The entire controllable fusion battery project was divided into thirteen sub-projects, covering all components from laser ignition to generators. A total of six scientific research institutions participated in the research.
With the success of the Pangu fusion reactor, Lu Zhou was quite confident in this project.
However, there was still a disagreement on the nuclear fuel for the fusion battery.
After listening to the crazy plan described by Lu Zhou, the winner opened his mouth in surprise. After a while, he spoke in an incredulous tone.
"Are you sure you want to use helium-3 as the fuel? The reaction cross-section of helium-3 and deuterium is only a few tenths of the DT reaction. The difficulty of igniting it is dozens of times more difficult than igniting the DT mixture! "
He wasn't the only one with this opinion. Academician Wang Zengguang, the chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation, also nodded.
"I also think that using helium-3 directly is a bit impractical. Even though you said it saves space and costs, the fact is that this part of the cost is just passed on to other components such as laser ignition or microwave ignition."
Academician Yu Jiannan, who wasn't very familiar with Lu Zhou, didn't directly object. Instead, he vaguely expressed his opinion.
"It's not necessarily a good thing to take too big of a step."
Lu Zhou gently tapped his finger on the table and thought for a long time.
This was a trade-off issue.
If he chose the DT mixture as the fuel, then the reactor core would have to be loaded with a liquid lithium neutron recovery system, which would reduce the volumetric energy density of the entire fusion battery. If he chose He-3/D as the reactant, he could save at least 15% of the nuclear core volume, and the volumetric energy density of the entire battery would also increase.
However, Academician Wang's words were exactly what he was thinking. With the current domestic laser ignition technology, rashly choosing this radical technical route might not be able to achieve the desired effect.
The silence lasted for around five minutes. Lu Zhou had an idea in his mind.
"Then let's compromise."
Sheng Xianfu: "Compromise?"
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Just like the ignition device, we have two technical routes. One was for DT fuel fusion batteries, and the other was for He-3/D fuel. We can agree on a unified standard for interface size. If we really can't solve the bottleneck of He-3/D fuel fusion battery technology, we can also immediately use DT fuel. One day, when the helium-triple-fusion problem is solved, it will be easier to upgrade the equipment in the future. "
Academician Wang Zengguang nodded and said, "I think it's fine."
Academician Yu Jiannan was still a man of few words. He nodded and said, "As long as the budget is fine, I have no objections."
Glancing at the others, Lu Zhou saw that there were no more opinions, so he made a decision and said, "Alright, then it's settled."
Using helium-3 directly was indeed a little too much.
With a few of his old "teammates" persuading him, Lu Zhou came to his senses a little.
He had to admit that when he discovered the miniaturization of controllable fusion technology from the wreckage of an advanced civilization, he was a bit arrogant and neglected the industrial level of Earth's civilization.
In fact, it wasn't easy to create a fusion energy battery in itself.
As for completely restoring the technology of that engine, it might not even be possible by the end of the century, let alone now …
After leaving the conference room, Lu Zhou originally planned on going back to the underground laboratory to continue thinking about the Hall-effect thruster unit. However, he remembered that he still had one more thing to take care of, so he returned to his office.
A while ago, when the higher-ups approved the project, they suggested that he submit the feasibility thesis on fusion battery technology to a relevant academic journal.
Even though Lu Zhou knew what the higher-ups were thinking, he didn't have any objections.
What was written in the thesis was his academic viewpoint.
If the higher-ups didn't have any objections to the content of the thesis, then he obviously wouldn't object to submitting the thesis.
Lu Zhou took out the thesis he wrote a while ago and deleted any potentially enlightening content. He only kept a few vague concepts such as "detachable nuclear core", "laser heating", and "microwave heating". He then translated it into English.
Actually, for this kind of technical feasibility thesis, it didn't matter if he didn't edit it or not. After all, this type of thesis was subjective and didn't involve specific research ideas and experimental plans. It was just a discussion of "feasibility" or "infeasibility".
As for whether or not they could do it, that would depend on their own abilities.
After Lu Zhou read the edited thesis from beginning to end, he stared at the PDF file on his screen and began to think.
Which journal should I submit it to?
After thinking for a while, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile, and he suddenly had an idea.
He opened his email list that he hadn't used for a year and found the PRL editor's email. He thought about his wording and sent the thesis over.
When Lu Zhou clicked send, he couldn't help but have a playful look on his face.
