The top student must be diligent.

Chapter 249 Ignition Day

Under Xiao Yi's command, the speed of the entire project was accelerated again.

However, just as Xiao Yi had expected, as the installation noise grew louder and louder, it unsurprisingly attracted the attention of "foreign friends" at this place, which had already been the focus of all kinds of attention.

More and more cooling pipes are being installed, as well as various cooling equipment, coils, etc., especially those things that are obviously power generation devices being transported in, making it even more difficult to hide here.

In other words, nuclear fusion power generation does not require the construction of cooling towers like thermal power plants, but instead uses other more advanced cooling technologies. Otherwise, based on the shape of the cooling tower, people would have guessed long ago that the purpose of building this new nuclear fusion device is to generate electricity.

For a time, China was once again confronted by both the United Nations and the ITER Council.

"Director Zong, you still say that you haven't made significant progress in controlled nuclear fusion power generation?"

At another ITER board meeting, Japanese board member Shigeru Yamamoto started the discussion right from the start. He then threw out a bunch of information and handed it to every board member present. He said, "According to the information we have, at least 20 steam turbine generators have been transported to China's Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research Institute, which is where the EAST-S project is located."

"If it's just for experiments, why bring so many steam turbine generators?"

"Whether from the perspective of experimental cost or experimental planning, this is something that should not happen in normal nuclear fusion research. I think Director Zong should explain this. Otherwise, I will be very suspicious that China has not fulfilled its obligations as a member of ITER!"

The representatives of other major member countries also looked at the relevant materials in their hands and nodded, expressing their approval of what Yamamoto Shigeru said.

"We in South Korea also strongly agree with Japan's views. China's behavior is absolutely a betrayal of ITER!"

"China has obtained so much advanced technology in the field of nuclear fusion from ITER in the past to develop its own nuclear fusion technology. Now that they have made their own breakthroughs, they have not shared the technology with the organization as promised. I think this is a betrayal of ITER."

"I propose to initiate a vote to remove China from ITER!"

The US board representative also said: "Director Zong, I think you really should explain why this happened in your project."

"I hope you can understand the purpose of ITER, which is to achieve the major goal of nuclear fusion power generation for all mankind. This is a task that can benefit all mankind. All the board members present are developed countries and the most important countries in the world today. Each of our countries should be clear about this obligation."

Afterwards, other EU representatives also spoke out and expressed their response to the United States.

As for Zong Chengping, he was also puzzled when looking at the information in his hand.

Now he himself has begun to doubt whether nuclear fusion can really be achieved in their country.

Otherwise, why would such a big fuss be made?

Yes, in fact, even he, the representative of China on the ITER board, did not know what Xiao Yi was researching. Even when he had asked people in China before, the responses they gave him were basically "It's just an ordinary nuclear fusion research institute!", "It's no different from other nuclear fusion devices!", "Don't think too much. If we really achieve nuclear fusion, do we still need to stay in ITER and suffer their bullying?" and so on.

Of course, he basically believed these statements in his heart.

After all, he himself did not believe in such a thing as nuclear fusion, which they thought could really be achieved just by talking about it in their country.

As a member of the board of directors, he is well aware of how difficult this thing is.

But now, why does this movement look so real?
However, as a representative of China, he certainly would not allow these guys in front of him to spread rumors and cause trouble, so he immediately began to refute.

"Director Kim of South Korea, look, you're starting over again. I've already said that if we really achieve nuclear fusion, do you think we still need to stay in ITER? Your words are really unreasonable."

"As for the idea that just because some generators were transported there, we have achieved nuclear fusion, that is even more nonsense."

"The generator and the successful realization of nuclear fusion are not the same thing. I hope you understand this."

"Based on the current situation, I think you are basically making trouble without reason. Just as Secretary Michael said just now, the purpose of our organization is to achieve nuclear fusion for all mankind and to benefit all mankind, not to act like children like you are now, turning our council into a noisy place..."

After these sharp remarks, the directors from other countries were finally so angry that their faces turned red, but none of them believed what Zong Chengping said.

In the end, the meeting ended in a whimper.

After returning to the Chinese office, Zong Chengping took a big sip of water to moisten his throat. At this time, another Chinese vice director next to him said, "By the way, Director Zong, have we really achieved nuclear fusion in our country? After reading that information, I feel that we have really achieved nuclear fusion."

Zong Chengping pulled the corner of his mouth and said, "You think so now, and I think so too."

"This movement now does look like something big is going on."

He thought about it, and then said, "Let me ask the country what the current situation is."

He half-jokingly said, "I really hope that we can achieve nuclear fusion. In this way, we can return home earlier. Maybe then we can enjoy the difference that the nuclear fusion era will bring to our lives."

When the people present heard this, they all started laughing.

Indeed, who among them doesn't want their country to achieve nuclear fusion?

Soon, Zong Chengping called China. After some inquiries, the answer he got was not much different from the previous one.

It simply means: don’t think too much, you will know when the time comes.

They could only shake their heads in disappointment.

Time passed quickly again.

……

The year 2026 is gradually coming to an end.

"Still strong despite being struck hard by countless blows, no matter how strong the winds are, from east to west, from north to south."

A bamboo grove is planted in the Institute of Controlled Nuclear Fusion. Even in the coldest month of winter, the bamboo, one of the three friends of winter, remains tough and upright despite the biting cold wind.

Standing in front of this patch of bamboo, Xiao Yi couldn't help but recite this line of poetry that is familiar to all Chinese people.

"When Chief Master Xiao recited this poem, could it be that he was thinking about our current situation?"

