The top student must be diligent.

Chapter 237 Feasibility Verification

Inside the Plasma Institute, in a conference room.

"Well, today is our first meeting of EAST-S."

Director Liu sat in the first seat, representing the importance the country attaches to this plan. He also came here to announce some of the country's requirements for this plan.

However, as soon as this name came out, everyone present couldn't help but look at the two seats next to Director Liu. Sitting in these two seats were Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou.
Obviously, everyone present knew that this somewhat unoriginal name was given by the two of them.

Although it was finally approved, someone has to take the blame.

So the people who were responsible for taking the blame became these two.
Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou had blank expressions on their faces, ignoring the glances directed at them, but their eyes were fixed on Director Liu.

Obviously, Director Liu was also among those who discussed the name, but now this guy has become a non-stick pan.

Xiao Yi was also there, but he didn't have any extra thoughts about names. He swore that there was no other meaning in the look he gave Li Jiangan and the other man. It was just the psychological effect of the two men.

He also has to spend time thinking about how to proceed with the overall plan.

"First, let me announce the personnel arrangements for the EAST-S program after the above discussion."

Director Liu took out a document and prepared to read out the appointment, and most of the people present immediately pricked up their ears.

Personnel arrangements are of paramount importance, representing the ranking in this plan and are of great significance to the future prospects of many people.

However, the first position took them by surprise.

"The position of chief designer will be held by Professor Xiao Yi!"

Except for Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou, the two people who knew the inside story, everyone else present was stunned.

what happened?
The chief designer is actually Xiao Yi, not Li Jiangan?

After all, Li Jiangan is not only the former director of their Plasma Institute, but also the chief designer of EAST at that time. In their institute, he is the most powerful person in terms of prestige and qualifications.

So before, they all estimated that Li Jiangan should be the chief designer.

but now……

However, when they all looked at Li Jiangan, they found that there was nothing unusual on his expression. Instead, it seemed as if it was supposed to be so. He even gave Xiao Yi a congratulatory expression.

Their director Zhao Zhanyou did not show any surprise at all and even applauded.

Everyone finally reacted and started applauding.

"Congratulations, Professor Xiao!"

"From now on, I will call you Chief Engineer Xiao!"

"Hello, Chief Master Xiao!"

"..."

No matter how surprising the appointment was, since it was decided from above, they just shouted it out first.

Xiao Yi smiled and nodded to everyone present.

Director Liu then went on to announce other appointments.

Academician Li Jiangan serves as the chief administrative commander and deputy chief designer, Zhao Zhanyou serves as the chief quality engineer, and some other people from the Institute of Plasma Physics serve in other corresponding positions.

Among them, Li Jiangan serves as the chief administrative commander, which can be regarded as a complete transfer of professional matters to professionals.

In this way, the top leadership of the entire EAST-S program are all professionals, which greatly avoids blind command by non-professionals.

For a moment, it also brought great surprise to many people present. What happened to their project?
There is no outsider to intervene?
Is their project a bit unusual?

After all the leadership appointments were read out, Director Liu put down the materials in his hand, looked at the people present and said, "Okay, I have read out the appointments of the main leaders. The rest of the appointments will be decided jointly by the chief designer and the chief administrative commander."

"I hope that all comrades will work together to complete our nuclear fusion plan and create our mortal sun."

Everyone else thought Director Liu's words were just polite talk, but Xiao Yi stood up and said solemnly, "We promise to complete the task."

Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou also stood up at this time and said solemnly: "We will ensure that we complete the task."

Although the others didn't understand what was going on, they all stood up and followed suit.

"Make sure to complete the mission."

……

With the official launch of the project, the news spread quickly.

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be concealed, but Xiao Yi and his team did not intend to conceal the EAST-S plan. After all, it was an open plan.

At one time, quite a lot of people started discussing it.

Of course, what people were mainly talking about was the fact that Xiao Yi actually served as the chief designer of this project.

After all, some people had discussed before whether Xiao Yi would study nuclear fusion because of the Greenwald limit he created.

And now, people's previous speculations have been verified at this time.

So, on Zhihu, there is a question that has become a hot search: [The new nuclear fusion device Super Eastern Super Ring EAST-S has been officially approved, and Xiao Yi is the chief designer. Does this mean that Xiao Yi believes that nuclear fusion will have a chance to be realized? ]

The first answer below, which is also the one with the highest number of likes, is this: [This kind of project would easily require hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in funding. It is not something that anyone can accomplish just because they think there is a chance of it being realized. Does Xiao Yi think that if he can build the Gundam, he can launch the project?
joke!

In addition, the project plan report has stated that EAST-S is an experimental device. You know, experimental devices are built for experiments. Basically, it is the same as the previous EAST, simply to build a larger tokamak device and then conduct larger-scale experiments. As for whether it can succeed? We will talk about it after the experiment and the results are obtained.

