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Going Nuclear: uranium processing and centrifuge enrichment

Handbook · Protection · Next: Reactor construction

Your first fuel is Enriched Uranyl Nitrate Solution, a fluid. Going Nuclear does not use Create Nuclear's solid uranium fuel rods. Start with separate tanks for each intermediate product so you can see where material stops moving.

1. Crush uranium​

Process goingnuclear:raw_uranium, Uranium Ore or Deepslate Uranium Ore in Crushing Wheels. Each supplied recipe gives 2 Crushed Uranium Ore and a 50% chance of one more. Recipe processing time is 300 ticks; actual throughput also depends on the Create setup. Protect yourself against dust and avoid carrying large quantities. Filled machines can also be radiation sources.

2. Make nitric acid​

Use a heated Mechanical Mixer with Basin and Blaze Burner:

Inputs per recipeOutput
500 mB water + 2 Gunpowder250 mB Nitric Acid

Supply both the assembly Spout and the later dissolving Mixer. Use filters to keep acid, water and fuel solution separate. 1,000 mB is one bucket.

3. Assemble yellowcake​

Start the sequenced assembly with 1 Crushed Uranium Ore. The circulating intermediate is Incomplete Yellowcake. Follow all four steps:

  1. Spout: apply 125 mB Nitric Acid.
  2. Mechanical Press: press.
  3. Deployer: apply 1 Bone Meal.
  4. Mechanical Press: press again.

The result is 1 Yellowcake. The second press is present in the checked recipe although the short Ponder text mentions only one press. An intermediate left after the Deployer may therefore simply need its last pressing step.

4. Dissolve yellowcake​

Use heated mixing again:

Inputs per recipeOutput
1 Yellowcake + 250 mB Nitric Acid250 mB Uranyl Nitrate Solution

To make 1,000 mB natural uranyl nitrate, before enrichment, you need 4 Crushed Uranium Ore, 4 Bone Meal and 1,500 mB nitric acid in total. Producing that acid costs 3,000 mB water and 12 Gunpowder. The acid total includes assembly as well as dissolving.

5. Build a centrifuge cascade​

Stack Gas Centrifuges directly above each other. Every counted stage must run at at least 128 RPM. A stationary stage prevents the cascade from operating. The checked logic counts at most twelve stages. Provide enough stress capacity as well as shaft connections.

Top:     enriched product → fuel tank
         Gas Centrifuge
         Gas Centrifuge     every stage at least 128 RPM
         ...
Bottom:  natural uranyl nitrate input
         depleted product output → separate tank for later MOX

Processing takes place at the bottom block. Filter its feed and depleted-product lines separately; take enriched product from the top. Use the correct fluid bucket for filtering, not similarly named fuel from another mod. Check stage count, speed and enrichment with Engineer's Goggles.

Stage count and output​

Separation starts only once calculated enrichment reaches 3%. More stages increase enrichment up to 5%:

StagesCalculated U-235Separation
1–5approximately 0.92–2.59%No product yet
6approximately 3.34%Enriched and depleted outputs
7approximately 4.30%Enriched and depleted outputs
8–12capped at 5.00%Enriched and depleted outputs

Build six powered stages for a first productive cascade; eight reach the enrichment cap. Additional stages beyond eight do not increase enrichment or feed throughput in this calculation.

The cascade processes at most 20 mB feed per second at 20 TPS. It divides the feed into product and tails; 1,000 mB feed does not become 1,000 mB reactor fuel. Either a full product tank or a full tails tank stops separation.

The model uses 0.711% natural U-235 and 0.25% tails. The theoretical product fraction is (0.711 − 0.25) / (product enrichment − 0.25). At 5% enrichment that is about 9.7%, but small processing batches round to whole mB. Use this as an estimate and measure actual tank changes in your plant.

For more throughput, add complete cascades in parallel. RPM above the minimum does not replace additional 20-mB/s cascades. Keep depleted uranyl nitrate for MOX production.

Supply the reactor​

Pump enriched solution from a dedicated tank into the BWR's roof Fuel nozzle. Bottles and buckets provide transport alternatives; filtered pipes are clearer for continuous supply. Keep fuel, water and waste lines separate. Complete the reactor, steam loop and waste collection before startup.