Chapter 1139
Hibernation! Four Power Stations Built in One Year
"By then."
Su Dingping's voice returned to calm, carrying a resolute and confident air of looking down on the hustle and bustle of the world.
"We don't need to bang on the table and debate any physical laws!"
That endless storm of doubt will naturally dissipate like mist meeting the blazing sun! Those who will be humiliated, nailed to the pillar of scientific fraud, and become the laughingstock of the planet—will be the self-righteous, narrow-minded…themselves!
What we need to do now.
His gaze swept over every face that had fallen completely silent, yet whose hearts were surging with intense emotions.
"It's not about arguing, it's about development! It's about focusing intently! It's about letting the power of fusion fire silently overturn the energy laws of this land!"
This is not cowardice, it is enduring hardship and biding one's time! It is the dormancy before a dragon takes flight!
In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, Professor Li Kaimin silently stood up, walked to Su Dingping's side, raised his wrinkled and calloused hand, and placed it heavily and silently on Su Dingping's shoulder.
That strength carried a thousand words and unreserved support.
Grandpa Hong Changlong also fell silent. The raging anger in his chest was extinguished by this extremely calm strategy, turning into a deeper and more resilient strength. He looked around at the young researchers with his eyes that had weathered countless storms, his voice low but full of power.
"Did you all hear that? When a dragon roams the wild, there will surely be wind and clouds, but we're going to fly to the heavens! Not go and argue with those stupid bears digging holes in the ice fields!"
He suddenly waved his hand.
"Get to work! Do what you're supposed to do! Make Longxing burn even hotter! And even more steadily!"
All doubts and clamor were shut out. The doors of the Dragon Heart Laboratory slammed shut once more, isolating it from the outside world's storms and tempests.
The international media fire ignited by Academician Ivan was like a ghost that had lost its target, burning futilely against the silent, massive iron wall of Longxia.
This unusual silence sent a chill down the spines of some astute hunters at the heart of the political vortex, but many more took it as a sign of "guilty admission" amidst schadenfreude and certainty.
At this moment, a top-secret core location thousands of miles away from the Dragon Heart Base.
An urgent report, internally codenamed "Candle Dragon," was turned to its last page on the desk. The first page of the document contained only a single, stark title.
Feasibility Study and Site Selection Plan for the "Tenglong-1" Large-Scale Controlled Nuclear Fusion Industrial-Grade Demonstration Power Plant Project. (Author's signature included.)
Su Dingping.
The report's core data section.
The estimated annual net power generation of a single "Tenglong No. 1" power station is 175 billion kilowatt-hours!
Energy conversion efficiency: 49%!
Equivalent Comparison: One "Tenglong" hydroelectric power station is approximately one-third the annual power generation of a large-scale operating hydroelectric power station, and approximately equal to the combined annual power generation of three and a half large-scale coal-fired power stations!
>Planning Extension. Based on the long-term energy demand model simulation of the entire Longxia region—only the successful construction and grid connection of thirty to forty "Tenglong"-class nuclear fusion power plants would be sufficient to completely achieve national energy structure security, independence, and zero carbonization! This would fundamentally eliminate the high strategic dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear fission power plants!
This blueprint, which carries the heart of the dragon, received an unprecedentedly unanimous and solemn affirmation from all participants—with just one word.
"allow"!
The lights in the core design room of the Longxin Experimental Base burn all night long.
The overall outline of "Tenglong-1" has been drawn on the huge electronic screen.
It is no longer the precise spherical stellarator "Ryusei," but a regular cylindrical structure endowed with an industrial and practical soul.
It is like a giant steel dragon lying dormant deep in the earth, waiting to awaken! Its main structure is as huge as a mountain, with a diameter of nearly 500 meters and a height of over 100 meters! The whole body is made of multiple layers of super composite materials nested and reinforced.
The core fusion cavity is still the "Dragon Star" heart, but it is encased in a smaller and more sophisticated network of heat exchange pipes and a humming magnetohydrodynamic power generation array unit room.
The entire surface of the earth is surrounded by a massive cluster of cooling towers, a superconducting substation, a control hub building, and a dense network of deep-buried ultra-high-voltage transmission lines, much like stars surrounding the sun.
Su Dingping stood in front of the electronic screen, his face sharply defined by the screen's dim blue light.
Two miniature fusion fireballs seemed to dance deep within his pupils, burning with the molten lava of turning the blueprint into reality. Standing beside him were the core project leader and key technical personnel, their eyes equally bloodshot but their spirits extremely high.