In fact, according to some information I have learned, the Plasma Research Institute had applied for the project several times before, but all failed. It was only this time that it brought in the Science Island Laboratory and Xiao Yi, so it succeeded. I guess, basically, the higher-ups saw that Xiao Yi also wanted to build a nuclear fusion device, so they let him play with it, since the Plasma Research Institute had applied for it so many times anyway.

In addition, you should know that the Science Island Laboratory and the Plasma Institute Laboratory are both in the Science Island of Fei City! They are in the same place, and they are basically familiar with each other. Their cooperation is normal, so don't think that nuclear fusion will succeed just because Xiao Yi joins.

The West has been working on nuclear fusion for so many years but has not succeeded. ITER has been around for 20 to 30 years but has not succeeded. Xiao Yi hasn't even started yet, but he has just established a project and made a fuss about it and it has succeeded? This is impossible.

We should just honestly develop photovoltaics, new energy, and build fourth-generation nuclear power plants. Things like nuclear fusion are too far away.

Don't say that Xiao Yi's research will be successful. Nuclear fusion and other things are not the same thing. 】

Then below this answer, there are also quite a lot of replies.

[What the answerer said is very right. How can nuclear fusion be achieved so easily? Fifty years is fifty years, it is impossible to change. I guess Xiao Yi is just giving it a try. Maybe someone from the Institute of Plasma Physics asked Xiao Yi to do it? ]

[I just happened to hear a rumor that the people at the Institute of Plasma Physics invited Xiao Yi to come over, hoping to work with him to build a new nuclear fusion device, and now the project has finally been approved.]

[I also have some inside information. When Xiao Yi returned to Fei City, the Fei City Government and the University of Science and Technology said they wanted to build a Science Island Laboratory for him. Some people disagreed at the time, but it was the people from the Institute of Plasma Physics who spoke up for Xiao Yi, and then the plan was approved. Maybe Xiao Yi helped because of this matter? ]

[But why did Xiao Yi become the chief architect in the end? ]

Good question. I don’t know.

[The Jianghu is not about fighting and killing, but about the ways of the world! 】

【…】

Among the many replies that started discussing the ways of the world, a sentence suddenly popped up: [You used to think the same about the twin prime conjecture, the Goldbach conjecture, the NS equations, and the mass gap problem. Now you also think the same about nuclear fusion. I hope that in the end you will be slapped in the face. ]

Then many people rushed to reply to this comment.

【Here he comes, Xiao Xiaozi is here】

[You can even see Xiao Xiaozi here? Although I do admire Xiao Yi, your mindless praise really brings bad things to Xiao Yi]

【 This kind of fan circle culture should be cured. Xiao Yi, a scientist, can be filial. Look at what I said about Xiao Yi some time ago. Isn’t he a star or an internet celebrity? 】

【…】

Obviously, as Xiao Yi's fans increased, some fanatical fans naturally emerged, and conflicts arose between them and other ordinary netizens.

For a moment, the comments below this question were filled with hostility.

Some people think that this is just an experimental device and it is impossible to achieve nuclear fusion; some people believe that Xiao Yi can successfully achieve nuclear fusion; and some people think that nuclear fusion will never be achieved.

Everyone has their own ideas, and with the convenience of the Internet age, everyone can express their ideas without scruples.

Of course, the future is unpredictable after all, so it is normal for different people to have different opinions.

Only when the wheel of history rolls on can we make a final judgment. …

Of course, this matter did not escape the attention of the White House.

Listening to the CIA director's report, the Secretary of State frowned.

"So, this Xiao Yi has started to study nuclear fusion? And even became the person in charge of nuclear fusion in China?"

It was completely different from what they had investigated before.

The CIA director shook his head and said, "He is not the person in charge of nuclear fusion in China. He is just the person in charge of China's nuclear fusion device plan. There are many devices like this in China and the United States. They are mainly used for experiments. They have built a new experimental device like this to test whether nuclear fusion can be achieved."

The Secretary of State pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, "It's different, not the same."

He stood up from his seat and walked around in his office.

"Xiao Yi is different from other scientists. He has really started to study nuclear fusion. Who knows what results he can produce?"

The Secretary of State thought for a moment, then looked up and asked, "What about the scientific advisers? What do they say?"

The CIA director said: "They re-evaluated it and came to the same conclusion as before. Xiao Yi may be able to make some breakthroughs, but the probability of achieving nuclear fusion is less than 1%."

"1%!" the Secretary of State said, "That's nuclear fusion. If there's a 1% chance of it happening, it's totally feasible!"

"But they say our chances of achieving nuclear fusion are less than 1 percent."

The Secretary of State twitched his lips, but at this moment, there was a knock on the door of his office. His assistant walked in and said, "Mr. Secretary of State, the Vice President has informed you to go to her office as soon as possible. She wants to talk to you about the election."

"I see."

The Secretary of State suddenly felt a headache.

