Great Country Academician

Mid-July.

In the United States, a modified NSTX device is running at the Princeton Plasma PPPL National Laboratory.

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory was established out of a top-secret Cold War program to control thermonuclear reactions, the Matterhorn Project.

After the declassification of the Matterhorn Project in 1961, the laboratory associated with the project was renamed the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Here is the world's largest medium-sized spherical tokamak magnetic confinement nuclear fusion device - NSTX nuclear fusion experimental device.

This device can simulate the high-temperature, high-density plasma conditions in the center of the sun to achieve fusion reactions under controlled conditions.

According to the investigation of the United States, although it is not clear what exactly Professor Xu transformed the Germanic ASDEX device into, but in general, some information has been obtained.

Judging from the collected information, the spherical NSTX device on Princeton's side is the fusion device closest to the dawn fusion device modified by Professor Xu in Huaguo.

Coupled with the powerful mathematical capabilities of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and Professor Fefferman's research on the NS equation, the American Energy Institute has invested a large amount of scientific research funds in the pppl plasma laboratory.

Professor Charles Louis Fefferman of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and Halifax Bruce, director of the PPPL Plasma Institute, stood together and looked at various data on the control screen.

Next to them, there is a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes, Dan Bruyette, the head of the US energy industry.

Over time, the operating NSTX unit gradually ceased.

"How's it going?"

As soon as the NSTX device stopped running, Dan Bruyette couldn't wait to ask.

Halifax Bruce shook his head and said, "Not too good. It only lasted for 22 minutes, and it was done despite the damage to the first wall."

"Twenty-two minutes, why is there such a big gap?" Dan Bruyette asked with a frown: "We have already invested more than one billion in you, why even the record that Professor Xu created for the first time Not even half?"

If it was two years ago, the NSTX nuclear fusion experimental device could achieve a running time of 22 minutes, and both the PPPL laboratory and the energy center would jump with joy.

But now, twenty-two minutes is too short.

"Quite simply, the numerically controlled models of superconducting materials and plasma turbulence are not yet perfect."

On the side, Fefferman shrugged instead of Halifax Bruce and replied: "If you didn't target Professor Xu, with the friendship between Princeton University and him, it should be nothing to buy a batch of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials. questionable."

Thanks to Xu Chuan's tossing in the field of controllable nuclear fusion and the start of the Lixiao demonstration reactor project, these gentlemen in the United States finally started to get anxious.

Funds from Capitol Hill have finally begun to flow to major controllable nuclear fusion institutions that have been abandoned, and Princeton PPPL Plasma Laboratory is one of them.

But even so, Fefferman's complaints about this group of congressmen are still not small.

When Dawn achieved two hours of high-density plasma operation, he suggested to PPPL Plasma Laboratory to purchase a batch of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials for the transformation of NSTX nuclear fusion experimental equipment.

However, on the basis of the agreement of the PPPL laboratory, the material directly tossed by the energy department is gone.

Although they later purchased a batch of superconducting materials from other superconducting material manufacturers that are much better than niobium-titanium alloys, they are still not as good as Daybreak, or even the Helix 7X from Germany.

Although stellarators are indeed better at controlling plasma than tokamak-like devices, pebble beds also have their own advantages.

On the opposite side, Dan Bruyette frowned and said: "There is no need to talk about these things that have passed. And how to optimize the mathematical model is your job. I don't care what you do. I just want to know that we are far from the demonstration pile." How far is there?"

Halifax Bruce said with a wry smile: "No one knows this. There are too many problems to be solved between the experimental pile and the demonstration pile."

"The running time of high-temperature plasma, the anti-neutron irradiation problem of the first wall material, tritium self-sustaining, tearing of the plasma magnetic surface, etc. These are all troubles."

Dan Bruyette took a deep breath and asked, "So why can Huaguo do it, but we can't?"

"Don't forget that two years ago, we were ahead in the field of controllable nuclear fusion. Where did you spend your time and money?"

"I need a specific time to explain to Congress and citizens!"

