Chapter 525 Kick Them Out

What's more interesting is that while Lu Zhou was drinking coffee and leisurely watching Perry who was speaking to the reporters in the video, Perry, who was sitting in the office of the U.S. Department of Energy on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, At the moment, he is also staring at Lu Zhou's photo.

Although the expression is not as relaxed as his...

Just half a month ago, Huaguo Jinling Institute of Controlled Fusion made a breakthrough in long-term plasma confinement, which shocked the entire plasma physics community.

That is to say, during these two weeks, he received at least thirty written letters about this matter.

Some of them were sent by the American Academy of Sciences, and some came from the PPPL laboratory in Princeton.

In particular, the joint letter from the American Academy of Sciences even has the signature of Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize winner in physics and former Secretary of Energy.

In these lengthy texts, apart from telling the importance of controllable nuclear fusion as a future energy source, there is only one central idea to be expressed-that is, money is needed.

In addition, there is intelligence from the CIA, although they are all things that are not nutritious.

Compared with Lu Zhou's own information and the dazzling academic honors and titles he has won, what he wants to know is how far Huaguo has come in the controllable fusion technology, and how far away is the mature controllable fusion technology. Far.

However, the troublesome thing is that it all happened so suddenly.

Before the STAR device successfully completed the one-hour magnetic confinement time, no one believed that they would succeed, not even the Chinese themselves.

Didn't you agree that even two minutes would be difficult?

This sentence was said by the person in charge of the Huaguo International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Implementation Center himself!

"What a bunch of trash..."

Throwing the document in his hand on the table, Perry couldn't help cursing.

Regarding the importance of controllable nuclear fusion technology, there is no need for others to tell him, he knows it better than anyone else.

However, he also knows better than anyone how big this pit is.

What he needs more now is the opinion of a professional than a report from the CIA and some unhealthy advice.

Leaning on the office chair and contemplating for a while, Perry made a decision in his mind, supported the armrests with both hands, stood up from the chair, opened the door and walked out of the office.

Looking at the assistant sitting at the desk at the door of his office, he ordered.

"Call the director of the NIF project, and the director of the controlled fusion project of the PPPL laboratory... No matter where they are now, I hope to see them here at this time the day after tomorrow."

"I see."

Seeing Perry's serious expression, realizing that this matter is very important, the assistant immediately reached out to the phone.

Perry nodded, ready to leave here.

Before starting the meeting, he had to go to the White House.

But at this moment, he suddenly remembered something, so he stopped at the door and looked back at the assistant who was on the phone.

"Also contact the CIA, remember to ask them to send someone more reliable."

...

About six or seven years ago, the NIF, which cost $3.5 billion, failed to ignite, severely setback the entire American controlled fusion research industry, and even cast a cloud over the prospect of the entire international controlled nuclear fusion research.

The entire technical route of inertial restraint has been almost abolished. If it wasn't for this laser ignition device that could carry out nuclear tests, it would have been abolished by the Budget Committee of Congress long ago.

So far, it seems that the tokamak can still cheat money, but the funding is not as easy as before.

Especially in the environment where countries are shirking each other on funding issues and the United States intends to withdraw from the ITER organization, the future of the entire controllable fusion industry can be described as gloomy.

However, no one expected that the light under the Purple Gold Mountain would illuminate the whole world...

Right now, Ed Moses, director of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is sitting in his office at the Department of Energy.

Sitting next to him are Terry Brogg, director of the controlled fusion project at the PPPL Laboratory in Princeton, and several other experts in the field of controlled fusion that he is familiar with.

This is not the first time they have been summoned by authorities.

Usually every one or two months, they will be summoned by the Department of Energy or the Congressional Budget Committee, and then asked them what happened to the budget.

For those who burn a lot of money, wrangling with bureaucrats on project and funding issues has almost become a part of daily research work.

However, unlike in the past, this time the Department of Energy did not seem to call them for budgetary matters...

The two exchanged glances, and both saw unexpected expressions in each other's eyes.

