Nuclear Power Plant Condition

[ottoxander1155 0]

I have had a nuclear power plant in my city for a very long time and it's condition is declining (it's at 80%).

When should I start to get worried/build new power plant?

[DCMetro34 576]

Well; the only reason its condition goes down is because of low funding. Raise your funding and you should be fine. The condition of the plant really only affects capacity so it's whenever you want to build a new one.

-DCMetro34 

[Yuu Caa Sim 55]

Actually, condition will go down over time even at full funding. It goes faster if the plant is running overcapacity (whether by underfunding or overuse). All plants have a lifespan, and at the end condition is zero and the plant may explode.

As its condition decreases, the plant will both lose capacity and cost more to maintain. At some point this will be unsustainable to your economy and you will have to replace the plant. I myself usually replace plants when they get below 50% condition (condition gets worse a lot quicker as the plant reaches the end of its lifespan), or when I am starting to lose money or run out of capacity.

On easier difficulties there should be a news ticker item that pops up at some point saying that a plant is getting old and should be replaced.

[bigthing 35]

An example of this in my experience is a city that was my largest at one point (back when i was a newbie, ah the good old days...) it kept needing a new power lant every couple of months. These were coal and causing a real problem. I eventually traced it down to low conditions and onc i had replaced them i only needed about 2 new ones. I went from 12/13 to 5/6!

Same goes for water too :-D