Fermi National Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois, M.

In a sprawling capped building about 10 stories high, 215 meters long and 120 meters wide, about the size of three football fields, a group of researchers in white hazmat suits are standing in a large hemispherical installation, doing the final cleaning and overhauling work.

NLF, the national ignition device of country M, is the name of this device, and it is also the core project of the controllable nuclear fusion project team of country M.

In the general understanding, nuclear fusion refers only to the fusion reaction between deuterium and tritium.

In fact, elements with smaller atomic numbers than iron, such as helium, carbon, silicon, etc., can undergo nuclear fusion reactions under certain conditions.

The reason why mankind chooses only tritium and deuterium as fusion materials is precisely because the conditions under which their nuclear fusion reactions take place are the least harsh;

And compared to other elements, hydrogen and its isotopes deuterium and tritium, the nucleus has only one proton, and the fusion reaction between tritium and deuterium only needs to overcome the repulsion between the two protons, while the other elements need to overcome the repulsion before a bunch of protons.

The merits are certainly obvious.

Generally speaking, there are often two independent paths to study controllable nuclear fusion, one is magnetic confinement, that is, the high temperature and high pressure plasma is confined in a certain space with a huge magnetic field, so that the nuclear fusion reaction can occur, and the second is inertial confinement, that is, the special bullseye is placed there, and then the bullseye is irradiated with a laser to make it heat up in a very short time.

Although magnetic confinement has always been the mainstream of controlled nuclear fusion research, such as China's EAST, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor program, etc., these are all magnetic confinement schemes;

Especially after Liu Feng published the "Theory of Mutual Conversion of High Energy Particles with Strong Electromagnetic Fields", and also made rapid progress in the "controllable nuclear fusion project", and took the lead in entering the demonstration reactor project, the magnetic confinement scheme has been regarded as the "bible" for the study of controllable nuclear fusion technology.

However, the inertial confinement of controlled nuclear fusion has not lost its market, such as the National Ignition Facility (NLF) of Country M, which is a typical example of this, and even the Shenguang program in China is also an inertial confinement scheme, and it has not been canceled because of the gradual advancement of the magnetic confinement scheme.

In fact, NLF was not originally launched to study controlled nuclear fusion.

In 1992, just after the disintegration of the woolly bear country, country M suddenly lost its number one opponent, so the nuclear weapons technology they spent a lot of money on research was no longer necessary, so Clinton, who had just come to power, announced that country M would suspend nuclear testing in order to show that he was a lover of world peace.

In fact, country M has not diminished its interest in improving the performance of nuclear weapons, but has begun to look for alternatives to nuclear testing after announcing a moratorium.

At this time, some scientists stood up and suggested that a laser could be used to make an igniter to detonate a miniature hydrogen bomb, which could not only continue to research nuclear weapons technology at low cost, but also promote the research of laser technology and provide a technical basis for laser weapons.

As a result, there is the "National Ignition Device" laboratory funded by the Ministry of Energy of Country M.

In essence, this technology is still a "nuclear test", but in a different way.

But others are not stupid, if they do it so blatantly, it is equivalent to slapping themselves in the face, at this time, there are enthusiastic scientists who came out to explain, saying that the nuclear fusion bullseye in this experiment is extremely small, just the size of a fingernail, and the nuclear fusion energy after the bullseye detonation is not large.

So, when the international community questioned the NLF, the "inertial confinement fusion" committee of the Ministry of Energy of country M approved the project to show that the project was used to study controlled nuclear fusion.

This is the past and present life of the NLF.

By the time the NLF was officially completed in 2010, country M had spent more than $4 billion on the project!

Standing in the main control room, Clarence stared at the data displayed on the computer, and his heart could be described as full of ambition.

Affected by the guy on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the controlled fusion laboratory in country M has been doing well recently.

Because since Liu Feng set off the upsurge of controlled nuclear fusion, country M has regarded this project as the most important strategic support project of country M in the 21st century;

Later, almost the most famous physicists in the country were summoned to ask for money and people, which can be called a copy of another Manhattan Project!

As the vice minister of the Ministry of Energy of country M, an academician of the Academy of Sciences of country M, the former dean of the Princeton Institute of Physics, and the current chief engineer of the NLF project, he has become the deputy chief engineer of the controlled nuclear fusion project!

