A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 304 Pangu Project
In the new experimental building of the Plasma Institute,
Chen Hui stood in the center of the main control room, wearing the same uniform as all the engineers, but the small, dark gold "Pangu" emblem on his chest seemed particularly heavy. This was the code name of this project, and also the name of the experimental device in front of him: Pangu!

Behind him were dozens of rows of flashing control consoles, and in front of him was a huge circular screen that occupied an entire wall, displaying countless data streams and multispectral images, with a real-time projection of the reactor vessel in the very center.

"Final self-check sequence complete."

"The magnet system is fully charged, the field strength has reached 100% of the design value, and it is stable."

"The active cooling system of the first wall is operating normally."

"The divertor starts with liquid metal circulation, and the flow rate is stable."

"Fuel injection system ready, DT mixing ratio calibration complete."

Song Yuntao stood beside Chen Hui, summarizing the information and finally reporting it to Chen Hui.

The report was calm and clear, but the air in the control room was thick with an almost stagnant atmosphere, and everyone could hear their own heart pounding.

Chen Hui took a deep breath, and his voice, calm and undisturbed, echoed throughout the control room through the microphone: "Pangu's first ignition experiment, start, begin fuel injection."

The projection shows minute amounts of deuterium and tritium being precisely injected into the center of a huge toroidal vacuum chamber.

"Laser preheating system activated."

"Low-noise heating system activated, power increased to 10%, 30%, 70%"

The data on the screen began to fluctuate wildly. The detectors inside the vacuum chamber transmitted back the initial images, and the rarefied gas began to emit a faint glow, spreading like a nebula.

"Plasma formation!"

"Temperature exceeded ten million degrees Celsius!"

"Keep heating on! 100% power!"

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the temperature and energy gain curve in the center. The temperature was rising at an alarming rate: 50 million... 100 million... 200 million...!
Suddenly, an invisible critical point was breached.

At the center of the projection, the previously somewhat diffuse, dark red plasma cloud seemed to be suddenly pinched and compressed by an invisible hand, shrinking sharply inward! The next moment, it became extremely bright and dense, presenting a perfect, ominous, and magnificent golden-white color!

It is no longer a gas; it is a perfectly bound, pulsating artificial sun.

At the same time, a clear, synthesized female system voice rang out, echoing in the silent control room.

"Warning: Continuous fusion neutron flow detected."

"Warning, energy balance achieved, Q value equals 10."

"Congratulations on achieving self-sustaining combustion in the fusion reaction."

One prompt after another appeared before everyone, and one predetermined goal after another was successfully achieved.

There were no cheers, no screams.

Everyone was stunned by this historic moment, with only the hum of the instruments and the lingering echo of the woman's voice remaining.

Several senior researchers subconsciously took off their glasses and wiped their eyes.

But this is just the beginning; the real test is stability.

"Slight turbulence has appeared at the edge of the plasma!"

Suddenly, an engineer reported, his voice tinged with nervousness.

"Start the real-time suppression program of the Hui model," Chen Hui's command followed immediately. "Fine-tuning of the magnetic confinement field, coordinates Alpha-7, Delta-3, intensity 0.3%."

On the screen, the simulation diagram representing the magnetic field lines showed a slight adjustment in an instant.

The slight ripple that had just appeared at the edge of the golden-white flame was smoothed out as if by a gentle hand, instantly restoring its smooth oval shape.

Turbulence suppression successful!

A look of joy appeared on everyone's faces. Although they had conducted this experiment many times before, this was the first time it had been done in a real reactor.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Ten minutes... twenty minutes... forty minutes...

The "sun" at the core of the reactor burns steadily.

The divertor works efficiently, drawing high-energy particles and impurities into the liquid lithium-lead stream and carrying them away. It also relies on the radiation generated by the dramatic change to slowly generate tritium with the lithium alloy. Although it cannot achieve complete tritium self-sufficiency, it can barely cover two-thirds of the reaction consumption.

The first wall material faithfully resists neutron radiation and thermal load, and the superconducting magnet system, under the guidance of the Ghaznavid model, acts like a shepherd with infinite patience, constantly correcting any tiny instability attempts of the plasma.

"Continuous stable operation time: one hour."

Only when the synthesized time signal sounded again did the tension that had been building for sixty minutes finally ease.

The first hour is often the most difficult, but everything went smoothly.

