On the other side, the Germanic kingdom.

At the Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Professor Tillman Lent is communicating with the institute's management.

The Planck Institute for Plasma Physics is a branch of the Max Planck Institute, which is one of the top five or even three major basic research institutions in the world.

This large research institute was founded in 1948 and is named after the famous physicist Max Planck.

Today, it has 83 research institutes and research institutes in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, chemistry, biology, biology, solid-state research, genetics ecology, plant research, and more.

It covers most of the scientific research fields of almost the entire human civilization.

In this regard, even research institutes such as the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the CERN Institute, and the Helmholtz Association are ashamed of themselves.

If we look at the overall volume of research (not cited or affected), the Max Planck Institute is only surpassed by three research institutes in China: the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Harvard University.

From this point of view, it is enough to prove the status of this research institution in the scientific community.

In fact, this is exactly the case, not to mention the fact that in the branch of the Institute of Plasma Physics alone, it has several controllable nuclear fusion reactors.

From tokamak devices, to stellarator devices, to pebble beds and inertial restraints, laser ignition devices have it all.

Not only that, but even in the tokamak device and the stellar simulator device, it has also fully entered the second generation.

For example, its Wendelstein 7-X, also known as Spiral Stone-7X, set a long-lasting high-temperature plasma operation record of more than 100 seconds in 18 years, and even set a full 6-minute operation time record at the end of 19.

This can be said to be a new world record for this type of stellar, which no one has been able to break so far.

The new ASDEX device currently under construction has also set a new configuration record for the current state-owned tokamak device, second only to the international joint ITER's tokamak device.

In the study of controlled nuclear fusion, the Planck Institute for Plasma Physics has truly achieved multi-legged walking.

As for the rest, the United States has focused on inertial restraint and stellarators, and Huaguo has placed its bets on the tokamak. In other fields, it is probably inferior to the Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.

Of course, this also has something to do with Europe's desperate thirst for energy.

In terms of oil and gas, they are extremely dependent on resources imported from Tsarist Russia, and if there is a conflict in the future, Tsarist Russia locks this hole, then the whole of Europe will be extremely uncomfortable.

Therefore, compared with the United States and China, Europe is more eager to find a new path in energy.

Including the previous deal with China on 'nuclear energy β radiation energy aggregation and conversion technology', it is also hoped that nuclear energy can solve the energy crisis.

In the conference room of the Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Professor Tillman Lunt is trying his best to report and convince.

"Judging from the last operation of the Spiral Stone-7, we did not achieve the ideal goal on the path of the stellarator, although the water-cooled deflector played its role steadily, the plasma turbulence confinement in the chamber caused the temperature of the first wall to rise faster than expected over time."

"This is a matter of controlling plasma turbulence in the reactor chamber, which was communicated at the time of the last report."

"We need stronger control methods, whether it's optimizing and adjusting the control model, or using stronger superconducting materials to create strong magnetic fields."

Across the desk, a middle-aged man in a suit frowned and said, "There's no point in discussing this, what I need is a solution, not wasting time here with empty talk." ”

"You know, there's not much time left, and if we can't run for at least 30 minutes this year, the parliament will definitely cut back on investment in controlled fusion projects."

"Especially when the energy company has already traded from China to 'nuclear energy β radiant energy aggregation and conversion technology', it is obviously more worthwhile to withdraw the investment from controlled nuclear fusion and invest in nuclear fission."

Professor Tillman Lent nodded and said, "Of course, the purpose of inviting you here today is that we have found a workable solution. ”

"What's the solution?"

Tillman Lundt: "It's still related to Professor Xu, who developed the 'nuclear energy β radiation energy aggregation and conversion technology'!" ”

"Not long ago, his Chuanhai Institute of Materials held a press conference on high-temperature superconducting materials, at which he announced a new type of high-temperature superconducting material that can provide a critical magnetic field of more than 20T, which is more than three times that of the superconducting materials we currently use."

"The critical magnetic field control of 20T, theoretically, can greatly enhance the control of plasma turbulence by our Spiral Stone-7X."

"You should know that the stronger the binding field, the more stable the operation of the plasma turbulence."

"If we can trade this high-temperature superconducting material, it is easy to achieve a run time of more than 30 minutes, and even from the data on paper, with this material, we can even break through an hour of running time!"

