Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1342 Thinking Too Much (4k)

Although there are ways to deal with the downsides, risks are risks and they will always exist. When taking these risks, the leaders want to know whether they are worth it compared to going underground.

Gao Zhendong himself said that his views may not be correct, but in any case, his views are insightful and can broaden people's thinking. At least on this point, the leaders have confidence in him.

After all these years, this scientist has proven his ability and vision time and time again.

Gao Zhendong had been waiting for this for a long time; this matter definitely needed to be clarified. There was no need to delve into the details, and at the leadership level of the National Defense Industry Committee, details were unnecessary; it was enough to clarify the general direction.

"First of all, on the ground, multiple work fronts can be carried out simultaneously. As long as resources are invested in a timely manner and the organization and coordination are proper, the construction difficulty is undoubtedly much lower than that of digging a rocky mountain, and the corresponding construction period will also be much shorter."

When Gao Zhendong said this, the leader vaguely remembered that the young man in front of him was not only a highly capable scientific and technological worker, but also had outstanding management skills. His books on project management are still required reading for project management courses in major universities and factories.

He had forgotten about this earlier. If he had remembered it sooner, he probably would have believed Gao Zhendong's words even more. But it's not too late to remember now.

He had no doubt about the advantages Gao Zhendong mentioned in terms of construction difficulty and time. After all, it was obvious at a glance that the difference between above ground and underground was enormous, not to mention now, even decades later.

"These advantages will naturally bring another benefit—that is, the cost will be significantly reduced. Building something on the ground is undoubtedly much cheaper than hollowing out a rocky mountain, and it is also much more convenient in terms of safety management during the construction period," Gao Zhendong continued.

"Yes, that's for sure..." If we set aside concerns about secrecy and operational security, building on the ground is undoubtedly much simpler. It's very difficult to dig out a nine-story building from a rocky mountain, but it's much simpler to build a nine-story building that's tens of meters long and wide on the ground. Even if it's a large-span structure, the technical difficulty is generally manageable.

If we add some auxiliary methods to dig deeper, we can have more options for construction plans. In any case, digging down from the ground is still simpler and cheaper than hollowing out a rocky mountain.

"However, without the natural protection of mountains, there is the issue of radiation..." Another advantage of mountains is that underground radiation is naturally blocked by them.

Gao Zhendong laughed: "Leader, it's actually the same. After all, whether in the mountains or on the ground, radiation must first meet the safety requirements of the operators. And the cost of this is about the same whether in the mountains or on the ground, because the operators work in the main structure and auxiliary facilities of the project. This will not change. Once the safety requirements of the operators are met, the impact on the surrounding area is not much. It doesn't cost much more on the ground than in the mountains."

Compared to being inside a mountain, there will be some additional protective expenses on the ground, but the majority of the expenses will be in management, and the hardware construction costs will not be much higher.

These words were like a wake-up call. The leaders of the National Defense Committee thought about it and realized, "Hey, that's really the case."

"The difficulty is lower, the construction period is shorter, and the cost is less. Moreover, building it on the ground has another advantage, which is that the site selection is more flexible. The general direction of building it in the third-tier city remains unchanged, but the specific location has a much wider range of choices."

The initial site selection was very difficult. Not to mention the more remote areas, the relevant experts practically scouted all the locations in the Southwest F4 region before finally choosing Wulongkou. This was because the mountains there were large and sturdy enough, close enough to a water source, with convenient transportation, and good safety...

Speaking of this, we must thank Gao Zhendong. He organized people to help the comrades at the Land Resources Bureau improve the seismograph, which played a significant role in this regard.

However, an instrument is still an instrument, and Gao Zhendong had considered this aspect as well.

"Leader, the exploration of underground conditions is still a difficult problem..." Not to mention now, even decades later, the geological conditions underground are still a matter of guesswork. Gao Zhendong himself knows that when the subway was being built in Qianyang City, Guizhou Province, they were troubled by unexpected karst caves.

