A big country of aerospace with black technology

"Brother Xingyang, when will our energy core be able to go to heaven?"

"Other teams are waiting for our results."

Geng Bo found Zhang Xingyang after a morning meeting and said.

within the past few months.

Other project teams have achieved very good results.

Especially the research and development of the most important functional cabin section.

After obtaining the large vacuum laboratory, the progress can be said to be rapid.

However, the molten salt reactor, which is the core of energy, has not made much progress.

"The work on the reactor is very tedious and we need more time."

Zhang Xingyang said with a frown.

The research and development work on the reactor is actually very fast.

From design finalization to long-term operation of the experimental reactor.

It even took less than a year!

But the subsequent work cannot be advanced by relying on prophets alone.

Especially various safety inspections.

You can almost only try it out a little bit.

Especially this time, nuclear reactors will be used in space.

The reactor will also undergo various tests in a vacuum environment.

The more time it takes, the more time it takes.

These tests are still necessary and cannot be omitted at all.

If all possible problems are not exposed on the ground.

But problems arise in space.

Then the price will be an entire starport and the lives of hundreds or thousands of staff living on it!

“So can we proceed with the installation of conventional energy systems first?”

Geng Bo suggested.

When the star port was initially designed, it actually had conventional power options.

That is to use solar power.

Or let the power satellite generate electricity and then transmit it to the star port.

The vacuum environment in space attenuates the energy of long-distance microwaves by less than one percent.

"There's no rush, the next batch of space engineers will complete their training soon."

Zhang Xingyang said calmly:

"By the time they complete their training, the reactor should also be able to complete preliminary testing."

"At that time, we will carry out a space measurement work."

"If it goes well, it will be installed directly inside the star port."

This test is very bold.

Because it plans to transport nuclear reactors into space.

Even though many people don’t know its significance.

But as long as it is disclosed by the media, it will definitely attract a lot of discussion.

No one wants an extremely dangerous nuclear reactor flying above their heads.

Although they don't know what the difference is between a pressurized water reactor and a molten salt reactor.

But this does not prevent them from associating previous nuclear reactor accidents with themselves.

"Isn't this too courageous?!"

Geng Bo was almost shocked and said:

"Does the International Atomic Energy Organization know about your plans?"

Although the star port has a lot of high-tech weapons.

But its domestic positioning is really a civilian facility.

Therefore, its energy core is also supervised by the International Atomic Energy Organization.

This is why Geng Bo was so surprised.

Because this plan is too dangerous, and it may cause a disaster if you are not careful.

"Know."

"They have agreed to our plan."

Zhang Xingyang smiled and said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is mainly composed of several nuclear powers, and their opinions can determine many affairs within the organization.

After a certain number of star port personnel are opened.

Many countries have relaxed restrictions in this regard.

Except for Eagle, other countries have agreed to requests for space nuclear reactor testing.

The IAEA does not have a single veto.

After obtaining the consent of most countries, the space nuclear reactor experiment was quickly approved.

"They are so brave." Geng Bo complained.

Zhang Xingyang said: "The main reason is that the molten salt reactor itself is very safe."

"Even if a leak occurs, it won't have much negative impact."

Space molten salt nuclear reactor experiment.

It's not actually done in a vacuum.

It takes place inside a spaceship.

It is also equipped with a large number of cooling materials.

If the molten salt pile leaks, the hot molten salt will be cooled down immediately.

Thereby blocking the leak.

It can also minimize losses.

In fact, according to everyone's tests on the ground.

The chance of a molten salt reactor failure is very low.

Within fifteen years of operation, the chance of failure is less than one in 100,000.

Geng Bo finally accepted this fact, "Okay, I wish your space experiment will be successful."

If the reactor space experiment can be successful.

Then it can be considered a good thing for people in other project teams.

This means they can move projects forward faster.

They can even actually enter the star port and carry out related work.

A month and a half later, the two launch missions were only half a day apart.

