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NTM’s particle accelerator is one of the most complex and rewarding late-game machines in the mod. Inspired by real-world cyclotrons and synchrotrons, it is a fully dynamic structure: particles are fired from a source, travel through a series of beamlines and active components, gain momentum from radio-frequency cavities, stay focused by quadrupole magnets, and change direction at dipole magnets — eventually reaching a detector that performs element transmutation and exotic material synthesis. There is no fixed blueprint; every accelerator is custom-built, and its final capability depends entirely on your ring geometry, coil tier, and cooling infrastructure. Mastering the particle accelerator unlocks transmutation recipes unavailable by any other means, making it essential for late-game NTM progression.

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Components

The Particle Source is the initial component of the accelerator. It starts the particle simulation and holds input ingredients. A recipe begins if at least one item is present in each input slot.The source displays diagnostic messages via its blue info button (hover to view). A red cancel button aborts an in-progress operation — useful if a particle is stuck in an infinite loop due to a misconfigured ring.Diagnostic messages:
  • Paused — particle reached an unloaded chunk; chunks must be loaded for simulation
  • Defocus — particle exceeded 1,000 defocus points; add more quadrupoles
  • Derail — particle left the accelerator; check component connections and orientations
  • Denied — particle tried to enter a component it cannot; check orientation
  • No Cooling — component lacks cold PFM cooling
  • No Power — component underpowered; check coil penalties
  • Overspeed — particle exceeded a coil’s maximum operating speed and crashed
  • No Recipe — ingredients do not match any recipe
  • Underspeed — valid ingredients but particle’s final speed was insufficient
Requires cold PFM cooling. One-way only — follow the red arrows.
A passive component that simply allows particles to travel through. Requires no cooling or electricity. Primarily used cosmetically or to satisfy the minimum side-length requirement for higher-tier coils. One-way only — follow the red arrows.
Active component. Accelerates particles by +100 momentum per pass, but also adds +100 defocus. Particles exceeding 1,000 defocus crash — so quadrupoles are mandatory after every RFC or group of RFCs.Requires cold PFM cooling. One-way only.
Active component. Removes 100 defocus per pass. Uses Large Coils (coil tier restrictions apply). Required after every batch of RF Cavities to prevent particle loss.Requires cold PFM cooling. One-way only.
Active component. Redirects particles around corners, enabling loops and branches — the key to building ring accelerators.Dipoles have three configurable output directions:
  1. Direction when particle speed is below the threshold
  2. Direction when particle speed is at or above the threshold
  3. Direction when threshold is met and a redstone signal is applied to the dipole’s port
A speed threshold is set in the dipole’s GUI. Set this below the coil’s upper speed limit so the particle exits the ring before crashing.Uses Large Coils. Requires cold PFM cooling.
The final component of the accelerator. Ends the simulation and attempts to produce the recipe output. Requires empty capsules in its inventory to catch resulting particles — inputs are voided if collection fails.Detection requires zero defocus — ensure sufficient quadrupoles before the detector. Requires cold PFM cooling.
Large Coils are required by both Quadrupole Magnets and Dipole Magnets. Each coil tier has:
  • Minimum operating speed — particle below this causes 10× power penalty
  • Maximum operating speed — particle above this crashes immediately
  • Minimum side length — minimum distance between two active dipoles; not met = 10× power penalty
If both 10× penalties apply simultaneously, the power draw exceeds the dipole’s buffer and the particle crashes.Higher-tier coils (gold, etc.) allow faster particles, unlocking recipes requiring higher momentum. Lower-tier coils avoid the underspeed penalty but cap maximum achievable speed.Dipoles that pass the particle straight through (no direction change) do not count against the side-length minimum — they add 3 to the effective side length, just like a beamline, and are immune to power penalties.

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Cyclotron Recipes

The Particle Accelerator performs cyclotron transmutation recipes. Each recipe specifies:
  • A particle type (determined by the particle source’s loaded particle)
  • A target material (ingredient in the source)
  • A minimum required momentum to complete the reaction
  • A result item
Example transmutation recipes (from CyclotronRecipes.java):
ParticleInput MaterialOutputMin. Momentum
Lithium particleLithium dustBeryllium powder50
Lithium particleBeryllium dustBoron powder50
Lithium particleIron dustCobalt powder50
Lithium particleGold dustMercury ingot50
Lithium particleUranium dustNeptunium powder50
Lithium particleNp-237 dustPlutonium powder50
Beryllium particleThorium dustUranium powder25
Beryllium particleCobalt dustCopper powder25
Beryllium particleCerium dustNeodymium powder25
Many late-game isotopes — including neptunium and cyclotron-grade plutonium — are only accessible via the particle accelerator. The accelerator is the only way to perform these transmutations outside of natural ore processing.

