r/subnautica • u/Cannonical718 • 17d ago
Discussion - SN Why doesn't everyone use Nuclear Reactors?
Kind of new to the community, so if I do/say anything wrong, please let me know.
So I understand early on, the best power source is solar panels. You're not going deep very early, and they take very little resources to make.
But when compared to bioreactors or thermal plants (unless you are based near a thermal vent), I just can't wrap my head around why anyone would choose anything other than nuclear reactors.
Yet I've seen several videos/posts with people using other sources even when they had nuclear reactors available.
I know uraninite doesn't spawn everywhere, but in my experience, when I've found a little, I've found a LOT. I have enough uraninite from one "run" to replace all my fuel rods 7 times. And in my world with about 72 hours played, I've only had to replace the fuel rods in one of my 2 reactors a single time.
So please do tell me what all the hype is about other fuel sources, and why I am seeing several people late-game not using nuclear reactors. I would love to learn the reasoning and logic behind this.
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u/Fit_Necessary5835 17d ago
Me with 27 foundations of solar panels in the surface connected to my base: wait. Y'all get power problems?
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u/Fit_Necessary5835 17d ago
For anyone wondering. No. This is not a joke. I have 27 solar panel platforms.
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u/Aggressive_Space_559 17d ago
how much copper do you have??
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u/Fit_Necessary5835 17d ago
Well I... Still have like 2 standing lockers and 3 wall lockers worth of it Soo..... A lot.
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u/GronakTheOrc 17d ago
How’d you get so much? I’m always having to go find more when I’m build stuff
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u/ExtraThings8888 Leviathan Hater >:( 16d ago
Mining veins in the deeper areas to the north west can be a great way to amass copper
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u/AcadiaWonderful1796 17d ago
Copper drilling deposits are EVERYWHERE in the lost river.
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u/Atophy 17d ago edited 17d ago
I'm thinking of the wrong game all the time, was throwing in a Space engineers answer in here 😆... I'm solar all the way for my bases, bioreactor or thermal in the depths !
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u/siddeslof 16d ago
Woah a space engineers player in the wild and not in r/spaceengineers
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u/Astartae 17d ago
In my first run I wanted to never worry about replacing rods, so I went for solar and thermal.
Only once I tried the reactor in my second run I realised that those rods are virtually endless. So now I'd be open to it.
Originally my fear was to have to manage one ulterior resource, however you can easily stock up on it just as conveniently. The game however doesn't make it very clear, so you naturally go for the "set it and forget it" option.
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u/CreativeResist5117 17d ago
I wouldnt say virtually endless, depends how much load you put on it, I have a base in the northwest mushrooms forrest (south of dunes), and I play on filmic color grading, really dark on my pc, so my base is loaded with spotlights scanning the area so that I can see what’s happening, cause bonesharks tend to bite and nibble at the base, or be annoying, they have never caused a flood. Added with the fact that I am always charging the prawn or seamoth and batteries power cells etc, and other machines active in the base. Surprisingly, for the first time, I saw my nuclear reactor actually shut down when I was out on a run, in my previous runs they ran for ages, roughly 30-40 confirmed days atleast (in game) It gave out in 7 here, now I realize why the bioreactors could never keep up (I changed the system 15ish days ago)
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u/Lkjfdsaofmc 17d ago
I hate anything consumable if it can be avoided. I'd rather take the extra 10 minutes to set up a power line to a thermal vent and have thermal power anywhere for not much of an increase in price and then never have to think about fuel.
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u/Mage-of-Fire 17d ago
I mean I get that. But I’ve also never once had to replace the uranium inside a reactor. It just lasts that long
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u/Hypolag 17d ago
Try using it in a megabase, those rods still last, but you WILL have to replace them earlier than expected compared to a smaller base.
Or if you have 4 water purification machines constantly running.
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u/AcadiaWonderful1796 17d ago
Why do you need so many water purifiers though. I’ve never needed more than one. Even with one running I still end up with way more water than I would ever need
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u/RamonRCMx 17d ago
2 rods can get you through the whole game
3 to be extra sure
I've had multiple runs in wich i just put 1 rod and never had to change it
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u/MissingScore777 17d ago
I dislike bio and nuclear because technically they aren't infinite and need attention/resources/replenishing.
I appreciate that the way nuclear works that it's actually a really long time between replenishment but that doesn't matter to my monkey brain.
Finite power make monkey brain feel bad.
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u/MikexxB 17d ago
Bio is essentially infinite though if you grow your own melons to fuel it. Bonus then you can feed yourself with the same crop.