Conducted at Wenchang Launch Center.

A launch mission is carrying the latest batch of space engineers who have completed training.

The second launch mission was a cargo spacecraft carrying a molten salt reactor.

With current technology, only miniaturized molten salt reactors can be loaded into cargo spacecraft.

Other pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors are very large.

It is simply impossible to load it into a cargo spacecraft.

Therefore, currently only China has the means to launch nuclear reactors into space.

There are two new batch of space engineers entering the space station.

One is Xue Feng, who was born as an architect, and the other is Liu Sheng, who was born in manufacturing.

Both of them achieved very good results in previous training.

He is also very adaptable in all aspects.

Therefore, he was selected as the second batch of official space engineers.

"Don't be too nervous, just relax."

The commander, sitting between the two, comforted the two newcomers who were about to go into space.

The Tiangong Space Station has already undergone an expansion.

It can currently accommodate six people at the same time.

Therefore, they do not need to rotate this time.

Instead, five people are stationed together.

The rocket took off and took the three people to space.

Rockets flying at high speed are naturally not as stable as vehicles on the ground or aircraft in the sky.

The seat was shaking unconsciously.

If not everyone was fastened to the seat by buckles.

Maybe someone will be thrown out directly by the super high acceleration.

Fortunately, after a short acceleration process, the rocket gradually left the atmosphere that would cause disturbance.

A few dozen minutes later, they approached the Tiangong Space Station.

Two astronauts stationed on the space station warmly welcome the newcomers.

The welcome process and meal session are the same as always.

For everyone, the next day's task is the most difficult and important.

Because the molten salt nuclear reactor, which is the core of Starport Energy, has also reached its intended orbit.

They need to drive the spacecraft and complete the docking with the cargo spacecraft.

Then a series of space tests will be conducted.

Xue Feng and Liu Sheng drove the engineering spacecraft and the cargo spacecraft to complete the docking work.

"The docking is complete, I will enter the cargo spacecraft to activate the reactor."

After Liu Sheng completed the docking work, he said to Xue Feng.

The division of labor between the two is compared to when Xu Ying was alone.

It’s much easier and faster to work.

"Understood, all monitoring equipment has been turned on."

Xue Feng said calmly:

"Report to the ground command center that we are about to start operational testing of the nuclear reactor."

"The command center understood and agreed to conduct the test."

Nuclear reactor testing in the space environment mainly tests the impact of the weightless environment on various components of the reactor.

In particular, the nuclear fuel in molten salt reactors is fluid.

In a weightless environment, some unpredictable changes will occur.

"Pay attention to protective measures!"

The command center gave a final reminder.

Naturally, Xue Feng and the two were not just wearing a thin layer of normal clothes like they were in the space station.

Instead, he wears the latest heavy-duty exoskeleton armor.

The detector mounted on the armor can detect the radiation dose in real time.

When the dose is too high, an alarm will sound.

The armor itself also has three defense functions.

There is even a small oxygen bottle that can ensure that they can survive for twenty minutes even if they fall in space.

In order to rescue them, buy a certain amount of time.

Starting a nuclear reactor is very simple.

Just a certain amount of molten salt from nuclear fuel needs to be mixed together.

They can spontaneously undergo nuclear fission reactions and then emit heat.

Pushing the supercritical fluid generator at the rear to operate.

"The reactor startup is complete and the fluid is running normally!"

Liu Sheng said in the communicator.

The flow meter shows the instantaneous flow rate of molten salt passing through the pipe.

From the data point of view, there is no problem with the flow of molten salt.

As a fluid, what everyone is most worried about when they are on the ground is that molten salt remains in the pipeline.

Then the heat accumulates and cannot be dissipated.

In case of prolonged heat accumulation.

It is easy to damage the corrosion-resistant and high-temperature-resistant heat exchange tubes.

If the heat exchange tube is damaged, molten salt will pour out directly from the inside.

