Great Country Academician

【. Now, our project has entered a critical stage. According to the plan, we will complete the construction and start-up of the first nuclear waste test power station before June in the first half of next year. 】

[But corresponding to this, we also need more research funds and related resources to speed up this pace. 】

[According to the plan, in the next arrangement, the "Nuclear Beta Radiation Energy Concentration and Conversion Electric Energy Mechanism Project" will be launched]

In the study room, the bright light illuminated the figure of a person who was writing hard.

At nightfall, Xu Chuan, who was prostrate in front of the table, finally made the last stroke.

Looking at the letter paper on the table, he let out a long sigh of relief.

This letter contains not only the results report of the institute during this period, but also some prospects for the future and expectations for controllable nuclear fusion technology.

Some of the technologies in the Nuclear Beta Radiation Energy Concentration and Conversion Electric Energy Mechanism project are not limited to the treatment of nuclear waste.

Whether it is the atomic cycle theory, or the gap-band lattice inspired by the red bead swallowtail that can absorb radiation particles, it has a wide range of applications.

He did not describe these technologies and theories in detail, but simply mentioned them in the letter.

I believe that even if he doesn't say it, the higher-ups can figure it out.

Perhaps in terms of innovation, his home country is still somewhat lacking, but when it comes to expansion, there is probably no other country that can match it.

Of course, the more important thing is to apply for the next stage of scientific research funding.

Money is not everything to do scientific research at any time, but it is absolutely impossible without money.

After checking the letter he wrote and confirming that there was no problem, Xu Chuan called Zheng Hai and handed him the sealed letter.

Zheng Hai is his driver in name, but he is also in charge of communicating between him and the higher-ups as a bridge.

After all, everyone is a busy person, and it is impossible to run around in person every time something happens.

Beijing, on the north side of Chang'an Street.

In an antique building, a simple letter was delivered to an old man.

After hearing who sent the letter, the old man's calm eyes moved, he opened the envelope and took out the letter from inside.

Ordinary letter paper is not too thick, even with some manuals, design drawings and other things mixed in, it is only about seven or eight pages.

The old man looked down, flipping through the manuscript in his hand, his eyes became brighter, but in this brightness, there was some confusion from time to time.

For him, even though the owner of the letter has described the scientific and technological principles in quite common words, there are still many terms that he does not understand.

But it doesn't matter, from this letter, he sees a bright future.

This is the most important.

After contemplating for a while, the old man called a guard over. After saying a few words, he closed his eyes and meditated again.

In addition to the broad future, there are other things in the letter, and he also needs to consult the opinions of professionals.

Possibly the first time a letter has been sent here? That Professor Xu piled up a lot of professional terms in the letter.

Although there are more detailed explanations in the back, it is still a bit too difficult for a non-professional him to fully understand.

Without waiting for a long time, Qin Anguo from Science and Technology Information Center and Academician Peng Hongxi from Shuimu University followed the guards to the room.

No one is perfect, even he needs to listen to other people's opinions.

"I have a letter here, please read it first."

Seeing the two people coming, the old man nodded and motioned the staff around him to hand over the copied letter to Qin Anguo and Peng Hongxi.

With some doubts in their eyes, the two took the letter and started to read it.

Seeing the title of the letter, a smile appeared on the corner of Peng Hongxi's mouth.

Although he didn't know what it was before he came, he probably guessed it when he got the letter.

Unlike the old man, he quickly glanced over the clichés that meant nothing to him, and his eyes fell on the technical analysis and design explanation in the cover letter.

As a worker in the field of nuclear energy, he clearly understands the value of the nuclear energy beta radiation energy accumulation and conversion mechanism project.

But he is not completely clear about some technical details and theories in this project.

After all, he is just a consultant, and there is probably only one person who controls all the details.

Even Han Jin, the supervisor, may not know all the details and techniques.