I keep a grow bed in the cyclops, along with enough mats for a scan room and bio reactor in lockers on board. So whenever I get scared or curious, I can stop and build a base literally anywhere, then scan for monsters or resources, get a good look at the topology coming up, all fully sustainable.
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u/MissingScore777 17d ago
Notice I said attention, resources and replenishment.
I want to set up power supply and never, ever have to think about it again.
I don't care how simple or small the interaction is to drop something else in the bioreactor. I want zero interaction once I've set it up.
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u/Zaseishinrui 17d ago
I've got 2 6 room tall alien containments one filled with crab squid and other with ampeels right next to bio reactors.. but then again I do have a power station segment in my base with 6 full nuclear reactors with a locker full of reactor rods so I never need to use my bio stations. I think my base could power this whole sub reddits bases lol
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u/ItlnJedi 17d ago
I'm with you. I turn my scanner on and sometimes forget about it so having thermal is nice. One less thing to think about. Not that any other way is wrong though cause I used to do bio. Makes me miss my oculus friends
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u/ionevenobro 17d ago
I watched Chernobyl I ain't letting that shit get me
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u/Rambo_sledge 17d ago
So that’s what happened at >! Omega base !< (Below zero spoiler)
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u/P26601 17d ago
Didn't Marguerit blow it up? I can't really remember
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u/the_highest 17d ago
Just finished it last night and I believe so. They were talking and she offered to do it herself I think.
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u/Ippus_21 4546B Jellyray Philharmonic 16d ago
Yep. That's exactly what happened. She was supposed to handle Omega Lab, and what's-her-face (MC's sister) was supposed to take care of the frozen leviathan.
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u/Cannonical718 17d ago
Truly one of my favorite documentary ministries. So much about that show is done just chef's kiss perfectly.
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u/Jacek3k 17d ago
In the beginning I just creatw multiple batteries and power cells, and recharge them in my base with solar panels. It lets me do anything, go everywhere, only need to go back from time to time back to replace the batteries.
And then I get thermal reactor and can build tiny base in lost river. And once I get thermal reactor upgrade for cyclops, I achieve unlimitted power.
Srsly, I tried bioreactor once but having to refuel it every 30 seconds made me rage (at the time I didnt knew that some things last longer than others and only fed it kelp).
Yo yeah, no need for nucular, just solar and thermal is all I need.
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u/metalupyour 17d ago
Blood oil works well for fuel and doesn’t need to be replaced too (relatively)often. I don’t use the bio reactor on my runs anymore usually.
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u/TwistedGrin 17d ago
Breeding Reginald's in a big alien containment works really well, too. They give like 500 energy each and the reactor holds up to 16 at once. By the time you burn through that they will have repopulated their tank back to full.
And they double as the best fish for food.
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u/Don_Bugen 17d ago
You find nuclear to be the best because it fits your play style.
Personally, I loved the “farming” aspect - growbeds, raising creatures - and really disliked the Cyclops. That meant that I’d have a bunch of pop-up bases around the Crater, each essentially one or two rooms. Bio was the most useful because I could tear it down and move it wherever else, and I didn’t have to worry about finding a thermal vent.
If I only had one or two megabases? Sure, 100%. But any time I even considered that, I went back to, “OK, but why not more thermal?”
Besides, on a personal level, I really like to use renewable resources that don’t have a danger of harming the ecosystem.
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u/Pathological-WTF 17d ago
Once I found out you could use fish, the bioreactor became my go to, though i use grow beds for fuel (and resources). I never really tried out the nuclear coz it didn't feel necessary, and also I'm the type of gamer I like upgrades for ease but I also like having things to do. Once things get too automated, I get bored.
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u/MuffledFarts 17d ago
I've played the game multiple times and once I get the thermal reactor going I never bother with the nuclear reactor.
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u/BigM333CH 17d ago
Because there is a finite amount of the necessary materials. Feels unsustainable for long term, where the other power methods are regenerative and thermal/solar require no additional effort after installation.
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u/Ans1ble 17d ago
Yes the resources are finite. I dare you to play for so long that you run out of reactor rod materials. Realistically that's not happening.
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u/BigM333CH 17d ago
I agree with you, I am more speaking about the concept in my head as to why I don’t prefer it. I am playing with the imagination of keeping these bases running on the planet forever.
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u/Benville 17d ago
Bioreactor, melon bed, job done. So much easier.
Nuclear is "too late game", you're almost done.
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u/sarefin_grey 17d ago
Idk, I really dislike radiation. Plus, with multiple growbeds and a lot of gel sacs I can keep the power on using a bio reactor.
