Nine o'clock in the morning.

Accompanied by Qin Anguo of the Ministry of Science and Technology Information, Xu Chuan followed the guards all the way to the north side of Chang'an Avenue.

In a quaint two-story building, Xu Chuan met the old man he used to see on television and in the news media.

Looking at Xu Chuan, who had walked into the house, the old man who was originally sitting on the side waiting stood up and walked over, with a kind smile on his face, and also stretched out his right hand.

"Professor Xu, welcome."

"Hello." Xu Chuan shook hands respectfully.

"Please take a seat." The old man smiled and gestured to the chair in the room, and continued: "Thank you for bringing the long-awaited medal to the country, it is an honor for any country to have a scholar like you." ”

"You're serious, I'm just doing what a scholar is supposed to do." Xu Chuan hurriedly said.

After a few simple greetings, the group turned to the main topic.

"Professor Xu, I don't know what you think about the future scientific development of our country?" After taking a sip of tea, the old man looked at Xu Chuan and asked.

Hearing this, Xu Chuan sat down and said, "Before I came, I made a document with some of my opinions, so please delay your time for a few minutes." ”

As he spoke, he took out a USB stick from his pocket and put it on the table in front of him.

At the signal of the old man, the guard who was waiting on the side stepped forward and took the USB flash drive, brought the corresponding equipment, and projected it onto a screen.

Xu Chuan clicked on the ppt file in the USB flash drive, this is something he had already done when he was in Princeton, and what he was waiting for was such an opportunity today.

He doesn't know what the outcome will be, but he'll do it to the best of his ability.

......

The ppt unfolded, Xu Chuan took a deep breath, looked at the picture on the screen and said slowly:

"Today's social development is inseparable from three major areas."

"Energy, materials, and information are the three important areas of production and scientific and technological development in modern society, which are independent and interrelated, and are also the main support for scientific development."

"From the energy point of view, the current energy does not see much change for the time being, and oil is still dominant in the short term. New energy may only be left with photovoltaics to continue to develop, but mainly in terms of scientific and technological reserves. And controlled nuclear fusion has the potential to become an energy dark horse that will turn the world upside down. ”

"From the perspective of materials, new materials mainly relying on biotechnology will make breakthroughs in development, and gradually transform from petrochemical materials to biological synthetic materials. Nanomaterials and biomaterials will be the main trends in future development. ”

"From the perspective of information, the substantial improvement of network speed and the sufficiency of the public information base are the future development trends, in addition, touch and somatosensory operating systems are important auxiliary technologies. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality will be the main trends in the future. ”

“......”

After listening to Xu Chuan's explanation, Qin Anguo from the Ministry of Science and Technology Information glanced at the old man sitting opposite, and asked cautiously:

"You mean we should invest heavily in all three of these things?"

Xu Chuan nodded and shook his head again, which suddenly made the old man and Qin Anguo a little confused.

"Investment and development are a must, but my opinion is that we need a big killer, a technology that will bring us back to the top of the world."

Xu Chuan said solemnly, pointing his words to the ultimate goal: "Behind the interconnection of the three major fields of energy, materials and information, there is a technology that is enough to support us to achieve our goals. ”

Hearing this, Qin Anguo and the old man were shocked in their hearts.

Let Huaguo return to the top of the world, this dream is too great, such a technology, does it really exist?

Even if it exists, it must be very difficult to achieve it.

Some conjectures crossed the minds of the two of them, and they were fleeting.

After taking a deep breath and suppressing the shock in his heart, Qin Anguo and the old man looked at each other as well, and then cautiously asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Xu Chuan slowly spoke: "Controlled nuclear fusion!" ”

Hearing this, everyone present set their eyes on Xu Chuan, but except for the old man and Qin Anguo, the others quickly looked away and stuck to their posts.

As for the old man and Qin Anguo, neither of them thought that this young scholar would come up with such a grandiose and even somewhat endless.

Controlled nuclear fusion!

The ultimate energy source for humanity.

The people sitting here today, whoever they are, have a certain understanding of this magnificent technology.

