In the end he did boil the core dry. I'm more surprised that it never got into a melt-down state and the integrity was still so high. Almost looks like the game models the 'core' temperature as only the cooling water temperature and no water = no core temp and therefore no meltdown trigger.
You mentioned the void coefficient, but what you said was technically backwards. PWRs have a negative void coefficient, which essentially means that voids (steam) in the core have a negative impact on (i.e. reduce) reactivity. The issue here is as soon as the last of the water boiled off in the core, reactivity immediately went to 0. In technical terms this is because the water acts as a neutron moderator, and without it the neutrons in the core are moving too fast to reliably create fission. In actual reactors this is a major safety component, as similar to in game, it is very difficult to accidentally trigger a catastrophic runaway reaction. Incidentally at one point you considered venting the core and/or the pressurizer which would have just accelerated the boil off of the coolant and the crash of reactivity (no pressure = lower boiling point) I would imagine that the trick is to try and keep the core full of water as much as possible while driving the temps up. This probably involves running the feedwater pump constantly, and possibly even keeping the cooling pumps running at a low level. It may also be necessary to increase the temperature gradually as opposed to just going to 0 on the rods, again with the idea being to keep the reaction slow enough that the feedwater pumps can keep up with the rate of boil off. Edit: Just tested, and I was able to trigger a meltdown by going to 0 on the rods and immediately running the feedwater pump continuously. The core temp reached just over 1500C before a broken feedwater pipe caused it to boil off and crash. There was still *just* enough residual heat to get the core integrity below 0, but it took a while as the core cooled down. Lower values on the control rods just resulted in the temp peaking at lower values, as feedwater damage was always the limiting factor for me. Unfortunately the train escape seems broken at the moment, as the train only had the options of reservoirs and main entrance as destinations. Also I doubt the meltdown would be recoverable in this scenario, as I had to run the feedwater system to destruction to even trigger the meltdown, so I'm not sure how exactly I would get emergency cooling into the core, other than maybe the core pool. Possibly open the RCV and use the recirc pump? Not sure, haven't played with that much.
Actually the more I think about it, the solution may be to find the point at which core damage occurs (700? 800? I have no idea) and basically run the reactor stably at just hot enough to cause core damage over time. Essentially find whatever combination of rods/cooling etc. would hold it at precisely 800C (or whatever the real number is). Theoretically this would trigger the meltdown once the core hits 0 integrity, but ideally without damaging too much of the infrastructure needed to actually recover it.
Many things of which you said, I have tried already with the same success... unfortunately the pumps are not powerful enough to keep up with the boil off so I found the easiest way is to start a new Game, start up and output what's required to the grid and stabilise... then pull the rods all the way out (0), turn everything else off and watch the magic. Also the train escape is possible as you need to push the red button in the train once the 5 Min countdown is triggered... the only Steam Achievement that's broken at the moment is the Reverse Meltdown... Hope this answers some questions... also I've tried every which way to cause a meltdown and the way described above is the most reliable as a save game can be created once stable power is produced etc.
The water moderation in the game works... backwards. Cooling water is only used as a means to reduce temperature and the game's logic says "less temperature = less reactivity" which isn't how it works in a real reactor, in a real one, more water flow will result in MORE reactivity as there is more fresh water that can moderate neutrons. That's why PWR's can be regulated fairly easily. More power demand = more steam flow in the secondary loop, meaning you need more water flow in the primary loop, increasing moderation, and ramping up the reactor's power without requiring any other action.
Yes that used to be the best way to cause a meltdown in older versions... should still work now but the games coding is a little different so not 100% sure haha
You should have turned off the pressurizer.
It prevented steam buildup and thus the meltdown
In the end he did boil the core dry. I'm more surprised that it never got into a melt-down state and the integrity was still so high.
Almost looks like the game models the 'core' temperature as only the cooling water temperature and no water = no core temp and therefore no meltdown trigger.