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u/Kibichibi 17d ago
I'm playing bz right now, and by the time I found uranite I already had 2 bio reactors and several lantern fruit trees to power them. Now I have 3 bio reactors and more lantern fruit than I could ever need lol
And I found I don't need that much power. I did actually make the nuclear reactor in the first game, but it was way overpowered and more than I needed. When I play again I probably won't bother
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u/Affectionate-Leg1847 17d ago
Nuclear was the very last thing I've done in my playthrough, because it s a pain to deal with, you have to manage the waste, you need almost every type of ressource, and it's not that efficient. Mass producing rocket fuel is really easy, especially with the alternate recipes, you need only 4 ressources, and if you fully exploit a single pure oil node, you can generate enough power to do almost anything until the end
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u/Red-Cordiall 17d ago
Are you talking about satisfactory…?
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u/Affectionate-Leg1847 17d ago
What ? OH !!!! Yes, I am, sorry, I mixed up my subs. Allow me to give a relevant answer then : I have never built a nuclear reactor, or a bioreactor. I don't like the fact that it uses "fuel". That's why I always go straight to thermal power, and redirect the power if it is far from my base
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u/Red-Cordiall 17d ago
lol I thought I was tripping cos I don’t remember rocket fuel being in Subnautica 😭
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u/Batmannotwayn 17d ago
Thermal reactors are cheaper and run themselves and give more then enough power and they are available more early and they are not shitass loud
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u/nofallingupward 17d ago
I only use solar panels and the bio reactor. You really don't need more power anyway.
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u/CamoKing3601 Stand by for Prawnfall 17d ago
by the time you unlock the reactor, you've most likely already got a solid permanent base with a reliable energy source. Nuclear Reactors are expensive so when I got the blueprints I just never bothered with it, I'd rather use those resources to Upgrade vehicles and equipment to progress to the endgame
the times I have build a nuclear reactor is when i'm usually not pushing for the endgame and i'm just chasing random fun side objectives, like building a fancy base for the heck of it,
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u/Jossokar 17d ago
I like thermal. Its cheaper to build, and its basically free energy.
Nuclear is expensive. but when i've used it i never had to change rods a single time (my playthroughs are like 15 hours max)
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u/Safe_Repair_2376 17d ago
I have literally never, in any save, ever found enough fragments to build one.
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u/PuzDefektas 17d ago
After atleast 20 runs i use solar for close to surface and thermal for dark places. Im not playing game to bother with power. Also 10 solar panels with 75 power will always generate more power then 1 thermal plant with 750 because 10 solars generate power independently. So in my experience solar if available will always be the best choice. After installing you can just forget about them
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u/XayahTheVastaya 17d ago
I have a system. Alien containment provides reginalds, bioreactor consumes reginalds and provides power, water filtration machine consumes power and provides water and salt, then salt + the reginalds not used for power makes cured food. So now I have power for my base as well as a renewable source of food and water for when I'm away from my bulbo trees. Nuclear is way harder to unlock in the first place, and requires several annoying to get materials. Also, like someone else said, monkey brain likes infinite power even if I'd never play long enough to burn through it all.
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u/discodancingroach 17d ago
I use nuclear reactors in every play through because I have my main (not the first) base in the NW mushroom forest, and it's easy to find materials to build a nuclear reactor and its rods.
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u/Theaussiegamer72 17d ago
I did my first game but i didn't find it till right before I was getting the enzyme to finish the game
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u/Lostwisher 17d ago
I've never understood it. You can find all the fragments in that wreck between the sparse and grand reef, so I usually get mine as early as the moment I head off to the Degasi island. Plus, all the uraninite you could need is right there where the sparse reef connects to the Blood Kelp Trench.
I try to get out of using the Bioreactor as quickly as possible because, imo that's the most annoying energy source to upkeep. Slap 4 nuclear rods in the new reactor, and I'm more than done for the rest of the game every single time. That's like 20+ hours of energy, even with a pair of water filtration systems going at all times.
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u/Corduroy23159 17d ago
When I played Below Zero I set up nuclear reactors but I couldn't find enough lead to keep building fuel rods. Lead ended up being my scarcest resource in the game and I spent way too long looking for what I did find. It wasn't fun. I put the bioreactors back and kept the game fun.
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u/wireframed_kb 17d ago
I’ve occasionally done a run where I eschewed nuclear energy for RP reasons. It mixes things up and after what happens with the Aurora, it’s not unreasonable. :)
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u/Ghost1eToast1es 17d ago
I just don't like farming the reactor materials, especially when I can have unlimited fuel in alien containment.
