Mr. Mine Idle: Nuclear Reactor and Buff Lab

Mr. Mine is an idle game about mining developed by Playsaurus with unique gameplay elements. In this idle clicker game, you manage a bunch of miners to mine various minerals and upgrade the drill.

However, there are more features that you can spend hours and hours exploring in order to progress further into the game. Two of them are the Nuclear Reactor and the Buff Lab.

In this article, we’ll guide you on everything you need to know about these two structures.

Origin and Milestone Location

Like many other features in the game, the Nuclear Reactor and Buff Lab can be unlocked once you’ve reached a certain depth in the mineshaft.

1. Nuclear Reactor Location

The Nuclear Reactor is located at 1133-1134km (or World 2: 101km-102km).

It’s an alien-like building with a machinery appearance and energy rods all over the place. The main purpose of the Nuclear Reactor is to generate energy and late-game isotopes.

2. Buff Lab Location

Located at 1135km (or World 2: 103km), Mr. Mine’s Buff Lab is a small alien-like building connected to the above Reactor.

This place uses energy to generate different buffs, significantly boosting the game progression speed.

Essential Resources To Prepare Before Reaching The Nuclear Reactor

You might have heard about the advice of “do not sell isotopes” in Mr. Mine Idle. And, if you haven’t been following it until now, you’ll be in a big regret.

The first and most important resources to start doing the Nuclear Reactor are isotopes, as they’re the main ingredient for pretty much any activities in this feature.

The second resource is Oil, unlocked after discovering the Underground City. You may want to upgrade your Oil Pump to at least level 12 or above to have plenty of Oil to work with.

Besides isotopes, you must save a few million Magnesium to craft batteries.

Components of the Reactor

You may get confused by the time you first open the Nuclear Reactor; however, this place is a minigame where you need to put several components in the grids to generate energy and isotopes. That’s it!

There are six types of components in the Reactor:

Fuel Rods: generate energy, heat, and isotopes.
Fans: reduce heat.
Batteries: store energy.
Heat Ducts: like wire, connect the components together.
Bombardments: use energy to generate heat and late-game isotopes.
Buffs: boost the efficiency of other components.

As long as there is heat in the Reactor, it won’t work. So, it’s best to combine all components to create a system to generate energy and isotopes with zero heat (or negative heat).

Now, let’s get into the details for each type of component!

1. Fuel Rods

There are 13 different Fuel Rods in Mr. Mine Idle.

Generally, they generate energy and heat per second and work for a certain amount of in-game time. You need isotopes to craft them, and after being burnt, they will give you isotopes back.

Name	Ingredients	Energy/s	Heat/s	Duration	Decay Rewards
Highly Enriched Uranium	8k Uranium 1 3k Uranium 2 500 Uranium 3	10	24	1h	4.5k Uranium 2 750 Uranium 3 2.5k Plutonium 1 500 Plutonium 2
Dual Highly Enriched Uranium	16k Uranium 1 6k Uranium 2 1k Uranium 3	30	66	1h	9.3k Uranium 2 1.55k Uranium 3 5.05k Plutonium 1 1.01k Plutonium 2
Quad Highly Enriched Uranium	32k Uranium 1 12k Uranium 2 2k Uranium 3	90	180	1h	19.2k Uranium 2 3.2k Uranium 3 10.2k Plutonium 1 2.04k Plutonium 2
Enriched Uranium	72k Uranium 1 11.5k Uranium 2	10	18	4h	23k Uranium 2 17.25k Plutonium 1
Dual Enriched Uranium	144k Uranium 1 23k Uranium 2	30	48	4h	46.5k Uranium 2 34.9k Plutonium 1
Quad Enriched Uranium	288k Uranium 1 46k Uranium 2	90	126	4h	94k Uranium 2 70.5k Plutonium 1
Mixed Oxide	28.8k Uranium 2 2.88k Uranium 3 32.7k Plutonium 1 3.27k Plutonium 2	8	21	10h	2k Uranium 3 1.5k Plutonium 3
Dual Mixed Oxide	57.6k Uranium 2 5.76k Uranium 3 65.4k Plutonium 1 6.54k Plutonium 2	24	54	10h	4.04k Uranium 3 3.03k Plutonium 3
Quad Mixed Oxide	115.2k Uranium 2 11.52k Uranium 3 130.8k Plutonium 1 13.08k Plutonium 2	72	144	10h	8.21k Uranium 3 6.16k Plutonium 3
Pu/Po	4k Plutonium 3 72.5k Polonium 1 7.25k Polonium 2	16	36	16h	2k Polonium 3
Dual Pu/Po	8k Plutonium 3 145k Polonium 1 14.5k Polonium 2	48	96	16h	4.04k Polonium 3
Quad Pu/Po	16k Plutonium 3 290k Polonium 1 29k Polonium 2	144	264	16h	8.16k Polonium 3
Polonium RTG	2.5k Polonium 3	6	15	48h	None