As Xu Chuan said, the energy contained in this word is enough to make Huaguo great again, to stand on top of the world again and overlook the whole world.

But is this technology really possible in a short period of time?

As early as 1933, the theory of controlled nuclear fusion technology has matured, nearly a hundred years ago.

However, there has been no mature plan for how to achieve it.

Whether it is magnetic confinement, inertial confinement, gravitational confinement, or other methods, there is no hope of application in the near future.

Even if it includes the world's major nuclear states and major Asian countries, covering nearly half of the world's population, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program has no end in sight.

Fifty years forever, this is the outside world's joking name for controlled nuclear fusion.

And with controlled nuclear fusion to bring China back to the top of the world, can this route be successful?

Taking a deep breath again, Qin Anguo looked at Xu Chuan and asked solemnly, "Can this road really be realized?" ”

Xu Chuan said seriously: "To be honest, it is very difficult to achieve controlled nuclear fusion. ”

"But we can't stop doing it because it's hard, so we can only follow others forever."

Hearing this, the old man said: "We are all very aware of the importance of controlled nuclear fusion, but there has been no obvious progress so far, whether it is magnetic confinement or inertial confinement, there is no dawn of commercial use at present, let alone research in other directions." ”

"We are well aware of the value of this technology and are willing to invest more resources in it, but the critical question is how long it will take to succeed and whether we can sustain the burden."

Xu Chuan smiled, his fingers clicked lightly on the keyboard, and the picture projected through the curtain jumped, and what appeared was a map of a tree-like structure.

"It is extremely difficult to achieve controlled nuclear fusion in one step. But that doesn't mean we can't move towards it. ”

"On the way forward, every branch technology can create enough value and benefits for us......."

As he spoke, Xu Chuan explained the various fields of science and technology on the treemap.

【Superconducting materials at room temperature】

【Strong Magnetic Mirror Hoop Control Torus】

【Ultra-high temperature plasma turbulence control system】

【Mechanism of nuclear energy β radiation energy accumulation and conversion of electrical energy】

【Ultra-supercritical heat engine conversion technology】

【.......】

On the projection, each small branch represents a technology.

Controlled nuclear fusion is an extremely large project, and Xu Chuan has never expected the state to fully support him with just a few words from a one-sided acquaintance.

Not to mention that he is a Fields Medal winner, even if he adds a Nobel Prize, he is not qualified.

Billions of dollars are probably the most basic number for investing in the super project of controlled nuclear fusion, and no one knows how much it will cost to go up, and there is no real upper limit.

This is a gold-swallowing beast with a big black mouth, and no one can guarantee how much money, manpower and material resources will be invested in it until it is realized.

Xu Chuan never thought of doing such a big project, which is unrealistic.

Even if he wins the Fields Medal, it will not be easy for the country to hand over the innumerable mega-project of controlled nuclear fusion to him.

This is not a science fiction movie or something, you can lift your personal power and surpass the world.

However, he can disassemble and realize controlled nuclear fusion little by little.

For example, the technology of superconducting materials at room temperature, the control torus of the strong magnetic mirror hoop, and the mechanism of nuclear energy β radiation energy accumulation and conversion of electrical energy are all things that he has achieved in his previous life.

Use these things as a stone to ask for directions, to pave the way, to let people see hope, and then move forward.

And after having phased results, it is enough for the country to see the return on investment and benefits, to see the emergence of results, and to see hope.

Sure enough, when this tree map and the corresponding technology were presented, Qin Anguo and the old man showed a hint of interest in their eyes.

Just as Xu Chuan thought, if he came up to directly master the super project of controlled nuclear fusion, he would think about whether he could hand over this matter to him, and he would also consider all aspects later.

At the age of twenty, he stood at the pinnacle of the scientific community, overlooking the world, and with such an achievement, it is normal for him to think that he is the best in the world and can do anything.

But the state and the individual are, after all, two completely different concepts.

It is a very worrying thing that a super project that can easily cost billions, or even tens of billions, is in the hands of a young man, especially if it is beyond his professional field.