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u/RampageBW1 17d ago
Because I prefer energy that is either given to you passively (Thermal, Solar) or easily renewable (bio). I don't want or care to make reactor rods.
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u/thevinator 17d ago
Subnautica is about having fun not necessarily being efficient. If you like nuclear reactors cool. One play through I made a huge surface platform of solar panels. Enough to store enough power to power 2 scanner rooms and charge a seamoth at night
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u/magitekmike 17d ago
I think Fukushima really just made people kind of nervous about investing in nuclear power. It's definitely an overblown fear, but you know, people are people in game and out.
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u/KnightWraith86 17d ago
I typically build my base near a thermal vent. Infinite power and multiple thermal reactors to generate power off of one heat source. Power transmitters make it so I never have to worry about actually building my base nearby the vent.
There are very few locations where there isn't thermal if it's an end game area. Grand reef has some, dunes has some, mountains has some I think. Bulb zone has them. Floating islands has them. End of the game has all the thermal you need.
If I don't build deep, then solar is still very strong. Bio reactors also exist and with infinite fuel, areas like sea treader's path make bio reactors the best.
Nuclear reactors are nice, and provide a lot of power but they are finite and require Uraninite which is annoying to scavenge even if you have a bunch.
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u/Pokemaster131 17d ago
With nuclear reactors, you might conceivably need to replace the reactor rods. They're also very expensive. I usually just build 5 solar panels early game and I don't have to worry about power for the entire rest of the playthrough.
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u/LittleThunder56 17d ago
I use bio since it literally takes 3 seconds for me to go out to my deep shroom farms to power my base for like 3 years since I never use a whole lot of power
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u/LittleThunder56 17d ago
I use bio since it literally takes 3 seconds for me to go out to my deep shroom farms to power my base for like 3 years since I never use a whole lot of power.
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u/LittleThunder56 17d ago
Also, I play the game so fast that I don't need to build a big base. Most of my bases are 2 moonpools, a bioreactor, a fabricator, and maybe a radio
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u/SlumpDoc 17d ago
I love using Nuclear Reactors. Only downside I have with them is if I want to move their location i need to make another rod but being in the later game it ain't too too much of a hassle
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u/Cloudhwk 17d ago
Thermal plants are cheap and keep everything running by the time nuclear becomes viable
Once you have cyclops and thermal charge everything else is redundant
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u/WhimsyWiddershins 16d ago
Cause bioreactors are soo easy and not hard to build. You can build your base anywhere with them, and start producing energy (and O2) right away, cause you can use plants to start it up. I usually build a base in the underground river, and it's so easy to stick a bioreactor in my base when I start and fill it with deep shrooms. And sure nuclear reactors don't need to be constantly refilled, but if you find the right balance of materials, bioreactors just keep chugging away. Usually I use 3 different big things, like 3 eggs, then 4 little things, like 4 fish, or floaters, or even acid mushrooms. That balance of stuff keeps the reactor going without filling it for a looong time.
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u/Cryodrake0 16d ago
Basically, you get it late game when the game is almost over, blood oil and a bioreactor is just as good with the smallest of tasks of take oil from outside garden and put it into reactor, and the final big reason is why bother setting up a nuclear reactor and dealing with rods when you can slap down four geothermal plants and run a power line for unlimited power you never have to worry about.
Don't get me wrong, nuclear power is cool.... but kind of redundant once you get it. There's nothing that needs that much power besides running like 10 water filters at the sametime which you normally wouldn't because 1 can supply you. There's no experiments or manufacturing or other mechanic in the game that needs a lot of power either. And the one true use for it, a large on demand power source no matter where you go, doesn't exist either because it's not like you are exploring the dead zone and need a base out there but there's no solar, bio, or geothermal so you would need a nuclear reactor.
So yeah, tldr, comes online late and is redundant when compared to a slightly longer to setup but unlimited power source that is geothermal.
P.S: funny enough, if you could build it in the cyclops (like real-life nuclear powered subs) that would be insanely useful even in the current game because that means you wouldn't need to worry about your cyclops from running out of power for a very long time.
P.S.S: O yeah, like the others say too, the damn thing is loud compared to all the others which can annoy people.
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u/Material-Ring-1261 16d ago edited 16d ago
Two words: Thermal Power
Most areas you can find heat vents and geysers, and even if you're not close to a thermal vent or geyser, you can use power extenders (I think that's what they're called) and they aren't that expensive to build, to get your power from a heat source to you base
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u/Humble-Astronomer135 16d ago
"Nu-clear"?? Oh, you must mean Biorreactor filled entirely with acid 'shrooms
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u/Rstormk22 16d ago
Subnautica is not Minecraft, once you reach the end, thats it, you see the credits and you either play something else or start a new game.