"If we can do this, we will have enough capital to continue to ask Parliament and the EU for research funding."

Hearing this, another middle-aged man on the opposite side of the desk gently tapped his fingers on the table and said, "I have seen the relevant news about the report on the high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials, and judging from the published data, the performance is indeed excellent." ”

"But this kind of important superconducting material, that Professor Xu probably won't export it, or even if he wants to export it, Huaguo will stop it, right? Or at least it is necessary to meet China's domestic needs before considering exports. ”

"What we're missing now is time, and we only have a year left in 2020."

Professor Tillman Lent smiled: "You can leave this to me, I got in touch with that Professor Xu two days ago, and if we make a little concession, he can provide us with a batch of materials by June '20." ”

"On what terms?"

"He wants our old ASDEX unit from retirement!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged supervisor asked curiously, "What does he need the ASDEX device for?" Did he also start working on controlled nuclear fusion? ”

"If I'm not mistaken, Huaguo has a tokamak device that is not weaker than our ASDEX device, right?"

Professor Tillman Lent nodded and said, "Indeed, the performance of Huaguo's EAST device is better than that of the old ASDEX device in terms of data. ”

"Still."

After a pause, he smiled and said, "You know, the leader of controlled nuclear fusion in China is not him, but another academician named Chen Mingji. ”

"Compared to us, the academic monopoly phenomenon in that country is more serious, so now that Professor Xu is in some trouble, and he urgently needs a fusion device with more comprehensive functions."

Hearing this, the middle-aged supervisor nodded suddenly, he understood what Professor Tillman Lent said.

In fact, China's scientific research ability is very strong, but the internal factions are quite serious, and the phenomenon of its own people making trouble for its own people far exceeds that of other countries.

Professor Tillman Lent continued: "But our old ASDEX device is not his only option, after all, the tokamak device was the mainstream route before, and there are many countries that study it. ”

"When I talked to him about this two days ago, he revealed that he was also in contact with the Alcatel C-Mod compact fusion reactor that is now in a state of shutdown in the United States."

Here, Tillman Lent used a little trick to force a sense of urgency in the hearts of the top management through Xu Chuan's contact with other sellers.

After all, they need a superconducting material with better performance to provide a stronger magnetic field to bind the plasma to achieve their goal and ensure that it will not be withdrawn by the parliament.

However, in fact, Xu Chuan has not been in contact with Alcatel for the time being.

Sure enough, hearing him say this, the middle-aged supervisor fell into deep thought.

After thinking for a while, he said: "The old ASDEX device is not something that cannot be sold and traded, but its value is very high, and it cost hundreds of millions when we built it, and if it is only to trade high-temperature superconducting materials, it will be a loss." ”

"In addition, Professor Xu's high-temperature superconducting materials are currently only in the laboratory and cannot be mass-produced, are you sure that he can provide a batch of superconducting materials that are sufficient to meet the spiral 7X transformation by June?"

Hearing this, Tillman Lent suddenly felt a trace of joy in his heart, and he knew that since he didn't directly refuse, it meant that there was something to talk about.

However, his face did not show it, but after thinking for a while, he spoke: "Indeed, even if the old ASDEX device is retired, it is still quite advanced. ”

"Well, I'll talk to Professor Xu again, and if he is interested, he needs to pay at least a sum of appropriate funds."

"As for the production volume, there is no need to worry about this. We can write it in the contract, if he can't provide the materials in June, he needs to pay a large amount of liquidated damages. ”

"Although there may be some controversy at that time, I believe that with the ability of the Max Planck Institute, it will not be difficult to get this liquidated damages."

"In addition, our new ASDEX device is also under construction, and if it can be negotiated, there may be a chance to replace it with more powerful superconducting materials."

The middle-aged supervisor thought for a moment and said, "If that's the case, you can contact it." But simply using superconducting materials and money to trade me or the Planck Plasma Institute is unacceptable. ”

"It's not possible to sell the ASDEX device cheaply, even though it's decommissioned, there is still a lot of advanced technology on it, and according to the rules of trading in the field of controlled nuclear fusion, technology exchange technology."

"If we trade, we need to upgrade the requirements, and we need to trade the technology of 'high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials'."

