Core Temperature

Reactor · Core Temperature · kelvin, always a multiple of 10

Each reactor has a Core Temperature in kelvin. Effects are written HEAT n (+n K, shown in ember) and COOL n (−n K, shown in sky). The five readings below are the plant’s own numbers: 650 K is ignition, 1,420 K is the ideal operating temperature, 2,400 K is the “REACTOR OVERHEAT” alarm and 3,120 K is where a meltdown is declared.

The bands

≥ 3,120 KMeltdown — reactor shutdown, official emergency

2,400–3,110 KOverheat — no orders, radiation, SCRAM available

1,000–2,390 KNominal — orders can be completed · start 1,420 K

650–990 KCold — rods too deep, no orders

650 KFloor — ignition; the core never goes lower

Band	Range	Rules effect
Floor	650 K	The core can never go below 650 K; excess COOL is lost.
Cold	650–990 K	You cannot complete Power Orders. No other penalty.
Nominal	1,000–2,390 K	Normal operation. Power Orders can be completed. 1,420 K is the start value.
Overheat	2,400–3,110 K	“REACTOR OVERHEAT — The Reactor is above safe operating parameters.” No orders; radiation; SCRAM usable.
Meltdown	≥ 3,120 K	“REACTOR SHUTDOWN — An official emergency has been declared.” Immediate SCRAM check, otherwise that player loses.

What moves the track

• Base Load: +150 K at your own Shift Start. The reactor under load drifts hot; you must actively cool. With 3 or more HACK counters on your SKALA panel it is +200 K. No Base Load while SHUT DOWN after a SCRAM.
• Cooling cards: Facilities with SHIFT START: COOL (Coolant Pumps Alpha & Beta COOL 100; Reactor Hall COOL 50 per stationed OPERATOR), Personnel with Exhaust: COOL (Reactor Operator COOL 100), Procedures (Relief Valve Cycling COOL 150, with the lore 90-second cooldown as “not two shifts in a row”).
• Sabotage: an unblocked RAIDER strike on the reactor converts ATK to heat at 100 K per ATK.
• Incidents: ALARM: HEAT n / COOL n on the affected shift (Feedwater Pump Trip: HEAT 100 every Incident phase until cleared).
• Refuel: Reactor Hall’s once-per-game Refuel sets the core straight to 1,420 K.

The Overheat band (2,400–3,110 K)

While your core is in Overheat:

1. You cannot complete Power Orders — you are outside margin.
2. At your Shift End, each of your Personnel without HAZMAT takes 1 radiation damage. Damage is persistent.
3. SCRAM is available as an Operations action (SCRAM).
4. Cards with HAZARD PAY text switch on. (The lore Hazard Pay Bill triggers at 2,100 K; the TCG uses the alarm threshold for readability.)

Meltdown (≥ 3,120 K)

The instant a core reaches 3,120 K or more, after any single effect fully resolves:

• if that player’s SCRAM is still available, they must SCRAM immediately — this can happen during either player’s shift;
• otherwise the core explodes and that player loses the match. If both cores melt from the same effect and neither can SCRAM, the active player loses (the effect was theirs to resolve).

Reading the numbers

With no cooling at all, Base Load alone reaches 3,120 K on your twelfth shift. Three unblocked ATK 1 raiders add +300 K a shift on top. Coolant Pumps (−100) and a Reactor Operator (−100) cancel Base Load and a little more; Relief Valve Cycling every other shift is the burst. A DEFENSE player’s whole game is keeping the readout between 1,000 and 2,390 K while an OPERATOR is stationed; an ASSAULT player’s is pushing it out of that window, by heat or by making cooling impossible.

Over-cooling

The Cold band exists so that “cool as much as possible” is not a free strategy. Dump every valve while a Hostile Raid stops orders anyway and you may find yourself at 900 K when the raid lifts, unable to complete the order you needed.