Chapter 222 The most suitable technology
Nine o'clock in the morning.
Accompanied by Qin Anguo, a science and technology information officer, Xu Chuan followed the guards all the way to the north side of Chang'an Street.
In an antique two-story building, Xu Chuan met the old man he had often seen on TV and news media.
Looking at Xu Chuan who walked into the house, the old man who was sitting aside and waiting stood up and walked over with a kind smile on his face and extended his right hand.
"Professor Xu, welcome."
"Hello." Xu Chuan shook hands respectfully.
"Please take a seat." The old man gestured to the chairs in the room with a smile, and then said: "Thank you for bringing the long-awaited medal to the country. It is an honor for any country to have a scholar like you."
"You are serious, I just did what a scholar should do." Xu Chuan said quickly.
After a few simple greetings, the group got down to business.
"Professor Xu, I wonder what you think of the future scientific development of our country?" The old man took a sip of tea and looked at Xu Chuan and asked.
Hearing this, Xu Chuan sat upright and said seriously: "Before coming, I made a document here with some of my opinions. Please spare a few minutes of your time."
As he spoke, he took out a USB flash drive from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of him.
At the old man's signal, the guard waiting on the side stepped forward and took away the USB flash drive, brought the corresponding equipment, and projected it on a screen.
Xu Chuan clicked on the PPT file in the USB flash drive. This was something he had already prepared when he was at Princeton. He was waiting for an opportunity like today.
He doesn't know what the outcome will be, but he will do his best.
The PPT unfolded, Xu Chuan took a deep breath, looked at the picture on the screen and said slowly:
"Today's social development is inseparable from the three major fields."
"Energy, materials, and information are the three important areas for the development of production science and technology in modern society. These three areas are independent but interrelated, and are also the main support for scientific development."
"From an energy point of view, the current energy sources do not see any big changes for the time being, and oil will still be the dominant one in a short period of time. As for new energy, photovoltaics may only continue to develop, but it will mainly focus on technological reserves. And controllable nuclear fusion It has the potential to become an energy dark horse that will disrupt the world.”
"From the perspective of materials, new materials mainly relying on biotechnology will make breakthroughs in development and gradually transform from petrochemical materials to synthetic materials based on biological principles. Nanomaterials and biomaterials will be the main trends in future development."
"From an information point of view, the substantial increase in network speed and the sufficiency of public information databases are the future development trends. In addition, touch and somatosensory operating systems are important auxiliary technologies. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality will be the main development trends in the future."< br>
"."
After listening to Xu Chuan's explanation, Qin Anguo, who was knowledgeable in scientific and technological information, glanced at the old man sitting opposite, and carefully asked:
“Are you saying we should invest heavily in developing these three areas?”
Xu Chuan nodded, then shook his head, leaving both the old man and Qin Anguo confused.
"Investment and development in these three aspects are necessary, but my opinion is that we need a big killer weapon and a technology that is enough to bring us back to the top of the world."
Xu Chuan spoke solemnly, pointing his words towards the ultimate goal: "Behind the interconnection of the three major fields of energy, materials and information, there is a technology that is sufficient to support us in achieving our goals."
Hearing this, both Qin Anguo and the old man were shocked.
Let China return to the top of the world. This dream is too great. Does such a technology really exist?
Even if it exists, it must be very difficult to achieve.
Some conjectures flashed through their minds, fleetingly.
After taking a deep breath and suppressing the shock in his heart, Qin Anguo and the old man looked at each other and asked cautiously: "What are you referring to?"
Xu Chuan slowly said: "Controllable nuclear fusion!"
Hearing this, everyone present turned their attention to Xu Chuan, but except for the old man and Qin Anguo, everyone else quickly looked away and stuck to their posts.
As for the old man and Qin Anguo, neither of them thought that this young scholar would propose such a grand and even unendable technology.
Controllable nuclear fusion!
The ultimate energy source for mankind.
Whoever is sitting here today has some understanding of this magnificent technology.
