Chapter 517: Boiling plasma physics

It took about three days for the researchers at the STAR Institute to complete the collation of the experimental data.
At the same time, Lu Zhou, who was responsible for the aggregation of these data, also completed the writing of related papers, and finally submitted this paper, signed by more than 30 people, to the editorial department of the journal Science.
As soon as he had finished posting the manuscript, his cell phone rang.
Picking up the phone and glancing at it, when Academician Pan called, Lu Zhou pressed the connect button.
Almost as soon as the phone was connected, Lao Pan's smiley voice came from the other end of the phone.
"You guys can do it. You can hurt Lao Zhou's face this time. Just give him a headache right now, how to spit it out and swallow it back."
After hearing this, Lu Zhou leaned on the office chair and made a helpless expression.
Put your face over yourself, can this blame him?
But even if he said he was injured by mistake, probably nobody would believe it.
After a pause, Academician Pan changed his tone of earnestness and continued: "To be honest, I heard that you set the target of the second experiment at 30 minutes. I was surprised enough. Now I didn't expect me to I underestimated your ability, I'm afraid even the Germans themselves didn't expect that their WEGA unit could use waste to such an extent. "
Although the time has only doubled, the difficulty is not as simple as one plus one equals two.
It is no exaggeration to say that, with this achievement alone, their research in the field of controlled nuclear fusion has taken the world away by a large margin.
"What next? What are you going to do next?"
Hearing this question, Lu Zhou smiled slightly and stated his plan: "Next time, I plan to play for real."
Upon hearing this sentence, Academician Pan looked slightly moved, confirming in an unbelievable tone.
"Demonstration reactor?"
Lu Zhou, holding the phone, nodded.
"Yes."
I heard a positive reply from Lu Zhou. Academician Pan on the other side of the phone took a sigh of relief, and the shock in his heart could not be added.
In pronunciation, the experimental reactor and the demonstration reactor seem to sound similar, but they are two completely different things.
The former is only an experimental device that can meet the most basic experimental needs of plasma experiments, while the latter is a demonstration reaction device that requires a series of links from plasma confinement to fusion reaction to electrical energy output.
Not surprisingly, for a long period of time, this demonstration reactor will become a model project for a controlled nuclear fusion reactor in China and even the world.
It is no exaggeration to say that compared with the latter, the former can only be regarded as toys.
Although experiments on controlled fusion research have been going on for half a century, and various experimental reactors have emerged endlessly, neither the Princeton Institute of Plasma Physics or the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Institutes have completed a demonstration of controlled nuclear fusion. stack.
And plans for demonstration reactors will always stay on the timetables of major research institutes.
In an unsure tone, Academician Pan asked, "Will it be too early to build a demonstration reactor?"
Although the one-hour high-density plasma magnetic confinement experiment is worthy of celebration, no matter how you say it, you will start this demonstration reactor now, and your steps will be too big.
At least as far as what he has learned, there are still many key issues that remain unresolved.
After hearing the call, Lu Zhou was so confident that he was even a little worried now whether this guy was inflated.
For Academician Pan's inquiry, Lu Zhou just smiled slightly.
"It won't be too early, many things can be researched and done, and we don't have to wait until everything is ready to start construction. Not to mention that the most critical superconducting magnets and control schemes have been solved by us. The anti-irradiation material of the first wall I believe it is only a matter of time. As long as conditions permit, I have more than 80% confidence that I can build this demonstration. "
First think of a way to build the reactor's plasma operation orbit, external field coils, water-cooled divertors and other capable devices, such as the cladding material of the first wall, which cannot be technically solved for a while. Make it later and install it.
However, the specifications of the demonstration reactor and the experimental reactor are completely different, and the cost of the two is not on the same order of magnitude.
And he spent almost all the funds.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhou's eyes could not help but drift to the pen at the corner of the table.
It seems that I have to write another letter.
For others, it is not easy to submit to world-class top journals such as Nature and Science, but it is not so difficult for Lu Zhou.
Even if he doesn't consider the Nobel Prize halo and good academic reputation that he brought with him, and his past cooperation with the editorial department of Science, the weight behind the word controlled fusion alone is enough to edit the science The ministry took it seriously.
There was nothing wrong with the data itself, without waiting too long, the paper quickly passed the review and was successfully published in the latest issue of Science.
With the publication of that paper, when people learned about the miracle that happened on the STAR device, almost the entire plasma physics community was boiling for it.
What is an hour?
Just a year ago, research on Tokamak projects in various countries was still struggling to make breakthroughs in seconds.
However, with the publication of this paper, the research results of research institutes in various countries have been directly separated.
Although the pulsed ignition power generation method can be used to avoid such a long restraint time, the shock brought by this one hour has shocked all scholars who are concerned about this device.
In addition to the academic world, the success of the STAR installation has also attracted widespread attention from the general public, and it has also led to heated discussions on the Internet.
Some people praised this as a big step towards the future.
There are also concerns that humans have gone further and further down the road to death.
Some people are indifferent, after all, the news of controlled fusion is not the first time it has been seen. Someone said 20 years ago that controllable fusion power generation could be achieved at the latest 20 years, but until now no one has fulfilled his original promise.
However, for this major scientific breakthrough, CTV has stood on a political level and paid the greatest attention.
In the latest issue of the news webcast, CCTV spent a special time on a comprehensive report on the matter.
"A few days ago, Hualing Jinling STAR Stellarator Research Institute published a paper in" Science ", revealing details of their latest controllable fusion experiment."
"In the experiment, a research team led by China's well-known scholar and Nobel Prize winner Professor Lu Zhou successfully completed one hour of plasma confinement time."
"According to industry commentary, the breakthrough of this technology is expected to open a new chapter for the study of controlled nuclear fusion ..."
In the news, the central media quoted a foreign media interview as usual.
Sitting in front of the camera was a 1976 Nobel laureate, a consultant to Three Alpha Corporation, and a professor at Stanford University, Burton Richter. When asked by a CBS reporter about his views on the STAR installation ~ EbookFREE.me ~ He used the word incredible three times in a row, expressing the shock in his heart.
"... When my colleague told me that someone had made the magnetic confinement time of plasma more than an hour, my first reaction was that it was a funny joke. Until he found it in the latest issue of Science Took that paper and put it in front of me. "
"Even now, my heart is still full of surprises. Especially when I learned that this device was modified based on the WEGA device, the shock in my heart was even more addictive."
"WEGA is absolutely impossible to achieve this level, not even the upgraded Spiral 7X."
"I think that in the research of controlled nuclear fusion, China has taken the lead in the world. If the most critical problems of superconducting materials and plasma control schemes have been effectively solved, they only need to solve the plasma radiation. According to the damage effect on the first wall material, it may not take too long to complete the fusion reactor in the true sense. After all, converting thermal energy into electrical energy is not a difficult task in itself. "
With that said, Professor Burton Richter's expression was a bit complicated.
"We have led the field in controllable fusion for half a century, but we are likely to lose in the last few seconds. I'm not kidding, the Department of Energy should take it seriously ..."
Regardless of whether the U.S. Department of Energy attaches great importance to it, the achievements made by the STAR device have already attracted the attention of senior officials in China.
At the same time, when the paper published in Science successfully pushed the word controlled fusion to the cusp of global media attention, a letter written by Lu Zhou himself appeared to the elders. Home office desk.
It is also this letter that has affected countless people's sensitive nerves ...