1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 706 The Pangu Project Accelerates! The Americans Need 3 Years! I Only Need 1! Ridgeway Goes

Chapter 706 The Pangu Project Accelerates! The Americans Need Three Years! I Only Need One! Ridgeway Goes Completely Crazy!
Li Qiwei originally intended to use penicillin as leverage to entice European countries to pressure the Sakura tribe and rescue Ma Yucheng.

However, the Sakura Clan's toughness and ruthlessness left the various countries helpless.

Moreover, he failed to retain ownership of penicillin and had to cooperate with both countries.

His previous high-profile declaration, "If the Sakura Clan doesn't release Ma Yucheng, I won't release penicillin," has become a joke.

This is the difference in strength.

How could one person's strength possibly match that of a nation?

No matter how brilliant a scientist is, he is still just a scientist, not a leader who commands thousands of troops.

Everyone sighed with regret.

"It's a pity that Professor Bruce is not involved in politics and has no political influence, otherwise he wouldn't be in such a passive position."

"The Sakura Clan took advantage of this point, which is why they dared to kidnap Borneo scientists with impunity."

"A high IQ is no match for a big fist!"

"I don't know how this will develop."

"."

Countless people talked about it.

Then, on October 20, 1930.

Ridgeway has announced again that he will suspend the sixth Bruce Conference, originally scheduled for the end of this month.

"When the personal safety of scientists cannot be guaranteed, holding more meetings is futile."

And he formally declared at the end of the article:

"I will abandon the morality I once followed, transform my wisdom into strength, and continue to fight against barbarism to the very end!"

Wow!
The news shocked the world!

Many of the leading physicists were not surprised by the cancellation of the meeting; the outcome was entirely expected.

Given what happened, Professor Bruce would be in no mood to attend the meeting; otherwise, it would be a blow to his prestige.

Whether the Bruce Conference can continue remains to be seen, depending on how things develop.

The big shots cursed the Sakura Clan in their hearts.

Even those bigwigs who were originally invited by the Sakura Clan to give speeches or lectures canceled their trips in protest.

In today's scientific community, almost everyone stands on Rigvii's side.

Therefore, the scientific community of the Sakura Clan has already begun to be isolated.

Nagaoka Hantaro and the others were so anxious they were stamping their feet.

The most shocking thing is the last sentence.

"Is Professor Bruce planning to retaliate?"

"Oh, God!"

"How terrifying would it be if Professor Bruce were willing to transform into the devil?"

"The world won't end, will it?"

No one doubted Professor Bruce's determination.

What everyone cares about is:

"As the world's foremost scientist, how exactly does Professor Bruce intend to target a nation?"

How can wisdom be transformed into power?

Governments in Europe and the United States are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Anyway, this is an internal Asian conflict and has nothing to do with them.

If the Sakura Clan were to actually suffer any harm as a result, it would actually benefit the interests of various countries on the continent.

at the same time.

After that incident of being enraged and humiliated, Shiro Ishii completely dropped his pretense and became indifferent.

He did not use any extreme punishment or execute Ma Yucheng, but instead allowed him to participate in various basic research projects.

Shiro Ishii was not afraid of Ma Yucheng's sabotage; in the field of biology, he was even more senior than the latter.

He just wanted to squeeze out the last bit of value.

For the Sakura Clan, Ma Yucheng's life is more valuable than his death. This serves not only as a deterrent but also as a means to blackmail them someday.

Therefore, Ma Yucheng became a high-end laborer.

In order to realize his greater value, he did not deliberately confront the other party, but went along with them and waited for a glimmer of hope.

Furthermore, Shiro Ishii was personally received by a high-ranking member of the Sakura Clan, who even said to him:

"You must accelerate weapons research; you will have more resources next year."

"That entire continent will be at our disposal."

Shiro Ishii was overjoyed, knowing that he was just one part of the empire's larger plan.

"What Ma Yucheng? What Li Qiwei!"

"What good is great wisdom?"

"Before our Great Sakura Empire, there is only one outcome: submission and vassalage!"

"You, a mere physicist, dare to challenge the majesty of the Empire?"

"No matter how powerful quantum mechanics is, how many divisions can it withstand?"

"Sooner or later I will dissect the brain of the so-called number one scientist of our time."

"Let's see what the differences are."

Shiro Ishii's eyes were bloodshot, and he was acting like a wild beast.

The situation in Asia is rife with undercurrents.
-
1930 11 Month 1 Day.

