Nuclear Material is an incredibly useful resource in Fallout 4. It’s used in a number of explosives, weapons, and ammo. It’s also one of the harder to find resources in the game when compared to other materials.

There are a number of ways to make farming for this resource more efficient. There will still be a fair amount of farming involved depending on how much is needed, but here are some ways to start racking in this radioactive substance.

10 Junk Scavenging

Hunting for junk items that contain nuclear material is the most straightforward way to get Nuclear Material. There are numerous items like Ichor Sacs, Alarm Clocks, and Biometric Scanners that can be broken down into this material.

Any technique to maximize looting will be helpful here, such as perks to improve carrying capacity like Strong Back. Various items can be purchased from vendors, and it’s just a matter of picking up every Blast Radius Board Game you come across.

9 Scrapper Perk

The Scrapper perk is required to obtain materials from various items when they’re broken down. At level two the player gains the ability to gain Nuclear Material from breaking down armor and weapon components. Weapons with scopes and plasma-based weapons are the best bet.

It’s also recommended to upgrade this perk to level three to get more material from each item that’s scrapped. With this perk fully upgraded the player will notice a serious increase in the amount of Nuclear Material being gathered.

8 Use Plasma Weapons

While gathering items and breaking them down to their base components is a solid way to gather Nuclear Material, it’s not the most fun activity in the game. For those looking for a combat-based way to gather Nuclear Material players can simply use Plasma/Laser weapons or weapons with Plasma/Laser components installed.

Whenever an enemy is killed by one of these weapons there is a chance they’ll be turned into a puddle of goo that will have Nuclear Material. It’s not guaranteed to happen to every victim, but it does result in a new source of the material.

7 Kill Robots

Robotic enemies can be a great source of Nuclear Material. Nearly all of these opponents have a chance to drop Nuclear Material when killed, making them a great way to farm for the stuff.

If you have the Automaton or Nuka-World expansions installed you have more areas to track down robots to kill. Bear in mind that robots can be very tough enemies, but if you’re properly equipped for it this can be a great farming source for materials.

6 Hunt Super Mutants

Super Mutants are another great enemy to farm for Nuclear Material. When killed with Plasma Weapons they will drop the stuff, but the real prizes are the Super Mutant Suiciders. These big lugs will be carrying a Mini-Nuke loaded with the stuff.

The trick is to get them to pop without blowing yourself up. The player’s best bet is to get the drop on them and shoot the bomb itself. If this seems too risky you can kill them and break down the intact Mini-Nuke. You should also inspect any Meat Bags founs in their camps as they sometimes contain Nuclear Material.

5 Hunt Glowing Enemies.

By far the best enemies that drop Nuclear Material are Glowing enemies. These foes will be stronger than their standard counterparts, but they’ll be riddled with Nuclear Materials and have a very high if not guaranteed chance of dropping it.

This is more of a mid to end-game source given how challenging they can be. It’s also hard to find them in most parts of the game as their appearance is entirely random. There is one place you can go to, however, but it’s certainly a challenging area. This brings us to our next entry.

4 Roam The Glowing Sea

The Glowing Sea is guaranteed to spit out a host of Glowing enemies for the player to take down. Nearly every enemy type encountered in this area will be Glowing, making it a very convenient spot for farming.

That being said, it’s considered one of the most brutal areas of the game and it’s highly recommended the player is at a high level, with strong weapons and Power Armor. Anti-Rads and perks like Rad Resistant or Ghoulish are incredibly helpful. It’s also a good idea to establish a Settlement in Somerville Place to act as a staging area for these farming runs.

3 Vault 88 Deposits

If the player needs an absurd amount of Nuclear Material then the single best source of Nuclear Material is in Vault 88. By completing the Overseer’s questline the player can then use this area as a settlement which enables them to clear out large Uranium deposits.

Granted this is a one-time thing, but thoroughly gutting each deposit results in hundreds of Nuclear Materials for the player to enjoy. It can be a little tedious, but this is the single best way to gain a large windfall of the material in a short period of time.

2 Merchants

If the player still needs more, then the next best thing is to visit either Alexis Combes in Vault 81 or Peral in Far Harbor’s Vault 118. Both will randomly have the option to buy large shipments of Nuclear Material which is great news for players with deep pockets.

Arguably the best merchant to purchase from is Alexis Combes as players can gain a permanent 10% discount if they save Austin while completing the Hole In The Wall quest. Depending on how much the player needs this way can get incredibly expensive, so it’s recommended to pursue the other options or have a serious cap making scheme in place first.

1 Settlement Chains

The final option for acquiring Nuclear Materials requires a serious upfront investment but can be a convenient way to generate the stuff passively in large amounts. When players build settlements they can assign settlers to be scavengers. Scavengers will roam around gathering items they find and deposit them in storage, this can often include items that can be broken down into Nuclear Materials.

This means the player can start creating a number of self-sustaining settlements that are connected by supply lines and have an army of Scavengers gathering supplies. The player will then need to periodically visit a settlement to sell or consume the materials gathered and they’ll essentially have a passively generated source of free Nuclear Material.

NEXT: Fallout 4: All The Places To Find Nuclear Material (& What It’s Used For)