The general election will begin on November 11th, and now it is the end of September, with only a month and a few days left until that day.

It’s hard to say whether he can still stay here in a few months, and the same goes for the director in front of him.

Even if their vice president wins, it is still a question whether they will be replaced.

Why are they still worrying about this kind of thing?

Even if Xiao Yi can really achieve nuclear fusion, it will not be possible in just a few months.

Then they won't be the ones to take the blame.

"Forget it, you guys should just keep an eye on it as before."

After collecting the documents, the Secretary of State, who seemed a little bored for a moment, said, "I'm going to see our Madam President first."

The CIA director shrugged: "Okay, Mr. Secretary."

……

The White House's attention ended just like that. Undoubtedly, Xiao Yi and the EAST-S plan will not have to worry about these things for a long time to come.

At this time, the Plasma Institute had already begun preparing for subsequent plans.

The EAST-S plan is divided into three steps: design, construction, and ignition.

Among them, design is naturally the most important.

A sufficiently complete design must be produced, and in terms of specific technology, it must at least be more innovative than the current EAST. Otherwise, if it is simply an enlarged version of EAST, it will obviously not be convincing.

And this requires the chief designer Xiao Yi to play a role.

As the chief designer, I am responsible for this matter.

As for the subsequent construction and ignition, it is relatively simple and can be completed as long as there is a design drawing.

This is, of course, the plan for EAST-S.

As for the sun-making plan, I haven’t considered so much for now. Now all I have is only one goal, which is to verify the feasibility of the overall technology!
The overall technology includes many aspects, and the first wall material is one of them.

Since the ultimate goal of the Zaori Project is to realize a demonstration reactor of controlled nuclear fusion, its overall technical specifications must naturally be aligned with the standards of a controlled nuclear fusion demonstration reactor.

For example, the service life of the first wall material should be at least more than five years. Of course, judging from the current performance of MHT-7, five years is obviously far more than that.

In addition, the feasibility of power generation technology and the type of power generation method adopted are the key, which determines the final energy utilization efficiency.

Based on the existing efficiencies of various water boiling methods, the theoretical total conversion efficiency of energy produced by nuclear fusion can reach 50-60%.

Of course, theoretical values ​​are just theoretical values. In reality, they are always lower. For example, the design power generation efficiency of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) currently under construction is about 30-40%.

Taking these efficiencies into consideration, Xiao Yi finally set an overall conversion efficiency of 50-60%.

In a fusion reaction, about 80% of the energy is released in the form of high-energy neutrons. This energy will be absorbed by the first wall material and converted into heat energy for output. The remaining 20% ​​of the energy is charged particles.

Assuming that the final conversion of that 80% of energy can reach about 45%, the remaining 20% ​​of the energy of charged particles can be converted using magnetohydrodynamic power generation technology.

After all, magnetohydrodynamic power generation technology is a power generation technology that can break through the Carnot limit, and its conversion efficiency is as high as 60-70%. Therefore, it can convert the 20% of charged particles with a conversion efficiency of 12-14%.

In this way, the overall conversion efficiency of nuclear fusion will have the opportunity to reach more than 50%, or even 60%!

This will be a conversion efficiency far exceeding that of other forms of power generation, which is also a major advantage of nuclear fusion.

According to calculations, for the same mass of fuel, nuclear fusion power generation with a conversion efficiency of 60% can generate 17352 times the power of thermal power and 7.41 times that of nuclear fission. Fusion does not cause pollution, while the pollution caused by thermal power and nuclear fission is extremely serious.

So, this is the superiority of nuclear fusion!
……

Time passed quietly and it was early November.

The general election in the United States is in full swing and is about to come to an end.

Meanwhile, at the Institute of Plasma Physics, preparations are being made for another ignition of EAST.

The purpose of this ignition is to verify the feasibility of the first wall material of the sun-making plan.

Of course, nominally, this ignition is to provide more data support for EAST-S.

"Has MHT-7 been put in?"

In the command room, Xiao Yi asked.

“It’s already been put in.”

Zhao Zhanyou said: "I also checked it myself. The two pieces are numbered A-7 and B-10."

Xiao Yi nodded.

To verify the first wall material, of course, it must be placed in a nuclear fusion environment and actually face high-energy neutrons.

So Xiao Yi also worked overtime and made two large MHT-7s.

And now, they are ready.

Soon, all preparations were completed and the ignition experiment began.

"ignition!"

The ignition button was pressed, and this time the temperature was maintained at over 200 million degrees for seconds before the experiment was stopped.

After it was completely cooled and the internal radiation dropped to a safe value, the staff took out several pieces of the first wall material inside.

Take these materials away for observation.

"No. A-7, no change in nature!"

"No. B-10, no change in nature!"

"All the other pieces of material have undergone various conditions such as neutron transmutation!"

As the result came out, Xiao Yi smiled.

perfect!

(End of this chapter)