"...The foundation uses our newly developed polymer cementitious agent combined with deep drilling and anchoring technology to ensure the bearing strength of the absolutely stable layer of rock strata at a depth of 300 meters."
A bearded engineer points to the 3D model at the bottom of the screen.
"The magnetic field layout of the generator set and the waste heat recovery pipeline network must strictly follow the optimal magnetic field compatibility model of the dragon scale oxide film..."
A female materials scientist was clicking rapidly on another split screen.
"The core chipset of the control system is still a weak point."
The chief engineer in charge of the automation module frowned.
"We must follow our own path of independent research and development, and absolutely cannot introduce any external technological risks!"
……
Each node presents countless technical challenges that need immediate resolution. There are no shortcuts; only sheer strength can overcome them!
Su Dingping moved like a precise machine, his brain working at high speed, his fingers tapping and clicking on the virtual keyboard with a dense, rain-like sound.
While incorporating suggestions and data feedback from the heads of various modules, he rapidly transformed his ideas into a visual structure and a clear logical chain on the massive integrated design platform.
Sparks of thought collided and merged invisibly in the air, eventually coalescing into the skeleton and veins of the increasingly clear and magnificent industrial dragon on the screen.
"The redundant pump system for the core cooling circuit should be further optimized and designed to the highest wartime standards, with a redundancy of 200%!"
"The external protective casing adopts a three-layer composite wave-absorbing and physical shock-absorbing structure! The design equivalent resistance reference index... is here!"
"All main cable interfaces must be pre-installed in underground conduits! There must be no exposed surfaces! Safety! Safety is the top priority!"
His instructions were clear, decisive, and demanding, almost to the point of being inhumane.
"Timeframe?"
The chief structural engineer wiped his dark circles and couldn't help but ask the most crucial question.
Everyone held their breath. Building a mega-fusion power plant, comparable in size to a small city, would take at least a decade internationally!
Su Dingping finally looked away from the screen and onto the huge preliminary exploration and site selection map—a vast basin in the southwest of Longxia, surrounded by a huge mountain range, with extremely stable geology and abundant deep river flow.
"A year and a half!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it was like an invisible steel needle that instantly pierced through all the expected constraints.
"A year and a half?!"
this……"
The bearded engineer instinctively exclaimed in surprise.
"The blueprints have been implemented."
Su Dingping interrupted him, his eyes sharp as knives, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Three days later, the Tenglong No. 1 project team will move into the site selection site. The preliminary work of connecting the three connections and foundation excavation will start simultaneously. The site selection and construction of the main structural material forging and preforming base will begin tomorrow."
He surveyed each team member, their expressions a mixture of astonishment, excitement, and disbelief, yet all ignited by the unwavering determination in his gaze. "We don't have ten years. The window of opportunity left for Longxia to shed its heavy energy shackles and truly become a giant wielding the lifeblood of its own civilization is only a year and a half."
He pointed to the steel fusion body on the screen in front of him, which was already taking shape, silent as a mountain, and contained infinite light and heat.
"A year and a half from now, I will personally light the first ever-burning sun that belongs to Longxia on this land!"
"Let the raging blizzards sweeping across the Russian ice plains turn into laughable steam before that radiant light!"
"We will make everyone who mocked us and waited to see us fail..."
His voice suddenly grew louder, as if striking the drum of destiny.
"Remember this day! Remember their contempt now! Wait for the day the dragon roars..."
"That is us, the thunder born of silence! The only way to respond to all doubts!"
Su Dingping suddenly waved his hand, and the virtual pen tip slammed heavily onto the steel behemoth center on the screen that was about to change the world's energy landscape!
"Let's get to work!"
Grandpa Hong Changlong's roar made the control room and surrounding area buzz, and the last bit of fear in everyone's hearts was completely burned to ashes by that roar.
Su Dingping's gaze swept across the team members, who were completely ignited by his words, breathing heavily, with bloodshot eyes like beasts poised to pounce, like searchlights, and then turned directly to the key personnel in charge of production scheduling.
At what temperature was the forging furnace at the Southwest Base No. 7 preheated to forge the main structural alloy substrate of "Tenglong No. 1"?
"Mr. Su! According to your optimized parameters, it has reached 1580℃, with superconducting magnetic field stirring throughout the process! It can be fed into the machine at any time!"
A middle-aged engineer, his face still covered in grease, immediately straightened up and shouted in response.
