Start-up of the reactor

Start-up of the reactor

In this guide, we will walk through the necessary steps from the beginning of the game to stabilizing the reactor, outlining the initial parameters and detailing what occurs internally during each stage.

The guide may be somewhat lengthy, but it is crucial to comprehend not only what actions to take, but also why they are necessary.

Initial parameters

Keep the default values that start a new game in place: the Condenser volume at the lower limit (beginning of the yellow zone).

Set the main circulation pump to 50% and wait for it to reach its nominal speed:

Turn on the Pressurizer and wait for it to reach the operating temperature and pressure. During the whole process, make sure that it never goes under or over the operating range.

If the Pressurizer is not in the correct range, the reactor start will fail and it will not be able to be stabilized.

The condenser's circulation pump and condenser cooling pump must be turned off. Why? The circulation pump of the condenser is responsible for returning condensed and cool water back to the primary circuit.

However, during the startup phase, it is not necessary for it to operate. If cold water were introduced into the circuit, the startup process would become much more complicated.

Start of reaction

To initiate the reaction, withdraw the control rods up to 95% and introduce the fuel into the reactor core. At that point, the game will indicate that the chain reaction has begun.

When the reactor core reaches a temperature of around 165°C, the evaporator will have reached sufficient pressure to initiate movement of the generating turbine.

The high-pressure steam generated in the evaporator will travel to the turbine, breaking its initial inertia.

At this point, both the turbine and evaporator are experiencing low pressure, and the system has yet to stabilize. Furthermore, the vapor that has started to drive the turbines has not yet reached the condenser.

You can confirm this by monitoring the evaporator's volume gauges, which will decrease as vapor is generated, while the condenser temperature will remain unchanged because the vapor has not yet exited the turbines.

At this stage, the Evaporator's volume will begin to decrease, but it is not yet time to start the Condenser's circulation pumps. You should wait until the turbines begin to expel steam and the steam completes its journey to the condenser.

This may take several minutes to occur. In the meantime, the Evaporator will continue to generate steam and thus decrease its internal refrigerant level.

Condenser circulation pump on

Once the steam reaches the condenser, you will notice that the temperature begins to rise. At this stage, it is crucial to activate the condenser circulation pump at a low speed, no higher than 10%.

Condensed water would have cooled down excessively, since the condenser has just started receiving vapor, and when the pump propels that refrigerant back to the evaporator, it will cause the evaporator to also cool down.

At this point, the first peak of energy will have been reached, and the turbines will come to a stop.

It is important to wait a few minutes, until the Condenser start to increase its internal temperature, while the Evaporator undergoes recovery. Gradually, it will start generating steam once more, and this time, it will be continuous.

Power increase

Now is the opportune moment to increase the power output. Pull the control rods up to 90% to raise the temperature of the core and offset the influx of still-cold water from the condenser.

If the evaporator has lost a significant amount of volume and is approaching its lower limit, it is necessary to increase the power of the condenser circulation pump. However, it is important to keep in mind that the power of the pump should not exceed 25% at this point, as doing so may cause another surge of energy and cooling.

Now the condenser is not cooling the refrigerant returning to the evaporator as effectively, resulting in all temperatures in the circuit rising evenly and steadily. The core, evaporator, turbines, and condenser will be in balance.

Checks on the Condenser

As the core power increases, the evaporator will generate higher vapor pressure, and the condenser will need to absorb more energy. It's crucial to prevent the condenser from getting too hot, as it may initiate an upward spiral that could ultimately lead to the circuit's complete loss of control.

Once the internal temperature of the condenser has reached between 80°C and 90°C, you should turn on the cooling pump at a very low speed, no more than 5% to start with.

If the internal temperature of the condenser continues to rise, you must increase the circulation speed until the temperature rise stops and even reverses slightly. At this stage, it should not exceed 10%.

At this point, it is crucial to monitor the internal volumes of the evaporator and the condenser: both should be in the green or yellow zone.

Condenser:

Evaporator:

If Condenser or Evaporator are too full or too empty, the achieved balance will be lost, resulting in extreme fluctuations such as high temperature and pressure, and generator turbines experiencing exaggerated energy peaks followed by sudden drops to zero.

If the volumes, temperatures and pressures remain within the operating ranges, in a few minutes the reactor will have stabilized. At that time, the core temperature will have stopped increasing.

Power increase up to operating level

If you wish to increase the reactor's power output, you can slightly withdraw the control rods. It's recommended to do this gradually in increments of 5% or 10%, while waiting for the circuit to stabilize between each adjustment.

This approach ensures a safe and steady increase in power output.

After each power increase, check whether it is necessary to increase the speed of the condenser refrigeration pump (if the internal temperature has increased) or the speed of the condenser circulation pump (if the evaporator volume has decreased). Make gradual speed increases, around 5%.

Stable approximate final values:

Core