Chapter 250 The Second Phase of Nuclear Energy Research and Development

After dealing with the affairs of the Nuclear Energy Research Institute in Qidong, Xu Chuan rushed to the Magic City.

The entire institute will not be fully built until around mid-March, but there is no need to worry too much about the impact on the second phase of research.

The core of the second phase is still material research and development, which can be carried out at the 'Magic Academy Nuclear Research Institute'.

The core of the mechanism of nuclear energy β radiation energy concentration and conversion into electrical energy lies in two points, one is protection, and the other is the conversion of radiation energy to electrical energy.

Needless to say, protection, whether it is traditional protective materials or the new protective materials he made later, can be used in nuclear engineering.

And the conversion of radiation energy to electrical energy is another core of the entire project.

In fact, the technology of converting radiation energy into electrical energy has been pointed out by various countries a long time ago, and traditional solar panels are one of them.

However, the technology of converting nuclear radiation from nuclear waste into electrical energy is still basically in the laboratory stage. Although its principle is somewhat similar to that of solar panels, the difficulty is countless times higher.

The silicon semiconductors of traditional solar cells only absorb infrared light, while high-energy light waves, including most of the visible light spectrum, are wasted as heat energy. This is because photovoltaics convert short-wave radiation in the infrared (IR) and near-IR spectrum ranges related to heat, but not long waves.

Although in theory, the conversion efficiency of traditional solar cells can reach 34%, due to energy waste, despite the continuous improvement and progress of its process, its conversion efficiency is still stagnant at 15%-20%.

More importantly, it is difficult for traditional semiconductor photovoltaic materials to maintain their shape for a long time when facing the strong ionizing radiation impact of nuclear waste.

Semiconductor materials manufactured using atomic cycle technology have unique advantages in this regard.

If there is any disadvantage, it is that the power generation is average and the efficiency is not as good as that of traditional heat engines.

This is certain, after all, the efficiency of converting radiation energy into electrical energy has always been low.

In his previous life, Xu Chuan also wanted to try to solve this problem, but due to limitations in all aspects, there was not much progress, and even if there was a slight improvement, it was still far inferior to traditional heat engines.

Before his rebirth, the power generation efficiency of a large-scale 'nuclear energy beta radiation energy concentration conversion power plant' he designed was only equivalent to that of a small or medium-sized nuclear power plant.

To compare with more popular data, if a nuclear power plant covering an area of ​​2,000 acres has an annual power generation of 10 billion kWh, then the power generation capacity of a nuclear power plant using nuclear waste as raw materials is about 2 billion kWh, which may be less than one-fifth.

Of course, the original purpose of this technology is not to generate electricity, but to solve the problem of difficult treatment of nuclear waste.

As for the power generation capacity, it is just a by-product.

For nuclear waste that costs money to treat, it can be reused and some funds can be recovered. It can be said to be the most perfect solution.

"Professor, you are back. Congratulations on winning the Natural Science Award!"

In the Nuclear Research Institute of the Magic Academy, Xu Chuan found Han Jin who was busy. In the office, there was another younger researcher who came up to greet him happily after seeing him.

Xu Chuan nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you, we have rested for so long, it's time to move our project to the next step."

"Of course, we have been waiting for a long time."

The Youth Research Institute grinned. Although the stagnation of the R&D project can give them a break, the work experience and gains from following the Nobel Prize winner are more important.

Xu Chuan smiled and said to Han Jin on the other side: "Director Han, please notify the other researchers to have a meeting in ten minutes."

"Okay, I will arrange it right away." Han Jin nodded, picked up his phone and tagged all members in the group.

"Let's go, let's go to the office first."

Ten minutes later, everyone in the small meeting room rushed over.

After sorting out his thoughts, Xu Chuan cleared his throat and said, "In the past few months, we have completed protective materials based on the 'atomic cycle' theory. The test results show that the protective shielding effect of this new material is quite good."

"In this process, everyone's performance is quite good."

"As a reward, after the meeting, everyone can submit a formal application to Han Jin, the supervisor, to end the probation period. I hope everyone can continue to work hard in the future."

Hearing this, the eight researchers in the office were ecstatic.

"Boss is awesome!"

"Love you!"

"Wow, I got a formal promotion in advance!"

"Thank you, boss! The boss is generous!"

In the conference room, there was a wolf howl. Everyone was crazy about the news of the early promotion.

Being promoted in advance after the probation period means not only an increase in salary and benefits, but also the qualification to apply for an intern researcher.

Being an intern researcher for one year and being able to become a formal researcher is the real dream of most postdoctoral fellows!

Now that this dream has come in advance, it is within reach. How can it not make people excited?

After making everyone in the office excited for a while, Xu Chuan coughed, collected everyone's attention and then said: "Okay, let's start arranging the work next."

Hearing this, the entire conference room suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at him like a good baby.

Xu Chuan said: "The next work is to develop a semiconductor material based on the 'atomic cycle' theory."

"The requirements of this material are described in detail in the documents you have read before, so I will repeat it here."