"Transfer control of the system to the model." Chen Hui finally gave this order.

Under the system's control, the reactor is operating stably.

Soon, two hours passed, and all parameters were normal. If there were no unexpected events, the reactor could even continue to react.

"We made it!"

At this moment, Song Yuntao finally let out a low roar!
In an instant, the volcano erupted, and all the researchers cheered.

A deafening roar of cheers, applause, weeping, and uncontrollable shouts erupted, nearly lifting the roof off the control room.

The paper was thrown into the air, and people hugged, high-fived, and jumped wildly.

Chen Hui remained standing in the same spot, his hands gripping the edge of the control panel tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He stared intently at the steadily burning flame in the center of the screen.

Two full hours.

From a breakthrough of kiloseconds to two hours, and foreseeably, this reactor will continue to operate, bringing controlled nuclear fusion research into the next era!
Without a doubt, this will be the first commercial fusion reactor in human history to achieve stable and continuous energy output!
A single, scalding tear finally slipped uncontrollably from Song Yuntao's eye, landing on the cold control panel and splashing up a tiny, yet significant, dot.

He looked up, as if he could see through the thick concrete wall the light that would bring an infinite future to human civilization.

“Pangu…” he murmured softly, as if calling the name of his own child.

"...The world has been created!"

All of this seems easy, but they know it is the result of their hard work and the integration of countless achievements they have made. They have been working hard for this day for decades.

"Connect the power generation system!"

After the reactor had been running stably for three hours, Chen Hui spoke again. What they had built was just a reactor; to generate electricity, they still needed to convert the energy from the fusion reaction into electrical energy.

The most mature conversion method at present is to generate electricity by driving a turbine with steam, which is simply boiling water.

Although it may seem primitive, it is undoubtedly the most mature power generation solution at present. Even when using controlled nuclear fusion power generation, the step of boiling water cannot be avoided.

The high-energy neutrons produced by the fusion reaction carry the majority of the energy. These neutrons are captured by the reactor cladding, and their kinetic energy is converted into heat energy, which raises the temperature of the cladding material. Coolant such as water, helium, or liquid metal flows through the cladding and is heated to a high temperature. The high-temperature coolant is pumped to a heat exchanger, which transfers the heat to the water in the secondary loop.

The water is then heated into high-temperature, high-pressure steam, which drives a steam turbine to rotate. The turbine then drives a generator to cut magnetic field lines and generate electricity.

Of course, some have proposed a more direct approach, skipping the heat-mechanical-electric energy conversion step and generating electricity directly through magnetohydrodynamics.

A high-temperature cladding coolant, usually liquid metal or ionized gas, i.e. plasma, is passed directly through a strong magnetic field channel. Charged particles are deflected as they flow in the magnetic field, generating a potential difference on the electrodes on both sides of the channel, thereby directly outputting direct current.

Such efficiency would undoubtedly be higher, but the preparation and control technology of extremely strong magnetic fields and high-temperature conductive fluids is very complex, and the materials face severe corrosion problems. We can only study this when the second-generation fusion power plant is developed.

As Chen Hui spoke, the generator unit was officially connected to the fusion reactor.
Inside the control room, the atmosphere was even more somber than during ignition. Successful ignition proved scientific feasibility, and the grid connection at this moment would prove its commercial viability—the final step in transforming "solar energy" into lights for countless homes.

Chen Hui stood in front of the control panel, his eyes fixed on the two waveforms on the screen that were about to intersect in a historic way.

One is the stable high-temperature steam pressure curve output from the reactor and converted by the heat exchanger, and the other is the AC waveform transmitted from the State Grid with a frequency strictly maintained at 50Hz.

"The reactor thermal power is stable at 2500 megawatts."

"The primary coolant temperature is 485 degrees Celsius and the pressure is 15.5 MPa, which is stable."

"The secondary loop steam generator outputs ultra-high pressure superheated steam at a temperature of 535 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 12 MPa, with perfect parameters."

"The main steam valve is open, and steam has been delivered to the turbine generator set."

All eyes were drawn to the monitoring screen of the power generation area in the distance, a huge hall filled with industrial power.

Woo!
A deep, powerful hum, as if from an ancient behemoth awakening, faintly came through the thick soundproof wall. It was the steam turbine rotor, driven by hundreds of tons of high-temperature, high-pressure steam, beginning to overcome its enormous inertia and slowly accelerating its rotation.

