Central of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor base.

The construction site is in full swing.

More than a month has passed since the ignition test was approved in Beijing. From the frost to the winter solstice, it is time to eat dumplings before you know it.

Although the weather is getting colder, it still can't freeze the heat in people's hearts.

After overcoming countless hardships and obstacles, they finally came to this moment.

Soon, they'll know if it's worth it.

"Connector checked! Confirm that the interface is normal! ”

"Attention units, start docking operations!"

The ICRF heating antenna, which is about ten meters long and three or four meters wide, was lifted by steel cables, and slowly approached the huge reactor under the traction of the crane's cross arm.

At the same time, engineers from the nuclear industry group stood by, operating professional equipment, and carried out the installation work in an orderly manner.

Standing next to the construction site, Academician Wang Zengguang, chief engineer of the Nuclear Industry Group, who was in charge of the scene, was wearing a hard hat and a proud smile on his wrinkled old face.

"I used to think that when the nuclear industry group has mastered the fourth-generation nuclear fission reactor technology, it will be almost time for me to retire."

Standing next to Academician Wang, Academician Li Jiangang of the Luyang Institute of Physics smiled after hearing this.

"And now?"

Staring at the steel giant beast in front of him, Academician Wang smiled and narrowed his crow's feet.

"Now it seems that I am afraid it will be two or three years late."

If the flame of fusion ignites......

It needs to be passed on.

At least he'll have to keep doing it until it's on track.

At this time, a middle-aged engineer wearing a hard hat walked over to the two old men.

"The ICRF heating antenna has been installed!"

Academician Li said solemnly: "Has the tightness of the interface been checked?" ”

The middle-aged engineer nodded and replied rigorously: "I've checked it three times!" Confirm that there are no issues. ”

The seriousness on his face eased, Academician Li nodded approvingly, turned to look at the old friend next to him, and teased with a smile: "The task of our Luyang Institute of Physics has been successfully completed, and now it is up to you." I said, Lao Wang, let's not drop the chain at this juncture. If your ferrofluid generator doesn't come out of the power by then, it will be a shame. ”

Hearing this, Academician Wang scolded with a smile.

"Oh, you old thing is still worried about me. You can rest assured, when the time comes, if the chain falls off the generator set, my name of Wang Zengguang will be written upside down in the future! ”

As he spoke, he looked at the construction site not far away, and ordered the middle-aged engineer in front of him.

"Start installing the ferrofluid generator set!"

"Yes!"

The middle-aged engineer nodded solemnly and immediately trotted in the direction of the construction site.

……

Phew——!

With a deafening roar, two fighter jets roared past the blue sky.

In recent times, this has been heard here all the time.

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, Lu Zhou withdrew his gaze from the sea not far away and glanced at the time on his watch.

In thirty minutes, there was another meeting waiting for him to preside.

Since the study came to an end for the time being, he has not been idle.

Rather, this month was probably the most exhausting day for him since the start of the construction of the demonstration reactor.

More than 100 research institutes are involved in the STAR-2 plant, and dozens of public institutions are directly or indirectly involved in the construction of demonstration reactor components and specific construction.

In order to coordinate the work of various departments, the most he has done in the past month has been holding meetings. Almost every day, there are more than three conferences or small meetings to be held, and at least 10 or more reports to be reviewed in person.

This is no fun for him, who likes to stay in the laboratory and work on interesting problems alone.

However, such days are coming to an end.

The components of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor have been fully completed.

If nothing else, at the upcoming meeting, Academician Wang, Chief Engineer of the Nuclear Industry Group, will report to him on the installation of ICRF antennas and all ferrofluid generator sets.

These are the last two pieces of the puzzle.

After the installation of the two demonstration reactor components, and the final check of the connection status of the interfaces of each component, the ignition experiment can basically begin.

Thinking of this, the corners of Lu Zhou's mouth couldn't help but hook up a smile.

This day was finally expected by him.

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside.

His gaze retracted from the floor-to-ceiling window, and Lu Zhou looked at the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Yan Yan, who was wearing a dark blue coat, walked in with a thermos box.

"You haven't eaten again, have you?"

Hearing this, Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I don't have much appetite at noon, and I've almost gotten used to having two meals in the morning and evening recently." ”

Yan Yan sighed softly and gently put the thermos box on the coffee table: "I know you're busy, but you still have to eat three meals a day on time." There are dumplings in the cafeteria, and I'll bring you one. ”

The food was delivered to his mouth, and Lu Zhou was not a hypocritical person, so he said thank you like a stream, and then walked to the sofa next to the coffee table and sat down, and opened the thermos box.

The tempting aroma of the noodles comes to the face, and the crystal clear dumplings are appetizing when you look at them.

After taking a sip of noodle soup and feeling the warmth in his stomach, Lu Zhou's eyes lit up slightly.

Well, it's quite fragrant.

couldn't help but sigh in admiration, Lu Zhou picked up the chopsticks.

"Is the food in your troops so good?"

Sitting down on the sofa opposite, Yan Yan replied, "Look which unit it is." ”

"Really?"

Lu Zhou didn't continue the topic, but concentrated on enjoying this delicious lunch.

A regular diet is definitely good for health, in fact, there is no need to be reminded at all, and he knows this himself.

But sometimes it's clear that people don't have an appetite when they get busy. When I came back to my senses, it was already past the meal, so I just waited for the next meal to eat together.

Enjoying the dumplings in the thermos box, at this moment, Lu Zhou suddenly thought of something.

"Speaking of which, today is the winter solstice."

Yan Yan, who was sitting on the opposite side of the sofa and watching him eat, was slightly stunned and nodded, "Yes." ”

No wonder it's dumplings......

Lu Zhou smiled, if it weren't for this plate of dumplings, he wouldn't even notice that today was a special day.

But speaking of which, it's already the winter solstice.

Time flies so fast......

Just as he was sighing in his heart, footsteps came from outside the hallway, and it didn't take long for the familiar face and loud voice to appear in the doorway.

"The door is not closed, I will come in, I didn't disturb Professor Lu to eat."

"How can you bother," Lu Zhou smiled and put down his chopsticks, "I just finished eating." ”

As he spoke, he looked at Yan Yan.

"The insulated box will trouble you."

Yan Yan shook her head: "Don't bother, you can get busy first." ”

With that, she got up from the sofa, took the thermos box on the coffee table, turned around and left the office, and closed the door for the two people in the office.

Walking to the opposite side of Lu Zhou and sitting down, Head Dai cleared his throat and said with a slightly pneumatic expression.

"It's the end of December, has the exact date for the ignition been confirmed?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment and replied.

"The exact date has not yet been set, and we will discuss it at a meeting in a while. But no matter what day it is, it will definitely not be delayed until next year. ”

"Okay, then I'll come back to you in the evening," Captain Dai nodded, "but my suggestion is to give us three days' notice if the ignition time is confirmed." We also asked the provincial side to cooperate with us and arrange the traffic and safety work in the area on the day of the ignition. ”

"Thank you for your hard work," Lu Zhou nodded, and at this moment he suddenly thought of something and said, "Speaking of which, it will be New Year's Day in a few days." ”

Head Dai nodded: "Yes, what's wrong?" ”

"That's right, it's better to choose a day than to hit the sun," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Let's use the ignition of controlled fusion to present a congratulatory gift to the people of the whole country who are looking forward to it!" ”