"So, another advantage of being on the ground is that there are fewer variables! Once a location is selected, the geological and other conditions change relatively little during the construction process, and it is easier to handle. But in the mountains, this is a different story."

Gao Zhendong had heard stories of people drilling in karst regions and encountering caves, pouring in dozens of truckloads of cement without a single bubble forming. Although he knew that the final location chosen for this project didn't encounter this problem, who knew what the final outcome would be, since the project wasn't even finished yet.

Moreover, this reason existed until the project was completed, and I believe that the comrades would have considered it. However, it would not be so troublesome if it were done on the ground.

"Hiss... If this part must be built underground, then the only way to avoid this is to do a thorough exploration." The leader did not feel at ease just because Gao Zhendong said that it would be safer to put it on the surface, but instead considered the worst-case scenario.

Gao Zhendong didn't dwell on the issue. He had something else to say: "Moreover, on the ground, if needed in an emergency, we can fight a large-scale battle. But we don't have that condition in the mountains. Our comrades have a lot of enthusiasm, but there's nowhere for them to put it into practice."

Launching large-scale campaigns for major construction projects is a common practice that often yields good results. However, this approach is not feasible in mountainous areas.

"A major campaign..." The leader stroked his chin, not continuing.

It's okay if you don't say anything, Gao Zhendong still has something to say anyway.

"Leader, look, it's built in the mountains. Putting everything else aside, just this water pipe, which is many kilometers long and 3 meters in diameter, will keep the comrades busy for a long time."

When Gao Zhendong saw that water pipe in his previous life, he was stunned because he hadn't seen much of the world. At that time, he was young and his concept of "water pipe" was still at the level of a waterworks.

Although larger water pipes did emerge later, in the mid-60s, underground water diversion facilities of this size and design were still somewhat challenging for us.

The leader looked at the water pipe that wound underground for several kilometers, which was planned to penetrate several kilometers of bedrock, and he was somewhat scratching his head. Although he was not a civil engineering expert, he had once commanded soldiers to dig trenches. This 3-meter diameter pipe not only had to penetrate the bedrock, but also had to be reinforced with concrete after it was penetrated. In reality, the diameter of the pipe would be more than 3 meters. Just thinking about it made one realize how difficult the project was and how large the workload was.

This is a rocky mountain and bedrock, not the soil of the northern plains. Gao Zhendong waved his hand: "Besides, I've seen this plan. This water usually has to be pumped up from the Wushui River by a pumping station. The electricity for pumping water alone is a huge expense. Although theoretically we can use the heat generated by the reactor during production to generate electricity, which can be considered self-sufficiency, we can't do it that way. Wouldn't it be better if we could save this electricity?"

The leader fell silent. Even if a 3-meter diameter water pipe wasn't fully filled, how many high-powered pumping stations would be needed to supply its flow rate? That all consumes electricity. Moreover, this project has a unique characteristic: the water usage is continuous and substantial. Otherwise, they wouldn't have set their sights on the Wushui River, a primary tributary of the Longjiang River.

Gao Zhendong, who had seen a television report about an accident at a Japanese power plant, knew all too well the consequences of a reactor cooling water supply failure.

Gao Zhendong pointed to the 3-meter diameter pipe in the plan: "If we put this project on the ground, water acquisition will be much easier. For one thing, on the ground, we can lay the pipes near the water source, and the construction requirements are much lower, saving a lot in terms of time, difficulty, and cost. Moreover, the layout and design of the backup water supply plan will be much simpler. We can even build a reservoir for this reactor and use gravity to supply water, which will be much more economical to operate."

A reservoir is a common practice that Gao Zhendong learned from his elders who worked in water conservancy, in addition to runoff water intake.

Whether or not a reactor generates electricity, its cooling process is essentially the same as boiling water. Therefore, including a reservoir is quite normal.

The leader was captivated by Gao Zhendong's words, but upon further reflection, he noticed something amiss.