Obviously, it's not just people from the Department of Energy sitting here, but also a man in a suit with a less expressive face who doesn't fit in with the surrounding environment no matter how you look.

"Introduce yourself, my name is Helms, from the CIA."

Hearing about the CIA, Ed Moses raised his eyebrows and said with interest.

"Since when did the CIA become interested in the NIF?"

"I'm not interested in NIF, or, in comparison, I'm more interested in PPPL laboratory." Turning the ballpoint pen in his hand, the man named Helms looked at Brog next to him, "Special Mr. Lee Brog, I heard that you have worked with Professor Lu Zhou, is that true?"

Brog nodded, cherishing words like gold, "Yes."

Helms: "What does he look like to you?"

Brog replied: "You should ask his mentor or student about this question. I don't have much contact with him in daily life, and the only communication is basically at work."

"I'm asking about work," Helms flipped through the notes on the desk. "Our people noticed that about two years ago, a sum of money entered the scientific research account of the project through an overseas account."

Brog: "During his tenure in Princeton, he served as a consultant for the He-3 project of the PPPL laboratory. Because the research was difficult to continue due to funding problems, he paid for the insufficient part with his own funds."

Helms asked: "Can you explain specifically what the He-3 program is about?"

Brogg: "About launching He-3 particles to observe the plasma movement inside the fusion device... If you are doubting that this project has delivered key technologies to the STAR Institute, you don't have to be so suspicious. This technology is very important for the possible The research on controlling nuclear fusion is very important, but the related research itself is public. If you don’t understand what I mean, you can go back and consult your physics professor.”

Helms turned the ballpoint pen in his hand and wrote a few notes on the paper: "I'm sorry that I majored in psychology in college, and didn't major in physics."

Brog muttered in a low voice: "You should have learned it in high school."

Not knowing if he really didn't hear it, or pretended not to hear it, Helms ignored Brogge's words, and his eyes stayed on his and Moses' faces for a moment.

"If it is not relying on the technology in the PPPL laboratory to achieve results, I would like to know why a research institute that has just been established for less than a year has achieved such incredible results with a stellarator modified from an old device. results."

Ed Moses coughed softly: "The problem is very simple. The Chinese people are willing to spend money on this technology. Although most of the problems we encounter cannot be solved by spending money, when the money is used by the right people Used correctly, it makes all the difference.”

Perry sat at the conference table with a straight face: "Your funds are no less than theirs. What do you mean, you didn't use the money in the right place?"

Ed Moses looked aside with embarrassment, "Of course I didn't mean that. I can guarantee that every penny is spent in the right place, but... trial and error is also part of the research."

Ignoring the hesitant Ed Moses, Helms looked at the notebook in his hand and continued to ask a lot of questions with a blank expression.

Among them are the cooperation on ITER and the situation on the STAR Stellarator Research Institute.

The meeting lasted about two hours.

After the meeting was adjourned, Perry dismissed the experts who came to the meeting, left Helms behind, and asked.

"What do you think?"

This Mr. Helms had served in the diplomatic system before. Although Perry may not take his opinion seriously, it is still possible to refer to it.

Looking at the note in his hand, Helms spoke after pondering for a moment.

"According to our information, Huaguo has launched the controllable fusion demonstration reactor project. However, judging from the inquiry just now, apart from the paper disclosed in the "Science" magazine, what our experts know about the STAR Institute Almost zero."

"Based on the above clues, we can conclude that, including the CFTER project, the Chinese people have borrowed a lot of technology and experience from the ITER project, but they who stole the technology from us do not share their own research, or have reserved. I don't think it's justified."

Perry raised his eyebrows with interest: "So?"

"Therefore, I suggest negotiating with Huaguo to let the STAR Research Institute disclose more technical details," Helms paused for a moment, and said seriously, "or kick them out of the ITER project altogether. go out."

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(It’s the beginning of the month again~~~ Everyone votes enthusiastically~~~)