heat exchangers and turbines—Factorio nuclear power becomes not only the most efficient but also the most powerful energy solution there can be.

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