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Cooling System

Almost every active component (RF Cavity, Quadrupole, Dipole, Source, Detector) requires a continuous supply of cold perfluoromethyl (cold PFM). Without it, particles derail with a “No Cooling” error. You must build a closed PFM cooling loop before the accelerator will operate.
To create cold PFM:
  1. Feed regular PFM into a Compressor set to compress it to 1 PU (pressure unit).
  2. Feed the 1 PU PFM into a second Compressor — this produces cold PFM.
  3. Pipe cold PFM to all active accelerator components.
  4. The components return room-temperature PFM, which feeds back into the first compressor, closing the loop.

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Building a Basic Single-Ring Accelerator

1

Place the Particle Source

Set down a Particle Source. The front face (which resembles a beamline port) is where the particle exits. Connect a Beamline to this front face, ensuring the red arrow on the beamline points away from the source.
2

Build the First Side of the Ring

In the direction the beamline points, place the following sequence:
  • Dipole Magnet (with a Large Gold Coil installed) — configure both top output settings to continue straight (away from the source)
  • Beamline
  • RF Cavity
  • Beamline
  • Quadrupole Magnet (with a Large Gold Coil)
  • Beamline
  • Dipole Magnet (with a Large Gold Coil) — configure for a 90° turn
This Dipole → RFC → Quadrupole → Dipole pattern is one side of your ring.
3

Complete the Ring (Four Sides)

In the direction of the second dipole’s turn, repeat the same Dipole → RFC → Quadrupole → Dipole pattern three more times, each turning 90°, until the four sides close back on the first dipole. You now have a complete square ring.
4

Configure the Exit Dipole

Find the dipole at the end of the first side — the corner dipole opposite to where the source feeds into the ring. Change its second output setting (speed at-or-above threshold) to go straight instead of turning. Set the speed threshold to 2000.With this configuration, the particle circles the ring five full times (4 RFCs per circle × 5 = 20 RFC passes = 2,000 momentum), then travels the first side one final time, gaining a 21st RFC pass to reach 2,100 momentum total. At that point momentum exceeds the 2,000 threshold, so the particle exits straight — well within gold coil limits.
5

Add the Detector

In the direction the exit dipole now sends the particle, place one final Beamline then the Particle Detector. Load empty capsules into the detector’s inventory.
6

Connect Power and Cooling

  • Run electrical cables to all active components (RFCs, Quadrupoles, Dipoles, Source, Detector).
  • Pipe cold PFM to all those same components.
  • Route returned warm PFM back through two compressors to regenerate cold PFM (see Cooling System above).
7

Load Ingredients and Test

Insert a particle item and target material into the Particle Source input slots. The source will automatically start the simulation. Check the blue info button for any errors. A successful run delivers the transmuted product to the Detector’s output inventory.

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Scaling Up: Multi-Ring Accelerators

A single gold-coil ring tops out at a few thousand momentum. For recipes requiring higher momentum, chain multiple rings:
  1. Remove the Detector from the first ring’s exit.
  2. Connect the exit into the entry of a second ring using higher-tier coils with a higher maximum speed.
  3. The first ring accelerates the particle to the new ring’s minimum speed; the second ring continues accelerating it further.
  4. Use redstone-controlled Dipoles to skip rings when the particle is already fast enough for the target recipe.
Single-ring accelerators can still work with coils below their optimal speed, but at a 10× power penalty. Both rings also need to meet the coil’s minimum side length, or that penalty stacks — two simultaneous 10× penalties will crash the particle instantly. Build rings large enough to meet side-length minimums.

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Power Requirements

The particle accelerator is extremely power-hungry:
  • Every RF Cavity and active magnetic component draws power continuously during simulation.
  • Coil penalties can multiply power draw by 10× or even 100× (both penalties stacked).
  • Ensure your power infrastructure — likely RBMK reactors or fusion reactors — can sustain the load before running expensive recipes.
The particle accelerator is a late-game machine. Constructing it requires advanced materials (e.g., tungsten carbide for magnets, large coils from precious metals), a fully developed PFM cooling loop, and industrial-scale power generation. Do not attempt to build it early in your NTM playthrough.

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