Chapter 954 - Nuclear Fusion Power Station
Chapter 954: Nuclear Fusion Power Station
Translator:_Min_
Editor:Rainystars
The Lunar Colony Ground Command enter was bustling.
Today was a historic day. The nuclear fusion generator placed on the surface of the Moon would officially be powered on. It not only meant that the shortage of electricity in the Lunar Colony would no longer be a problem, it also signaled that the excess power could be sent to Celestial City through long-distance power transmission and then to Earth.
"Ready?"
"Of course."
"Let's get started." Jiang Chen nodded and gestured to Kelvin that he could start.
The entire command center was like clockwork. Everyone all put ten times and twenty times their usual effort and fought in their positions. The parameters on the big screen in the center were flashing, and the nuclear fusion generator a few hundred thousand kilometers away was monitored here.
"The magnetic confinement device has been activated and helium-3 fuel has been loaded into the reaction chamber!"
"The magnetic confinement device is operating normally."
"The super fluid thermal cycler is activated... operation is stable."
"Deuterium fuel is loaded!"
"..."
"Ignition!"
All the lights turned green, and Kevlin immediately pressed the red button. In the holographic screen, the progress bars were instantaneously filled, and the power output instantly reached an astounding 5,000MW. In the spherical reaction chamber dozens of kilometers away, the magnetic confinement device already turned into a blinding ball of light, and its internal reaction temperature reached an extraordinary ten million degrees!
It was no exaggeration to say it was a small Sun.
If the violently reacting atoms broke through the magnetic confinement, its power would be no less than the detonation of a million TNT-equivalent hydrogen bombs. If it were placed on the Earth, it would be enough to erase a metropolitan from the map.
However, everyone had full confidence in the device.
As early as the completion of Penglai City, Celestial Trade already secretly put the nuclear fusion generator into operation. It was also not their first time initializing a nuclear fusion generator set, the difference was that the nuclear fusion generator was manufactured by Future Heavy Industries and located hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
5,000MW was far from the limit of this nuclear fusion generator set. As the fuel tank continued to be filled, the output power of the electric energy climbed higher. The reaction temperature also exceeded 15 million degrees, and after a slight fall, it stabilized at 14 million degrees.
Kevlin sighed in relief and a smile finally landed on his face. He picked up the intercom on his shoulder and announced to everyone.
"No. 01 nuclear fusion generator is successfully in operation!"
There was a burst of cheers in the command center, and the staff members walked down from their positions, cheering and celebrating.
Jiang Chen was also delighted.
Unlike most nuclear power plants, Celestial Trade abandoned the inefficient steam turbine power generation design after absorbing the apocyalpse's technology. Now, they used a more advanced thermal ion reactor.
To put it simply, the cathode and anode poles were connected by wires, the cathode was heated to release the electron beam, and the anode absorbed electrons to form a circulating circuit. However, the whole set of equipment was certainly not as simple as its description. Just like a simple nuclear power station generated electricity by boiling water, the technical expertise involved was far more than just boiling water.
How to solve the power generation limitation, how to recycle the heat absorbed by the anode and use for power generation... These were the problems that needed to be solved by the modern world. If the world didn't go on a tangent, then in another thirty to fifty years, controlled nuclear fusion technology would also be born here, and most would still be using steam turbines to generate electricity. Just because neutrons could easily be absorbed by light materials, a second-loop heat exchanger could be eliminated compared to nuclear fission.
At the same time, the same cheers also happened on the Lunar Colony hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
A steady stream of electricity was transferred from the nuclear fusion generator to various parts of the colony, replacing solar generators that had to rest for two weeks after four weeks. The reaction temperature reached its limit and the fusion reaction could continue as long as the supply of fuel in the reaction chamber was maintained.
Although the tens of millions of degrees of high temperature was startling, this generator was far safer than the generator set of any nuclear power plant in the world. The thermonuclear reaction between helium-3 and deunterium only generated protons without radioactivity, so the use of helium-3 as an energy source didn't produce radiation, and even if an accident occured, the cost of rescue would be low.
In the worst case, due to the lack of oxygen on the Moon, and even if the reactor experienced a catstrohpic explosion, there would be no shock wave. The killing effect of nuclear weapons in a vacuum environment is extremely limited, far less intimidating than its TNT-equivalency.
"Congratulations." Jiang Chen smiled and shook Kelvin's hand. "Excellent execution."
"Thanks to for your confidence." Kelvin accepted the praise humbly.
After a pause, Jiang Chen continued.
"I intend to reorganize some of the business units of Celestial Trade."
Kevlin looked at Jiang Chen, puzzled. He didn't understand why he was telling him this. The Space Launch Center he managed was only a part of Celestial Trade and although it almost had no budget constraints, it was still owned by Celestial Trade.
Jiang Chen did not explain, but went on.
"The restructuring is mainly in the aerospace business. The rankings of the Space Launch Center will be cancelled and replaced by the newly established space department. The department is responsible for the Colonization Program and all projects in the group that involve the development of outer space resources."
"And I hope that you can serve the manager of the space department,"
Kelvin took a moment to digest his word before he was overwhelmed by joy.
"Thank you for your trust, I will not let you down!"
Jiang Chen smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"I believe you won't let me down."
...
In mid-February, Celestial Trade spent 2 billion XND to acquire Pannu Power Company, which supplied power to all of Pannu Islands, and changed its name to Global Power Company, integrating its power generation companies and power grid units in Xin.
At the same time, the engineering ship of Celestial Trade once again sailed to the equator and started construction under the base station of the space elevator. It was ambitiously preparing to build a submarine cable extending from the equator line to Ange Island and merge it into the national grid of Xin.
Everything was paving the way for long-distance power transmission for the lunar nuclear power plant.
Jiang Chen apparently was not satisfied with just the domestic electricity market. At the same time as the construction of the submarine cable, he engaged in negotiations with the governments of Moro and Country F to open up their own electricity market.
With almost no hurdles, Jiang Chen easily convinced these two countries. Both Country F and Moro had agreed to cooperate with Xin to build transnational submarine cables and integrate them into the national grid. The electricity cost of Country F was the highest in the world, and was the definition of the poor getting poorer. Of course, they couldn't refuse Celestial Trade that could lower their electricity bill.
What's more, they didn't have the confidence to reject. The force of Celestial Trade had yet to complete its withdraw from City M.
As for Moro, Santos simply recognized himself as a younger brother, why would he refuse the request of the sovereign state? What's more, the recent rise in oil prices meant that the oil import nation was facing an imminent energy crisis, how could he reject his savior Jiang Chen?
After wooing Country F and Moro, Jiang Chen then began discussions with Malayasia...