For Lu Zhou, what happened at the report was just a small episode.
He didn't follow up on the tokamak research, so he obviously didn't read the Culham Nuclear Fusion Research Center thesis in advance.
The reason why he attended this academic conference was mainly because of the "technology demonstration" part of the conference. However, he woke up a bit early on the first day of the conference, so he found a random lecture hall and sat down. This was how the previous scene happened.
After Lu Zhou pointed out the mistakes in Professor Botham's thesis, he left the lecture hall. He saw that he was almost done killing time, so he slowly walked to the technology demonstration hall next door.
Compared to the academic conference that was going on not far away, the atmosphere here was more lively.
What was being demonstrated here wasn't just theoretical research results, but it was tangible technology.
Because of this, not only were scholars and researchers paying attention to the developments here, but many entrepreneurs and investors who were interested in controllable nuclear fusion technology were also standing here with interest.
Even though there was still a long way to go before human civilization could use fusion energy, this didn't stop some imaginative people from setting their sights on this undeveloped continent.
What was interesting was that, in most people's imagination, the emergence of controllable nuclear fusion was bound to shake the interests of the energy giants. The energy giants must hate controllable nuclear fusion research to the bone and want nothing more than to get rid of it …
However, the truth was exactly the opposite of the "reality" that the public imagined. Many investors of commercial nuclear fusion companies were the energy giants that seemed to have lost their interests.
For example, the famous General Fusion Company was led by the Canadian oil company Cenovus. The stellarator project at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, in addition to being supported by the ITER project and the German Energy Agency, was also funded by the French oil giant Total.
Of course, in addition to the oil giants, there were a lot of internet companies that weren't short of money. They were also interested in the cool concept of controllable nuclear fusion.
For example, Google's investment in Tri-Alpha.
Even though Lu Zhou personally felt that Tri-Alpha was a scam, he had to give a fair evaluation. This private company was able to build a fusion experimental reactor from scratch within a year. Even the famous Nobel Prize laureate Burton Richter was shocked by this, which at least proved that these people were capable.
Also, Professor Guo Houyang, who was the chief scientist and director of the experimental operation department of Tri-Alpha, was also a very nutty Chinese scholar in the field of plasma physics. Even though his name wasn't very familiar, this big name was included in the World Who's Who in 1996, which showed that he was recognized by the academic community.
Regardless of the motive, it was precisely because so many talented people had entered this field, and so many people were interested in this field of research, that this field had gradually become popular from its initial deserted state.
Coincidentally, not long after he walked in, he saw Benderbauer, who he was chatting with in a cafe the day before yesterday.
The chairman and CTO of Tri-Alpha was standing in front of a gray screen. He was presenting their C2-U fusion device, as well as their world-leading "field reverse configuration" device, to scholars from other research institutes and a small number of investors who were interested in controllable nuclear fusion. He was presenting a PowerPoint presentation of their C2-U fusion device, as well as the world-leading "field reverse configuration" device.
Even though Benderbauer was speaking enthusiastically on stage, when Lu Zhou thought back to what he said to him the day before yesterday, he felt like Benderbauer's enthusiasm was a bit unreal.
"Life is like a play, it's all about acting."
Lu Zhou shook his head and didn't say anything. He briefly understood the technical content of the FRC machine and then walked to the booth next to him.
Tri-Alpha wasn't the only one in the technology exhibition hall; Baosheng Group, which was with Lu Zhou, was also in the exhibition hall.
After all, state-owned enterprises weren't the same as they were a few decades ago. Even though this kind of high-tech industry had special subsidies from the state, product sales were still a very serious problem.
Otherwise, they would have to face the dilemma of reducing their production capacity.
Baosheng Group applied to the organizers for a booth, and they demonstrated the SG-1 wire that they developed in cooperation with the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study to scholars from research institutes around the world.
Even though the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres also mastered this technology, Baosheng Group obviously had the advantage in terms of production cost and scale. Even the Germans, who already had the technology, had to give a small number of orders to Baosheng Group in order to alleviate their own lack of production capacity.
In short, when this wire with a cross-section diameter of only a few thousand nanometers was displayed in front of major research institutes, almost no one believed it was real.
It wasn't until Chief Engineer Cao calmly operated the experimental equipment in front of everyone and showed them the strong thermal conductivity and the most important superconductivity of the SG-1 wire that the people around the booth were shocked …
After the first day of the conference ended, Lu Zhou originally planned on going straight back to his room to rest.
However, General Manager Sun insisted on treating them. Therefore, the group found a nice Chinese restaurant in the nearby Chinatown and set up a table.
At the dining table, General Manager Sun Chengwu, who was holding a glass of wine, stood up and looked at Lu Zhou.
"Professor Lu, thank you so much!
"Just this morning alone, we received at least US $200 million in orders.
"I have to toast you no matter what!"
Even though a few hours had passed, General Manager Sun still couldn't forget the looks of shock, astonishment, and disbelief on the faces of those foreign experts when Engineer Cao had demonstrated their SG-1 wire technology in the morning.
As the manager of Baosheng Group, there was nothing more exciting than watching his own company take the lead in the world …
Lu Zhou clinked glasses with General Manager Sun and smiled.
"You don't have to thank me, this is what you deserve."
US $200 million in orders was already a lot. Using the current exchange rate, it was close to 1.4 billion yuan.
According to the current cost of the SG-1 wire, Lu Zhou roughly estimated that a US $200 million wire could be used to equip at least three small and medium-sized stellarator external field coils.
If it was a tokamak, there would be slightly less demand in this area.
However, because he didn't know much about the tokamak, he couldn't estimate an accurate number.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