Halifax quickly retorted: "It's impossible. It's impossible for us to break through so many problems in a short period of time."

"If Congress maintains our funding, perhaps in 2025, we hope to start the construction of demonstration reactors."

While arguing at the PPPL plasma laboratory in Princeton, on the other side, Huaguo Jinling.

Xu Chuan is in his office, waiting for the results of the supercomputing center's calculation, while dealing with matters related to the construction of the demonstration reactor.

After collecting data from the liquid lithium molten salt breeding tritium system from EAST, he re-analyzed those data.

Judging from the collected data, this path is indeed correct.

Lithium molten salt material is formed after liquid lithium is mixed with materials such as silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, beryllium oxide, or silicon dioxide to form dispersed particles.

And this new type of lithium molten salt material will be liquefied in a high temperature environment close to 1500 degrees, but because of the loss of metal properties, it will not generate current, so it will not generate a magnetic field to interfere with external constraints The magnetic field is gone, and it will not cause harm to the control of plasma turbulence.

In addition, during the extraction process of tritium, hydrogen is used to replace the tritium in the liquid lithium molten salt material, and the extraction of tritium is also quite smooth.

The only problem is that the set of intelligent calculation methods he designed to increase the tritium multiplication ratio of the tritium cladding produced by the fusion reactor had some problems.

This resulted in less tritium being formed than would have been ideal, and a less than perfect use of neutrons.

However, when designing, Xu Chuan made a model based on supercomputers and previous liquid lithium-tritium self-sustaining experimental data. It is normal for it to be imperfect.

Therefore, after returning, Xu Chuan started to re-optimize this set of calculation methods, and then asked the Mathematical Physics Modeling Laboratory to rebuild a model based on his optimized mathematical formula.

Now, we only need to wait for the results of the supercomputing center to come out, and we can almost confirm whether the new model can be applied to the liquid lithium molten salt multiplication tritium system.

With the black signature pen in his hand, he signed an acceptance report of the steam generator, and Xu Chuan opened another acceptance report.

With the construction of the nuclear industry group, the Lixiao demonstration reactor project is gradually coming to an end.

This is a super project involving more than a hundred research institutes, companies, and public institutions. Even with the help of Gao Hongming, Peng Hongxi and others, he still has to deal with a lot of things every day.

For example, signing various completed equipment acceptance reports, coordinating the work of various departments, assigning project priorities, checking the progress of research projects, etc.

At this moment, the red phone on the desk rang.

Xu Chuan touched the phone casually and connected it.

On the opposite side, director Pan Yuansheng, who is in charge of supercomputing center management, gave a report.

"Academician Xu, the Supercomputing Center has completed the calculation of the new model of the liquid lithium molten salt multiplication tritium system, and the results have been sent to your mailbox through the intranet."

Xu Chuan clamped the phone, quickly signed his name on another document with the pen in his hand and replied, "Okay, sorry for the inconvenience."

After finishing speaking, he hung up the phone before waiting for a polite reply from the opposite party.

"Let me see how it turns out."

After pushing the documents on the desk aside, Xu Chuan turned on the phone with some excited jumps in his eyes.

Compared with dealing with those boring management work, he prefers to study some difficult problems.

After all, only by exploring the unknown can people make progress.

In the mailbox, an email sent from the confidential intranet landed in the star mark, Xu Chuan took advantage of the opportunity to open it, and began to read it carefully.

After a long time, his eyes shone with light.

"It turns out that this is the case. By modifying the particle tracking principle and neutron-related parameters of Serpent-2, and using the helium purge carrier tape technology, the tritium in the liquid lithium molten salt material can be transformed into a form."

Looking at the supercomputing data on the screen, the corners of Xu Chuan's mouth curved slightly. He found the problem and confirmed the optimization direction of the new model.

If there is no accident, the ignition time can be much earlier!

He originally planned to ignite it at the end of 21 or the first half of 22, but now it seems that the time may be at least one or two months earlier.

Thinking about it, he took out a stack of letter papers from the drawer.

It's time to surprise the top again!

PS: Ask for a monthly pass at the second watch.