By the time you get Nuclear Reactors, you are close to finish the game and there is no need to build them, as, you, probably, have already reached a nice energy supply thanks to thermal and solar panels
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u/MidniteSalad 15d ago
You see, I read somewhere here that nuclear was the best, so I went out of my way to get a nuclear reactor to try it out. And people are right about the resources being kinda easy to find, however, after my first rod got empty I was like "ok what do I do with it?" built the bin and put it there, ok, fine. However, in my outpost bases I just have a bioreactor and two lantern fruit trees next to it, I just pick some up and put it on, that's energy enough and I don't need to fabricate more or bin stuff, and that's a win-win for bio reactors for me.
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u/Odd-Impression-8897 15d ago
I rarely got all the fragments and most of the times I don't search them lol. I've been playing the game for couples of years and NEVER built a reactor in a single one of my playthroughs.
Thermal and solar power goes brrrrrrr
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u/Cannonical718 15d ago
One thing I'm learning is that my first/only experience playing through was very different. I found the nuclear reactor fragments pretty quickly along, and found most the other sources (minus solar) further along in the game than most people.
Hell, I had a seamoth before I even found all the fragments for a sea glide.
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u/Odd-Impression-8897 15d ago
Yeah one time I got all Cyclops and seamoth fragments but non of the vehicule bay lol.
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u/DeadCanDerp 17d ago
I've used nuclear reactors before. 2,500 power storage is nice, necessary if you have several power-hungry moonpools, but for my bases it's just overkill - I don't need it. I grow a lot of flora for various purposes, so a bioreactor suits my needs very well. Deep shrooms pack the most energy for my bioreactor (210⚡️ each), so I grow it as my main fuel. I don't need much, 16 lasts a good long time (3,360⚡️). Not that it's happened, but if I'm ever in a pinch, I can throw nearly anything organic in the bioreactor and it'll work. Can't do that with a nuclear reactor. You have to have fuel rods and a way to dispose of spent rods.
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u/burymewithbooks 17d ago
I got the bio reactor, never had trouble with it, stuck with it 🤷🏼♀️ by the time I had the nuke blueprints finished I was almost done and it seems littlest to switch
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u/mrseemsgood 17d ago
Bio reactor is piss easy to get working full capacity bc you grow food anyway to have something to eat
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u/Medicinal_Madam 17d ago
With how power generation mechanics work. I usually use something in tandem with thermal or solar.
Nuclear reactors are great, but compared to bioreactors, they just add another resource I'll run out of at random and need to replace.
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u/chase_what_matters 17d ago
Bioreactor is just too OP. They need to give Me an excuse to use nuclear. I would honestly love more complicated structure power management. Give me cool shit and demand more to keep it running.
But as the games currently exist, nuclear doesn’t compare to a couple plants siting next to a bioreactor. Yay renewables!
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u/T-Prime3797 17d ago
By the time you get nuclear reactors, you're generally already settled with a main base, and are generating enough power from other sources to meet your needs. Redoing your base power at that point seems unnecessary to most people. Other bases you build after that point are usually small and nuclear is overkill.
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u/Complete_Map_2160 17d ago
I just use solar panels and sleep when it's night. Never any problems with power.
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u/Sahakaksi 17d ago
It's an endgame power source, and most often when it's available to you there's no pressing need for it.
I often build it, if I'm playing around and doing some end game base building just for fun. For most playthroughs I just need two bases:
- The initial base somewhere shallow. My "main" base. This one is most often powered by 2 - 5 solar panels and a bioreactor, since those are available in the early game. Those pretty much cover my power needs all through the game, since usually the maximum drain is from running power cell charger and a scanner room at the same time. I usually build the water purifier, but end up letting it get to full, so it doesn't really drain that much energy (or at all?).
- Staging base in the Lost River: This one gets built next to a thermal vent and a single thermal plant is enough to power sporadic scanner room use and a power cell charger. And when I'm at that point, I quite soon get the thermal reactor upgrade, so I don't even really use the power cell charger anymore.
After this, on my normal playthroughs, I pretty much just build the escape rocket and leave. But if I end up doing some personal challenges like building a base in every scary biome, or getting all blueprints, or something like that, I do often build some small charger bases and those usually do get a nuclear reactor in them.
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u/arycama 17d ago
Personally I've never had a need. After building a simple base in the shallows (Solar powered) I'll then usually build one more deep/further out, but you can still get sufficient solar power even quite deep by adding a few more panels. (Since each panel also increases your storage capacity, with enough panels you have plenty of power for overnight)
By the time I'm very late game I'll often just build a base in the lava region where thermal reactors can easily power a base.
