The Power Extraction Assembly (or P.E.A. in short) handles the amount of extraction rate from the core's net output. It's located on the Electric Grid Console and has four rates of extraction, being 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. Higher extraction rates results in higher Chamber Pressure & P.E.A Stress, and the other way around.
Its appearance is similar to the Startup Switch, surrounded by a surface of caution tape. The switch has 4 settings, being the "MINIMUM," "LEVEL 2," "LEVEL 3," and "MAXIMUM" text labels. These labels each have a different color. MINIMUM, being white sets the Extraction Rate to 25%. LEVEL 2, being yellow and setting the Extraction Rate to 50%, red for LEVEL 3 of 50% Extraction and a lighter red for MAXIMUM of 100% Extraction rate.
The P.E.A. will extract a specific percent of energy you set it as from the net output, e.g. 200GW of energy if the net output is 400GW and the extraction rate is set to 50%. Also, the set rate also affects the speed of P.E.A. stress & chamber pressure increasing, with higher extraction rates having higher buildup speeds for both.
Several variables influence these rates, including the the core's current state and the intensity of coolant circulation. With the extraction rate set to 100% and coolant disabled, P.E.A. stress accumulates at approximately 6% in State 1, 8% in State 2, and 9% in State 3. (These values are being recalled from memory and may be inaccurate; they are included as temporary placeholders.)
The P.E.A. experiences strain whenever its power extraction level exceeds 25%, which is displayed as a stress percentage on the monitoring systems. Aside from reaching 100% stress, the P.E.A. remains fully operational regardless of its current stress level.
If P.E.A. stress reaches 100%, the unit will shut down completely. A warning message will appear on the primary reactor monitor, and the entire facility will experience a brief power outage, causing the lights to go dark for several seconds. Following the shutdown, the P.E.A. switch will emit a repetitive beeping sound, indicating that the system has been overloaded.
During this overload period, the P.E.A. is incapable of extracting any power, and the switch itself becomes unusable. This condition persists for multiple seconds, after which the system automatically resets to 0% stress and returns to LEVEL 2 (50%) extraction. Though, because this has occured physical damage to the P.E.A, costs will be docked in your payment as "P.E.A. Overloads".
If left unattended without coolant, the P.E.A. will eventually overload again, as any coolant-free reactor State operating above a 25% extraction rate continuously increases P.E.A. stress.