Chapter 1676 Foundation and Blueprint

At the same time, Chang Haonan was actually in a meeting.

Even in the building of the Industrial and Construction Committee.

It was just in his general counsel's office.

However, the topic of the meeting had nothing to do with Helion Energy.

In fact, ever since the report on building a nuclear fusion demonstration reactor was submitted, he has not had much free time. Instead, he has been shuttling between Beijing and Luzhou, participating in various project preparations or academic seminars, and has no time to pay attention to a business startup company on the other side of the ocean.

Chang Haonan actually already has a rough idea of how to build a fusion reactor.

But if he wants to make such a huge project that is almost started from scratch actually come to fruition, he certainly cannot do it alone.

What's more, according to the current calls and the direction of the decision-makers, Chang Haonan can basically be confirmed to serve as the overall person in charge of the entire fusion demonstration project.

Building a power plant is a more complicated task than simply building a reactor.

It is necessary to coordinate the progress of both earthwork and nuclear power projects at the same time to achieve the most rational allocation of resources.

This is what Chang Haonan is doing at this moment.

"Mr. Chang, Mr. Peng, based on the initial site selection and feedback from the preliminary survey, our group's Northern Construction Company has organized a team of capable personnel to begin detailed geological mapping and engineering exploration within the candidate area in western Liaoning."

The person making the report is Hu Changgui, the chief engineer of China Civil Engineering Group.

On a screen not far away, the topographic map, geological structure profile and preliminary exploration point distribution of a certain area in western Liaoning are displayed.

Hills, valleys and several relatively flat plateaus are also marked on it.

"Based on the current situation," Hu Changgui pointed to several areas on the screen, "the geological conditions in the target area are generally stable, and the bedrock depth and bearing capacity meet the requirements for large-scale plant construction. This is a positive sign."

He then shifted the conversation, pointing to the transportation network at the edge of the map. "But the challenge is that the existing local transportation infrastructure is relatively weak. The main roads are of low grade, have limited capacity, and are quite far from the nearest railway freight hub."

He pulled up another map showing simulated transport routes from the nearest arterial highways and rail yards to the candidate plant sites.

"Considering that the construction of the demonstration reactor and its subsequent operation and maintenance will require the transportation of a large number of overweight and oversized prefabricated components, heavy equipment, special materials, and a vast amount of conventional building materials... our initial plan is to build a secondary highway connecting to the main road and a dedicated branch railway directly to the core construction area of the plant before the main construction of the demonstration reactor officially begins."

Chang Haonan's eyes moved between the blueprints and Hu Changgui's analysis. After hearing Hu Changgui's plan, he finally said, "Don't worry too much about the workload."

"The decision-makers' attitude towards this demonstration reactor project is very clear: we will spare no expense and fully guarantee its completion... The road and railway support you mentioned is non-power infrastructure construction, and its budget is not included in the 750 billion yuan dedicated to the demonstration reactor. The Construction Commission will also coordinate and implement this when the time comes. Furthermore, the local government of Liaoning Province is very enthusiastic about introducing such a major national project, and the Commission will send personnel to communicate with them to see if they can share some of the supporting funds."

Hu Changgui's tense body relaxed almost imperceptibly for a moment.

As one of the leaders of the Geotechnical Group, he is well aware of the particularity of this project.

The core device of the demonstration reactor, which has the most advanced technology and the most transparent profits, undoubtedly belongs to the Nuclear Industry Construction Group.

The budget for the construction of the conventional island of the power plant itself is also extremely tight.

Only these early supporting earthwork, road and bridge projects have profit margins that conform to market laws.

However, Chang Haonan's eyes did not leave Hu Changgui.

He had already noticed the latter's reaction just now.

"Mr. Hu, I understand that companies need a reasonable profit margin to maintain operations and development. This is the law of the market."

He knocked on the table and began to put pressure on Hu Changgui:

"But this project holds the fate of the nation at stake, and represents the hopes condensed by the hard work of countless scientific and technological workers. Its significance far exceeds that of ordinary commercial projects... Mr. Hu is a veteran civil engineer and should know more about it than I do."

He paused for a moment, letting the weight of his words sink in:

"Therefore, profits can only be within a reasonable range. In the demonstration reactor project, whether it's roads, railways, or even every brick or tile, they must withstand the most rigorous inspections and no problems can occur."

Hu Changgui's heart trembled, and the solemnity on his face instantly turned into awe. He immediately stated: "Don't worry, Mr. Chang! The Geotechnical Group is aware and disciplined! They will never make any mistakes in such a major event, damage their reputation, and cause trouble for the country!"

His tone was so firm that there was even a little sweat on his forehead.

"Okay, I believe in the professionalism of the Geotechnical Group and the responsibility of the national team."