So he is very interested in the technical principles in this letter. Although it is just some concise words, he can still see the subtlety behind these technologies, as well as some uses that he had never thought of before.

On the other side, Qin Anguo from the Science and Technology Department was also flipping through the letters in his hand.

Although he was also a scientific researcher before, now that he is in a management position, his thinking and angles are naturally different.

Unlike Peng Hongxi, he is more thinking about the benefits of investing in this project, and the "controllable nuclear fusion plan" mentioned in this letter.

[.With all due respect, although the nuclear energy beta radiation energy concentration and conversion electric energy mechanism project can properly deal with nuclear waste, and nuclear fission power generation is also a clean energy source, we still have to find a new, non-polluting, and cheaper energy source . 】

[I don't need to go into too much detail about the reason, for example, the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated is more than double that of thermal power, for example.]

[The controllable nuclear fusion technology, whether it is compared with traditional thermal power generation or nuclear fission power generation, has great advantages. 】

[Under the mature conditions of atomic cycle technology and radiation power conversion technology, we already have enough qualifications to perfect it. In this regard, we believe that after integrating the technology, we have already stood at the forefront of the world.】

【.】

Looking at the letter, Qin Anguo fell into deep thought.

Needless to say the former, now that it has developed to this point, the construction of nuclear waste power stations is a must.

Even if the second batch of scientific research funds of more than 30 billion is proposed in this letter, it will be allocated without hesitation, and it must be at the fastest speed.

But before that, there is also the prospect of the future of controllable nuclear fusion in the letter, which is also a matter worthy of careful consideration.

Although from the current point of view, after the nuclear waste can be properly disposed of, nuclear fission power generation is already a real clean energy, and it can be promoted to the greatest extent.

But as stated in the letter, nuclear fission power generation has its own disadvantages.

First of all, the initial investment in nuclear power plants is huge.

Because nuclear-grade equipment has higher requirements on design, materials, and manufacturing processes than conventional equipment, the construction period of nuclear power plants is relatively long, and it usually takes 5-7 years from preliminary planning to operation.

During this period, most of the capital expenditures came from bank loans, and the interest generated was very high. If the project was delayed, the cost would be even higher.

For example, the construction of Unit 3 of Finland's Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant started in 2004, and it has been delayed by nearly 15 years compared to the original plan.

Secondly, out of safety considerations, nuclear power plants are equipped with a large number of redundant equipment, which virtually increases the cost of equipment manufacturing and unit construction.

For example, the third-generation unit "Hualong One" currently under construction in China has considered more safety than the second-generation unit, and its construction cost has also increased significantly.

The estimated construction cost of Hualong No. 1 is between 16,000 and 20,000 yuan/kW, while the estimated unit cost of EPR is as high as 6,000 US dollars/kW or more.

In addition to high construction costs, factors such as rising international uranium prices and decommissioning of nuclear power plants may further increase the cost of nuclear power in the future.

The most direct effect of high cost is to affect the competitiveness of nuclear power in the electricity market, and high cost is not conducive to nuclear power export.

These are all available.

More importantly, Huaguo is a real big energy consumer.

According to last year's statistics, in 2018, the electricity consumption of the whole society reached 6,844.9 billion kwh.

Among them, thermal power, which uses coal as the main power generation energy, generates about 73.23% of the country's total power generation, which is the real bulk.

The nuclear power accounted for only 4.33%, less than 5%.

Is Hua Guo unable to build more nuclear power plants?

Not really.

If it is to be built, with Huaguo's strong infrastructure capabilities, nuclear power plants can bloom everywhere in all coastal cities overnight.

But no.

On the one hand, it has benefited from the difficulty of dealing with nuclear waste before.

On the other hand, the cost of nuclear power generation is too high.

Compared with thermal power, every kilowatt-hour of nuclear power will cost more than double the cost, which will lead to a sharp rise in electricity prices.