By looking at the table, you can see the Fuel Rods are divided into 5 main categories:

HE (Highly Enriched)
E (Enriched)
MO (Mixed Oxide)
PP (Pu/Po)
RTG (Polonium RTG)

Besides Polonium RTG, the other four have two upgraded versions: Dual and Quad.

They cost more materials and generate more heat; however, they generate more energy and produce more isotopes when completely burnt. So, the upgraded version is extremely helpful if you have limited space in your Reactor’s grids.

Basically, you need to craft the Fuel Rods and burn them by placing them in the Nuclear Reactor’s grids.

Using the HE Fuel Rods is advisable as they give more energy and isotopes in return. Other Fuel Rods are best for their decay rewards, as well as the burning duration.

2. Bombardments and Isotope Conversion

There are 6 Bombardments in Mr. Mine Idle. They consume energy, generate heat, and give late-game isotopes: Einsteinium and Fermium.

Name	Ingredients	Energy/s	Heat/s	Duration	Decay Rewards
Californium Bombardment 1	15k Energy 1M Californium 1k Helium 1	-10	24	8h	10 Einsteinium 1
Californium Bombardment 2	150k Energy 1M Californium 1k Helium 2	-30	72	8h	10 Einsteinium 2
Californium Bombardment 3	1.5M Energy 1M Californium 1k Helium 3	-90	216	8h	10 Einsteinium 3
Einsteinium Bombardment 1	1M Energy 1M Nitrogen 1 10 Einsteinium 1	-20	30	16h	1 Fermium 1
Einsteinium Bombardment 2	3M Energy 1M Nitrogen 2 10 Einsteinium 2	-60	90	16h	1 Fermium 2
Einsteinium Bombardment 3	9M Energy 1M Nitrogen 3 10 Einsteinium 3	-180	270	16h	1 Fermium 3

If the main purpose of Fuel Rods is to generate energy, then Bombardments are mainly used for creating new isotopes: Einsteinium and Fermium.

That said, you can treat Fuel Rods or Bombardments as the main source to convert isotopes.

3. Fans and Heat Ducts

As mentioned earlier, the Nuclear Reactor only works if you manage to eliminate all the heat in the system. And that’s where the Fans come to play!

Each fan reduces the heat in the system by 12 and costs 2.5M Aluminum and 1k Oil to make.

However, the fans only work if you place them adjacent to other heat sources. That said, if you use nothing but Fuel Rods/Bombardments and Fans, you can only place a maximum of 4 Fans to cool off 48 heat from 1 heat source.

So, what if a heat source generates more than 48 heat? In fact, most of them are.

To solve this problem, you need to use the Heat Ducts, crafted with 2k energy and 15M Iron. They play a vital role in the Reactor by connecting several components together. In this case, they connect Fans to heat sources.

4. Batteries

You must place Batteries in your grid system to store the generated energy from Fuel Rods. There are 3 types of Batteries in Mr. Mine Idle:

Name	Ingredients	Energy Stored
Small Battery	2M Magnesium	5,000
Large Battery	2 Small Battery 10M Magnesium 25k Energy	50,000
Extra Large Battery	2 Large Battery 50M Magnesium 400k Energy	250,000

This component is usually placed after all of the above are placed since you can put Batteries anywhere in the system.

5. Buffs

There are 4 buffs in the Nuclear Reactor in Mr. Mine:

Name	Ingredients	Effect
Copper Buff	50M Copper 200k Energy	55% boost to above and below components
Platinum Buff	50M Platinum 500k Energy	55% boost to left and below components
Silver Buff	50M Silver 500k Energy	55% boost to right and above components
Gold Buff	50M Gold 1.5M Energy	30% boost to 4 diagonal components

Buffs help boost the efficiency of other components in the corresponding directions. Remember that a buff cannot boost another buff.

