Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lu Zhou’s answer was beyond the expectations of Academician Wu.
In Lu Zhou’s meeting with Ambassador Zhang, he revealed that he wanted to talk about the problem of new energy in this meeting.
However, everyone didn’t think much of it. They only thought he was going to talk about the future prospects of lithium-sulfur battery technology or what kind of support he needed from the country for his research.
Because of this, Wu Shigang was invited to be the “academic translator” for this meeting.
However, nuclear fusion was a scientific research project that had systematic risk…
Undoubtedly, this was beyond the scope of his abilities.
Academician Wu noticed the old man looking at him, so he hesitated for a bit before he asked Lu Zhou with a serious expression, “Can you elaborate?”
Lu Zhou nodded. “All of the earth’s energy sources, whether it be petrol, wind, or water… All of them come from the sun, and the sun gets its energy from fusion.
“Like what I just said, from a technical perspective, as the previous industrial revolutions have shown, the key to productivity and production is energy.
“If we can solve fusion energy, that means we have solved the sun, that means we will have mastered the future!”
The compound went completely silent for a minute.
Lu Zhou also stayed silent for a minute.
He knew that these people had listened to hundreds of exciting and passionate speeches, and they had learned their lessons.
But he also knew about the significance of a Nobel Prize and the power behind the words “nuclear fusion”.
Fusion power generation was cleaner than fission power generation and accepted a much wider source of raw materials.
There were 0.03 grams of deuterium in one liter of seawater. The nuclear fusion energy provided by that deuterium was equivalent to burning 300 liters of gasoline.
The earth’s resources were abundant. There were more than 45 trillion tons of deuterium in the sea; it was almost inexhaustible. As for how to get the expensive deuterium, a simple “heavy water” industrial method would suffice.
If they could master controllable nuclear fusion, then all of the industrial energy problems would disappear.
What did it mean for energy problems to disappear?
It meant that one could build a reinforced concrete tower in the barren desert or grow an arable land on the bottom of the sea where the sunlight wouldn’t reach… At least in theory.
Because when that time arrived, electricity would no longer cost money.
Of course, Lu Zhou was the only one that could see these things happening. In other words, he believed that these things could happen.
Compared to those far away fantasies, politicians had to think about the present and something more realistic.
Academician Wu and the old man thought for a long time. They looked at each other before they looked at Lu Zhou.
Academician Wu then spoke slowly.
“The controllable nuclear fusion project has been around for a long time, but there hasn’t been any obvious progress so far. Actually, our country plays a very important role in the ITER project, so we are very aware of the value of this technology and are willing to invest in it. However, the main question is, what is your level of certainty? And whether or not you think it is worth it…”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Unless the technology is already there, there is no experiment that can be done to test the value of the technology. Science is trial and error, that’s the same in any scientific field. You’re an academician, you should know this.”
“But the cost of trial and error for controllable nuclear fusion might be too big.”
Wu Shigang suddenly felt his palms drenched with sweat.
It was both because of how nerve-wracking the topic of fusion was and because of the young man sitting across from him.
This would at least be a hundred million dollar project.
And there was no limit on how much it could potentially cost.
Before the technology could be implemented, the project would just be a money-burning black hole. No one would know how much it would cost…
Lu Zhou acknowledged Academician Wu’s question and nodded.
“That’s right, it is expensive, but it will generate benefit for all future generations.”
Perhaps it was after careful consideration, or perhaps the old man was touched by Lu Zhou’s sentence.
The old man thought for half a minute before he slowly said, “What kind of support do you need?”
Lu Zhou said in a confident manner, “Funding, people, and cooperation with relevant departments.”
The old man nodded and didn’t even ask for specifics.
Instead, he only said two words.
“No problem.”
…
While the conversation was going on inside the courtyard, Academician Pan Changhong from the Southwestern Institute of Physics was hosting an important meeting.
The focus of the conference was the breakthrough in Wendelstein 7-X plasma confinement time that happened a month ago.
The person that did the meeting report was Professor Sheng Xianfu, who just came back from an academic exchange in Germany. In the report, he mentioned the problem of the stellarator’s water-cooled divertor and how the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics solved this problem. He also highlighted Lu Zhou’s thesis.
“Professor Lu’s calculations played a crucial role in the stellarator research. His role could be seen from the Wendelstein 7-X control plan update…”
In the PowerPoint, Professor Sheng presented the relevant technical information and quickly went through the graphs.
In the end, he placed his hands on the table and spoke in a confident manner.
“We have to pay attention to this issue. We’re already behind on the stellarator research. If we don’t take this issue seriously, we will fall behind.”
Suddenly, a researcher had an objection.
“However, even so, the tokamak is more succinct from an engineering perspective. Furthermore, it is still the mainstream international nuclear fusion research project.”
Professor Sheng nodded and proposed a counter-argument.
“I know the tokamak is still the mainstream project, but that doesn’t mean it is correct. Before this technology could be invented, all possibilities have to be considered!”
Suddenly, another researcher gave his own opinion.
“The technical problem with the tokamak is the plasma constraints, right? How about we ask Professor Lu to help us design a control plan?”
Professor Sheng shook his head and said, “The tokamak’s plasma problem is much more difficult than the stellarator. Theoretically, even if a control plan like that exists, it will be difficult to have the matching hardware.”
That researcher said, “How can we know that without trying?”
Professor Sheng was annoyed, and he said, “Then why don’t you write him a letter yourself?”
The researcher didn’t know what to say, so he smiled and shut his mouth.
He didn’t have the authority to ask some Nobel Prize winner for a favor.
The conference went into intermission.
Academician Pan walked outside in the corridor, and as he thought back to what Professor Sheng had said during the report, he lit a cigarette.
“I have a feeling that the tokamak isn’t feasible.”
Compared to the Chinese media, who celebrated every small EAST 1 achievement, Academician Pan, who was an expert in this field, was much more cautious.
Most things were exciting from an outsider’s perspective, but for insiders, they didn’t even count as in-progress achievements.
Professor Zheng Gaoming stood next to Academician Pan and asked, “Why do you say that?”
“No special reason,” Academician Pan said as he shook his head and flicked the cigarette butt. He then said, “Just a feeling.”
Suddenly, the phone in his pocket began to ring.
Academician Pan put out the cigarette and took out his phone to answer the call.
“Hello?”
Academician Pan went silent for a while and didn’t say anything. In the end, he simply nodded.
“Okay, I understand.”
Zheng Gaoming had been looking at Academician Pan’s expressions during the phone call. He couldn’t help but try to figure out what was going on.
“… What happened?”
Academician Pan put the phone back into his pocket and looked at Professor Zheng.
“The person we were just talking about is in Beijing right now.”
