Nuclear reactor (Generals)

Nuclear Reactor
Structure
Faction	China
Role	Provides power
Tier	Basic
Properties
Hit points	1500
Armor type	Structure
Production
Cost	$1000
Build time	0:10
Produced by	Chinese construction dozer
Hot key	R
Combat
Ground attack	400 (EXPLOSION, explosion)
Sight range	200
Function
Upgrades	Land Mines Neutron Mine
Power	+10 (+15 if Overcharged)
Abilities	Overcharge

The Nuclear Reactor served the power source for China's military bases in Generals and Zero Hour.

Game structure

The Nuclear Reactor provides 10 power to the player's base by default, superior to the output of the rival Cold Fusion Reactor (and equal after being upgraded with standard Control Rods). They could also be Overcharged, increasing their power output by 50% as long as the ability was active but steadily draining 3% of the Reactor's HP per second until destruction. The self-dealt damage outpaced the repair speed of the Construction Dozer, but still took a while to eat through the Reactor's health pool - even longer if it was being repaired. Though not a feasible long-term plan to increase power output, the Overcharge function was nonetheless useful for keeping base defenses online and production speeds normal when the base suffered an unexpected loss in power, as Dozers needed time to build new ones.

However, continuing the tradition of nuclear power sources in the Command and Conquer series they were rather volatile, and if destroyed would explode violently. They also left behind a temporary cloud of radiation that damages vehicles and infantry (the latter far more severely). The blast dealt reasonable damage, but was of a rather limited range, making them undesirable but not catastrophic (in most circumstances).

The Nuclear Reactor serves as a prerequisite for the Supply Center.

Abilities

Overcharge Enables or disables Overcharge for this Nuclear Reactor. As long as it is active, it generates 50% more energy and rapidly damages itself.

Upgrades

Land Mine Deploys standard mines around the structure Costs $500 and takes 0:20 to complete.

Neutron Mines (Zero Hour only) Upgrades land mines to neutron mines, increasing effectiveness against enemy infantry, and allowing them to kill vehicle pilots instead of destroying the vehicles Costs $600 and takes 0:25 to complete. Requires Land Mines upgrade.

Changelog

• Generals sneak peek patch 1.02: significantly reduced the amount of power given when overcharged

Gallery

• 
  The early Chinese power plant; note that it is made of wood and bricks, an odd choice for a supposedly nuclear reactor
• 
  Early Chinese power plant texture

Trivia

• The code handling Overcharge logic has a field that automatically turns it off when below a certain health threshold. It is set to 0%.

See also

• Cold fusion reactor, American counterpart
• Advanced nuclear reactor, Tao counterpart