Borneo, with the character "山" (mountain) in its name.

In a highly confidential meeting room.

All six scientific personnel involved in the Pangu Project—Qian Wushi, Yu Yin, Deng Huaining, Qian Huzhou, Xu Qitai, and Xia Yuanli—were present.

Today's meeting was originally a weekly discussion meeting.

Everyone should summarize the progress of their assigned tasks and discuss any difficulties encountered.

Qian, Yu, and Xu were in charge of the structural design of the atomic bomb, Deng and Xia were in charge of the controlled nuclear reactor, and Qian Huzhou was in charge of the uranium-235 separation work.

Under normal circumstances, Li Qiwei does not attend this meeting.

But today, he gave a last-minute notice that he would be attending the hearing in person.

At this moment, the six of them occasionally looked ahead.

Li Qiwei sat there, his eyes deep and his expression calm.

But everyone knew that the dean was burning with anger.

The arrest of Ma Yucheng enraged the group, who vowed to develop an atomic bomb as soon as possible to force the Sakura Clan to release him.

They finally understood why the dean had started planning this decades ago.

"He had long anticipated this day!"

"With the development of science, scientific achievements can generate increasingly enormous value."

"And a group of scientists alone cannot protect these treasures."

"In the eyes of the ambitious Sakura tribe, Borneo is probably just a child carrying gold in a bustling city."

But you can't get fat in one bite.

The development of the atomic bomb could not be accomplished overnight and was subject to many limitations.

As Li Qiwei gently said, "Let's begin," the six people immediately sat up straight, their expressions serious.

Deng Huaining was the first to take the stage.

"The nuclear reactor has been operating successfully for two months now."

"The latest version of the device has been successfully transferred to the mountain section to support various tests."

"In addition, the Lei division has developed nuclear reactor power supply technology to provide extra power to the Shui division."

With Ridgeway's involvement, the construction of the nuclear reactor in Borneo proceeded almost without any problems.

They've even started using it to generate electricity.

Next up was Qian Wushi.

"The Computing Department has successfully calculated the critical mass of uranium-235."

"As shown in the figure, in order to ensure that the chain reaction proceeds normally, it is necessary to ensure that neutrons are always redundant."

"The three neutrons produced each time should not be wasted, but should continue to participate in the next reaction."

"The main loss is that neutrons escape directly to the outside of the material."

"The larger the volume of the material, the longer it takes for neutrons to escape, and the more likely a nuclear reaction will occur."

"Conversely, the smaller the volume, the lower the probability of a nuclear reaction occurring."

"This is the theoretical basis of critical mass."

"Therefore, calculating the critical mass becomes a probability problem." "That is, what is the probability that a neutron will collide with a uranium-235 nucleus and undergo a nuclear reaction as it escapes from a spherical uranium-235 material of radius R."

"As we all know, the interior of an atom is very empty, and a neutron is very small."

"Therefore, a neutron needs to travel a very long distance to hit an atomic nucleus."

"And this [distance] depends on the [collision cross-section] between the neutron and the uranium-235 nucleus." (Chapter 674 explains the collision cross-section)
"This value cannot be calculated; it must be measured experimentally multiple times using a nuclear reactor."

"Moreover, it is related to the concentration of uranium-235 and the parameters of the material shape."

“Here, I will take a perfect spherical uranium-235 material with 90% abundance as an example.”

"Through repeated experiments, we calculated that this distance is 8.4 centimeters."

"In other words, if the radius of a spherical uranium-235 is less than 8.4 centimeters, then the neutrons will simply escape the material and no nuclear reaction will occur."

"Therefore, 8.4 centimeters is the critical radius of uranium-235."

“铀235的密度是19.1g/cm，临界体积根据4πR/3计算可得为2482.7cm。”

"Therefore, the critical mass of uranium-235 is 47.4 kg."

Wow!
Everyone was shocked.

As expected of Professor Qian Wu, a master of mechanics, his calculation ability is simply amazing.

The various partial differential equations in it are a real headache to read.

His analysis actually explains why a nuclear reactor is needed to design an atomic bomb.

Because much of the data is not derived through theoretical calculations, but must be obtained through experiments, such as the collision cross-section of a neutron.

Without a controllable nuclear reactor, no one would dare to conduct the experiment.

Therefore, in the Manhattan Project, Fermi's reactor was put first.

In addition, Professor Qian Wu also provided a neutron diffusion equation, which allows direct estimation of the critical mass of spheres at different concentrations by substituting parameters.

