Goonhub
08-20-2023, 09:02 AM
Right now, upgrading or experimenting with the nuclear reactor requires a source of materials, either from mining, from using the siphon, or from recycling construction materials. While wires and sheets can be reclaimed to make slightly worse copper and steel components, fuel rods have no easy substitute, and aspiring engineers will have to go well out of their way to get their hands on radioactive materials if mining can't (or won't) bring any in. This is not ideal, as the nuclear engine is entirely reliant on interdepartmental help to do anything other than the most basic setups.
My suggestion is to add an alloy that could be made from copper and ectoplasm and used as a less powerful fuel material. It would be noticeably worse than cerenkite, having lower density and radioactivity scores. However, both materials in its recipe can be acquired from the station (by reclaiming cables and from horrortastic cola), so engineers would have at least some options for upgrading the reactor on their own.
My main concern would be making radioactive materials much easier to access. Floor tiles and arrows are two potentially dangerous uses for this new material. However, the reduced radioactivity compared to cerenkite would make them significantly less dangerous, and if the alloy in question was typed as organic or similar it would need to be alloyed for those uses, which would lower the radioactivity even further.
My suggestion is to add an alloy that could be made from copper and ectoplasm and used as a less powerful fuel material. It would be noticeably worse than cerenkite, having lower density and radioactivity scores. However, both materials in its recipe can be acquired from the station (by reclaiming cables and from horrortastic cola), so engineers would have at least some options for upgrading the reactor on their own.
My main concern would be making radioactive materials much easier to access. Floor tiles and arrows are two potentially dangerous uses for this new material. However, the reduced radioactivity compared to cerenkite would make them significantly less dangerous, and if the alloy in question was typed as organic or similar it would need to be alloyed for those uses, which would lower the radioactivity even further.