Chapter 1396 "What the hell is Luzhou Institute of Material Science?"

The operation of a tokamak device is naturally not as simple as setting the parameters and pressing a button.

Although high-energy plasma can only maintain stability for less than ten minutes, both the preparation work before startup and the heating process after startup are quite complicated and lengthy.

We must also take into account the traditional efficiency of the French.

Therefore, it took two months for ToreSupra to complete all the testing projects.

Fortunately, ITER is already a registered international organization, and each member country has established permanent institutions and personnel here, which are sufficient to sustain a long-term stay of a delegation of more than a dozen people.

Otherwise, the various administrative procedures involved in a two-month extension would be enough to make people feel exhausted.

"Academician Hull, we have compiled the operation logs of the ToreSupra device for the past two months."

Sergio Orlandi walked straight into Robert Hull's office without knocking.

Then he placed two documents, one thin and one thick, in front of the other person:

"The thick one is the complete version for our own use, including all the data from the three rounds of nine tests, as well as a mathematical comparison with the predicted results from China... The thin one is the simplified version, which has deleted the entire second half and some sensitive parameters, for reference by delegations from various countries."

In fact, until this moment, the former still felt a little dazed.

Originally, he thought that ITER, which he was in charge of, and the Institute of Magnetic Confinement Fusion, which was in charge of the other party, would have differences in the choice of partners for the ToreSupra upgrade.

Even if we don't fight for three hundred rounds, we will definitely quarrel for a while.

As a result, when almost everyone was completely unprepared, Hull's tone suddenly changed 180 degrees, and he stated righteously that the choice should be made based on the actual research level demonstrated by various countries, rather than simply relying on past experience.

If outsiders saw that decisive attitude, they would probably think that Robert Hull, who had previously insisted on cooperating with Japan, was another person with the same name.

Of course, Orlandi soon found out the whole story, but by this time the other party had made a brilliant turn and established an image of a rational person for himself.

If he continued to dwell on it, it would seem that he was ignoring the overall situation.

Although Hull has been spending three to four days a week at the Karadashe Research Center recently, he can be said to be the person who knows the test results best besides Orlandi.

But this matter was of great importance after all, so he read it carefully and finally stopped at the page with the conclusion.

"The maximum error does not exceed 2.5%, and the data fitting degree is greater than 0.98..."

Hull stared at the two most critical numbers for a long time, then sighed:

"It's crazy..."

After a while, he suddenly raised his head:

"Professor, are you sure there is no channel for ITER to leak the operating parameters of ToreSupra?"

This was a very serious accusation, and Orlandi's expression changed immediately.

Just as he was about to scold the other party for going too far, he saw Hull shaking his head first:

"Sorry, I'm not doubting anything, I'm just thinking too much..."

Not to mention that most of ToreSupra's information is public, even if the other party really got a few hidden parts, it would not affect the accuracy and foresight of this theoretical model.

Otherwise, the data in the hands of the French should be the most complete, so why didn’t they make any predictions before?

Because of this little episode, the atmosphere in the office was a little awkward for a while.

In the end, it was Hull who felt a little offended and broke the silence first.

"But...isn't this simplified version still a little too complicated?"

He frowned in some worry:

"What I mean is that the specific decision on upgrading the research facilities still needs to be reported to Paris for decision making, and most people there don't understand technology..."

Orlandi just shrugged:

"I have made special notes after some of the chapter names in the complete version of the document. If you take these contents out separately, you can directly use them as application documents."

Hull turned the page and saw two asterisks after the conclusion. He nodded with satisfaction:

"I plan to report it to the Atomic Energy Commission next Monday... no, tomorrow, and have Chairman François Picasso sign it!"

Hearing this, Orlandi couldn't help but roll his eyes and secretly greeted the other person's whole family in his heart.

However, he still said seriously:

"We have already prepared and submitted all the materials for our cooperation with Tokyo. Now they suddenly want to change it... Will there be any obstacles?"

The Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research Institute is a direct subordinate of the Atomic Energy Commission. If it were to be reported in this way, then at least most of the credit would belong to Hull, if not all of it.

Only by taking a long-term view will he have the opportunity to use ITER's influence to turn the situation around to a certain extent.

But Hull was also very clear about this:

"Don't worry. Chairman Biga himself actually didn't agree with the previous decision to cooperate with Japan. Seeing the current situation, I'm afraid he is too happy to be happy..."

At this point, Orlandi really had no reason to continue obstructing.

Besides, the upgrade of ToreSupra will always be beneficial to the advancement of the ITER project, so in this round of game, it is just a matter of who wins big and who wins small between him and Hull, and there is no need to really tear each other apart.

The real losers are still being kept in the dark...

……

When Hull walked into the chairman's office of the Atomic Energy Commission with documents, Biga was standing in front of the window, admiring the morning view while rapidly turning the crank on the grinder to prepare coffee.

As the latter, he could certainly hire someone to take care of daily chores, but grinding coffee beans was his hobby and he rarely let others do it for him.

"Sir, here is our final report on the ToreSupra upgrade..."

Hull had just put the documents on the table and was interrupted by the other party before he had time to explain the situation:

"It just so happens that I was about to tell you about this..."

Picasso poured the coffee powder into the drip funnel, then dusted off his hands and smiled in a formulaic way:

"I've thought about it carefully during this period... I feel that although we had some conflicts with the Japanese during the ITER site selection process, I have read the materials you reported before. The Tokyo Institute of Quantum Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo are indeed outstanding in the field of theoretical research on fusion. Although it may not sound good to cooperate with them, we can indeed gain a lot of practical benefits..."

Picasso was a person who was "generally recognized as easy to guide", so it was not surprising that he was persuaded.

However, the reversal of attitude at this critical juncture made Hull feel a little amused and helpless.

But he also knew that he couldn't blame anyone else, so he could only continue to speak in the way he had thought of before:

"Actually... I came here this time to tell you that the proposed partner of the Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research Institute has changed. This is very important for the upgrade and transformation of ToreSupra, and even for the entire controlled fusion research project... Although this report has been delayed by about two months, the overall construction period may be advanced..."

Faced with the situation, Biga felt a little nervous, but his facial expression did not change.

As one of the French members who participated in the ITER site selection negotiations, he was not very willing to deal with the Japanese. He had only convinced himself out of rational principles.

Now I hear that the partner has been changed, I am so happy:

"Oh... So the Americans are letting it go?"

He returned to his seat with his coffee cup, trying to look like an expert:

"I have long heard that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the world's best in terms of comprehensive plasma control and electromagnetic field research."

"In fact, throughout the ITER preparation phase in the 90s, the United States was our top priority, but there were many twists and turns due to a series of disagreements at the end of the last century... In short, if they change their minds, they are indeed a better choice than the Japanese."

A drop of cold sweat finally appeared on Hull's forehead.

As a completely layman administrative official, Picasso was able to learn so much in just a few months. It was obvious that he had done a lot of homework.

In the past, technical staff might have appreciated such a leader.

But now, Heer would rather the other party is just a ruthless signing machine...

“Not an American either…”

This time, Picasso's expression finally froze.

But in order to save face, he immediately restored his smile:

"Ah... the Russians' research progress has basically stagnated in recent years, but they are the first country to propose the tokamak concept. Academician Kovalchuk, the head of the Kurchatov Institute, is very familiar to me. He is a somewhat old-fashioned but reliable old man. It's not bad to cooperate with them. At most, the progress may be a little slower, and we have to pay special attention to the supply of alcoholic beverages..."

Hearing this, Hull pointed helplessly at the folder on the table:

"Forget it...it's not long anyway, just read it slowly."

Picasso was a little confused by his appearance, but he still opened the document as he was told and quickly skipped over the formulaic content such as "cooperative spirit" and "common vision" in the front.

Finally, on the third to last page, he saw the name of the organization signed by Party B——

"what?"

"What the hell is Luzhou Institute of Material Science?"