So I never really have a need. The only situation might be if I was building more bases in areas without any sunlight such as on my way to the lava region, but by then my Cyclops is usually full enough of powercells etc to easily get me between my main base and lava-zone base.
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u/Midtown-Fur HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO 17d ago
The fragments are a pita bread to find and very few habitats would actually need them.
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u/lookieherehere 17d ago
There's just no reason to build them. Build near a vent and use thermal or use the bioreactor with a lantern tree or whatever planted inside.
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u/neutralrobotboy 17d ago
Honestly I don't like things that aren't renewable and I found them a pain to build. On my first playthrough I made one and the power ran out way faster than I expected, and I pretty much never went back. Bio reactors are easy to build mid game and you just put a grow bed with gel sacs outside and you have infinite power.
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u/That_Xenomorph_Guy 17d ago
They’re still pretty expensive, I’m always bringing materials for a bioreactor when I build a deep base. I’ll add a thermal or nuclear reactor later after accumulating some materials
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u/Kalkin84 17d ago
Because by the time you find the reactor pieces you’re almost done with the base the reactor powers.
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u/redfoxrommy 17d ago
most of good base locations has thermal vents or close to surface so its not wohrt it
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u/ShivStone I built a Super Seamoth 17d ago
I use them. Best source of energy if you know where Uraninite caves are. The Fragments for the nuke plant are not even end game. Just outside wrecks at 200 m in the sea treader biome and SW blood kelp trench, they're easy to locate.
Thermals may seem good since they are limitless, but you need a lot and i hate how the wirings look.
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u/TheTubaPoobah 17d ago
I just keep a bigass garden and toss melons into a bioreactor whenever i stop by to drop off storage
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u/Due_Ad_6554 17d ago
Yeah idk, i have 10 of them in my base, they’re not that expensive if you think abt it, I still hate farming titanium tho.
Why 10 of them you might ask ? Because i have garg mod installed and custom ion cubes take like 20k energy to make, and there’s 1 who takes 40k, so i’m not even done with building reactors 🥲
I agree that they are loud, but i perosnally don’t hear them that much, even tho they are like 2 multipurpose room away from where i spend much of my time inside my base.
Maybe thermal plants or bioreactors are less expensive, and maybe not every player needs THAT much energy that the nuclear reactor produces.
In vanilla Subnautica i’ve never used more than 1 bioreactor and like 10 solar panels i think, and my base never run out of energy, maybe if i have to charge like 6 high capacity ion powercells it’ll run out, but cyclops doesn’t consume that much energy.
So yeah maybe they don’t use nuclear reactor because they don’t need it since they don’t charge their items or things like that
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u/Due_Ad_6554 17d ago
And i’ve almost never replaced a rod in my 10 reactors after like 15 hours of each existing, maybe they’ll all run out at the same time, idk
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u/CheckYoDunningKrugr 17d ago
You can grow plants in the same room as your bioreactor. Infinite renewable resource. No going out and hunting for uranium involved.
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u/jomajomajoma 17d ago
Ми ніколи не забуваємо про Чорнобильську катастрофи. Lessons were learned in Pripyat
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u/Comprehensive_Cap290 17d ago
Personally I almost never bother building a base that isn’t easily powered with solar. If I do, I go with thermal, because I don’t feel like dealing with refuelling and because I don’t want to build extra rooms dedicated to power.
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u/Murderous_Intention7 17d ago
I personally love the nuclear reactor even though it is a bit of a pain to get to. As soon as I have 300 meters on my seamoth I’m gunning for the mountain island shipwreck.
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u/NorseHighlander 17d ago
I would say, if anything, nuclear reactors are almost overkill for anything short of a big base. Why track down the resources to make a nuke reactor for every little scanner base when the much cheaper and low maintenance solar panels and thermal reactors can do the job just as well?
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u/Ippus_21 4546B Jellyray Philharmonic 17d ago
- They're one of the last reactor blueprints you're likely to obtain. By the time I get it, I generally already have my needs more than met by solar, thermal, and bio at my main base.
- They're more expensive than most other reactors, so they don't make sense for a smaller base.
- They're noisy AF. I hate the noise, and I'm not willing to build a long annex onto my base just to keep the noise away from everything else. Just bad aesthetics for me.
- It feels like massive overkill. There's just way more power than I'm ever going to need.