Chang Haonan saw that the reminder had worked, and his tone softened:

"Another important point. Before the Liaoxi site selection plan is finalized, all preliminary planning and design drafts you have made must first be communicated to the Northern Military Region and obtain their written approval."

Hu Changgui was visibly stunned: "Northern War Zone?"

He never expected that something like this would happen.

"Well, the demonstration reactor and its surrounding areas will be designated as a top-level strategic facility," Chang Haonan explained. "So the Northern Military Region will establish a dedicated air defense and anti-missile brigade directly under it, responsible for aerospace defense. At the same time, a PAP detachment will be stationed there to provide permanent ground security."

"Supporting infrastructure, from road alignment, bridge load-bearing capacity, tunnel structure, to substation location and communication pipeline layout, all involves the requirements of combining peacetime and wartime capabilities, and ensuring dual-use for both military and civilian use... Logically speaking, the air defense forces and the PAP don't have particularly oversized equipment, so they can pass wherever engineering machinery can, but it never hurts to ask."

After the military reform, each war zone also obtained the command authority over the PAP units within its jurisdiction in legal form.

Therefore, the security and protection of the entire demonstration reactor project was also shouldered by the Northern Theater Command.

The mission of the Geotechnical Group is not just to build roads and houses, but to lay the foundation for a comprehensive base with strategic defense capabilities.

However, this is not good news for Hu Changgui.

Military-civilian cooperation has always been a difficult problem for both sides, the kind that no one wants to touch.

But at this time, you have to go even if you don’t want to.

"Understood, Mr. Chang!" Hu Wengui replied, "We will ensure that the planning and design meet dual-use standards, and subsequent construction will strictly adhere to this!"

"Yeah." Chang Haonan nodded and turned his gaze to Peng Juexian, "What about Academician Peng?"

"The Plasma Research Institute has gathered all tritium process experts and is working hard to tackle the engineering scale-up verification of tritium recovery and extraction technology. This is one of the core links in the demonstration reactor fuel cycle. The small-scale test device is currently operating stably and is being advanced to engineering-level scale."

Peng Juexian pulled up a few photos and data charts on his tablet:

"In addition, the first batch of engineering-grade copper oxide superconducting wires has arrived in Luzhou and passed performance testing. From last week until yesterday, we successfully completed the replacement of one of the original low-temperature superconducting magnet modules on the EAST device. Subsequently, we will conduct separate performance tests of the replacement module and joint debugging of the entire longitudinal field system to accumulate operational data, providing key support for the final design of the demonstration reactor magnet system."

Obviously, after the most critical magnetohydrodynamic theory was perfected, the demonstration reactor itself faced fewer obstacles compared to the engineering problems involved in the "construction" process.

Chang Haonan also showed a gratified expression on his face. "Excellent! This superconducting verification module of EAST is a pathfinder for the demonstration reactor, and the data is crucial... I will go to Luzhou again next week to work with my colleagues from the Institute of Plasma Physics to analyze this batch of test data in detail to see if we can dig out more valuable information."

The discussion in the office was coming to an end, and Hu Changgui and Peng Juexian began to organize their respective materials.

Chang Haonan was also ready to end the meeting and take a short break.

Just then, a sound of hurried but steady footsteps was heard outside the office.

This was followed by two clear knocks on the door.

"Please come in." Chang Haonan looked up and replied.

The door was pushed open.

The people who appeared at the door were Lan Xinzhi and Lei Wencheng.

The two men obviously did not expect that the meeting inside was not yet over, and they paused for a moment.

Lan Xinzhi waved his hand apologetically: "I thought you were done... Then we'll come back later."

"No, no..." Chang Haonan quickly signaled Hu Changgui and Peng Juexian to wait a moment, "We just finished discussing the important matters here. We are indeed done. You came at the perfect time."

The two of them then stopped turning around and walked back into the office.

"You guys just finished a meeting too?"

Chang Haonan asked as he tidied up the scattered documents on the table.

Lan Xinzhi quickly scanned the entire office, then found an empty seat on the sofa on the side and sat down.

"Actually... it's not really a meeting." His tone wasn't serious at all, but rather a touch of amusement as he asked, "Academician Chang, did you pay attention to the press conference held this afternoon... uh... just now, actually, by Helion Energy?"

"Helion Energy?" Chang Haonan was slightly stunned and stopped cleaning the table.

The name took a moment to come to mind.

"Oh, it's a startup in the US doing fusion energy research and development. They seem to be raising a lot of money, right? As for the press conference..." He shook his head, his face showing confusion caused by pure lack of information. "I've been so busy lately, running back and forth between Luzhou and Beijing, with endless technical coordination meetings. I even read reports while eating. I really haven't had time to pay attention... What's going on? What did they come up with?"