As Xu Chuan said, the energy contained in this word is enough to make China great again, and once again stand on top of the world and overlook the entire world.
But is this technology really achievable in a short time?
As early as 1933, the theory related to controllable nuclear fusion technology had matured, nearly a hundred years ago.
However, there has been no mature plan on how to achieve it.
Whether it is magnetic constraint, inertial constraint, gravitational constraint, or other methods, we have not yet seen the dawn of their application in the near future.
Even if the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project includes the world's major nuclear powers and major Asian countries, covering nearly half of the world's population, there is currently no end in sight.
Forever fifty years, this is the outside world’s joking name for controllable nuclear fusion.
And using controllable nuclear fusion to bring China back to the top of the world, can this route be successful?
Taking another deep breath, Qin Anguo looked at Xu Chuan and asked solemnly: "Is this road really achievable?"
Xu Chuan said seriously: "To be honest, it is very difficult to achieve controllable nuclear fusion."
"But we can't not do it just because it's difficult, so we can only follow others forever."
Hearing this, the old man said: "We all know the importance of controllable nuclear fusion, but there has been no obvious progress so far. Whether it is magnetic confinement or inertial confinement, there is currently no dawn of commercial use. Others Not to mention the direction of research.”
"We are very aware of the value of this technology and are willing to invest more resources in it, but the most critical question is how long it will take to succeed and whether we can support this burden."
Xu Chuan smiled and clicked lightly on the keyboard with his fingers. The picture projected through the curtain jumped, and what appeared was a map with a tree structure.
"It is extremely difficult to directly achieve controllable nuclear fusion in one step. However, this does not mean that we cannot move towards it."
"On the way forward, every branch of technology can create enough value and benefits for us"
While talking, Xu Chuan explained various technology and scientific fields on the tree diagram.
[Normal temperature superconducting materials] [Strong magnetic mirror mirror hoop control torus]
【Ultra-high temperature plasma turbulence control system】
[Mechanism of nuclear energy beta radiation energy accumulation and conversion into electrical energy]
【Ultra-supercritical heat engine conversion technology】
【.】
On the projection, every small branch represents a piece of technology.
Controllable nuclear fusion is an extremely huge project, and Xu Chuan never expected that the country would fully support him with just a few words from a casual encounter.
Not to mention he is a Fields Medalist, even a Nobel Prize is not enough.
When investing in the super project of controllable nuclear fusion, a few billion is probably the most basic number, and no one knows how much it will take to increase it, and there is truly no upper limit.
This is a gold-swallowing behemoth with a dark mouth. Before it is realized, no one can guarantee how much money, manpower and material resources will be invested in it.
Xu Chuan never thought of coming up to work on such a big project. This was unrealistic.
Even if he wins the Fields Medal, it is impossible for the country to easily hand over a super project like controllable nuclear fusion, which costs countless money, to his hands.
This is not a science fiction novel or a science fiction movie. One person can use his power to surpass the world.
However, he can dismantle controllable nuclear fusion bit by bit and realize it bit by bit.
For example, technologies such as room-temperature superconducting materials, strong magnetic mirror hoops to control toroids, and nuclear energy beta radiation energy concentration and conversion into electric energy mechanisms are all things that he has already realized in his previous life.
Use these things as a way to throw stones and pave the way, so that people can see hope and then move forward.
After the initial results are achieved, it is enough for the country to see the return on investment and benefits, to see the emergence of results, and to see hope.
Sure enough, when the tree diagram and the corresponding technology were presented, Qin Anguo and the old man showed a look of interest in their eyes.
Just as Xu Chuan thought, if he wants to directly master the super project of controllable nuclear fusion, the superiors will think about whether they can leave this matter to him, and will also consider all the subsequent aspects.
At the age of twenty, he stood at the pinnacle of the scientific community, overlooking the world. With such achievements, it is normal for him to be young and energetic and think that he is the best in the world and can do anything.
But the country and the individual are two completely different concepts after all.
It is a matter of great concern for a super project that can cost billions or even tens of billions to be handed over to a young person, especially if it is beyond the scope of his professional field.
