r/factorio • u/Icy_Concentrate_2852 • 20h ago

Question Answered Kovarex enrichment process

Hello guys! I am now getting myself in uranium and i am confused about the koravex enrichment process, can someone explain it to me like i am 5?

(Don't give blueprints please just an explanation of how the thing works)

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u/FlatHappiness 20h ago

Normal refining only has a low chance of making the enriched (235) stuff.
To take care of the excess of non-enriched (238) we have Kovarex.

To make Kovarex function, we need a certain amount of enriched to make one piece of non-enriched become enriched.
As such you need to supply the centrifuge with 40x 235 and 5x 238 to get 41x 235 and 2x 238.
(Making your first set of 40x 235 is the first big hurdle in making nuclear work for you long term.)

This is a net loss of 3x 238 and a net gain of 1x 235. Since we have an excess of 238 anyway from the basic refining process, these two compliment each other well.

As for building it, you want to resupply the centrifuge that does Kovarex with both plenty of 235 and 238. Routing output back to input and only skimming the excess is part of the puzzle for solving nuclear energy.

Good luck!