I built an armada.

"This makes stellarators physically inherently suited for steady-state, safe, and high-parameter operation!"

Su Dingping paused, giving everyone some time to process what he had said.

"So theoretically, the stellarator I designed can operate continuously for weeks, months or even years."

"This means that we don't need to ignite as frequently as we would with a spying device to keep it running."

"For the controllable nuclear fusion power plants that will be put into operation in the future, this also means higher availability, simpler operation control and lower thermal cycling fatigue."

"Therefore, I believe that at this stage, stellarators are more in line with our requirements."

After listening to Su Junping's account, another senior academician who specializes in plasma physics slowly began to speak.

"Comrade Xiao Su, that's the logic, and that's what they say."

"The advantages of hair styling tools are well known in academia, but the difficulties are equally prominent."

"The most crucial point is that the engineering implementation is extremely difficult, which means higher costs and greater design challenges."

"We all know that the magnetic field of a tokamak is roughly axially symmetric, so its coil design, manufacturing and installation are relatively neat."

"And what about the stellarator? Its magnetic field is three-dimensionally distorted, so much so that each coil is unique and extremely complex in shape!"

"The magnetic field coils of the stellarator have extremely high requirements for manufacturing precision and installation positioning!"

The senior academician's attitude was relatively mild.

"In your young people's terms, it's a bit perverted."

"Even the slightest error can cause the magnetic surface to crack, leading to the failure of the confinement."

"And the cost of failure... is too high!"

"Stellarators are not without precedent. Take the dust collector from Europe, for example. They mobilized the most advanced industrial resources in Europe, spent more than ten years on it, and the cost was astonishing!"

"This……"

The old academician didn't continue speaking, but everyone could hear the worry in his words.

Su Dingping nodded repeatedly, having to admit that the old academician's concerns were not without merit.

"What Mr. Wang said is right, but that is one of the reasons why I chose to propose this plan now."

"Our artificial intelligence is developing rapidly."

“We can fully utilize artificial intelligence technology to design a targeted system to globally optimize the configurations of thousands of coils.”

"Of course, artificial intelligence cannot be 100% problem-free, so we still need human intervention and screening to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"Although human intervention is still required in the end, this can save as much time and cost as possible."

Su Dingping paused for a moment, then continued.

"We can use a combination of metal printing and ultra-precision CNC machining to integrally mold key coil components!"

"In this way, we can control the manufacturing error to the level of one ten-thousandth of a meter!"

"Although this precision requirement is somewhat too high, with our breakthroughs in high-end manufacturing and intelligent algorithms in recent years, this goal is not entirely unattainable."

Now, let's get to the most crucial and core part, H.

"I designed a real-time online magnetic field compensation system that uses artificial intelligence and auxiliary algorithms to dynamically correct minute magnetic field distortions caused by thermal deformation, material creep, etc."

"This means greater stability and controllability, as well as lower operating costs, which are completely unmatched by other devices."

"Real-time compensation? Dynamic correction?"

Someone frowned slightly.

"It sounds perfect, but the more complex the system, the lower its reliability."

"This is a controlled nuclear fusion reactor, not some toy in a laboratory. It requires stable power generation!"

How will you guarantee reliability?

"If a problem occurs in any part of the process, it could lead to the meltdown of the entire reactor, or even more serious consequences!"

Su Dingping made no attempt to deny that this situation might occur.

“You’re right, but I’m not without a contingency plan.”

"We can certainly adopt more system control redundancy, coupled with the autonomous fault-tolerant architecture of artificial intelligence..."

"This allows any single, or even dual, failure to be automatically isolated by the system and the backup to be switched on."

"This method is sufficient to ensure the absolute stability of the confining magnetic field!"

As soon as Su Dingping finished speaking, a low murmur of discussion broke out in the conference room.

Even the most stubborn senior academicians had to admit that Su Dingping's answer was logically sound and supported by data.

Furthermore, the technological path he demonstrated is enough to prove that this is not just empty talk.

However, when it comes to a huge leap, especially such a major decision as changing technological tracks, these veteran academicians simply cannot easily dispel these doubts.

Thinking about it more deeply, does this mean that Su Dingping wants to establish his own school of thought?

By starting a new project from scratch, he eventually formed a new academic clique with himself as the leader...

These people are not being overly pessimistic, nor are they judging others by their own petty standards; this is a problem that must be considered.

Who knows if this new project is truly for the benefit of the country and its people, or if you're using it as an excuse to seize power and gain more benefits for yourself?

No one can be sure about that.

After all, no one would entrust the success or failure of a national matter, which ultimately involves the well-being of tens or even hundreds of millions of people, to the moral standards of one person.

The discussion gradually subsided until it ended in silence.

A moment later, a person in charge of the assessment center stood up.

"Chief Engineer Su, we have an even more practical problem, which is funding."

"Based on our assessment, if this project is to be implemented, the initial estimate is that the funding required will be twice or even more than that of the tokamak route!"

"As for the construction period, it will be relatively longer..."

"You should know that our country's finances are not particularly abundant at the moment, and we have already invested a lot in tokamak devices, so..."

"Is it necessary for us to start from scratch, incurring additional financial risks and time costs?"

This person's tone wasn't very pleasant, and it even carried a hint of skepticism.

However, his question is very real and involves the actual interests of several different departments and research groups.

This made the atmosphere in the meeting room a little more subtle.

Su Dingping remained silent for a few seconds.

He did not shy away from the question, but instead offered another explanation.