After all, country M has suspended the EAST device decades ago, and there are few big names in the field of controlled nuclear fusion in country M.

Perhaps because of this, Clarence prefers inertial confinement as to what kind of scheme to take for controlled nuclear fusion, even if it seems that the country opposite is making rapid progress in magnetic confinement, and even if most scientists in country M support magnetic confinement, he will not change his original intention.

After all, as long as controlled nuclear fusion does not succeed for a day, it will not prove that this technology is more feasible than another.

Maybe at a certain point, the magnetic constraint comes to a standstill, and the inertial constraint catches up and succeeds?

That's what scientific research is, it's all unclear.

Therefore, after some fierce debate, at his insistence, he finally decided on the policy of grasping both hands, and did not let go of any possibility.

Clarence led his own staff to continue his research on inertial constraints, while others joined the ITER organization to study magnetic constraints with other countries.

If not, he might have become the master of the entire controlled fusion program!

"Wait, I'll prove to the world that inertial restraint is the truth of controlled nuclear fusion, and everything else is heresy!"

Clarence clenched his fists, and the corners of his mouth hooked up a smile of wisdom beads, what is the chief teacher or not, we didn't take it to heart......

It's just that the thought that two years have passed on the ITER organization's side, and there has been no obvious progress, his heart is more and more determined.

Soon, they will have a 'great' ignition experiment.

If this experiment is successful, in terms of ignition time, they are likely to exceed 1 hour, far exceeding the 48min on the ITER side at this stage;

This will greatly promote the process of inertial confinement controllable nuclear fusion, and even so-so, you can directly carry out the demonstration reactor!

From this point of view, the Chinese are only slightly ahead of them, as long as his side succeeds, maybe he will be able to attack and defend immediately.

In this regard, he is very confident,

Even the celebration feast is ready,

I also invited a lot of journalist friends,

As soon as the experiment is successful, a press conference can be held, and by the way, more Franklin can be asked for by the Department of Energy.

"Maxim, how are you doing, the time for planning is approaching?" Through the huge glass grille, Clarence could still see that Maxim inside the instrument was nervously busy, and couldn't help but pinch his sweaty palms and urged.

"Hey, old man, calm down, calm down! You should know how complicated these laser devices are......" Maxim shrugged his shoulders and hummed an unknown little tune as he unhurriedly checked through the headphones, "but don't worry, it should be able to be completed within the scheduled time." ”

Although Maxim is also a member of the NFL project, he is an engineer who studies laser technology, and he does not have the natural reverence for Clarence that his subordinates have for his superiors, and the relationship between the two is more similar to the relationship between good friends and partners.

After all, in inertial confinement nuclear fusion, laser technology is definitely the key!

As we all know, according to Lawson's criterion, nuclear fusion occurs when the product of temperature, plasma density, and time (maintaining the above temperature and density) is greater than a constant, and in the interior of the sun, the plasma density is extremely high, and this state can be maintained for a long time, so even if the temperature inside the sun is only 16 million degrees, nuclear fusion reactions can occur.

However, in the laboratory, humans simply cannot maintain the same plasma density as the inside of the sun for a long time, so nuclear fusion can only take place if the temperature is greatly increased.

In the NLF project, the production of the bullseye is almost difficult, only a pill-sized deuterium and tritium mixed pill is required, and the main problem faced by the project is how to maximize the energy of each laser, and let these lasers irradiate the bullseye from different directions at the same time without interfering with each other, in a time of less than billions of a second, so as to increase the temperature of the bullseye as much as possible.

Therefore, NLF is essentially a super complex laser optical system, as long as the laser control system is done well, NLF is basically successful.

Looking at the guy's 'unhurried' look, Clarence took a deep breath and resisted the urge to smoke him.

After all, who is the expert in this?

What's more, in order to achieve precise control of laser, NLF has launched more than 60,000 kinds of high-tech devices, of which the main laser control system includes six parts, namely the main laser system, beam control system, laser injection system, optical pulse generation system, optical switch area and terminal beam convergence system.

These six parts, more than 1 million sets of parts, each inspection and maintenance, is an extremely long process, and requires very good endurance and patience, and this guy is the best among them.

Even if more and more talents are joining now, no one can take the place of this guy.