"If that's the case, wouldn't the reactor be downstream of the reservoir? Wouldn't the reactor itself be threatened by flooding from a dam breach if the reservoir were attacked?" This essentially expands the area that needed heavy defense of the reactor into two separate locations, requiring the defense of both the reactor and the reservoir, greatly increasing the risk.

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "This is actually easy to solve. The reactor is located downstream of the reservoir, at an elevation higher than the flood inundation line but lower than the dead water level of the reservoir. It can still provide gravity water supply, but the flood from a dam failure will not pose a threat to the reactor. Even if the terrain limits direct gravity water supply, hydraulic facilities such as aqueducts and inverted siphons can still be used to achieve the effect of gravity water supply. In this way, the risk brought by the reservoir is actually not that great."

An aqueduct is a bridge for water to flow through, and an inverted siphon is essentially a communicating vessel. Although it requires pressurized pipes, as long as the inverted siphon section is designed properly, the cost increase is not significant. These measures are much better than drilling holes in a pile of rocks.

As Gao Zhendong said this, the leader remembered that Gao Zhendong seemed to have some knowledge of water conservancy, or at least some related fields. Some of his findings had played a significant role in numerous flood control and disaster relief efforts.

Having such a versatile person on hand is a good thing, the leader couldn't help but feel a little sentimental at this moment.

Although he didn't know what an "inverted siphon" was, he was at least certain that Gao Zhendong wouldn't be talking nonsense.

"Moreover, this thing can truly generate electricity if it is placed on the ground, and its overall utilization efficiency will be much higher!"

In his previous life, Gao Zhendong did not find any power generation-related parts at this engineering site. Logically speaking, since even the reactor site is open to the public, there is no reason to hide this part. It is likely that there is no such thing at all.

The reason is not hard to guess—it's already difficult enough to dig a reactor and related refining facilities out of the mountain; digging out space for a power plant would be too difficult and costly.

But once this thing is placed on the ground, the power plant part becomes quite a topic.

"I've seen the plan. The reason why the water intake is so large is largely due to the fact that most of the cooling water cannot be recycled. If there were a power plant and cooling water condensation recovery facilities, the water intake would not need to be so large."

This was Gao Zhendong's estimate. After all, the detailed plan had not yet been released, so he could only make an estimate. However, Gao Zhendong believed that his estimate was not without reason.

In the 21st century, thermal power plants have a cooling water recycling rate of over 98%, which is why a 60MW thermal power plant only needs less than 10 tons of water per day.

This reactor, built inside the mountain, obviously doesn't have enough space to accommodate equipment like the cooling tower, which is why such a large water pipe is needed.

Reducing water withdrawal has significant ripple effects, affecting a wide range of areas. Both water intake and transportation can see substantial savings.

The money saved can be used to offset the investment cost of the power plant. All things considered, it doesn't cost much more, but you get a large power plant for free.

If we include savings from other areas, the amount becomes even more substantial.

"Power generation...water extraction..." Gao Zhendong's words were somewhat beyond the leader's expectations; he had thought far too much.

"Hmm... I will convey these considerations to the relevant comrades." He knew that, without significantly increasing safety risks, the ground-based approach was indeed a good idea—it saved time, money, and operating costs; the plan was highly flexible; and both ground-based and underground approaches had their advantages and disadvantages in terms of safety...

"Moreover, if the plan is adjusted, it could even have a synergistic effect with other major Third Front projects." Since we've already mentioned it, let's elaborate a bit more.

"A collaborative effort?" The leader clearly hadn't grasped the marketing jargon of a major internet company in the 21st century.

"Yes, if I remember correctly, a large hydropower station is going to be built at Wushui Ferry in Chongyi City, Guizhou Province, right?" Gao Zhendong was quite clear about this, after all, he often ate fish there in his previous life.

This hydroelectric power station was originally scheduled to begin construction in 70, but both the planning time and the expected start date have changed along this timeline.

"Yes, that's right, there is such a thing." The leader nodded, but before he could finish nodding, he realized what was going on.

(End of this chapter)