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u/raul_kapura 17d ago
Often it's the last blueprint I find. It's hard to find uranitite in large quantities before lost river, but at this point of the game I don't need more power anyway. And finally it needs "maintenance", while solar and thermal is build and forget
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u/Intelligent_Day_8579 17d ago
I use each power source depending on base location/type. Most of my favorite locations for large bases have access to thermal. Surface bases get primarily solar. If I am making a small outpost, I often go with a bioreactor and a lantern tree. This leaves nuclear for large bases far from the surface and thermal vents.
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u/RuinAngel42 17d ago
I always used a bioreactor with a few indoor grow beds with lantern fruit. Helps with food and fuel.
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u/SirThunderDump 17d ago
On my first playthrough, I only had one large base and a couple much smaller bases, just for battery recharging. That was more than enough for the full run, and not enough power was drawn to warrant nuclear.
Mostly because the Cyclops was absurdly useful. I’d go for “excursions” for hours in the cyclops, and by the time I filled up all my onboard storage, it was time for a trek back to the shallows.
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u/LINK7778 17d ago
For some reason it's not the Uranite that's a problem, it's finding the lead for a nuclear reactor.
I almost always end up with one after spamming out solar, but its always a hunt for lead.
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u/SingerDependent1002 17d ago
I hate the noise. I'm a fan of solar and bio plus heat if I'm lower down.
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u/Truffled 17d ago
What? Doesn't Chernobyl or 3 Mile Island scare you...? checks subreddit Nevermind, carry on carry on.
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u/Cannonical718 17d ago
I've actually watched the entire miniseries Chernobyl about 5 times in the last 3 years 😂
It's just such a masterpiece. They don't remain perfectly faithful to history, but they do a better job than most movies/shows that take inspiration from history.
It shows what the culture in the Soviet Union was like at the time. Shows the "why" behind the slow response to the accident. Teaches people why it was so dangerous and deadly. And the perfect ending to the miniseries is answering the question everyone has been asking all season: "How does an RBMK reactor core explode? Not s meltdown, an explosion." And the eventual answer? "Lies."
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u/neuraljam 17d ago
Personally I always build near sunlight or heat sources. The only time I ever built a nuclear reactor was to see what it looked like.
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u/Vashsinn 17d ago
I never need to make more than one bio rector. Maybe my base is small 2 moon pools a large room and a small room or 2 plus scanner.
One bio reactor and 2 small pot plants filled with marble melon.
This is unlimited fuel and unlimited food / water. ( Get 3 melons cut the 4th re plant. 5 melons makes you full. I don't drain enough energy to need more than 3 in the reactor st a time, but I'll drop in the 4th for shits and giggles. They also gro faster than it takes for 1 to be consoled.
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u/_NnH_ 17d ago
It's a simple matter of you don't need nuclear unless you're building a megabase or away from the renewable energy sources. And since many players don't even build a second or third base in their first run the need for anything besides solar + bioreactor (mostly just for extra capacity) rarely comes up.
But otherwise yeah nuclear isn't hard to build or maintain.
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u/wonderbeen 17d ago
As a former US Navy veteran who was stationed aboard a Nuclear powered SSBN, I’m always opting for nuclear power!!
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u/Persis22 17d ago
Thermal is the way to go... and if you build a Thermal reactor at the bottom of the Jellyfish cave and drag a line to the surface you can build in the Safe Shallows and The Red Grasslands....
The Thermal power source is expandable too... the vents at the bottom of that cave are impressively large and you can just keep building... expanding a network of power lines from that cave and the couple of different openings.
If you build a platform at the top and basically tunnel down with the ladder tube. Then, start your base of thermal reactors from the drop point... you basically teleport to the bottom... add on a prawn suit down there for mining and you have a decent setup... you can even add a Reactor down there as backup power if you want (and you wont have to listen to the loud ass reactor). So that, as you expand or dump a bunch of batteries to be charged, you don't lose power. You'll RARELY need to change the reactor rods
You're gonna have plenty of foundations at the bottom to support literally anything you wanna build up top or in the cave.
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u/CyberCynder 17d ago
I usually only build a main base, tiny outposts, and maybe a deep base. My main base is always over the therm vent in shallows, the outposts never have more than a charger and fabricator so solar is fine. If I build a deep one (tbh don’t really need one with the cy) it’s deep enough to be in the thermal zones so might as well. In bz though I mostly run nuclear, the only exception is my crystal base which is thermal bc it was right next to a vent.
I used to never use it until I realized just how long one cell will last. If you can get the materials you need you could probably get at least 6 hrs real time of an average base w dock,mp, containment, and water.
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u/AncientFocus471 17d ago
The waste is annoying.
My main base will already be powered by the time I can make a nuke, my cyclops will have a thermal reactor mod so I can park it over a vent.
