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 here, I made a document 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 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."

"."

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 asked carefully:

“Are you saying we should invest heavily in developing these three areas?”

Xu Chuan nodded, then shook his head, which immediately made 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 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 realize it.

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 expected 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 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 controlled nuclear fusion."

"But we can't not do it just because it is difficult, otherwise we can only follow others forever."

Hearing this, the old man said: "We all know the importance of controlled nuclear fusion, but there has been no obvious progress so far. Whether it is magnetic confinement or inertial confinement, there is no sign of commercial use, let alone research in other directions."

"We know 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 tapped the keyboard lightly with his fingers. The picture projected through the screen jumped and turned out to be a tree-structured mind map.

"It is extremely difficult to achieve controlled nuclear fusion in one step. However, this does not mean that we cannot move towards it."

"On the way forward, each branch of technology can create enough value and benefits for us."

As he spoke, Xu Chuan explained the various technologies and scientific fields on the tree diagram.

[Room-temperature superconducting materials]

[Strong magnetic mirror hoop control ring surface]

[Ultra-high temperature plasma turbulence control system]

[Nuclear energy β radiation energy aggregation conversion into electrical energy mechanism]

[Ultra-supercritical heat engine conversion technology]

[.]

On the projection, each tiny branch represents a technology.

Controlled nuclear fusion is an extremely large project. Xu Chuan never expected that the country would fully support him with just a few words from a one-time acquaintance.

Not to mention that he is a Fields Medal winner, even if he is awarded a Nobel Prize, he is not qualified.

To invest in the super project of controlled nuclear fusion, billions is probably the most basic number, and no one knows how much it will cost to increase it. It is truly unlimited.

This is a gold-eating beast 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 did not think about doing such a big project right away. This is unrealistic.

Even if he won the Fields Medal, it would be impossible for the country to easily hand over such a costly super project as controlled nuclear fusion to him.

This is not a science fiction novel or a science fiction movie, where one person can surpass the whole world with his great power.

However, he can disassemble controlled nuclear fusion bit by bit and realize it bit by bit.

For example, technologies such as room-temperature superconducting materials, strong magnetic mirror hoop control ring surface, and nuclear energy beta radiation energy concentration and conversion mechanism are all things he has achieved in his previous life.

Use these things as a test to lay the foundation, let people see hope, and then move forward.

And after the phased results, it is enough to let the country see the return on investment and benefits, see the emergence of results, and see hope.

Sure enough, when this tree diagram and the corresponding technology were presented, Qin Anguo and the old man showed a hint of interest in their eyes.

Just as Xu Chuan thought, if he wanted to directly master the super project of controlled nuclear fusion, the higher-ups would think about whether they could hand it over to him, and would also consider all aspects behind it.

At the age of 20, he stood at the pinnacle of the scientific community, overlooking the world. With such achievements, it is normal for young people to think that they are the best in the world and can do everything.

But the country and the individual are two completely different concepts after all.

A super project worth billions or even tens of billions is handed over to a young man, especially when it is beyond the scope of his professional field. This is a very worrying thing.

Science allows trial and error, and success comes step by step from failure.

But for the country, whether this trial and error and failure is worth it and whether it can bring something is also a matter of consideration.

However, now, both of them have seen the other side of this young genius.

This maturity and stability, this hope, may allow him to try.

Standing in front of the projection screen, the old man stared at the picture in front of him for a long time, and finally turned to look at Xu Chuan, and slowly asked: "If this job is given to you, how confident are you?"

Xu Chuan thought for a while and said: "I don't know if it will succeed in the end, but I will do my best to do this."

The old man thought for a while and said: "Then where are you going to start?"

"Nuclear energy β radiation energy gathering and converting electrical energy mechanism!" Xu Chuan said.

Hearing this, the old man and Qin Anguo showed a trace of surprise and confusion in their eyes. To be honest, they didn't know what kind of technology this was.

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 explain this 'nuclear energy beta radiation energy aggregation and conversion into electrical energy mechanism' you mentioned?"

Xu Chuan nodded and said: "The so-called nuclear energy is divided into two types, one is nuclear fission and the other is nuclear fusion."

"Let's not talk about nuclear fusion for now. Although controlled nuclear fusion is hailed as the ultimate energy source for mankind, it has not yet been realized."

"And nuclear fission is a common way of generating electricity in various countries. At present, our country should have just entered the third generation of fission reactors, which is at the forefront of the world."

"But nuclear fission has a very difficult product to deal with, nuclear waste. It mainly refers to the two types of low- and medium-level radioactive nuclear waste and high-level radioactive nuclear waste generated 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, which is a headache for all countries. How to deal with nuclear waste has always been an unsolved problem facing the nuclear industry."

"And the 'nuclear energy β radiation energy aggregation and conversion into electrical energy mechanism' is a scientific technology based on nuclear radiation."

"Any radioactive element has energy transfer and energy loss processes during decay, and releases α rays, β rays, and γ rays at the same time."

"And studying the physical reaction and absorption of matter to radiation, and converting the energy generated during decay into electrical energy as much as possible, is one of my previous studies."

"This technology makes A technology that uses a special crystal as a wrapping layer, a specific semiconductor NP layer to utilize the radiation of radioactive elements, especially the spontaneous radioactive decay of nuclear materials and radioactive substances (nuclear waste), and thermoelectric effect and photoelectric effect (Compton effect and positron-electron pair effect) as the main principles to safely convert nuclear materials and radioactive substances into energy. "

"It can make the radiation produced by various nuclear wastes no longer a harmful pollutant. It will benefit mankind and us."

After listening to Xu Chuan's explanation, Qin Anguo quickly asked: "What about the efficiency?"

"All countries are studying the reuse of nuclear waste, but the conversion efficiency is not high so far. It has not exceeded 5%. How much can you achieve in theory?"

As the head of the science and technology department, he naturally understands some technologies related to nuclear fission.

Reusing nuclear waste to generate electricity is a technology that all countries are studying, but with little success.

On the one hand, it is the conversion efficiency of power generation, and on the other hand, it is safety and wrapping materials.

Among them, efficiency is the most critical. If the efficiency is low, there is not much value.

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "This is the key core of the 'nuclear energy beta radiation energy aggregation conversion into electrical energy mechanism'. According to my previous design and estimation, theoretically, the efficiency of conversion and aggregation can reach more than 50%, and the degree of perfection can theoretically reach 70% to 80%."

"Of course, the specific situation still needs specific analysis."

PS: Please vote for the monthly ticket. The protagonist has returned to China and can start brushing technology. The progress has also begun to speed up. Please give some monthly tickets to pity Yaowei. (づ￣3￣)づ╭～