In fact, in the field of controlled nuclear fusion, the sale of controlled nuclear fusion reactors is not something that has never happened before, and it can even be said that it is quite frequent.

In particular, in the ITER project of international cooperation, the transaction of technology and technology, as well as technology and finance, is particularly frequent.

After all, controlled nuclear fusion has been carried out for decades, especially in Europe, where there is a lot of investment, and the long-term burden of such a super project is difficult to bear even for an economic power like Germania.

So it is normal to use the technology produced to make some exchanges with those countries that later develop controlled nuclear fusion technology, in exchange for scientific research funds and other technologies.

Controlled nuclear fusion is a project that no country can afford.

Hearing this, Tillman Lent frowned slightly and said, "I'm afraid it's going to be difficult." After all, in the field of tokamaks, Huaguo's capabilities are not weaker than ours. ”

"In this way, I will take someone to China, on the one hand, I can learn about high-temperature superconducting materials, and on the other hand, I can also meet and communicate."

The middle-aged supervisor thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "No problem, let's talk about it first, technology exchange technology is the unspoken rule of transactions in the field of controlled nuclear fusion, and I believe that Professor Xu should understand." ”

Not to mention the rest, he is still confident in the ability of the Max Planck Institute, which is the confidence of his trading of old ASDEX devices.

And Professor Xu's character is still guaranteed for now, at least there has never been any negative news.

If it weren't for the country's own internal bars, I'm afraid it would be difficult for them to trade high-temperature superconducting materials.

Of course, what the middle-aged supervisor didn't expect was that they had 'bad guys' within themselves.

Tillman Lunt, who has been in charge of the progress of controlled nuclear fusion reactor research, is the biggest bad guy.

Obviously, it was Xu Chuan's first proposal, but when it came to his mouth, it became that the Planck Plasma Institute needed high-temperature superconducting materials even more.

But overall, if the deal is right, the Planck Plasma Institute is not actually a loss.

Professor Tillman Lent is also wholeheartedly promoting the research and development of controlled nuclear fusion.

After all, the old ASDEX device has been decommissioned, and it can still do some experiments, but after a decade or twenty, the fate that awaits it is probably the museum.

What's more, their focus is actually on the stellarite spiralstone-7X, and it would be worth it if they could exchange the retired products for key materials to advance the progress of the stellarator.

Coming out of the conference room, Professor Tillman Lunt returned to his office and couldn't wait to send an email to Xu Chuan.

After receiving the email, Xu Chuan had a smile on his face.

Communication at the Planck Plasma Institute seems to have gone a lot smoother than he expected, and perhaps the old ASDEX unit may be able to be taken down.

It is not a problem to provide a batch of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials that are at least enough for the Spiral-7X upgrade in June, as well as to pay some money.

Qi Xia's controllable nuclear fusion project has just started, and he has not spent much money at present, and he has paid a part of the funds in advance to get the old ASDEX device in his hands first, and after making the results, he is eligible to ask for more funds from above.

He is well aware that in academia, at any given time, results are more convincing than anything.

If he can push the operation time of controlled nuclear fusion to half an hour or even more than an hour, then the state will surely fully support him.

Naturally, funding is not a problem.

As for technical trading techniques, this one still needs to be considered.

If there is a breakthrough in the optimization of high-temperature superconducting materials a few years ago, it will not be a loss to trade ASDEX devices with this old and defective superconducting technology.

After all, the technology of the deflector and water cooling equipment on the ASDEX device is still quite advanced. Even if it is not as good as that used on the Spiral Stone-7X, it is enough to surpass most equipment.

And for specific negotiations, when the initial communication is fruitful, let the other person be responsible, and he will be in control of the overall situation.

Now there is still about a month to go before the New Year, if he can, he wants to take advantage of the time that Academician Zhang Pingxiang is still there this year to promote the optimization of high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite superconducting materials.

It is not required to be optimized to the extent that it can be stretched casually like metal, but at least, the brittleness and toughness should be improved, so that it can be applied to some equipment where the environmental conditions are not so harsh.

If Academician Zhang Pingxiang leaves after the Chinese New Year, he will want to break through alone, and the difficulty will increase a lot.

PS: Two more will be resumed tomorrow! It's almost the end of the month, ask for a wave of monthly passes!

(End of chapter)