On the screen, the turbine speed numbers began to jump: 0 RPM... 100 RPM... 500 RPM... its acceleration became faster and faster.

"Turbo speed 1500 RPM!"

"3000 RPM! Rated synchronous speed reached!"

The turbine is ready, its rotation speed perfectly matched to the grid frequency; now only the final step remains: closing the circuit.

"Generator excitation system started."

"Voltage established, 22 volts, synchronized with grid voltage."

"Checking the phase angle difference...frequency difference...all parameters are within the grid connection allowable thresholds!"

The grid connection operator took a deep breath, looked up at Chen Hui, and waited for the final command. Chen Hui nodded, his voice clear and calm, "Execute grid connection."

The operator pressed a red button with a transparent protective cover.

On the screen, the once calm straight line representing the power plant's output was instantly brought to life!
Snapped!
An invisible roar echoed through the power system.

In the massive substation, the enormous circuit breaker completes the final physical connection.

At this moment, the surging power generated by the Pangu fusion reactor is transformed into powerful mechanical energy through the rapidly rotating turbine rotor, and then finally into a rushing current through the huge magnetic poles and coils of the generator!
This newly born electric dragon roared and thrashed as it instantly surged into the vast veins of the State Grid, rushing towards distant cities and factories.

On the main screen, a crucial number begins to jump and grow rapidly from zero.
Grid output power, 1MW...50MW...150MW...500MW...

Ultimately, this figure stabilized at a net output of 800MW!

This means that nearly half of the electricity used by a large city is currently being provided purely by this "artificial sun"!

In the control room, a second, even more enthusiastic, cheer and applause erupted.

Many people embraced and wept. If the successful ignition was a victory for science, then the grid connection and power generation at this moment is a victory for engineering, a victory for humanity in bringing ultimate energy to reality!
The sheer awe-inspiring sight of the reactor igniting, and watching the electricity it generates flow into the power grid, into distant cities, and illuminate their lights, is beyond words.

Many of the young researchers, who had been calm all along, now had tears in their eyes. At this moment, they were like Kuafu chasing the sun, finally managing to catch the scorching sun before dying of thirst!

Chen Hui also smiled broadly, looking at the number 800MW on the screen, feeling excited.

This power output is sufficient to support the annual electricity needs of 200 million households, or meet the core industrial and residential needs of a medium-sized city.

But it consumes only 0.36 grams of fuel per hour, while a coal-fired power plant of the same capacity would require 800 tons of coal!

This is just one set of fusion power plants. Once the technology matures and enough fusion power plants are built, China will no longer have to worry about energy problems.

Of course, for ordinary people, each kilowatt-hour of electricity may only cost a few cents in the future.

Auntie will be so happy!

Chen Hui smiled slightly, recalling the scene of his aunt scolding his uncle for not turning off the lights at night.

……

In a courtyard house meeting room in Beijing,

"The result doesn't seem too good."

Looking at the results of the first round of voting, Old Zhao said with a wry smile, "Perhaps everyone thinks Chen Hui is too young, because this time only one-third of the votes were in favor."

"What's wrong with being young?"

"Whether you can become an academician is not based on age, but on your contributions and achievements!"

Qian Lao's expression turned serious, quite dissatisfied with this. Talented people like Chen Hui had gone through great lengths to find them, so naturally they should be given top-notch treatment. If they couldn't even be selected as academicians, it would be a great loss to the country and would discourage them.

"There are some results that we haven't made public."

Old Zhao roughly understood everyone's thoughts. Of course, understanding did not mean agreement. He was somewhat worried, "If that's the case, he really won't be able to get admitted to the hospital this year."

The admission selection rules are what they are, and there's nothing they can do to change them.

"At worst, we can just release Chen Hui's results during the second round of review."

After thinking for a while, Mr. Qian spoke.

The secrecy was kept secret to protect Chen Hui, but now that Chen Hui has returned to China and it is foreseeable that he will never go abroad again, there is no need to keep it a secret any longer.

Just then, there was a knock on the conference room door, and Qian's secretary stood in the doorway. "Mr. Qian, good news! The Pangu Project has been a complete success!"

"what?"

The elderly people in the meeting room were stunned, then bursts of hearty laughter filled the room.

(End of this chapter)