Science allows for trial and error, and success is a step by step from failure.

But for the country, whether this trial and error and failure are worth it and whether it can bring something to the table also needs to be considered.

Now, however, both men see a different side of the young talent.

This maturity and stability, this hope, maybe let him try it.

Standing in front of the projection screen, the old man stared at the picture in front of him for a long time, and finally turned to look at Xu Chuan, and slowly asked, "If this job is handed over to you, how sure are you?" ”

Xu Chuan thought for a while and said, "I don't know if I can succeed in the end, but I will do my best to do this well." ”

The old man thought for a moment and said, "Then where are you going to start?" ”

"Mechanism of nuclear energy β radiant energy accumulation and conversion of electrical energy!" Xu Chuan said.

Hearing this, the old man and Qin Anguo both showed a trace of surprise and puzzlement in their eyes, to be honest, they didn't know very well what kind of technology this was.

Judging by the name, this may be a technology related to nuclear energy?

But it's really not very clear what it is and what it is used for.

Feeling the old man's gaze, Qin Anguo opened his mouth and asked, "Can you please explain the 'nuclear energy β radiation energy aggregation and conversion mechanism' you said?" ”

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "There are two kinds of so-called nuclear energy, one is nuclear fission, and the other is nuclear fusion. ”

"Nuclear fusion aside, although controlled nuclear fusion is hailed as the ultimate energy source for mankind, it has not yet been achieved."

"Nuclear fission is a commonly used power generation method in various countries. At present, our country should have just entered the third generation of fission reactors, which can be regarded as at the forefront of the world. ”

"But nuclear fission has a very difficult product to deal with, nuclear waste. It mainly refers to two categories: medium and low radioactive nuclear waste and high radioactive nuclear waste generated in the process of power generation of nuclear power plants. ”

"These two types of nuclear waste account for more than 99 percent of the world's nuclear pollution, and they are quite a headache for all countries. How to deal with nuclear waste has always been an unsolved problem for the nuclear industry. ”

"The 'mechanism of nuclear energy β radiation energy accumulation and conversion of electrical energy' is a science and technology based on nuclear radiation."

"Any radioactive element has an energy transfer and energy loss process when decaying, and at the same time releases α rays, β rays, and γ rays."

"One of my previous studies was to study the physical reaction and absorption of matter to radiation, and to convert the energy generated during decay into electrical energy as much as possible."

"This technology uses a special crystal as an enveloping layer, using the radiation of radioactive elements in the NP layer of a specific semiconductor, especially the spontaneous radioactive decay of nuclear materials and radioactive materials (nuclear waste), and using the thermoelectric effect and photoelectric effect (Compton effect and positron and negative electron pair effect) as the main principle to safely convert the energy of nuclear materials and radioactive materials."

"It can make the radiation from various nuclear wastes no longer harmful pollutants, it will benefit mankind, and it will benefit us."

After listening to Xu Chuan's explanation, Qin Anguo quickly asked, "What about efficiency?" ”

"The reuse of nuclear waste is being studied in various countries, but the conversion efficiency is not high so far, and it has not exceeded five percent at present, how much can you theoretically achieve?"

As the minister of science and technology, he naturally understands some science and technology related to nuclear fission.

The reuse of nuclear waste to generate electricity is a technology that countries are working on, but with little success.

On the one hand, there is the conversion of power generation efficiency, and on the other hand, there are issues such as safety and packaging materials.

Among them, efficiency is the most critical, and if the efficiency is low, there is no great value.

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "This is the key core of the 'nuclear energy β radiation energy accumulation and conversion mechanism', according to my previous design and estimate, theoretically speaking, the efficiency of the conversion and aggregation can reach more than 50%, and the degree of perfection can theoretically reach 70% to 80%. ”

"Of course, the specific situation needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis."

.......

ps: Asking for a monthly pass, the protagonist has returned to China, and he can start brushing technology, and the progress has begun to speed up. Let's get some monthly passes, take pity on Yao. （づ￣3￣）づ╭～