Even if the temperature can be lowered later, the molten salt can fill the hole by itself.

But the reactor was considered scrapped.

With the technical strength of the space station, it is impossible to repair it.

Fortunately none of this happened.

"Preparing for a spin experiment."

After startup is complete and running normally.

Liu Sheng informed Xue Feng to start the second experiment.

This experiment is rather special.

Ordinary reactors would not have such an experiment at all.

Because the star port needs to rotate to simulate gravity, it will always be rotating during the operation of the nuclear reactor.

Xue Feng, who was driving the spacecraft assembly, began to control the spacecraft nozzle.

Let the entire assembly begin to spin.

And began to accelerate slowly.

Fortunately, both of them have a special layer of buffer inside their armor.

Allowing the pair to withstand higher rotational speeds.

Otherwise, if it continues like this, the brain will come out.

The spin continued for half an hour.

During the entire process, high-temperature molten salt flows steadily in the pipeline.

There were no surprises.

The reverse thrust engine allows the spacecraft to slowly enter a relatively stationary state from the spin process.

Even with the blessing of high-tech space suits.

Xue Feng and Liu Sheng were still in a dazed state.

It was like putting the whole person into a washing machine and spinning it at high speed for half an hour.

Even more exaggerated than that!

You must know that they also trained on the corresponding equipment when they were on the ground.

Already have a certain amount of patience.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is like stuffing people into a high-speed centrifuge.

"Take it easy first."

Xue Feng said weakly.

If it weren't for the exoskeleton armor, he would be firmly pinned to the bulkhead.

He probably just fell over.

Liu Sheng first checked the operating status of the nuclear reactor and found that there was no problem.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Then the two of them stood on the bulkhead and rested for five minutes.

Next comes a series of security tests.

The two of them fly back and forth between the Tiangong Space Station and the cargo spaceship almost every day.

It lasted nearly a month.

Only then will most of the nuclear reactor testing work be completed.

"Today we have one last test job."

"This work is extremely dangerous. You don't need to complete the docking with the cargo spacecraft."

“Just operate the robot and do the work.”

The ground command center emphasized to the two people again before the mission started.

"Xue Feng understands!"

"Liu Sheng understands!"

After the two people answered, instructions came from the ground command center.

"The destructive experiment of molten salt reactor begins!"

The final experiment was to artificially create a small hole in the pipe.

Used to test the situation after a nuclear reactor leaks.

See if it can self-solidify and plug the leak.

The engineering spacecraft, which was only a dozen meters away, sent out an electrical signal.

Control a drill inside the cargo ship.

A small hole less than four millimeters in diameter is drilled into the pipe.

The hole is not completely drilled yet.

A small hole appears in the zirconium alloy pipe under strong pressure and high temperature.

Tiny molten salt nuclear fuel leaked from the hole.

It was then cooled and solidified in the cargo spacecraft.

It turned into small black beads, floating inside the cargo spacecraft.

The small hole only appeared for about twenty seconds.

It was blocked by the molten salt nuclear fuel that cooled and solidified.

Through the monitoring equipment on the spacecraft, Xue Feng and Liu Sheng inside the Tiangong spacecraft completely saw the entire process.

After a short delay, the ground command center also saw this video.

"The experiment is over and ready for docking."

Xue Feng reported to the ground command center.

Half an hour later, Liu Sheng entered the cargo spacecraft again.

Start checking the experimental situation.

The first step is to recycle all leaked nuclear fuel.

These low-abundance nuclear fuels have very low radiation doses.

The alarm on Liu Sheng was not even triggered.

Use special lead boxes to collect all the nuclear fuel.

Of course, there must be trace amounts of nuclear fuel in the air.

These are difficult to collect and don't have much of an impact.

Liu Sheng then stopped the operation of the nuclear reactor and prepared to replace the damaged pipes.

The replaced pipes still need to be transported to the ground for further testing.

Only after the inspection is completed can we know how much impact the leak will have on the operation of the reactor.