Not to mention other things, from the simplest residential electricity consumption, each kilowatt-hour of electricity has risen from 0.6 yuan to 1.2 yuan, which is almost an unacceptable price.

But compared to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion is indeed the real ultimate energy source.

Regardless of the cost of power generation or other considerations, nuclear fusion is the real ideal.

It's just that this ideal has always been too far away from people, so far away that people use "forever fifty years" to describe it.

"What do you think of this letter?"

After waiting for Qin Anguo and Peng Hongxi to read the copies in their hands, the old man sitting on the side asked slowly.

After pondering for a while, Qin Anguo said decisively: "Leaving aside the rest, I think the second batch of scientific research funds applied by Professor Xu for the construction of nuclear waste experiments is very necessary, and it should be done as soon as possible."

Both the old man and Academician Peng Hongxi nodded, and both agreed with this view.

After all, no one will be short-sighted to be able to stand here today.

The re-power generation of nuclear waste will not only solve the problem of China's energy shortage to a large extent, but also give Hua a greater voice in the international arena.

Especially in Europe, it can bring greater benefits to China.

No region of the world is more reliant on nuclear power than Europe.

For example, France, the largest nuclear power producer, has nuclear power generating more than 50% of the country's total power generation.

The rest of Germany, Spain, Sweden and other countries also accounted for a large proportion.

Therefore, these countries have basically accumulated a huge amount of nuclear waste and do not know how to deal with it.

But now, they have the key technology in their hands, and they may use this as an exchange to get more benefits and support from there.

After the three of them communicated for a while, the old man cast his eyes on Academician Peng Hongxi, and then said: "Academician Peng, I heard that you are a consultant in a nuclear energy project. I would like to trouble you to explain some scientific and technical terms in this letter." for a while?"

"Perhaps Professor Xu has tried his best to describe it in concise words, but it is really difficult for me who have not studied these things to understand."

He has some understanding of some technical terms in the letter, but he is not sure whether it really means this and whether it can be done.

That's why Peng Hongxi, who is also an academician in the field of nuclear energy and a consultant for nuclear energy research projects, was recruited for consultation.

For his own shortcomings, the old man was not ashamed.

No one is perfect, and learning is something that a person has to do from birth to death.

Academician Peng Hongxi nodded quickly, and said, "This is what I want to mention to you next."

After a pause, he continued: "About some technologies in this letter"

In the quaint room, Peng Hongxi described his understanding in words that the old man could understand in a calm and thoughtful tone.

"...Compared with the previous atomic cycle technology, the following bandgap lattice, which can absorb radiation particles, may be more important."

After a pause, Peng Hongxi continued with cautious words: "Because it can not only be applied to controllable nuclear fusion technology, it may even be applied to a field that we have never thought of - electromagnetic wave stealth, and then extended to the military field!"

Hearing this, the old man asked with interest: "How?"

Peng Hongxi rationalized his thoughts, and then said: "Because it can absorb radiation!"

"The radar we use at present, no matter what kind, its essence is electromagnetic waves, and the essence of electromagnetic waves is radiation"

Speaking of this, Qin Anguo, who was in the science and technology department at the side, also reacted, and blurted out: "If this technology can be applied to coating materials, we may be able to create a brand new stealth fighter."

On the opposite side, Academician Peng Hongxi nodded, and continued, "Yes."

"I personally witnessed part of the process of the radiation power conversion experiment at the Nuclear Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences. There is no doubt that it can absorb and utilize most of the radiation except neutron radiation."

"In principle, this technology should also have the ability to absorb electromagnetic waves that are also a type of radiation."

"It's just that it has never been tested, and I don't know if it can really do it, and if it can, to what extent."

After a pause, he continued, "Of course, I may have misunderstood Professor Xu's true meaning."

"After all, I don't know much about the technologies related to nuclear energy projects. Although I am a consultant, I have not fully participated in the work of nuclear energy projects."

"If you want to really understand, I still suggest you ask Professor Xu."