"not enough!"
Su Dingping pointed to a point in the southwest region on the master control diagram.
"The load-bearing capacity of the keel beam is 37 percent heavier than the previous design! Tell Director Han to raise the temperature to 1690℃, and bring the peak magnetic field strength to the critical level! If it's even one degree less, I'll personally throw his energy-saving model worker plaque into the crucible and smelt it!"
"understand!"
Without saying a word, the engineer turned around and roared into the encrypted communicator.
"Anvil base! Master Han! Pressure increased! 1690 degrees! Magnetic field squeeze to the limit! Engineer Su has spoken!"
After yelling, he turned around and added a sentence with shining eyes.
"Engineer Su, the old man said that if the temperature isn't high enough, he'll jump in himself to be the carbon source!"
Su Dingping's cold, hard facial features tightened even more. He nodded, his gaze flashing to the next point.
"Deep anchor cables! Have the data from exploration tunnel No. 3 in the site selection area come out yet? Core structure simulation diagram!"
A dense stream of data instantly loads onto the virtual screen.
"Report to Engineer Su, the seventh drilling team has just broken through the Tertiary basalt overburden! Below is an even harder granite foundation, more stable than the optimal scenario was anticipated! It perfectly meets the design requirements! The iron claw pre-embedded scheme... is feasible!"
The young researcher in charge of geology was trembling; this was a huge positive development!
"feasible?"
Su Dingping's voice was low and deep.
"Shift the drilling angle of the iron claw 0.5 degrees southward! The pressure direction map of the underground river's diversion was only updated last month, and we must reserve angular space to counteract the hydraulic impact stress! Design department, complete the deflection model within three minutes!"
An undeniable pressure instantly descended.
"Yes!"
The design team members were practically tearing their hair out as they frantically started modeling and calculating in front of the screen.
Hong Changlong watched from the side, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Good lad! You're ruthless! I was just thinking about drilling deeper, but you even factored in the impact of the water flow a thousand years from now!"
Li Kaimin adjusted his reading glasses and carefully watched the overall industrial layout map of "Tenglong No. 1" on the main control screen, which was constantly being updated with new data and adjusted plans. The huge and precise structure, like a living neural network, extended and solidified before his eyes.
An unprecedented sense of excitement and pride welled up inside me.
"A century-old foundation... This is truly laying the foundation for the Longxia dynasty for a hundred years... no, for thousands of generations!"
He muttered to himself, his aged voice trembling uncontrollably.
Just then, the internal encrypted communicator on Su Dingping's wrist suddenly vibrated. Three short, distinct vibrations of high-frequency wavelengths indicated communication at the highest level.
"Commander Xue".
Su Dingping pressed the answer button, his voice calm and normal.
Everyone instinctively held their breath and focused their attention on them.
After a moment of silence, Xue Mingyuan's familiar and steady voice came through clearly.
"Project Zhulong has been approved!"
Even with everyone mentally prepared, the words "approved" still sent shivers down everyone's spines! But what Xue Shuai said next was far more shocking than the approval itself!
"The Supreme Council unanimously decided—forty! Construction will begin simultaneously!"
hum-
Everyone inside and outside the control room felt as if their brains had been struck hard by an invisible hammer! Forty seats?! Simultaneously?! The engineers who had just been gritting their teeth and swallowing their frustration over the sheer scale of the "Tenglong-1" project were now utterly astonished!
"Forty...forty seats?"
Even Grandpa Hong Changlong stammered for the first time, subconsciously looking at Su Dingping's face, trying to find even a trace of surprise or hesitation.
Su Dingping's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he spoke in a deep voice into the communicator.
"Commander Xue, this mission is incredibly important. The core component of the stellarator is its heart; just one heart is enough to make us fight with all our might..."
"Your heart's blueprint is the ultimate pass!"
Xue Shuai cut him off decisively, his tone filled with unquestionable trust and a majestic, mountain-like spirit.
"The top leadership's exact words—the blueprint submitted by Su Dingping is the order! No pilot projects are needed, no so-called verification operations! What Long Xia wants is a definitive decision!"
His voice softened, carrying an invisible pressure.
"You're given a one-and-a-half-year window! Forty reactor cores, the core control hub, and all supporting integrated systems... must be manufactured, delivered, and installed within a year and a half! Those infrastructure behemoths outside can erect the shell for you in two years; if your core can't keep up... Long Xia can't afford to lose face!" (End of Chapter)