"Indeed, in terms of cost, starting from scratch and building a new reactor will require more money."

"But what we're comparing now isn't which is cheaper, but which project can be implemented faster."

“We have indeed invested a lot in tokamak devices and studied them for a very long time… But based on our understanding of the physics of tokamak devices, and considering various instabilities, even if a tokamak device is successfully developed, how long will it take to develop a commercially viable and economically viable tokamak fusion nuclear power plant?”

"Not to mention the many more engineering problems that may have been encountered by now."

"There's a reason why controlled nuclear fusion devices are touted as a technology that's always 50 years ahead of its time."

"Even with the most optimistic estimates, it is very likely that the time until the tokamak nuclear fusion reactor is actually put into use will be delayed until the second half of this century, or even later."

"The advantages of stellarators are self-evident and need no further explanation."

"From a long-term perspective, the design of stellarator power stations may be simpler, and labor costs will be lower..."

"Most importantly, once the hair-hair generator is successful, we will gain a crucial position in the fusion energy race!"

"And this position will bring absolute strategic advantage and strategic initiative in various fields such as global technology, economy and geopolitics for the next few years, decades or even hundreds of years!"

"This is a critical window of opportunity, and it won't last forever. If you miss it, it may disappear forever!"

"This will be the fast track to establishing our absolute advantage!"

Su Dingping was not displeased by the responsible questioning; instead, he patiently explained.

"Fast lane?"

The person in charge disagreed.

"But if you fail, it will be a huge sunk cost and a strategic miscalculation!"

Can you guarantee success? Can you guarantee there will be no risks?

The person in charge was somewhat aggressive, and even Su Dingping, who has a good temper, couldn't help but feel a bit angry.

"Scientific research, including any major scientific and technological decision-making, carries risks."

There is no such thing as 100% success in this world!

Su Dingping said in a cold voice.

"Moreover, foreign countries have been researching Krmac technology for many years, and we may not be able to catch up with them now."

“Continuing to invest in tokamak devices seems to lower the risk, but it means we may be forever following in someone else’s footsteps!”

"Ha!" The person in charge let out a soft, short laugh.

"Overtaking on a curve, I knew it would be the same old saying."

"We can't keep taking the shortcut of overtaking others forever."

"In some aspects and fields, we will ultimately have to compete directly with them!"

"The fact is, the tactic of overtaking on a curve is indeed effective."

"Not all foreign ideas are necessarily correct."

"If we dare not take risks, then we will not have the tailless layout and intelligent swarm of sixth-generation fighter jets, we will not have our own nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and the Nantianmen Project will not have been launched!"

"This move may seem risky, but it's actually the key to our generational leap!"

When the topic of sixth-generation fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and the Nantianmen Project was mentioned, the eyes of several committee members with military backgrounds in the meeting room flickered slightly.

Compared to others, these committee members with Chinese backgrounds are better able to understand the significance of Su Dingping's words.

All of these projects were led by Su Dingping alone, which is enough to prove that his judgment has never been wrong.

The meeting room erupted into another debate.

A leading figure in materials science, who had been listening silently, slowly began to speak.

His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the entire conference room.

The prestige of this venerable figure in the scientific community is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

“Dingping,” Academician Li’s voice was hoarse, but the rabbit understood clearly, “what you said about physics, engineering, strategy… each of these has its own logic.”

"When I heard that, I was also deeply moved, but..."

He raised his head, his gaze sharp as lightning.

"There's a crucial, yet also the most vulnerable, link in your blueprint. How do you plan to resolve it?"

"Or rather, when do you plan to tell us old folks the truth?"

Su Dingping fell silent.

Academician Li's thin fingers gently tapped on the report.

"The most crucial core material you mentioned here..."

Academician Li paused for a moment.

"To be honest, old man, I've spent my whole life working with materials. Whether it's high-temperature alloys, ceramic matrix composites, or even radiation-resistant materials, I've had some experience with them all."

"But the performance specifications required for your material..."

Academician Li shook his head slightly, his expression somewhat complicated.

It was a mixture of amazement and extreme skepticism on his face.

"Neutron irradiation... thermal conductivity close to... and can withstand extreme thermal stress... not to mention you... and the synthesis plan..."

Once Academician Li started talking, he couldn't stop, and one question after another came up.

His gaze swept over his colleagues who weren't very familiar with the details of materials science. He slowly said, "Let me be blunt, Dingping, this material is simply impossible to prepare!"

"Don't be so quick to deny it."

Academician Li raised one hand and said softly, "Bye-bye."

"That's right. According to your report, there is indeed a theoretical possibility of synthesizing it."

"But this possibility is extremely low, and it is only a theoretical possibility."

"This level of difficulty..."

Academician Li shook his head slightly.

"Even if you were extremely lucky enough to synthesize this material in a laboratory, how could you guarantee the stable production of this material on an engineering scale?"

"Without this material, all your ideas are nothing but castles in the air."

"Wow—"

A low gasp finally rose from the conference room.

Academician Li's prestige meant that no one doubted his judgment.

Everyone felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

Even though most people disagreed, quite a few were moved by Su Dingping's speech.

But as soon as this question was raised, the way everyone looked at Su Dingping gradually turned into suspicion.

If this so-called idea is just a castle in the air, then what exactly is Su Dingping's purpose...? Is it even necessary to consider that?
One question after another rang out, and the pressure weighed on Su Dingping like a mountain. (End of Chapter)