Nuclear Plants

[Foxhawk]

or ?

What is the chance that they'll meltdown?

IIRC it's unreasonably high, but just getting back into CIV4.

[Blake]

Get Coal Plants, later the Recycling Center negates the unhealthiness. Also, most cities which benefit from a powerplant don't actually have high population (mines result in low population) and thus wont suffer from the ill health.

Only get Nukes if you have no coal and only at cities that can't build hydro.

Mostly it's not the meltdowns, but the cost. Coal plants are much cheaper and earlier in the tech tree.

The chance of meltdown isn't at all high. I've never seen it, but I've heard of it happening so it does happen.

[Foxhawk]

When I played back before any of the patches, it happened a number of times to me. Also, shouldn't you add the price of the recycling center to that of the coal plant when considering it's cost? Regardless, I did use coal plants last game and they seemed to work out well.

[Blake]

Nuclera plants cost 250 hammers, vs 150 for coal plants, 100 difference.
Recycling plants cost 300 hammers. Which is "discounted" by 100 by going coal in favor of Nuke, so call it 200 hammers.
The Recycling plant also eliminates the pollution from Forge, Factor, Airport and Labatory, Drydock, Ironworks. It will be between 2 and 5 health. Probably usually 3.
A hospital costs 200 hammers and provides +3 health.

So in comparison... I think the Coal+Recycling is a pretty fair deal.

[Foxhawk]

agreed

[Tau Ceti]

I believe Recycling Centers do not negate the pollution from Coal Plants. The RC removes pollution caused by buildings, but the pollution from coal plants is from power (as listed in the unhealth breakdown). The only way to get rid of it is by building a different power plant in the city, or getting the Three Gorges Dam.

But Coal Plants are still always worth it, because they are available so much earlier than the other types (and are cheaper too). Late game health problems are usually temporary; they will mainly apply to large cities that also have large food boxes and take a long time to starve. At least on normal speed, you are likely to be able to research all the way to Genetics and get its health bonus before anyone starves. Large cities are also often located on rivers and can, if necessary, build a hydro plant later to stop the pollution.

[Blake]

Gee, you're right of course. Btw did that change in the patch?

Anyway, most the time in larger cities (the commerce hammer poor ones) I just rushbuy stuff with Suffrage so no need for factories or power plants. Rushbuy is utterly indifferent to most bonuses.

I guess when I actually have built a coal plant in a large city, it's also with Ironworks (ie the State Property hammer monster). And then the RC removes a large whack of pollution.

[Smellycowsquid]

Originally posted by Blake
Get Coal Plants, later the Recycling Center negates the unhealthiness. Also, most cities which benefit from a powerplant don't actually have high population (mines result in low population) and thus wont suffer from the ill health.

Only get Nukes if you have no coal and only at cities that can't build hydro.

Mostly it's not the meltdowns, but the cost. Coal plants are much cheaper and earlier in the tech tree.

The chance of meltdown isn't at all high. I've never seen it, but I've heard of it happening so it does happen.

[Silver14]

Originally posted by Blake
The chance of meltdown isn't at all high. I've never seen it, but I've heard of it happening so it does happen.

They lowered the chance in the 1.52 patch, at release I had multiple meltdowns using Nuclear plants in a single game and quit using them and never built them since.
I suppose it happens rarely now so maybe they are worth useing. But at the stage of the game they can be built health isn't really much of a problem IMO if you have befrinded a few AI's and can trade for the resources you need. But then again I havn't ventured above Monarch yet.

[axisworks]

Hmm... no one that's built coal plants here seems to have an issue with the later-resulting global warming? I've had rather considerable problems with that in just about every game where mass-coal plants have been built. My score has actually gone down on several occasions because I was losing so much land to desertification. I usually lean toward building my cities on rivers so I can get the three gorge's dam or hydro plants, and I only build nuclear when I can't do either... never coal.

[Smellycowsquid]

Huh, I never had Global Warming...

[Silver14]

I've never had global warming either, unless nukes were used. I've heard people claim they've had global warming start despite no nukes being used - and the AI never seems to build them much less use them. Still I would wager a metldown would start global warming so maybe an AI built a nuclear plant that went south. I doubt you would be notified if an AI had a meltdown.

The question I ask is: Does the AI build nuclear power plants?

Also I think the game needs to be tweaked so that the AI will build some nukes and maybe use them and global warming seems to be over done.

[Foxhawk]

Originally posted by Silver14

at release I had multiple meltdowns using Nuclear plants in a single game and quit using them and never built them since...

Same situation here, that's why I brought it up.

[MadDjinn]

never bothered with them...

the coal plant + RC is safer as well (no meltdown chance)...

but my preference is to build the Three Gorges Dam in my production center when plausible... which I usually make sure is on a river.

[drsparnum]

As long as the city that builds the 3 gorges dam is on a river, all the cities on the continent get power from it .... even if they don't have a river and couldn't normally build a hydro plant.

I usually build just one coal plant (in my highest production city) and bee line for three gorges when I'm still 3 or so techs away and build that wonder. Then I use the city with the coal plant (and hopefully Ironworks) to complete the monumental 3 gorges dam project. It is my favorite wonder in the game.