Chapter 1677 We don’t need to boil water

Hearing Chang Haonan's somewhat bewildered question, Lei Wencheng, who had a stern face just now, couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

He turned his head and said to Lan Xinzhi with an expression of "as expected":

"Director Lan, look, what did I say? Academician Chang's mind is no longer on arguing with these fancy people."

But Chang Haonan was really confused at this moment:

"what happened?"

Lan Xinzhi didn't say anything, but took out his mobile phone, tapped the screen quickly a few times, brought up a news aggregation page, and then gently pushed the phone onto the wide desk in front of Chang Haonan.

On the screen, screenshots of several major international technology media headlines appeared, all of which were sensational:

Helion Energy announces a breakthrough, signaling the dawn of commercial fusion technology.

《No need for ignition, magnetic compression leads the future!》

Helion secures $40 billion investment, aims to build commercial power plant within years

……

Judging from the tone of this report, someone who doesn’t know would think they will succeed tomorrow.

"Wow, this is quite a big deal." Chang Haonan muttered to himself, and at the same time picked up his mobile phone and transferred the content on the screen to the computer next to him which was easier to read.

As he gets older, he likes reading text on large screens more and more.

Lan Xinzhi put his phone away, his tone tinged with a hint of mockery from a bystander, but that was all he said:

"Right now, the entire Western media, especially in the United States, has hailed Helion as a 'torchbearer of human civilization,' promising them the power to break the energy deadlock and reshape the world. The public opinion is incredibly heated."

The two people nearby also came over curiously and browsed the specific content of the news together.

Pulsed magnetic compression fusion, 60-second plasma confinement time, record-breaking $40 billion in financing, plans to build a commercial power plant within ten years... and, at the end of the press conference, the young CEO David Turley faced the camera and said with a mixture of confidence and subtle provocation:

"If China has truly achieved such an astonishing breakthrough, they should start building commercial fusion power plants like Helion Energy has done, rather than just writing about it on paper!"

Seeing this, Chang Haonan's face showed the same "troubled" expression as Lei Wencheng's just now.

Seeing this, Lan Xinzhi knew that Chang Haonan should have read all the content, so he asked seriously:

"Look at this company... and this guy, Terai's remarks. They're being very assertive and quite pointed... Should we consider putting them on the 'melting pot' list, or a subsequent regulatory watch list? Should we try to cool them down?"

Chang Haonan barely thought about it and shook his head: "No need. It's a pure waste of energy."

He switched the page on the screen to a promotional picture:

"$40 billion, calculated at the current exchange rate, is only a little over one-third of the total investment in our demonstration reactor project... Given the efficiency of American engineering organizations and their ability to manage large-scale scientific and technological projects, it's unlikely this power plant will actually be built in ten, let alone twenty years... Their confidence is probably based more on Wall Street's capital games and media hype."

At this moment, Hu Changgui, who had been staring at the details on the news page, couldn't help but interrupt: "Speaking of which... although this project sounds a bit unrealistic and seems like a pie in the sky. However..."

He pointed to a description of Helion's technology roadmap in the report:

"Their idea doesn't involve boiling water to drive a steam turbine. Instead, they directly use plasma expansion or magnetic field changes to generate electricity, bypassing the traditional thermal cycle. Theoretically, the energy utilization efficiency... seems to be significantly improved."

As soon as the words fell, the atmosphere in the office suddenly became a little subtle.

The other four people showed similar, strange smiles almost at the same time.

Hu Changgui felt a little embarrassed and confused for a moment, and subconsciously touched the back of his head:

"Uh...what did I say wrong?"

As an infrastructure engineer who has worked in civil engineering for most of his life, he does not have enough knowledge about the cutting-edge technologies in other fields.

After a brief silence, Chang Haonan spoke first: "You're right, reducing the energy conversion link can indeed improve efficiency..."

He first affirmed the other party's statement, then changed the subject: "But in fact, our demonstration pile does not require boiling water."

"what?"

Peng Juexian took over the conversation: "The power generation route for the demonstration reactor designed by General Chang uses a technology that is more direct and theoretically has higher energy conversion efficiency than plasma expansion power generation - magnetohydrodynamic channel power generation."

"what?"

Hu Changgui was completely stunned.

