Made an update of this:
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2501573070
Hope it helps anyone!

Any plans to update for 1.0?

Any idea if this works with 1.0?

for some reason I don't need to resarch anything to access these items. Mod incompatiblity or is there supposed to be research for them?

And I'm getting confused. Ignore my comment on fuel use. I was thinking of another mod that had an RTG using fuel per day. Sorry.

I know, just terminology, and I suppose I'm nitpicking, but that was the main point to NASA using RTGs. They'd last the decades they'd need for a probe to go out to the outer planets and all they'd have to do is compensate for the power continually, and slowly, dropping during it's life. No maintenance required.

I don't know the exact details, but generally RTGs have fairly low power outputs for their size, most I've seen mentioned have been at most a few hundred watts, but their life span is measured in decades. The life though depends on the material used. Strontium 90 based ones I believe have a half life (when the power drops to half when it started, and another of this time period it halves again, etc) of about 28 years. Some are a bit shorter, some longer. But the main thing is, to make them feel like RTGs they should use radioactive fuel in creation, not to 'fuel' them on a per day basis. RTGs should be low power, but last for a long time. Reactors, they should be fueled, and have a high power output.

@kaptain_kavern I was just doing some really rough calculations, and based on wood and chemfuel in real life, the energy density of uranium, and the early RTGs, I would estimate 1 unit of uranium could run a 20kW generator for about 7 days. That's 180 days or your .750kW generator per unit, but scaled down to something reasonable in the game I was thinking of modifying it to about a unit per season per 1kW.

@patupi maybe if the RTG is damaged or it is destroyed, then the material inside the core is released and results in moderate or severe fallout poisoning in the surrounding area? Kind of like the zombie mod when the poison zombies explode?

As far as radiation sickness goes, real RTGs have very varying results in this, depending on the fuel source. Some have next to no real radiation issues (just the container wall can stop the radiation from them) though toxicity if the thing leaks might be an issue. Others have some radiation and SEVERE issues with toxicity. Look up Strontium 90 vs Calcium and how the bodies handles that *Shudders*.

If you are just going with some form of Uranium based fuel source you might think of some kind of conversion. A process to make fuel (probably Plutonium or Polonium based) from the Uranium prior to making the RTG

Or I could be going way OTP on thinking this through :D

Is this inspired from The Martian?

Thank you for updating to 0.18! It's been ages since I've had RTGs in my base!

Thanks for sharing your insights, it really helps to have others perpectives when trying to take that sorts of decision.

I think I'm going to make them "refuel-able" using a bit of uranium for a very long period of time.

Another thing I'm kinda debating is to having even the first tier generator locked behing it's own researchProject...

Thank you all

I could probably calculate the weight of the fuel, but I feel like it might not match up to balance in game

@Kaptain_kavern The wiki on radiothermal generators gives stats on the one on the voyager mission's RTG's working for 20+ years, with something like a 400w output, I'm not sure of the weight of the fuel though, that might be better left to creative leeway for balancing.
If you are going for realism, it'd put out less power as the fuel were used up, but that's a C# mod for sure.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

I think refueling is fair!

What if you tried to use invisible explosions around it? sounds weird but that can give you the effect you need... possibly?

Because something has to apply that he diff. With XML only, as far as I can tell I need either an injury from a weapons or animals OR something that can be eat OR a surgery to "being responsible for" making that hediff to happens.

For refueling, if I was able to make the building becoming a "useless" building that need to be deconstructed it would have been fair enough for me. But again because of modding limitation I can only make it entirely disappeared (using a bit of code from glowpods - they disappear after a certain amount of time). And I sure will find it strange if a whole building vanished in the air like that.

I was thinking about make them needing to be refuel but only every few years (I wouldn't mind some advice on the numbers you'll find "realistic" - I'm more versed in biology than in physics ;-))

Thank you very much for your insights, @Icewave

"Radiation sickness is way beyond my modding abilities, I can only do XML mods. Meaning I only can use already existing mechanics in the game. But it would have been cool ;D" Why not use the hediff that makes toxicity go up? happens from a snakebite or a toxic fallout just make it cover a decent range! as for the fuel... they are more reactors now.. but dissapearing seems high maintainence so this is good for me at least...

Hi there folks,

First, thanks for your enthusiasm ;-D

Honestly, I just updated that mod and at first, I wasn't about to change anything. But you have good suggestions and I'll have a look at what can be done.

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Radiation sickness is way beyond my modding abilities, I can only do XML mods. Meaning I only can use already existing mechanics in the game. But it would have been cool ;D

Now about refueling or lifespan:
Here are the options of what I can do. Either make it consume uranium like other generator does with wood or chemfuel, but way more slowly OR adding a "lifespan timer" and make the building disappearing at the end of the timer - like after several years.

What do you think @all?

It'd be nice to have something that has to be refuelled periodically for balancing, or at least at an option for it

good job!

I like his idea. Gives some challenge to it.

Radiation sickness will force the player to place it in a seperate area from the colony living area.
With a life span the RTG can emit high power starting out but after year one it will start to go down to a minimum amount, making it not as useful or requiring more uranium to top it off.

Please don't do what mracobes said :) He is a masochist, unlike the rest of us. :P

awesome mod! Can you add radiation sickness, if pawn long stay close to RTG? and add RTG life time: 2-3 years?

This is the heater I always wanted!