Mr. Mine Reactors and Buff Lab Level Progression

When you first unlocked the Nuclear Reactor, you only had a 3×3 grid system and a few components to work with. As you start to generate energy and earn more isotopes, you can upgrade the Reactor to unlock more grids and components.

Level	Requirements	Total Grids	Unlock Rewards/Components
1	N/A	3×3	Fans, Heat Ducts, Small Batteries, 5 basic Fuel Rods, and Californium Bombardment 1
2	20k Energy 10 Einsteinium 1	3×5	N/A
3	N/A	5×5	N/A
4	N/A	7×7 – 4	N/A
5	N/A	9×9	N/A

Remember to prioritize upgrading the Reactor first; the higher the level, the more grids you have to work with. And the more grids you have, the more energy and isotopes you can generate.

Moreover, you can also upgrade the Buff Lab to reduce the energy required for creating Buffs. Each upgraded level reduces the energy cost by 5-10%, at a maximum of 30% reduction at level 5.

Best Reactor Setups

Although you can try out different layouts and setups for the Reactor levels, it’s only working out at levels 4 and 5 since you have many grids to organize stuff. That said, most people rush levels 1 to 3.

The following layouts and setups are made by 8thpurplewizard and ballman.

Reactor Level 1

Description	Max Energy	Energy/Sec
To get Einsteinium for Reactor 2	15k	0
To get Energy for Reactor 2	20k	10
Mix of #1 and #2	10k	6
Upgraded version of #2	20k	16

Reactor Level 2

Description	Max Energy	Energy/Sec
To get Einsteinium and Energy	100k	20
To get Einsteinium	150k	0
To get Energy for Reactor 3	200k	30

Reactor Level 3

Layout	Description	Max Energy	Energy/Sec
	To get Einsteinium	1.937,5M	0
	To get Energy for Reactor 4	1.937,5M	60

Reactor Level 4

Description	Max Energy	Energy/Sec
Use red rods to get Energy	3.9M	90
Use red rods to get Energy	1.55M	180
Use blue rods to get Energy	4.15M	144
Use gray rods to get Energy	4.512M	144
Use gray rods to get Energy	2.825M	144
To get 10M quest	10.1M	12
To get Einsteinium and Energy	2.462,5M	30
To get Einsteinium and Energy	1.937,5M	30
To get Einsteinium	0	0
To get Einsteinium	662.5k	0
To get Einsteinium	3.9M	-90

Reactor Level 5

Description	Max Energy	Energy/Sec
Use red rods to get Energy	6.562,5M	270
Use red rods to get Energy	7.25M	270
Use red rods to get Energy	11.45M	180
To get 300 energy/sec quest	4.437,5M	300
To get 300 energy/sec quest	5.65M	360
Use green rods to get Energy	4.65M	450
Use blue rods to get Energy	14.225M	144
Use blue rods to get Energy	10.375M	216
Use blue rods to get Energy	6.5M	288
Use gray rods to get Energy	14.725M	144
Use gray rods to get Energy	7.137,5M	288
Use RTG rods to get Energy	14M	78
Use RTG rods to get Energy	11.05M	108
To get Einsteinium	1.937,5M	0
To get Einsteinium and Energy	2.1M	60
To get Einsteinium	3.375M	4
To get Einsteinium and Energy	3.75M	24
To get Einsteinium and Energy	8.237,5M	54
To get Fermium and Energy	4.9M	60
To get Fermium	3.662,5M	0
To get Fermium and Energy	7.475M	24
To get Fermium	7M	-36
To get Fermium	7M	-36
To get Fermium	3.637,5M	0

In addition, you can use this online tool, known as Mr. Mine Reactor Planner, made by Adversarius#2964, to set up the Reactor first to calculate the performance. This is extremely useful for those who haven’t yet unlocked the Reactor or those who can’t afford to craft the components.

Conclusion

And that’s all about Mr. Mine Idle Nuclear Reactor and Buff Lab!

We hope those Reactor setups and layouts will help you progress further into this idle mining game. And if you have any contribution to the Mr. Mine community, feel free to let us know on our Discord server.

Happy mining, miners!

Mr. Mine Idle: Nuclear Reactor and Buff Lab