This is similar to various empirical equations in fluid mechanics.

These are equations that can only be derived through a combination of theory and experiment.

Therefore, Qian Wushi was quite adept at the calculations.

Because it is an empirical formula, any small change will cause the formula to fail and require recalculation.

At this point, Yu Yin added:

"The Theory Department adopted the implosion design proposed by the Dean."

"Thirty-two small uranium blocks were struck by high-energy explosives onto the large uranium block in the center."

"According to calculations, the critical mass of this form is slightly higher than that of a sphere, at approximately 52 kg."

Everyone nodded.

This number is within an acceptable range.

Next, Xu Qitai reported on the design work regarding high-energy explosives.

The atomic bomb requires precise detonation, and even the explosive power must be strictly controlled, which is very difficult.

Xu Qitai visited many bigwigs in the explosives industry to finalize the plan.

Professor Qian Wu offered various optimization suggestions from the perspective of fluid mechanics.

"The ignition method can be a polonium tube."

"."

Li Qiwei listened quietly to everyone's discussion without saying a word.

Because he's considering a crazy decision!

Everyone assumed that the dean was exhausted and in poor spirits recently, so they tacitly refrained from disturbing him.

Finally, it was Qian Huzhou's turn to take the stage.

"The Pangu Project will be launched on February 10th."

"The Water Department finally completed the installation and commissioning of more than 50,000 centrifuges in mid-October."

"And by the end of the month, the production process for uranium-235 separation had been completed."

“10月31日，水字部正式生产出浓度高达90%的铀235，当日产量为55g。”

"At this rate, even if we work day and night, the annual production of uranium-235 by the Water Division is about 20 kg."

Wow!
This number has everyone very excited.

20kg a year, that's 60kg in three years.

It only takes 52 kg of uranium-235 to make an atomic bomb.

In other words, three years later, on October 31, 1933, they would have been able to create the world's first atomic bomb!
Let's see if the Sakura Clan still dares to refuse to release them!
Master Qian Wu quickly confirmed:

"Huzhou, is this number okay?"

The others were also staring at him expectantly.

The Uranium-235 from the Water Division is the core of the Pangu Project and must not be lost.

Qian Huzhou was in a good mood and said with a smile:

"Please rest assured, there will be absolutely no mistakes."

"And there will be more, if not more."

"Since it's the first day of production, the workers aren't familiar with it yet, so efficiency will improve in the future."

call!
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Today's meeting was all good news.

Not only did it solve the critical mass problem of the atomic bomb, but it also produced enough uranium-235 for use.

At this point, Xia Yuanli expressed his concerns:

"If we can only build one atomic bomb, then there's no way to test it?"

"Isn't this risk a bit too high?"

However, Yu Yin smiled and said:

"Brother Yuan Li, don't worry."

"I can guarantee with my life that the implosion atomic bomb will succeed without testing!"

"The nuclear reactors in the Lei series only use uranium-235 with a concentration of 20%, and they can still react normally."

"The atomic bomb uses materials with a 90% concentration; it will definitely explode!"

Yu Yin's resolute words ignited the passion in everyone's hearts.

Without absolute certainty, given Yu Yin's personality, he would never have been so resolute.

This is a matter of great importance concerning the future of Borneo, and the other party is unlikely to make baseless accusations.

At this moment, everyone was in a great mood.

With the atomic bomb in hand, all of the Sakura Clan's threatening tactics will become nothing more than clown acts.

Moreover, all of the world's major uranium mines are currently controlled by Borneo.

Even if the Sakura Clan were slow to realize their mistake and wanted to build an atomic bomb, it would be fundamentally impossible given their barren land resources.

They would even send people to specifically monitor the other party.

This way, the Sakura Clan will never be able to rise again!
However, when everyone looked at Li Qiwei again, their hearts tightened.

"The dean's expression remained solemn."

"Is he dissatisfied with our progress?"

Qian Wushi and others were certainly anxious, but the atomic bomb was limited by the amount of uranium-235, so they couldn't rush it.

Qian Huzhou clenched his fists secretly, wishing he could produce 60kg of uranium-235 by tomorrow.

But science is science, and it is not subject to human will.

Just as everyone was feeling frustrated by their own inability to do anything, Ridgeway finally spoke up.

He first acknowledged the work of everyone present.

"Thank you everyone."

"I have seen all your efforts."

"Ma Yucheng's matter has nothing to do with you."