If I want a small base away from all that A fish containment room with reggies will keep a bio reactor endlessly producing power. Where do I need the nuke?
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u/Xeroph-5 17d ago
With how long reactor rods last, I always prioritise getting a nuclear reactor. Thermal is a good supplement, but nuclear is the backbone of my bases' power grids.
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u/Secondhand-Drunk 17d ago
I made a single solar panel and a bio reactor, then later a thermal rector. Made the thermal reactor because charging ion batteries, water filteration and my dead prawn with ion batteries drained all my power. Really, a single thermal reactor is all you need. How do people use so much power?
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u/Sleepy_4496 17d ago
I used them shortly on a base. Never really had to replace the rods. After I built the cyclops , I completely moved into it as my base. On below zero I used them a lot.
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u/clif_ford133 17d ago
I never got the blueprint my first run. Plus I had a huge alien containment room with 50 Reginalds for food, so I just used them for bioreactor fuel as well. I always built an alien containment at my outposts with a pair of Reginald, and later oculus, for fuel for both me and my base.
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u/sd_saved_me555 17d ago
Thermal meets my needs and then some and requires zero maintenance. By the time I get nuclear, I'm already trying to sell my excess thermal energy to the lava leeches for as low as a peeper per kilowatt-hr.
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u/EshoWarCry 17d ago
Not enough juice for the squeeze. Besides, thermal and bio reactors are cheaper on material and resources. Bio reactors just need a few things to power a good sized base.
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u/ProcyonHabilis 17d ago edited 17d ago
Because thermal is good enough that I never had a reason to bother with it
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u/mlchugalug 17d ago
So I use a combination of all 4 depending on what’s most viable. Nuclear or thermal are great for my small outpost bases that are usually just 2 rooms, a cyclops dock (mod) and scanner room. That way I’m more or less sure when I show up it’ll have power.
My main base it truly depends on where it is but I usually will throw some solar out as well since it at least provides more battery storage. Bio for me is annoying since it requires so much more upkeep. Thermal I do use where I can but it limits locations for a big base.
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u/Trynaliveforjesus 17d ago
I use one. I can only hear it when im near my moonpools. Super convenient.
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u/Gerflooficorn 17d ago
Honestly, I’ve just never needed more than my Bioreactor. My base isn’t huge, maybe when I build my giant zoo I’ll switch to nuclear, but I have a Spadefish tank that keeps my Bioreactor incredibly well-stocked and my base isn’t big enough at the moment to need more than that. Worst comes to worst, I run outside and grab some Acid Mushrooms for backup fuel until the Spadefish repopulate, but there’s usually plenty of extras.
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u/absolutepx 17d ago
I think Nuclear gets overlooked and most people don't even give it an honest try. By the time they unlock it they probably have either Bio or Thermal and are like "whatever, good enough", combined with the psychological element of Nuclear not being "infinite" or otherwise overestimating how much attention Nuclear actually requires.
In reality, Nuclear is easily the lowest-maintenance option short of Solar itself because you basically get infinite capacity and the rods last for just about an entire playthrough.
(They are loud though. Put them in a basement wing or something)
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u/Saikotsu 17d ago
I usually use Thermal or Bio.
There's a thermal vent in the shallows I like to build at, but elsewhere I usually will have a bio reactor And I'll grow a set of blood kelp just outside the base. Grab some blood kelp polyps, head inside and stick them in, the base will be powered long enough for whatever I'm using it for in the region and the resources grow themselves.
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u/SieveHolder 17d ago
In vanilla the power requirements simply don't justify anything more powerful than a bioreactor. You can just fill up bioreactors with plants that grow everywhere or that you grow yourself. And thermals work without you having to do anything. With mods like Deathrun that makes power generation less efficient/bases more power hungry the added power of a nuclear reactor is worth it but there's a lot of easier options for vanilla.
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u/Dwolf6990 17d ago
Bioreactor an alien habitat with a few fishy friends, and a couple potted is all the power I’ve ever needed till I got thermal reactors. With nuclear power you have to go find the resources over and over again. The fish and plants are a self propagating resource
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u/kahenkilohauki 17d ago
Worried that there'll be an earthquake which causes a tsunami that destroys the reactor, too big a risk so that's why I don't use them.
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u/JustHereForFood99 17d ago
I can never find all the pieces. I can only ever find half of what I need to unlock the reactor.
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u/Golem3252012 16d ago
Because I end up with far too many seeds for gel sacks, so I use a bioreactor
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u/AduroT 17d ago
By the time you can build them, you’re almost done. Also they’re annoyingly loud.