Chapter 1706: A Competition Without Suspense

The proposal of the "Stable Power Alliance" framework agreement caught almost everyone in the world off guard.

In fact, after China gradually gained advantages in science and technology, military, and economy, many people have foreseen that the next focus of the struggle between the two sides of the Pacific will inevitably be in finance and international influence.

However, most assessments believe that China will adopt a "gradual erosion" strategy, just as they have done in the past two decades.

In particular, the previous "SWIFT threat incident" ended in nothing, which seemed to indicate that both sides had no intention of engaging in direct combat at this stage, and further deepened the outside world's confidence in the above speculation.

However, no one expected that China would come up with such a big move.

Although electricity as a currency anchor has certain inherent defects, such as difficulty in long-distance transmission, it is a perfect regional solution.

Especially in recent years, a series of ASEAN countries around China, especially in the south and southeast, have developed a certain scale of industrial manufacturing system by integrating into China, but due to the long-term lag in infrastructure construction, they almost all face serious power shortage problems.

Joining this "stable power alliance", connecting to the unprecedentedly powerful national power grid, or the regional smart grid planned in the future is a completely feasible option in terms of technology and economy.

Moreover, China has already achieved a far-reaching lead in both power generation and transmission. In the future, it can expand the scope of this alliance by exporting power system solutions or even building floating fusion power stations.

What’s even more ingenious is that the status of oil as a direct fuel and chemical raw material will not be significantly affected.

In other words, this alliance does not cause much damage to oil-producing countries, but it is a blow to the oil-dollar financial system.

In the words of the Financial Times:

Through a clever operation, the Chinese people fulfilled their previous promise - to isolate the United States from the world. They did not directly attack the US dollar system, but provided the world with a more attractive and future-oriented value storage and transaction medium option - stable, clean electricity that is bound to physical usage rights.

As the defeated party, Washington almost immediately felt the biting chill.

The dismal end of the "SWIFT threat" two months ago has fully exposed the bluntness of its financial weapons.

The reality that the global economy is deeply embedded in "Made in China" means that any attempt to exclude China from the mainstream financial system is tantamount to economic suicide and will never gain a broad response from the international community.

Now, the launch of the "Stable Power Alliance" has further undermined the stability of the US dollar, shaking the anchoring foundation on which the US dollar relies.

The financial stick that was once commonly used now seems weak and risky.

The only option left for Washington seems to be a narrow and dangerous road:

As we lose ground on the financial battlefield, we must regain a decisive advantage on the technological battlefield.

That is to say, before China, they will be the first to realize the commercial grid-connected power generation of controlled nuclear fusion, thereby offsetting China's leading position in the field of power generation and transmission technology.

This heavy burden naturally and inevitably fell on the shoulders of HelionEnergy.

Furthermore, from a broader historical perspective, the future of humanity over the next fifty years, or even a century, will depend heavily on whether this private company, founded less than a decade ago, can create miracles in this technological race against time.

The Financial Times' prediction quickly became a reality.

On the second day after the release of the White Paper, the Senate passed the New Era Energy Act with a huge margin of 94:6. The core content of the Act is to provide a total of up to 450 billion US dollars in direct funding to several fusion research and development companies headed by Helion Energy. At the same time, it also requires the Department of Energy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other institutions to unconditionally provide these companies with "comprehensive and unreserved" technical and human support.

In addition, the bill even includes an emergency eminent domain provision that would allow the National Strategic Reserve to be used for fusion projects if necessary.

David Turley, founder of HelionEnergy, subsequently announced that they would accelerate the progress of the "Orion" project, aiming to complete its construction and achieve commercial power generation in no more than 15 months.

15 months.

This timetable is clearly aimed at the 18-month target previously proposed by China.

Telai's declaration is full of determination to fight to the death, but also reveals enormous pressure and risks.

The two sides of the Pacific Ocean seem to have once again entered a breathtaking race for control of humanity's ultimate energy source.

The world's attention is focused on this unprecedented technological gamble, and the air is filled with a tense atmosphere of "winner takes all".

However, in reality, there was no suspense in this competition from the beginning.

Because 18 months is not Chang Haonan's limit at all...

……

Time has quietly slipped through more than half a year.

In western Liaoning, the cold wind in late autumn is already quite biting.

As the sound of propellers tearing through the air was heard, the figure of a Z-12VIP helicopter slowly appeared on the horizon.

Not far away from it, there were three other smaller armed helicopters, forming a Y-shaped escort formation.

The helicopter formation slowly descended over the construction site of the "Junneng No. 1" demonstration reactor, and then began to circle low over the main structure of the power plant, which had already taken shape.

In the cabin of the Z-12, Hu Changgui, with his forehead pressed against the porthole glass, reported to Chang Haonan, who was sitting opposite him:

"Academician Chang, we have adopted a plan to construct the main structure and supporting facilities in parallel. The overall progress of the project is currently in line with expectations and is even slightly ahead of schedule. Please take a look."

Looking at the direction he pointed, the arched containment vessel of the nuclear island building was ready, reflecting a grayish-white luster in the sunlight.

The huge surrounding ancillary buildings and infrastructure network spread out like stars surrounding the moon, creating a spectacular scene.

"The main construction of the nuclear island building has been completed. Once the equipment is in place, we can begin casting the primary shield and hoisting the containment vessel. Currently, the remaining work focuses on the grid switching hub and the interior decoration of the office and living areas. This part is expected to take another one to two months to complete, but it will definitely not affect the overall installation and commissioning period of the demonstration reactor itself."

Having said that, he paused for a moment.

When the helicopter turned 180 degrees and the window faced the other direction, he continued:

"As for the dual-use military and civilian infrastructure you mentioned earlier, we have also completed construction according to the plan proposed by the Northern Theater Command and passed the acceptance inspection. It mainly includes a double-track combat-ready railway, a two-way four-lane secondary highway that can directly withstand rubber track traffic, and some impact walls and concealed facilities within the power station."

Chang Haonan noticed that the road leading to the power station area was deliberately designed in a zigzag shape, with a thick concrete wall in the middle as an obstacle.

It is difficult for any vehicle to travel faster than 30km/h on this road.

He nodded slightly, a satisfied expression on his face. "Boss Hu, you guys have managed the progress very well. We're even slightly ahead of our internal baseline plan... Thank you for your hard work."

Hu Changgui quickly waved his hands: "Academician Chang, you are too kind. This is all part of our job, how can you say it is hard work..."

"Furthermore, to be honest, fusion reactors don't have the complex emergency cooling systems and enormous containment pressure requirements of traditional fission reactors. The focus of radiation protection is also different, so the civil engineering design is less complex... In short, from our civil engineering perspective, the construction difficulty of a fusion power plant is actually less than that of a conventional nuclear power plant."

The reason he said this was just to be humble in front of his leader.

But when it comes to the latter part, it actually moves some real emotions:

"If you ask me, the real difficulty lies with the core of the demonstration reactor, which the Nuclear Industry Construction Group is responsible for... In the more than one year since the demonstration reactor project was launched, I've noticed that Academician Lei's hair has turned a lot grayer."

The Academician Lei mentioned by Hu Changgui is naturally Lei Wencheng, the chief engineer of the Nuclear Industry Construction Group.

Responsible for the production and construction of the demonstration reactor itself and the core part of the reactor core.

But...

In fact, at least 70% to 80% of the work pressure faced by Lei Wencheng was brought by Chang Haonan.

So the latter could only cough twice awkwardly and did not continue on this topic.

After a brief silence, Chang Haonan picked up the intercom from the side:

"I'm 01. Ground conditions are clear. Prepare for landing."