Science allows trial and error, and success comes step by step from failure.
But for the country, it also needs to be considered whether this trial and error and failure are worthwhile and whether it can bring anything.
Now, however, both men are seeing another side of the young talent.
This maturity and stability, this hope, might allow him to give it a try.
Standing in front of the projection screen, the old man stared at the picture in front of him for a long time. Finally, he turned to look at Xu Chuan and slowly asked: "How confident are you if this job is given to you?"
Xu Chuan thought for a while and said: "I don't know whether it will succeed in the end, but I will try my best to do this well."
The old man thought for a moment and said, "Then where are you going to start?"
"The mechanism of nuclear energy beta radiation energy accumulation and conversion into electrical energy!" Xu Chuan said.
Hearing this, both the old man and Qin Anguo showed a hint of surprise and confusion in their eyes. To be honest, they didn't know what kind of technology this was.
Judging from the name, this may be a technology related to nuclear energy?
But what exactly it is and what it is used for is really not very clear.
Feeling the old man's gaze, Qin Anguo asked: "Can you please explain this 'nuclear energy beta radiation energy accumulation and conversion mechanism for electrical energy' you are talking about?"
Xu Chuan nodded and said: "There are two types of nuclear energy, one is nuclear fission and the other is nuclear fusion."
"Nuclear fusion aside, although controllable nuclear fusion is hailed as the ultimate energy source for mankind, it has not yet been realized."
"Nuclear fission is a commonly used power generation method in various countries. At present, our country should have just entered the third generation of fission reactors, which is considered to be at the forefront of the world."
"But nuclear fission has a product that is difficult to deal with, nuclear waste. It mainly refers to two types of low- and medium-level radioactive nuclear waste and high-level radioactive nuclear waste produced during the power generation process of nuclear power plants."
"These two types of nuclear waste account for more than 99% of the world's nuclear pollution and are a headache for all countries. How to deal with nuclear waste has always been an unsolved problem facing the nuclear industry."< br>
"The 'nuclear energy beta radiation energy accumulation and conversion mechanism for electrical energy' is a science and technology based on nuclear radiation."
"When any radioactive element decays, it undergoes energy transfer and energy loss processes, and at the same time releases alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays."
"The process of studying the physical reaction and absorption of matter by rays, and converting the energy generated during decay into electrical energy as much as possible is one of my previous studies."
"This technology uses a special crystal as the wrapping layer, and uses the radiation of radioactive elements with a specific semiconductor NP layer, especially the spontaneous radioactive decay of nuclear materials and radioactive substances (nuclear waste), to achieve thermoelectric effects and photoelectric effects ( Compton effect and electron-positron pair effect) is a technology for safe energy conversion of nuclear materials and radioactive materials. ”
"It can make the rays produced by various nuclear wastes no longer harmful pollutants. It will benefit mankind and us."
After listening to Xu Chuan's explanation, Qin Anguo quickly asked: "What about efficiency?"
"Countries are studying the reuse of nuclear waste, but the conversion efficiency is still not high. It has not exceeded 5%. How much can you theoretically achieve?"
As the leader of the science and technology bureau, he naturally understands some technologies related to nuclear fission.
Reusing nuclear waste to generate electricity is a technology that all countries are researching, but with little success.
On the one hand, it is the conversion efficiency, on the other hand, there are issues such as safety and packaging materials.
Among them, efficiency is the most critical. If the efficiency is low, it will not be of much value.
Xu Chuan smiled and said: "This is the key core of the 'nuclear energy beta radiation energy accumulation and conversion mechanism for electrical energy'. According to my previous designs and estimates, theoretically, the efficiency of conversion and accumulation can reach 5%. More than ten, the degree of perfection can theoretically reach 70 to 80%.”
"Of course, the specific situation still needs specific analysis."
PS: Please give me a monthly pass. The protagonist has returned to China and can start to develop technology, and the progress has begun to speed up. Let's take some monthly passes to show mercy to Yawei. (づ￣3￣)づ╭～