I have done the same thing with the pressurizer off... no change 😎😇🤪
It's just buggy
You mentioned the void coefficient, but what you said was technically backwards. PWRs have a negative void coefficient, which essentially means that voids (steam) in the core have a negative impact on (i.e. reduce) reactivity. The issue here is as soon as the last of the water boiled off in the core, reactivity immediately went to 0. In technical terms this is because the water acts as a neutron moderator, and without it the neutrons in the core are moving too fast to reliably create fission. In actual reactors this is a major safety component, as similar to in game, it is very difficult to accidentally trigger a catastrophic runaway reaction.
Incidentally at one point you considered venting the core and/or the pressurizer which would have just accelerated the boil off of the coolant and the crash of reactivity (no pressure = lower boiling point)
I would imagine that the trick is to try and keep the core full of water as much as possible while driving the temps up. This probably involves running the feedwater pump constantly, and possibly even keeping the cooling pumps running at a low level. It may also be necessary to increase the temperature gradually as opposed to just going to 0 on the rods, again with the idea being to keep the reaction slow enough that the feedwater pumps can keep up with the rate of boil off.
Edit: Just tested, and I was able to trigger a meltdown by going to 0 on the rods and immediately running the feedwater pump continuously. The core temp reached just over 1500C before a broken feedwater pipe caused it to boil off and crash. There was still *just* enough residual heat to get the core integrity below 0, but it took a while as the core cooled down. Lower values on the control rods just resulted in the temp peaking at lower values, as feedwater damage was always the limiting factor for me.
Unfortunately the train escape seems broken at the moment, as the train only had the options of reservoirs and main entrance as destinations. Also I doubt the meltdown would be recoverable in this scenario, as I had to run the feedwater system to destruction to even trigger the meltdown, so I'm not sure how exactly I would get emergency cooling into the core, other than maybe the core pool. Possibly open the RCV and use the recirc pump? Not sure, haven't played with that much.
Actually the more I think about it, the solution may be to find the point at which core damage occurs (700? 800? I have no idea) and basically run the reactor stably at just hot enough to cause core damage over time. Essentially find whatever combination of rods/cooling etc. would hold it at precisely 800C (or whatever the real number is). Theoretically this would trigger the meltdown once the core hits 0 integrity, but ideally without damaging too much of the infrastructure needed to actually recover it.
Many things of which you said, I have tried already with the same success... unfortunately the pumps are not powerful enough to keep up with the boil off so I found the easiest way is to start a new Game, start up and output what's required to the grid and stabilise... then pull the rods all the way out (0), turn everything else off and watch the magic.
Also the train escape is possible as you need to push the red button in the train once the 5 Min countdown is triggered... the only Steam Achievement that's broken at the moment is the Reverse Meltdown...
Hope this answers some questions... also I've tried every which way to cause a meltdown and the way described above is the most reliable as a save game can be created once stable power is produced etc.
The water moderation in the game works... backwards. Cooling water is only used as a means to reduce temperature and the game's logic says "less temperature = less reactivity" which isn't how it works in a real reactor, in a real one, more water flow will result in MORE reactivity as there is more fresh water that can moderate neutrons.
That's why PWR's can be regulated fairly easily. More power demand = more steam flow in the secondary loop, meaning you need more water flow in the primary loop, increasing moderation, and ramping up the reactor's power without requiring any other action.
Pretty well said and quite accurate in terms of the game mechanics as of now at least... works 'weirdly'
best way to melt down is pull the control rods out 100% with the core out then insert the core
Yes that used to be the best way to cause a meltdown in older versions... should still work now but the games coding is a little different so not 100% sure haha
@@ShArPy1o1Games I stopped playing right after the synchroscope update but I'm about to get back in
You definitely should as its been a blast... Also check out the new hidden 'Testing Area'
52 Город Санкт-Петербург и это город наш ☝
круто, я живу в австралии
@@ShArPy1o1Games бывает