Chen Chen sat in the Wrangler and looked out the window quietly.
On the horizon, four huge chimneys that looked like pillars that reached the heavens could be seen standing silently on the horizon.
However, Chen Chen knew that they were not chimneys but the condensing towers of the nuclear power plant.
Logically speaking, nuclear power plants built by the sea did not need buildings such as condensing towers. Instead, they used a direct discharge method, directly fetching seawater for cooling and then discharging the seawater that had released heat back into the ocean.
After all, the ocean itself was huge and the water quality and temperature would not change because of a little discharge, thus saving costs.
This was why most nuclear power plants wanted to be built by the sea.
As for these cooling towers, they were the product of a compromise between the two sides. Chen Chen and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Namibia had reached an agreement. In order to prevent accidents in the nuclear power plant, the Blacklight Biotechnology nuclear power plant would have two sets of heat dissipation devices, namely the direct discharge of seawater and the condensing tower heat dissipation.
At this time, Chen Chen rushed to the completed nuclear power plant.
After eighteen months of construction, the Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant was finally ready to be completed and it was time for trial operation.
On both sides of the road, there was a high-voltage power transmission tower every hundred meters. These 30-meter-tall iron towers extended from the nuclear power plant to the Eco Science City, and then continued to Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and coastal towns such as Flozkasbaken, forming a unique landscape in the African wilderness.
As long as the nuclear power plant started generating electricity, it could transmit this electricity to thousands of households.
This once bustling road became completely deserted with the completion of the nuclear power plant. After all, at the end of this road was the Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant. Except for Blacklight Biotechnology employees and visitors, no one would set foot here.
As the four tower-like cooling towers got closer and closer, Chen Chen gradually saw the gate of the nuclear power plant. At this time, at the gate of the nuclear power plant, a large red banner had been pulled up, with the words "Celebrating the Official Completion of Blacklight Biotechnology Namibia Nuclear Power Plant" written in white font.
At the gate, a group of leaders of the engineering team was already waiting outside, ready to welcome Chen Chen.
It was said that for this trial operation, a high-level big shot of the China National Nuclear Corporation had arrived.
As Chen Chen's motorcade stopped in front of the gate, Chen Chen slowly got out of the car. At the gate, the group of people from the engineering team also followed to greet him.
"Boss Chen, congratulations, congratulations!"
As soon as Chen Chen got out of the car, a bald Chinese man came up to him and extended his hands enthusiastically. "Boss Chen, congratulations on the completion of your nuclear power plant!"
"No, without the help of Minister Wang and your construction team, I would not have been able to build this nuclear power plant."
Chen Chen smiled brightly. "I should thank you properly."
"Hahaha, then let us thank and congratulate each other!" The bald man looked up to the sky and laughed.
As the two of them conversed, there were many reporters who kept snapping photos. Chen Chen glanced at them and saw that the tags of these reporters all had the words "CCTV" on them.
"Come on, let's not talk about that. I'll personally show you the internal equipment of the nuclear power plant."
The bald man enthusiastically guided Chen Chen. "Also, at noon, we'll begin the ceremony of loading the nuclear fuel rods and officially start the test run!"
"Then I'll have to trouble Minister Wang."
Chen Chen nodded and walked toward the inside of the nuclear power plant, accompanied by a group of people snapping photos.
"The Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant covers an area of fifteen square kilometers, of which it is five kilometers long and three kilometers wide. It consists of a total of forty-two buildings of various sizes, including the nuclear island area, the conventional area, the nuclear power plant supporting facilities, the nuclear power plant safety protection measures, and the living area."
As they walked, the man pointed and explained to Chen Chen, "Look, the largest building in front is the living area. The living area has a dedicated staff dormitory, as well as a cafeteria and entertainment area. It can accommodate five thousand employees to work and live here...
"And the huge building built by the sea, half of which extends into the seawater, is the safety protection area of the nuclear power plant. It can exchange heat between seawater and boiling water at a speed of more than 100 cubic meters per second, cooling down the excess temperature."
Chen Chen nodded.
The reason why the seawater full of impurities could be directly used to dissipate heat was that the seawater did not need to participate in any power generation operations. Instead, it was installed in the pipeline in the form of coolant.
The power generation principle of this nuclear power plant built by Chen Chen was that nuclear fission generated heat energy, then high-pressure water was used to bring the heat energy out, and then the generator generated steam to drive the turbine to rotate to generate electricity.
The water vapor that had already driven the turbine to rotate would come into contact with these pipes containing seawater. In a state of sudden cooling, it would condense and transform back into pure water, and then return to the nuclear reactor for cycle heating.
Therefore, this seawater did not need to participate in any power generation operations. It only played the role of cooling the water vapor and would not cause any pollution.
"Look, this is the core of the nuclear power plant — the nuclear island area."
After the introduction along the way, the bald man finally led Chen Chen to the core building complex of the nuclear power plant.
As the name suggested, the nuclear island area was like an island-like building. As Chen Chen followed the man in, after several turns, they went up to the second floor and entered the observation room of the nuclear reactor.
The nuclear power plant built by Chen Chen had a total of two nuclear reactors. At this time, this was the observation and control room of nuclear reactor No. 1.
In the observation and control room, at this time, there were already more than a dozen staff sitting in front of the control panel. Directly in front of the observation room, there was a huge floor-to-ceiling window about five meters long and three meters high.
"These floor-to-ceiling windows are all made with international standard ZF6-grade heavy-lead protective glass." The bald man pointed to the glass window and said, "And the walls also have lead partitions. Standing here, there's absolutely no need to worry about any radiation."
Chen Chen nodded and looked along the glass. He immediately saw a huge tower-shaped machine behind the glass. There were dozens of workers wearing nuclear protective suits constantly inspecting the equipment inside, looking extremely busy.
"The people inside are counting the nuclear fuel rods."
The bald man explained, "The pressurized water reactors in Mainland China have always been using uranium dioxide. This uranium dioxide is packed in a zirconium pipe with a diameter of only one centimeter and it's made into a fuel rod that's four meters long."
Chen Chen nodded. "I know this. 312 fuel rods form a fuel rod assembly."
"Yes, this nuclear reactor divides the nuclear fuel rods into three batches, and the replacement cycle of each batch is 12 months."
The bald man explained. As he spoke, he looked at the time and changed the topic. "Boss Chen, it's almost noon now. Should we have lunch in the cafeteria first or install the nuclear fuel rods directly and start the test operation?"
"Let's get started." Chen Chen thought for a while and nodded.
"Okay, then let's begin!"
Following Chen Chen's order, the operator in the control room immediately conveyed the order to the reactor. Several employees operated a machine similar to a crane and lowered a group of four-meter-long fuel rods, lifting them into the nuclear reactor.
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