Peng Juexian continued to explain:

"High-temperature plasma itself is a conductive fluid... Of course, the plasma in a vacuum chamber can't be used directly to generate electricity, but we can allow the secondary excited plasma to pass through a strong magnetic field at high speed... The principle is somewhat similar to their expansion power generation, but the conversion rate is even higher."

"This... do we already have this technology?"

Hu Changgui quickly understood what the other party meant, but it was the first time he heard of such a cutting-edge layout in the country.

"It's not just about mastering it..." Peng Juexian shrugged. "The relevant key technologies and core components have actually been verified many times on low-power... experimental devices. The technical path is mature. As for verification of higher power... that can only wait until the XS-1 is launched."

It was impossible for him to tell the other party which specific military models had already used the relevant technology, so he had to use a vague statement instead.

Hu Changgui blinked his eyes. Like a curious baby, he looked up at the night sky outside the window subconsciously.

"But...is it too late?"

"I mean, isn't the XS-1 also in the works?"

He subconsciously felt that the cycle of space projects should be longer.

This time, the smiles on the four people's faces deepened.

Chang Haonan shook his head slightly:

"In fact, the entire 'Beacon' relay base has entered the ground construction phase, which is much faster than the demonstration reactor. If nothing goes wrong, the XS-1 space power supply and three truss connection modules will be launched into orbit within 2017 and begin to provide operational data."

2017 years!

In orbit!

Hu Changgui's brain was almost paralyzed by the overwhelming amount of information.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found himself at a loss for words.

I could only sit there blankly.

At this moment, he felt like an outsider.

But then I thought about it and realized that I seemed to be the only one in the room who was neither an academician nor held a position in the Industrial and Construction Commission...

Well, it turns out he is really an outsider!

Seeing that Hu Changgui had fallen deeply into emo, Chang Haonan turned his gaze back to Lan Xinzhi:

"Judging from David Terry's statement, their ultimate confidence probably lies not in fusion power plants, but in their self-proclaimed 'semiconductor advantage'."

Lan Xinzhi nodded in agreement. "That's right. Currently, mainstream international opinion still believes that we obtained a small batch of 7nm process chips through TSMC's illegal channels... It's said that Washington has already sent several working groups, causing chaos at TSMC."

Hearing this, Chang Haonan let out a long, silent breath, as if to completely expel the pent-up emotions in his chest:

"In that case, I think...it's time to play our cards."

……

three days later.

At 7:00 p.m. sharp, the news program on CCTV Comprehensive Channel starts on time.

After the routine broadcast of the day's important current affairs news and international developments, the screen switched.

The host reported in a sonorous and powerful voice:

"The following is a special report written by our reporter: Independent innovation forges the core soul of domestically produced chips entering a new era."

Next, there is a 5-minute and 30-second feature film.

The camera first swept across a modern, clean and grand factory area in Tianjin's BHX District.

The huge "Huaxin International" logo shines brightly in the sun.

The scene then cuts to a highly clean chip production workshop.

Engineers wearing full sets of clean-room suits shuttle between highly automated equipment.

Huang Wei, director of the base, was interviewed with pride:

"After years of unremitting efforts, Sinochip has fully mastered all key technical difficulties and production processes for the equivalent 7nm process node, including core links such as high-precision lithography, multiple patterning, atomic layer deposition, high aspect ratio etching, and advanced metal interconnects. The yield rate has steadily increased and has reached the requirements for large-scale mass production."

The camera switches to show the details of the wafer flowing on the automated production line and being processed by precision equipment, as well as the final 7-nanometer chip wafer with a complex circuit structure under a microscope.

"Currently, our Tianjin base is running at full capacity and producing at full capacity," Huang Wei continued, his tone revealing a strong sense of mission and industrial responsibility. "Our goal is very clear: to use independently controllable advanced process chips to fill the market gaps caused by external factors, and to fully ensure the security and sustainable development of the chip supply chain in the domestic information industry, especially in key areas such as communications, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing!"

The last shot seems to be frozen on Huang Wei's confident smile.

But the photographer deliberately did not use lens blur.

Therefore, the audience can see clearly.

Not far behind Huang Wei, the side of a photolithography device was sprayed with the model logo "ArF-1800".

Of course, there are also the three brand logos of Changguang Group, Shanghai Microelectronics Group and Torch Group.