Li Jiangan and many other people were also standing next to him, and Li Jiangan said with a smile.

Xiao Yi raised his eyebrows, became interested, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Li Jiangan said: "We are facing a lot of problems in order to build this thing. We are surrounded by wolves. There are so many countries out there, all of them are staring at us, and they are just about to eat us alive!"

The people around also nodded, expressing their approval of Li Jiangan's words.

Given the current international environment, this is indeed the case.

Xiao Yi smiled after hearing this and said, "It's okay if there are wolves around. If there are jackals, they won't dare to come forward because they have hunting rifles."

Then he waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's go. Now that our reactor is ready, let's go take a look."

Then he did not stay beside the bamboo, but walked towards the white building in the distance. The white building that originally looked like a half-finished product was now complete.

Various pipes, or strange-looking things, are intricately spread around, and many other buildings have been newly built around, stretching for several kilometers.

These other newly built buildings are the most critical generators.

In Xiao Yi's design, the peak power generation capacity of the Japanese reactor is as high as 40GW, equivalent to 40000MW, while the total installed capacity of China's largest thermal power plant is only 7000MW, a gap of nearly six times.

Of course, it is impossible for the Japanese reactor to generate peak power right away. It will mainly supply power to Fei City and several nearby cities. The combined annual electricity consumption of these cities is 1000 billion, which can be met with only 15GW.

After all, we have to consider the losses in the transmission process. So if we want to supply electricity to other cities in the future, it would be best to build another fusion reactor around other cities to generate electricity.

Just wait until electricity consumption increases in the future and then gradually increase it to the peak value.

Due to these considerations, the total power of the steam turbine generators near the Zao Ri reactor is currently only 20GW. However, the area occupied by a 20GW generator set is naturally quite large. These generators stretch out for several kilometers, which is no joke.

All in all, the area occupied by the entire sun-making pile together with other supporting facilities is almost several square kilometers.

It is no wonder that those foreign organizations are so anxious. Such a large nuclear fusion reactor would probably cost tens of billions of dollars. How can they not be anxious?

How could a single country spend so much money on nuclear fusion experiments?

The estimated cost of ITER is only about 200 billion euros, but this money is jointly funded by seven member parties and will take several decades to build. On average, it is less than 7 billion euros a year. If you average it out, it will be even less.

But this reactor was funded and built by China itself, and it took only a little over a year but less than two years to build.

How could they not take this seriously?
But unfortunately, with China's world-leading industrial capacity and mobilization capabilities, this huge facility was built in this way.

After entering the white building, Xiao Yi and the others began to walk around the entire device.

The entire UO device is actually embedded underground. After all, the device is too large, a thousand times the size of UOmini. In order to make the entire device stable, it is naturally most stable if it is built underground.

In addition, there are various pipes, which may contain superconducting coils or cooling devices.

There are the most cooling pipes, because they not only cool the superconducting coils, but also the solar reactor. They need to take the heat generated by fusion and bring it to the nearby steam turbine generators, thereby driving the operation of the generators.

It is so intricate, like a jungle of pipes.

As more and more people present saw it, they became more and more amazed at the brain of their Chief Engineer Xiao.

They really wanted to know how Xiao Yi had designed such a complex device by himself, with almost every detail being precise.

This is simply... not something a human could do.

If it wasn't a bit impolite, they would probably want to ask: "Are you human?"

After inspecting all the places, Zhao Zhanyou asked: "Chief Engineer Xiao, now that all the parts have been installed, when are we going to start the ignition?"

As soon as this question was asked, everyone present looked at Xiao Yi.

When does the ignition start?
Everyone is very concerned about this matter.

Only after it is ignited can they know whether this thing that has taken so long to create can be successful.

Xiao Yi took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

Looking at the huge device in front of me, I can feel a chill when I touch it.

But then he has to decide when to let the device release the sun's energy.

"Organize everyone to conduct the final inspection in the next month. Make sure every part is checked for me to ensure there are no problems."

"Then... at the end of next month, we will officially conduct the ignition experiment."

"By the way, we can also officially announce the name of the 'Sun-Creating' project to the public at that time."

Everyone present was shocked, and then nodded.

This giant device, which consumed countless manpower and material resources and had a total cost of over 10 billion, is finally going to be officially launched.

Creation of the sun. Human beings created the sun.

Can mortals like them really seize the power of the sun?
……

During this month, the Institute of Controlled Nuclear Fusion seemed exceptionally quiet. Although from time to time one could see many people walking around in the institute and it looked quite busy, it was ultimately much calmer than before.

But almost everyone who is observing the situation here knows that something big may happen soon.

And the day when the final verdict will be drawn is finally approaching.

……

2027, April 1.

A piece of news quickly topped the major hot search lists.

[The EAST-S project was renamed the Sun-Creation Project].

The message is just that short.

But netizens always feel that the fewer words, the bigger the matter, and there are quite a lot of people discussing it online at one time.

Of course, with the announcement of this news, various international organizations once again began to make all kinds of speculations.

There have been quite a few translations for the name "Artificial Sun Project", such as "Artificial Sun Project" and "Fusion Energy Project". In order to exaggerate the significance of this plan, some media directly named it "Prometheus Project". In Western mythology, Prometheus brought fire to mankind, and nuclear fusion can also represent such fire to some extent.

However, no matter what the outside world thinks or what you want to do, you cannot stop the arrival of time.

January 1st has officially arrived.

The ignition day of the Sun-Creation Project has arrived.

……

(End of this chapter)