Radiation
Radiation is a game mechanic introduced in the Spaced Out DLC. Certain elements and buildings such as Uranium Ore and the Research Reactor generate ambient radiation. Its strength is measured in Rads per cycle, which Duplicants and Plants absorb in form of Rads. Duplicants will release some amount of rads when using the toilet. Duplicants can also be protected from radioactivity by using Lead Suits. If exposed to too much radiation, Duplicants will become sick with Radiation Sickness.
Radiation usually refers to the Ambient Radiation that's measured in Rads per cycle.
Sources of Radiation
| Source | Rate | Radius | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radbolt projectile | 0.2 rads/cycle (Mostly Safe) | 3 tiles | Only while in motion. Stored radbolts do not emit radiation. |
| Radbolt impact
(per radbolt stored) |
33.33 rads/cycle (Mostly Safe) | 6 tiles | For example, two colliding projectiles containing 50 radbolts each will add up to a brief explosion of ~3333.33 rads per cycle. |
| Shine Bug | 60 rads/cycle (Mostly Safe) | 6 tiles | |
| Glow Stick trait | 100 rads/cycle (Barely Safe) | 3 tiles | |
| Manual Radbolt Generator | 120 rads/cycle (Barely Safe) | 3 tiles | Quick bursts quickly dissipating. |
| Space radiation | 125 rads/cycle (Barely Safe) 187 rads/cycle (Barely Safe) 218 rads/cycle (Slight Hazard) 250 rads/cycle (Slight Hazard) 375 rads/cycle (Slight Hazard) |
- | Depends on the starting planetoid:
|
| Beetiny | 480 rads/cycle (Significant Hazard) | 2 tiles | Only while sleeping. |
| Wheezewort | 480 rads/cycle (Significant Hazard) | 6 tiles | Wild and Domesticated Wheezeworts give the same amount of radiation. |
| Radiation Lamp | 720 rads/cycle (Significant Hazard) | 16 wide by 4 tiles tall | Emission in shape of a quarter ellipse, centered in front of the lamp. |
| Beeta | 1,440 rads/cycle (Significant Hazard) | 3 tiles | Only while sleeping. |
| Beeta Hive | 1,800 rads/cycle (Significant Hazard) ↔ 3,600 rads/cycle (Extreme Hazard) | 6 tiles | Quick pulsing effect while processing Uranium. Originates at 1,800 rads/cycle (Significant Hazard) but doubles to approximately 3,600 rads/cycle (Extreme Hazard) on each side. |
| Crashed Satellites | 2,400 rads/cycle (Extreme Hazard) | 12 tiles | |
| Radbolt Engine | 10,080 rads/cycle (Maximum Hazard) | 10 tiles | Only during launch. |
| Research Reactor
(stable) |
12,000 rads/cycle (Maximum Hazard) | 25 tiles | |
| Research Reactor
(meltdown) |
24,000 rads/cycle (Maximum Hazard) | 25 tiles | Gradually decreases to 0 over a period of 5 cycles (-4800 rads per cycle per cycle). |
| Radioactive Contaminants
(per 10,000 germs) |
11 rads/cycle (Mostly Safe) | 1 tile | Radioactive Contaminants only irradiate the tile they are inside, be that a solid, liquid, or gas.
Radioactive Contaminants don't radiate when on an element in its debris or bottled form, not when it's pumped through gas or liquid pipes, or on conveyor rails. |
| Nuclear Fallout
(per 1,000 kg) |
17 rads/cycle (Mostly Safe) | 3 tiles | |
| Depleted Uranium*
(per 1,000 kg) |
55 rads/cycle (Mostly Safe) | 3 tiles | Liquid Uranium forms natural Depleted Uranium tiles at a density higher than 81 kg. |
| Uranium Ore* and Solid Nuclear Waste* (per 1,000 kg) |
165 rads/cycle (Barely Safe) | 3 Tiles | Liquid Nuclear Waste forms natural Solid Nuclear Waste tiles at a density higher than 1,475 kg while only 1,000 kg Liquid Nuclear Waste stays in a Tile at a time without compressing it beforehand. |
| Liquid Uranium and Liquid Nuclear Waste (per 1,000 kg) |
165 rads/cycle (Barely Safe) | 3 tiles | Since they are liquid, a Radbolt Generator can be built inside of it immediately. |
| Enriched Uranium*
(per 1,000 kg) |
275 rads/cycle (Slight Hazard) | 3 tiles |
* These Elements are only Radioactive in form of Natural Tiles, not as Debris.
