Radiation

Radiation is a damaging effect in Subnautica that surrounds the Aurora. Once the player enters the Radiation zone, a warning will appear on the HUD and the noise of a Geiger counter can be heard. The player will gradually take damage from Radiation exposure, which will stop once the player exits the Radiation zone. As the player gets closer to the ship the screen will become fuzzy, green, and blurred. The player can craft a Radiation Suit, which when fully equipped with a helmet and gloves, negate all damage from radiation.

After the explosion of the Aurora, Radiation will leak from the drive core and spread to a set distance from the ship (in a radius of 940m around the x=1040 z=-160 coordinates), covering large parts of the game world including the eastern edge of the spawn zone in the Safe Shallows.

The Radiation zone will stay at this range until the player repairs the drive core breaches in the drive room with the Repair Tool. After repairing the leaks, the Radiation zone will disappear completely after three days and ten hours, allowing exploration of the Aurora and the Crash Zone without the Radiation Suit.

Biomes Affected

Biomes most affected by Radiation are:

Crash Zone (Only southwestern edge is free from radiation.)
Bulb Zone, southern half
Eastern Mushroom Forest
Eastern Safe Shallows
Northeast Grassy Plateaus
Southeast Kelp Forest

Biomes with partial exposure on their easternmost edges are:

Gallery

Radiation Zone Map
Radiation effect with two pieces of the Radiation Suit equipped
Radiation effect with one piece of the Radiation Suit equipped
Radiation effect without any pieces of the Radiation Suit equipped
Radiation Zone before the explosion
Radiation Zone after the explosion