Facing Fang Xu's doubts, Lü Yongchang could only slightly pout.
This was actually an over - estimation on his part!
If Fang Xu knew that this drawing was done by him in one night, he would probably be on the dissection table by now, right?
"It's just a drawing of the reactor. It's still far from the entire controlled nuclear fusion reactor!"
Hearing Lü Yongchang's Versailles - like words, Fang Xu's mouth twitched violently twice.
In his 45 - year - long life experience, Lü Yongchang was probably the most pretentious person he had ever seen, right?
But soon, he noticed something strange.
"Wait!"
"This reactor..."
Fang Xu's voice made everyone's hearts tighten.
Hong Qiming couldn't help but look over at him.
Could it be... there was a mistake in the drawing of this reactor?!
"This isn't a Tokamak device!"
Fang Xu exclaimed in surprise!
A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Lü Yongchang's eyes.
As expected of Academician Fang, he really couldn't be fooled!
"Of course it's not a Tokamak device!"
"This is a stellarator."
Lü Yongchang chuckled and said, "If my calculations are correct, the controlled nuclear fusion duration of ITER should be within 30 minutes, right?"
Fang Xu's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded gently, "That's right. The latest experimental result shows that the fusion reaction lasted for about 26 minutes."
"Could it be..."
"Hehe..." Lü Yongchang smiled faintly, "If nothing unexpected happens, soon, ITER will reach the ceiling of the Tokamak device!"
Fang Xu's pupils suddenly shrank, "You mean... the Tokamak device isn't the optimal solution for achieving controlled nuclear fusion?!"
Lü Yongchang nodded to affirm Fang Xu's statement.
"How is that possible... If this is true, then humanity has been moving forward on the wrong path for decades?!"
Fang Xu stood there dumbfounded, muttering to himself.
He found it hard to accept Lü Yongchang's statement!
Lü Yongchang naturally understood Fang Xu's complex feelings at this moment.
In his previous life, in order to break the monopoly, all of Xiaguo's scientific research forces were invested in the research and development of the Tokamak device!
However, no matter how hard they tried, the sustained time of controlled nuclear fusion could never exceed 30 minutes!
At that time, this was a fatal blow to the confidence of all scientific researchers!
If it weren't for Fang Xu accidentally learning about the defects of the Tokamak device, Xiaguo might have kept going wrong on the path to achieving controlled nuclear fusion!
"How... how can I verify what you said?!"
Fang Xu, as the top scientist in Xiaguo at present, quickly regained his senses after a brief daze and asked Lü Yongchang in a deep voice.
Lü Yongchang shrugged and said casually, "It's simple. Just find a basic stellarator, build the reactor with the material I deduced, and then ignite the nuclear fusion. Naturally, it can be verified."
Fang Xu's eyes flickered slightly.
He remembered that there was indeed an "outdated" stellarator device in the laboratory that was bought at a high price before.
"Wait!"
Hong Qiming's loud voice suddenly rang out.
"Who among you... can explain to me what a stellarator and a Tokamak device mean?"
As he spoke, Hong Qiming turned his gaze to Lü Yongchang.
Seeing this, Guan Hualiang and Fang Xu stepped back one step, leaving the stage to Lü Yongchang.
Lü Yongchang pondered for a moment and then said, "Minister Hong, you should know that controlled nuclear fusion requires a powerful magnetic field to confine the nuclear fusion materials, right?"
Seeing Hong Qiming nod, Lü Yongchang let out a slight sigh of relief.
This made it easier to explain!
Otherwise... he would have to explain the principle of controlled nuclear fusion from the beginning!
Although it could also be solved in a few words, it was ultimately a bit more troublesome!
"Simply put, the toroidal helical magnetic cage of the Tokamak device requires a plasma current to be generated. The stellarator doesn't need that. It can directly generate a twisted toroidal magnetic cage through external coils."
"Then... what's the difference between these two? Aren't they both for generating a magnetic field?"
A hint of confusion appeared in Hong Qiming's eyes.
"Pop!"
Lü Yongchang snapped his fingers lightly.
"This is the key point I want to talk about!"
"In the Tokamak device, the plasma current is as high as tens of millions of amperes. Such a huge current is bound to bring countless problems.
"For example, kink modes, magnetic surface tearing, magnetic island generation, etc.!
"All of these will reduce the ability to confine the plasma.
"The consequences can range from a shutdown at the least, to an explosion at the worst!"
As he spoke, Lü Yongchang made an explosion gesture.
Hong Qiming nodded as if he understood.
Although he didn't understand the various professional terms that Lü Yongchang mentioned, he understood the last sentence.
So the Tokamak device could explode?!!
Hong Qiming looked at Academician Fang Xu standing next to him with a complicated expression.
Facing Hong Qiming's gaze, Fang Xu could only nod helplessly and say, "There is such a possibility, but... up to now, the Tokamak device has not had such a serious malfunction!"
"There hasn't been one now, but what about in the future?" Lü Yongchang said indifferently, "When the sustained fusion time is increased to 30 minutes, perhaps serious consequences will occur!"
Fang Xu's body stiffened suddenly, and he exclaimed in a voice, "You mean, the Tokamak device will explode after 30 minutes of fusion?!"
Lü Yongchang nodded with a complex expression, "That's right. This is also the biggest trap of the Tokamak device.
"Although the poloidal magnetic field formed by the plasma current makes the construction of the magnetic cage very simple, high temperature and extremely large current will eventually lead to some accidents."
Fang Xu suddenly understood, "So that's how it is! So that's how it is!!"
"What about the stellarator?" Hong Qiming swallowed slightly and asked in a low voice.
He suddenly had a feeling that this young - looking sophomore student in front of him was like an old professor who had been immersed in this field for decades!
Even Fang Xu seemed like a student in front of him!
Hearing Hong Qiming's question, Lü Yongchang said casually, "The stellarator is simple. Just use the external coils to create a closed, twisted toroidal magnetic cage inside!"
Hong Qiming: "???"
"It's that simple? Then why wasn't the stellarator used before?!"
Fang Xu gave Lü Yongchang a sideways look in annoyance and then explained again, "The difficulty of the stellarator lies in the manufacturing of the external coils.
"First of all, the shape of the external coils is irregular, which is a major manufacturing difficulty.
"On the other hand, to form a strong enough magnetic field, the material of the coils is preferably a superconducting coil, which further increases the difficulty.
"After all, the room - temperature superconducting technology has not been broken through yet."
Lü Yongchang's faint voice came from the side, "What if I can solve the room - temperature superconducting material?"