Corium 
is not Radioactive by itself, but it emits 
Nuclear Waste 
, which is.
Hazard Rating
| Hazard Rating | Radiation Strength |
|---|---|
| Completely Safe | Exactly 0 rads per cycle |
| Mostly Safe | Between more than 0 to 100 rad per cycle |
| Barely Safe | Between 100 and 200 rads per cycle |
| Slight Hazard | Between 200 and 400 rads per cycle |
| Significant Hazard | Between 400 and 2000 rads per cycle |
| Extreme Hazard | Between 2000 and 4000 rads per cycle |
| Maximum Hazard | Above 4000 rads per cycle |
Radiation Protection
- Different Materials shield from Radiation, see the Page on Radiation Absorption for a comprehensive list.
- Duplicants absorb Radiation according to the tile their feet occupy, and Lead Suits protect them from 66% of it, so they only absorb 34% (not a full third, but 34% exactly).
- Having eaten Seafood (raw Pacu Fillet, Cooked Seafood, Smoked Fish, or Surf'n'Turf) grants Radiation Resistance: Seafood which decreases Radiation Absorption by 20% for 2 Cycles.
- These stack cumulative to only absorb 14% if a Duplicant both has eaten Seafood, and wears a Lead Suit.
- The Basic Rad Pill grants Radiation Rejuvination of -100 Rads per Cycle for one cycle.
- Duplicants with the rad eater trait have permanent -0.25 Rads/s (-150 Rads/Cycle). Rads reduced in this way are converted to calories, up to 50 Kcal per cycle (0.083 Kcal/s)
- Using the bathroom (whether Latrine, Outhouse, or Wall Toilet) reduces the absorbed Rad Dose by 100. A duplicant will go to the bathroom when they have either a bathroom or downtime break and their bladder is at 40% or higher, allowing for ~200 rads removed per cycle when an additional bathroom break is added half-way through a schedule.
- A Duplicant that has absorbed too much Radiation will develop Radiation Sickness. Vomiting from Radiation Sickness removes 20 rads per episode, about 8 times per cycle.
- A Bionic Duplicant using a Gunk Extractor loses up to 300 Absorbed Rad Dose, proportional to how full its gunk gauge is.
Radiation Blocking
Most things block radiation, including gases. Their ratings are shown in their documentation, but the in-game blocking rating may be different. The only things that do not block radiation in any way are Airflow Tiles, Mesh Tiles and Solar Panels.
Radiation Sanitization
Radiation destroys Food Poisoning, Slimelung, and Zombie Spore germs every game tick (0.2 seconds) according to the following formula:
where radiation kill rates by germ type are:
- Food Poisoning and Slimelung: 2.5
- Radioactive Contaminant and Floral Scents: 0 (not reduced by radiation)
Note that the in-game tooltip does not correctly scale this value to seconds, which has the side effect of vastly under-reporting the effectiveness of radiation at destroying germs.
The half-life, as reported by the tooltip, is a somewhat nonsensical number as exponential decay cannot be be modeled by a function with a fixed rate. Nonetheless, the value is calculated as:
In practice, this means that radiation, uniquely, removes a set number of germs each game tick, rather than a constant percent-based effect (
Chlorine 
, by contrast, is equally effective at 0.1 g and 1000 kg). Concentrated germ masses (in say, a Storage Bin) might be able to "outgrow" minor radiation sources, which necessitates either splitting the mass into smaller chunks, or increase the radiation to compensate.