"According to the previous theory, do you have any good ideas on material design?"

Although he is very clear about the relevant technical theories and required materials, he can directly make them. But this is very disadvantageous for the training of talents.

For these first batch of scientific researchers, if there is a chance, Xu Chuan still wants to cultivate their own scientific research capabilities.

After all, with the expansion of later projects, these people will be the backbone. It is worth a try if they can be trained.

"How about chromium materials?"

In the office, a R&D staff member thought for a while and spoke.

After following Xu Chuan for three or four months, these R&D staff have known some of the temper and personality of this big boss.

For R&D matters, as long as you have the ability and potential, he will take notice and train you.

As for the unspoken rules in the academic world, they almost do not exist here.

Of course, all the current R&D materials are basically taken out by this big boss, so there are almost no unspoken rules.

"Chromium-based materials? Tell me what you think."

Xu Chuan asked the researcher named 'Du Jing' with an encouraging look.

He always looks forward to the opinions of different people. As long as they are not unreasonable or unable to communicate, he is generally happy to listen to other people's opinions.

After all, only the collision of thoughts can produce sparks of wisdom.

Noticing Xu Chuan's encouraging look, the researcher named Du Jing took a deep breath and said, "First of all, we have to consider the use environment of our new materials."

"Although atomic recycling technology can improve the ability of many materials to resist nuclear radiation, if you want to ensure its use time, the relative density of the material must be kept relatively large."

"Chromium oxide or indium chromium material can guarantee this. If chromium-based materials are used, the use time can be guaranteed."

Hearing this, many other researchers sitting in the office nodded. Du Jing's opinion was indeed no problem in their hearts.

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "From the perspective of use time, chromium-based materials are indeed worth a try, but have you thought about other problems?"

"What problem?" Du Jing was stunned and asked quickly.

"Have you ever thought about how much material it would take, that is, how much money it would take. After all, this material is used on the outer layer of nuclear waste, and a power station needs a lot of nuclear waste, with tonnage exceeding three or even four digits."

"How much chromium material is needed to process so much waste? You know, the price of chromium is not cheap." Xu Chuan asked with a smile.

Du Jing, who asked the question, was stunned for a moment, and then roughly calculated in his mind that according to the order of 500 tons, at least more than 500 tons of chromium would be needed to process so much nuclear waste.

Five hundred tons of chromium sounds like a lot, but based on the density of chromium, it is actually less than 100 cubic meters.

Although he doesn't know how much chromium costs per ton at present, it will not be less than 50,000 per ton, that is, the cost of chromium alone exceeds 25 million.

And this is just the reuse of a hundred tons of nuclear waste.

You have to know that the decay time of nuclear waste is quite long. Even if the theoretical document proposes the use of a technology called "transmutation acceleration system" to shorten the decay time of nuclear waste, the utilization time of nuclear waste is also quite long.

This is equivalent to directly locking this batch of chromium and nuclear waste together.

Although the tonnage of nuclear waste accumulated in China is only more than 1,000 tons, this is only because the domestic nuclear power plants were started relatively late.

If it is really confirmed that nuclear waste can be reused, with China's infrastructure speed, the annual accumulation rate of nuclear waste can be increased to 1,000 tons or even higher within five years.

Considering other countries, the amount of chromium required to deal with so much nuclear waste is simply unimaginable.

Of course, compared with the current situation where countries spend tens of billions of dollars to deal with nuclear waste and have no good way, this is indeed worth it.

But from another perspective, this price is indeed expensive enough.

Instead of this, it is better to use other cheap materials, although they are not so durable, but they can be replaced.

It is a bit troublesome, but compared with the funds needed to use chromium, it is nothing.

After thinking about it, Du Jing nodded suddenly, and said with some shame: "I understand, if that's the case, then chromium materials are indeed not suitable."

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "But your idea is indeed good. I will give you a chance to allocate a batch of scientific research funds. You can apply for a separate laboratory on this basis and recruit two assistants to complete the research on chromium materials."

"After the meeting, go back and write me a relevant report. I hope you can grasp it well."

Hearing this, Du Jing opened his mouth and widened his eyes, and said ecstatically: "Thank you for the support of the professor. I will definitely complete the research on atomic cycle semiconductor materials for chromium materials."

In the office, everyone else cast an envious look.

I should have known that they would compete for the first speech.

Independent laboratory, independent scientific research funds, and assistants can be assigned. This treatment is almost the same as that of a formal researcher.

At the main seat, Xu Chuan saw the expressions of everyone and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Although he knew that chromium materials were average, the reason why he still arranged the research on chromium atomic cycle materials was not here, but the more distant controlled nuclear fusion.

On the other hand, if you want the horse to run, you have to let the horse eat grass.

Whether it is work or training, people have to really see the rewards and hope, right?

With today's meeting, this group of researchers will do their best in the future, whether in work or in scientific research, and will boldly put forward their own ideas without worrying about being ridiculed or anything.

PS: Yesterday's chapter was locked in a small black room, and part of the content was deleted before it was released. There will be another chapter in the evening.