I wonder if anyone will praise me for my internationalism after reading this thesis?
Other than those in the field of controllable fusion, most of them probably would …
…
After Lu Zhou submitted the thesis to PRL, he posted the thesis on arXiv. After that, he didn't bother with this matter anymore.
However, what he didn't know was that the next afternoon after his thesis was posted on arXiv, his thesis was integrated into someone else's PowerPoint.
Los Angeles International Hotel.
Inside a conference room that was a few hundred square meters.
When Mr. Benderbauer, the CEO of Tri Alpha, announced that the company's next step was to build a plasma engine with nuclear fusion batteries for the United States' moon landing program, the audience went into an uproar.
Even though the investors sitting here didn't necessarily know what controllable nuclear fusion was, this didn't mean that they were stupid.
The Pangu demonstration reactor had only been ignited for less than three months, and there wasn't even a trace of controllable fusion on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Now they were talking about the miniaturization of controllable fusion?
Many people even began to look at their watches. It seemed like they had already made up their minds. If they didn't hear anything valuable in five minutes, they would get up and leave.
Despite that, Benderbauer wasn't flustered in the slightest.
He was wearing a checkered T-shirt, dressed like a Silicon Valley man. He cleared his throat and spoke to the investors in a rhythmic voice.
"The miniaturization of controllable fusion!
"I know this may sound unbelievable, but in fact, it's not as unattainable as we think."
Soon after, the PowerPoint turned to the next page.
A thesis on arXiv appeared on the screen.
The author of the thesis was the popular chief designer of the controllable fusion project, Lu Zhou.
When the audience saw this thesis, they went into an uproar again. The sound of discussion spread from the center to the audience.
Even the people who didn't care about this press conference couldn't help but look at the PowerPoint.
After all, this was Lu Zhou, the publicly recognized father of controllable fusion!
If someone else talked about the miniaturization of controllable fusion, they would think it was bullsh * t. However, this big name's words were completely different.
Woods, the CEO of ExxonMobil, was sitting in the back corner of the venue. He stared at the name on the screen with a complicated look on his face.
To be honest, he wasn't optimistic about a pompous Silicon Valley company like Tri-alpha. In comparison, he was more inclined to invest in the long-established General Atomics.
However, when he saw this name, his mind was shaken.
He couldn't help it, because this name left a deep impression on him.
The size of the lithium battery market had increased by more than a hundred times. The entire Wall Street industry was beating their chests and stomping their feet.
From the anode materials of lithium batteries to the cathode materials of lithium-sulfur batteries, they originally had a share of this pie. However, after spending a lot of money on the new energy field, they could only watch someone else make a fortune.
Now that there was a breakthrough in nuclear power technology, the cost of power generation was further reduced. The size of the lithium battery market would only continue to grow.
Because he missed out on such a big piece of the pie, he couldn't ignore the technical feasibility of Lu Zhou's thesis.
On the other side, Benderbauer was standing on stage. He held Lu Zhou's thesis and continued to speak.
"… This is a detachable structure. We can make the reactor core into something similar to a battery. This design allows us to ignore the damage to the material structure to a limited extent.
"Based on this design, the engineering difficulty of this disposable controllable fusion battery is much lower than that of a fusion reactor! Even though the cost is a problem, it's nothing compared to the money we spend on aerospace. "
Benderbauer saw that the skepticism in the eyes of the investors gradually turned into passion. He knew that it was time, so he threw out the last bait and spoke with a bright smile.
"As for whether or not our product can find a market, you don't have to worry at all.
"In fact, yesterday, we reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Space-X. We are preparing to develop fusion batteries that can be applied to spacecraft. The miniaturized controllable fusion device will be used in the aerospace field. The related projects have already been reviewed by the Congressional Budget Committee!
"I believe that soon, our rockets will be able to use clean and endless nuclear energy, and our footprints will be all over space. I can even say that this day will be faster than the national controllable fusion device in California! "
His passionate voice seemed to ignite the emotions of the entire venue.
Woods looked at the secretary next to him and lowered his voice.
"I need a briefing on Tri-alpha's financial report and business operations!"
The secretary's heart skipped a beat and she immediately understood what the CEO was thinking.
"Okay, sir, what you want will appear on your desk tonight."
Woods said with a straight face, "Do it now. I want to see it before the dinner at six o 'clock."
Hearing this difficult request, the secretary bit the bullet and nodded.
"Yes."
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