The Yangtze River Delta city group.
The headquarters of the AIIB.
After listening to the report on the video call, Governor Zhou, who was sitting on the office chair, thought for a moment, then said with a strange expression on his face.
“Second generation of controllable fusion… Are you sure this is what he said?”
“I’m pretty sure.” In the holographic screen, Zhong Ziyu nodded. He continued gently, “Although Academician Lu is not the most suitable candidate for the chairman, his proposal on the second generation of controllable nuclear fusion really touched me. Over the past half-century, East Asia Energy has basically had no substantial development except from being strong to becoming all-mighty. Although the second generation of controllable fusion sounds ridiculous, whether it can be done or not, I think it can at least bring us some changes.”
Governor Zhou’s finger gently tapped on the table as he asked in a deep voice, “What about the risks?”
Zhong Ziyu continued, “The only risk is at the technical level, but even if the worst happens, it will not be so bad that it is unacceptable.”
There was a long silence in the office.
Governor Zhou, who was sitting at his desk, was lost in thought. He did not say a word for a while.
After about five minutes, he finally raised his eyelids, as if waking up. He looked at Zhong Ziyu in the holographic window and opened his mouth.
“You did a good job.
“If the risks are acceptable, I won’t hold you accountable for your claims.
“But remember, keeping East Asia Energy’s shares independent is the prerequisite for everything. If it is discovered that he intends to integrate the shares of several companies he holds and lobby other shareholders to complete the merger and reorganization… You must stop him. ”
Zhong Ziyu nodded slightly.
“Understood.”
The video call was over.
Governor Zhou, who hung up the phone, loosened his shoulders slightly and leaned back on the office chair.
Academician Lu as the chairman of East Asia Energy…
Proposing second-generation controllable fusion technology to the board of directors.
Although the risks were indeed controllable, the development of things had exceeded his expectations.
“It’s really hard to say whether this is a blessing or a curse…”
He raised his index finger and pinched his eyebrow. He then looked at the ceiling and muttered to himself. He suddenly sat up straight from the office chair and tapped his index finger on the corner of the desk.
The light blue holographic panel resurfaced, and the video phone window opened again.
He looked at the smart assistant in the floating window and spoke in a clear voice.
“Call the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.
“I have important things to talk to Chairman Li.”
…
For Pan-Asian people, this month definitely had the most emotional roller coasters over the past two years.
First, flight N-177 was hijacked and about to crash with the Tianzhou space station. After that, Academician Lu suddenly resurrected, and all member states of the Pan-Asian Cooperation celebrated his return.
However, if there was anything more surprising to the Pan-Asian people than the resurrection of Academician Lu, it was probably the establishment of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion project.
The old popsicle, who woke up a century ago, entered the forefront of the academic world as soon as he woke up, with the insurmountable challenge of second-generation controllable nuclear fusion…
After hearing this news, many people’s first reaction was dumbfounded.
Their second reaction was being muddled…
The comments section of the LSPM forum.
As the only academic exchange zone with no posting requirements, most of the discussions and exchanges here were non-professional science enthusiasts or students studying in first and second-tier universities.
Because of the huge population of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, even though the forum itself was very small, the daily traffic was not small.
As a paradise academic exchange platform personally designed by Academician Lu back in the day, they obviously talked about him.
The second the news was announced, voices of discussion occupied the entire news section. Some people talked about inside gossip, and some discussed academic issues.
But no matter what the discussion was, people’s emotions were the same…
“Second-generation controllable nuclear fusion? Is he kidding?”
“Didn’t the chief engineer of East Asia Energy just said that in a lecture at Jinling University some time ago, that we are at least 50 years away from the realization of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion?!”
“50 years… If you count from the time when Academician Lu was dormant, it would be 150 years for him.”
“You can’t calculate it like that… After all, for a monster like Academician Lu, learning the technology of the past 100 years should not be difficult. After all, he was the chief designer of the Pangu, and he was the designer of the entire fusion reactor. No one knows the design process better than him!”
“It’s hard to say! 100 years have passed, and his design ideas are outdated!”
“But his smart brain is not outdated, I am looking forward to it!”
It wasn’t just ordinary people who were fervently discussing this matter, scholars who were engaged in research in this field or had external interests in this field were also discussing it.