Especially the core part of the NLF, a target chamber weighing 130 tons, when the NLF is ignited, this target chamber will be the place where the 'miniature hydrogen bomb' explodes, the diameter of the central hole of the target chamber is an astonishing 10 meters, and it is buried with 30 cm thick concrete.

Because of this, they can only do experiments a maximum of 4 or 5 times a year.

If that guy's mistake was caused by his own urging, he would rather be a little 'angry' for the time being.

"Haha, my little darling, it's an honor to see your health!" After about half an hour, Maxim finally screwed the last screw, and laughed, "Old man, how is it, it hasn't exceeded the time!"

Looking at his watch, Clarence breathed a sigh of relief: "Then what are you waiting for, let's start! Attention units, prepare to ignite!"

"Hey, man," Maxim rolled his eyes and quickly led someone out of the ball tank, "are you trying to burn me to charcoal?"

"No," Clarence shook his head, looking at the fat on this guy, "I just wanted to see if you could add some fuel to our darling......

In the midst of the bickering between the two, the entire NLF began to run in full swing.

"Three, two, one, ignition!"

With a command, the capacitors densely packed in the device can release up to 2,000 lightning bolts, and as long as the switch is pressed, tens of millions of amperes of current will rush into the pulse energy harvesting units of each laser in an instant, and finally turn into a violent laser, igniting the bullseye in the center of the hemispherical jar, releasing terrifying fusion energy.

Sitting in the lounge area outside the laboratory, Addison Bradrick, a reporter for WFSB TV in Country M, raised his hand and looked at the table below.

Almost as the hour hand ticked the hour, Miles Lynn, a researcher at the National Ignition Devices Laboratory, appeared in the door and walked over to him.

"How did it turn out?"

A group of reporters also instantly cast their gaze.

Miles Lynn shook her head.

"Did you fail?"

"I'll just say that inertial restraint is not as good as magnetic restraint, alas!"

"Looks like we're running for nothing again. ”

The group of people carrying long guns and short cannons sighed in disappointment for a moment and began to chatter.

Even they have already thought of today's news headline:

"Inertial Confinement OR Magnetic Confinement?"

"Unfortunately, where will inertial constraints go?"

"Clarence defeated Waterloo, controllable nuclear fusion business relies on magnetic confinement ......"

Miles Lynn looked at the men quizzically, "Well, gentlemen...... In fact, our ignition experiments have been initially successful...... However, it is too early to ask the question of what the final result will be, whether there will be problems with the radiation resistance of the material, whether the tritium in the reactor can be self-sustaining, and whether the ignition time can meet expectations, these are still under investigation......

"Forehead ......"

Addison touched his head in embarrassment,

"Mr. Myers, then, how long do we have to wait?"

Miles: "Hold on, gentlemen, we'll have a result in one hour at the most." ”

……

More than an hour has passed.

"Hahaha!" Clarence laughed as he walked out of the lab with Maxim.

Seeing the obvious smiles on the faces of these two people, a group of people instantly hugged again.

Miles was the first to ask, "Mr. Clarence, it's nice to see your smile, so ...... the result"

Clarence glanced at him, and finally couldn't help the joy in his heart, and interrupted: "Of course, the result was beyond our expectations! Originally, we expected the ignition time to be about 1 hour, but in the end our answer was 1 hour and 31 minutes, yes, the exact time was 5468 seconds! Our NLF has created a new miracle in controlled nuclear fusion, and we ...... it."

Just as he was interacting with the reporters with a flying expression, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the rest area.

Seeing the man hurrying from outside, Maxim on the side frowned and cast an inquiring glance at him.

"What happened?"

The man in the suit took a deep breath and spoke with a difficult expression.

"The phone from the White House, Mr. President, wants you to come over right now, there's an important meeting in the evening. ”

"Is there anything important?"

"I heard that over there," the man looked up at the crowd of reporters around him, and said stubbornly, "It's the news of Professor Liu from Huaguo, their demonstration reactor, which will be tested online on January 1 next year......

The moment he heard this, Maxim's pupils contracted slightly.

And Clarence, who was standing beside him, was petrified in an instant, and then suddenly pushed away the reporter who was blocking him, and said in a lost voice:

"It can't be!"

……