Nuclear Power Plants - recommended?

[Panda]

I built a NPP once in Civ2 and two turns later I had a melt down. Shocked by this, I never ever built NPP in Civ2.

So I was wondering, what kind of experiences people are having with NPP in Civ3? Are melt downs frequent? Are they worth the time to built?

 

[PolarisXP]

The meltdown only occurs when the city is in disorder for a number of turns. Keep the city happy and it will be ok.

 

[Mike C]

Even so, it is much better to win the race for the hoover dam. No pollution, no risk of meltdown.

Only resort to nuke plants if you couldn't get the hoover damn or you are on a different continent.

 

[vihutuo]

<i> originally posted by Mike C</i>
<b>Even so, it is much better to win the race for the hoover dam. No pollution, no risk of meltdown. </b>

But a np increases factory out put by 150% whereas a hydro plant increases it by only 50%. You can churn a modern armor in 1 turn if u build a np.

 

[Arrian]

I build 'em. They do increase production MUCH more than hydro plants, and also create no pollution. The meltdown risk is there, and I've had it happen. Thing is, the meltdown just isn't that bad. It kills roughly 1/2 of your city's population and pollutes the squares directly adjacent to the city itself. I cleaned that up in 2 turns. The nuclear plant survived the meltdown and is still working (wierd, but then again Chernobyl kept going for years after its little incident).

-Arrian