Power Systems

      The power system of a suit of power armor is absolutely necessary for it's operations. None of the little gadgets and gizmos on board would even function without a power system. Traditionally, all suits of power armor are electric in operations, but the manner of supply is different from suit to suit. Some suits are powered by batteries or energy clips, but most by far are powered by a vague "nuclear power supply". In the RIFTS Books these are described as miniature nuclear reactors. If this were the reality of things though, they would be terribly dangerous to everyone involved with their operations, the environment they operated within, and to any innocents around them. With as many suits of power armor that are destroyed in the wars of the RIFTS world - the whole of it would be an irradiated wasteland, devoid of any form of life. Thus, through research, I have discovered that these are in fact - NOT - nuclear reactors in the conventional thinking. Instead of being powered by dangerous Uranium in a fission reaction, it is powered by a source of hafnium, bombarded with X-Rays, that releases a burst of gamma radiation. This gamma radiation superheats a cylinder of water which in turn spins a small turbine to extreme speeds. This turbine generates electricity for the power armor suit. The payoff to a hafnium powered reactor, is that when the X-Ray generator is turned off, the reaction stops instantly, the gamma radiation emitted ceases, and the turbine ceases to spin within a few moments. Hafnium is also only moderately radioactive, and is not seen as any real danger to the environment. Furthermore, what little radiation it does emit, has a half life of only 31 years. In our campaign world ALL of the power supplies described as nuclear reactors are these hafnium power sources. Prices of these systems are based upon the layout costs. REMEMBER: You have fifteen freebee S.R. to use to select environmental systems and power systems.

S-Mart C.E.P.S. Conventional Electrical Power Supply: This is the first model of electrical power offered by S-Mart for power armor. This is a simple system utilized by basic exoskeletons, or for some utility types. It can operate off of a single energy cell rechargeable via cable, or in the alternative it may be powered by a pair of removable energy clips. The real drawback to this system is that aside from sensory, environmental, control, and interface systems NO other systems may draw power from this power source without draining it very quickly. For an additional cost, the number of energy clips/energy cells capable of being fitted, may be doubled to boost the operational duration of the suit.

S-Mart HEPS-1 Hafnium Electrical Power Supply: This is the basic model nuclear power supply typically found in almost all of S-Mart's power armor suits, which possesses a comparatively short energy life, compared to contemporary types. It is so common, in fact, that it's cost and weight are actually factored into the figures of the various layouts available.

S-Mart HEPS-2 Hafnium Electrical Power Supply: This is a larger model nuclear power supply than the HEPS-1, with a larger quantity of Hafnium at it's core - providing a longer energy life.

S-Mart HEPS-3 Hafnium Electrical Power Supply: Larger yet still than the HEPS-2, this model increases the energy life further yet still - but weight becomes a critical issue at this point.

S-Mart HEPS-4 Hafnium Electrical Power Supply: This is the largest nuclear power supply available for power armor suits, but also provides the longest energy life of them all. It is heavy in weight, but saves on costs in having to have the power supply overhauled at the end of it's energy life.

S-Mart CFEPS-1 Cold Fusion Electrical Power Supply: In Project Archive there were many vague notes and details on cold fusion, which apparently was perfected before the cataclysm, and actually was present in Salt Lake City at the time that it were destroyed. It is apparent that some government facilities were working to perfect it still further so that it could fit into a suit of power armor in a very small space - such as the same amount of space as an HEPS-1! Unfortunately Project Archive had not taken delivery of any detailed notations on how to accomplish this. As a result S-Mart has long been at work decifering the old data included and are trying to recover the secrets of this lost technology. While S-Mart officials remain optomistic about achieving the CFEPS system within the following decade, it is doubtful that this technology will be recovered before the next three decades have past.

Name Weight S.R. Energy Life Layout Cost Modifier *Overhaul Cost Modifier
CEPS-1 -5 Lb. 2.5 8 hours -40% N/A
Additional Energy Clips/Energy Cells 2 Lb. 2.5 8 hours 11,000 N/A
HEPS-1 N/A 5 5 years N/A 30%
HEPS-2 15 Lb. 10 10 years +50% 50%
HEPS-3 30 Lb. 15 15 years +100% 70%
HEPS-4 45 Lb. 20 20 years +150% 90%
CFEPS-3 10 Lb. N/A 50 years Not Available Not Available


* The Overhaul Cost, is how much of the power source's cost, it costs to have the power supply overhauled at the end of it's energy life. This includes maintenance on the turbine, disassembly, cleaning, replacement of all of the blades, replacement of parts that look suspicious or corroded, replacement of parts that routinely burn out, and a refinishing of the parts in corrosion resistant materials. This also includes maintenance on the X-Ray generator, disassembly, cleaning, replacement of worn or suspicious parts, and similar. It also includes maintenance to the radiation shroud, repairing dings, dents, scratches, worn areas, followed by a thorough refinishing, reassembly and finally checking it's structural integrity with a alpha particle & x-ray spectrometer and checking for radiation leaks with a scintillation counter. Then finally, of course, replacement of the spent hafnium fuel. Each of the HEPS may be overhauled 1D4 times before requiring a complete replacement due to wear, tear, and corrosion.


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