MW4 DMZ Irradiated Container: Where to Find and Open It

The Irradiated Container is one of the rarest drops in MW4 DMZ and one of the best. You find it mostly in Chemical Storage cabinets, you open it at a machine deep inside Reactor 02, and every one we saw opened gave a weapon manual, often with a Legendary or Ultra weapon on top. We counted every container opened in a large batch of DMZ gameplay to see how often it really drops, and opened our own at the reactor. This guide covers where to find it, how many cabinets you need, how to open it and what is inside.

What Is the Irradiated Container in MW4 DMZ?

The Irradiated Container is an Ultra item, the highest rarity in DMZ. On its own it does nothing. It has to be decontaminated at the Haneul Nuclear Reactor, and only then can you open it and take what is inside.

That makes it a two-step job. First you find one, then you carry it into the most radioactive part of Hajin and out again. If you are new to the map, the reactor is the big complex in the northeast on our interactive MW4 DMZ map.

Click to enlarge The Irradiated Container is an Ultra item. You can only open it after it is decontaminated at the Haneul Nuclear Reactor.

Click to enlarge Everything about the Irradiated Container in one image. Open it to see it full size.

Where to Find the Irradiated Container

Chemical Storage is where you want to be. These are the yellow cabinets you see in clinics, in the buildings at Chang-san Air Base and around the reactor. They were the only container type where we saw the Irradiated Container more than once or twice.

So it is not only Chemical Storage. We saw it twice in a Weapons Locker at Compound Echo and once in a Locker at Compound Alpha. Those are rare finds, though, and not something to plan a run around.

The Chemical Storages that paid out were at Chang-san Air Base, Cheongun Village and the Cheongun Outskirts, and we found one ourselves in a Chemical Storage at Reactor 01. The 27 cabinets we saw opened inside Reactor 02 itself had none. That is too few to call it a rule, but there is no reason to farm the cabinets next to the decontamination machine.

Click to enlarge An Irradiated Container in a Chemical Storage at Reactor 01. Chemical Storage is by far the best place to look.

How Many Chemical Storages You Need

At about 1 in 24 per cabinet, the Irradiated Container is a grind. Honestly, most runs end without one. This is roughly how your chances add up as you open more Chemical Storages.

Because the sample is small, take these as a ballpark. If the real rate is on the low end you need around twice as many cabinets, and if it is on the high end far fewer.

The popular Iron Citadel route on r/DMZ is a good way to hit a lot of Chemical Storages in one match, and two of the containers in our data came from cabinets at Chang-san Air Base. We like the route. Just expect to run it a few times, because no route turns a 1 in 24 drop into one every game. Our Operation Iron Citadel guide covers the air base itself, and our loot strategies compare it with other runs.

How to Open the Irradiated Container at Reactor 02

You open the Irradiated Container at a decontamination machine at the bottom of Reactor 02, inside the Haneul Nuclear Reactor. Activision’s official DMZ deep dive on Hajin lists the reactor as a high threat area with severe radiation, and protective gear plus a gas mask are a must. Reactor 02 is the damaged one.

1. Pick Operation Fallen Ember. This is how we get there. The story mission sends you into the reactor anyway, so you follow its route down. Our Operation Fallen Ember walkthrough has every step.
2. Go in with gas masks and Radiation Blockers. Bring more than one mask so you are covered on the way down and back out.
3. Find a hazmat suit inside. You cannot extract a hazmat suit, so you always have to pick up a new one in the match. Grab it before you head down.
4. Process the container at the machine. Walk up to the decontamination machine at the bottom of Reactor 02 and process the container. It then opens like a normal loot container.
5. Loot it and get out. Take what you want and head for an exfil before your mask runs out.

Click to enlarge The decontamination machine at the bottom of Reactor 02. Process the container here and it turns into a lootable box.

On the tac map, the machine sits on the east side of Reactor 02, the round building with the broken roof, right next to the row of three small round tanks.

Click to enlarge The white ring marks the decontamination machine, on the east side of the damaged Reactor 02 next to the three small tanks.

One Container or Several Per Trip?

It does not really matter. If your backpack has the space and you play with a squad that can cover you, take more than one. Solo players on r/DMZ mostly bring one at a time in a secure slot, so the trip stays short and there is room for the loot.

What Is Inside an Irradiated Container

This is where the Irradiated Container earns its Ultra rarity. We saw 11 of them opened at Reactor 02, and every single one had a weapon manual.

A weapon manual unlocks that gun in the Gunsmith, so this is the most reliable way we know to farm manuals. Our weapon manuals guide covers the other places they drop. Players on r/DMZ report the same mix of manuals, Legendary guns and the odd Large Secure Backpack.

Our own two containers fit that picture. The first gave us a Large Secure Backpack (Ultra), the JOKR manual, a W.M.D. Manifest and the Vault Armory key. The second had an Ultra MAR-9 marksman rifle, the Kastov 762 manual, an Encrypted Archive and Ballistic Fabric.

Click to enlarge Our first container held a Large Secure Backpack (Ultra), the JOKR manual, a W.M.D. Manifest and the Vault Armory key.

Click to enlarge Our second container held an Ultra MAR-9, the Kastov 762 manual, an Encrypted Archive and Ballistic Fabric.

Open It or Save It for Bank Upgrade XII?

Open it. According to a community upgrade tracker, the only 3D Printer upgrade that uses the Irradiated Container is Bank Upgrade XII, which asks for three of them together with 20 Gold Bars, 20 Gold Skulls and 3 Fulton Drop Markers. We have not seen that tier ourselves yet. Even if the numbers are right, you will open hundreds of Safes for the gold before the containers become your problem. Our Gold Bar and Gold Skull guide shows how many.

A manual and a Legendary or Ultra gun now are worth far more than a container waiting in your stash for an upgrade that is that far away. The cheaper bank tiers are in our 3D Printer recipes guide and the FOB guide.