As soon as East Asia Energy announced the establishment of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion project and the announcement of Academician Lu’s personal role as the project leader, the discussion group of the LSPM forum was filled with “second-generation controllable nuclear fusion” and “Academician Lu takes on chairman on East Asia Energy” discussion posts.
Especially with regards to the feasibility of the second-generation controllable fusion technology, people with different viewpoints were arguing until their faces turned red. If they weren’t separated by the internet, they would have started throwing hands.
The science section of the Pan Asia TV station immediately recorded a program closely following current events and invited an important guest.
This guest was not Lu Zhou himself, but Academician Zhang Feiyue, a top expert in the field of contemporary controllable fusion technology and the director of the Institute of Nuclear Engineering of the Institute for Advanced Study!
As far as theoretical knowledge was concerned, even the chief engineer of East Asia Energy couldn’t match his understanding of controllable fusion technology.
“Hello, Academician Zhang!”
After nodding to this polite greeting, Academician Zhang said with a smile.
“Hello. Thanks for having me.”
Host: “As for Academician Lu’s recent proposal to make the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion technology the key development direction of East Asia Energy in the next five years, how do you view this matter?”
“It’s hard to say…” After touching the stubble on his chin, Academician Zhang responded to the host with a friendly smile after thinking, “I don’t understand the economic aspect, so I’ll talk about what I know.”
The host nodded and said in a serious tone, “Please speak!”
“Compared to the first generation of controllable nuclear fusion, the second generation of controllable fusion is not only an order of magnitude higher than the former in terms of energy output, but there is also a huge difference in cost between the two.”
Moderator: “Can you expand on that?”
Academician Zhang smiled and said.
“Let’s put it this way, regardless of design differences, so far there are 37 fusion reactors in the Pan-Asian region that use first-generation controllable fusion technology, as well as a dozen deuterium-tritium extraction stations and hundreds of hydrogen storage stations. East Asia Energy’s annual maintenance costs for this are more than 7 billion credit points, accounting for 40% of the total operating costs.
“And if the second-generation controllable fusion technology is adopted, one second-generation fusion reactor can replace the 37 fusion reactors that use the first-generation technology.”
After hearing this, the expression on the host’s face instantly changed.
One second-generation fusion reactor can produce as much power as 37 first-generation fusion reactors?!
This is insane!
Is it really that overpowered?!
The host gulped nervously. He continued to ask in a trembling tone of excitement, “Is it… really that different?”
“The difference is the same as the first-generation controllable fusion technology compared to nuclear fission power.”
Academician Zhang’s tone was filled with emotion.
“In fact, these are all trivial matters. The key is that the second-generation fusion technology can replace the relatively expensive tritium with helium-3, which has abundant reserves on the moon and is not difficult to collect.
“If you think a little further and apply the second-generation fusion technology to the aerospace field, our starship will not only be more than twice as big as it is now, but the fuel and cruising range it can carry will increase by an order of magnitude.
“Even for a conservative estimate, our future will undergo earth-shaking changes because of the birth of this technology!”
After listening to these amazing words from Academician Zhang, the host who looked shocked suddenly forgot what to say.
After a while, he gulped and asked, “Then what about the third-generation of controllable fusion technology?”
“Third-generation?” Academician Zhang was taken aback by the question. He then said with a smile, “That will be pure helium trifusion. Two helium atoms combine to form a helium atom and two protons… This is the most perfect fusion formula.
“However, it will be a long, long time before that thing is realized.”
Because of Academician Zhang’s interview, the discussion on the second generation of controllable fusion had been pushed to a new peak.
Many papers had sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain. From an academic perspective, they had begun to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology and the expected cost of investment.
However, most of the viewpoints in these papers were not optimistic.
From an emotional point of view, most people were willing to believe that Academician Lu, who once brought light to this land, would once again light up the land with a bigger torch.
But science would not be emotional.
Sitting in his study room, Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee. He typed the last punctuation on the holographic keyboard, then ordered Xiao Ai to send the paper to the editorial department of “Future”.
Speaking of which, the last time he submitted a thesis to “Future” was a paper on the ABC conjecture.
It seemed like he was discussing math problems with his old friends just yesterday.
Lu Zhou didn’t feel like the last submission was 100 years ago at all…
