A big country of aerospace with black technology

Wuwei, Minqin County.

Thousands of miles of blue waves, fish flying shallowly, and birds playing on the water.

The desert is surrounded by green water, which is refreshing.

"This might be suitable for aquaculture."

Zhang Xingyang stood under the poplar tree beside the reservoir and said with great interest.

"There are very few pollutants in the deep desert, so the crabs raised must be very good."

Zhang Xingyang’s few hobbies are various types of food.

The accompanying local personnel's eyes lit up when they heard this.

They had never thought of this before.

It is mainly the local environment that affects everyone’s ideas.

Sandwiched between two deserts, no one thought that it would be possible to develop aquaculture.

Who would have thought of raising aquatic products in the desert?

However, in the future, many of the country's high-quality aquatic products will come from major freshwater and saltwater lakes in the northwest desert.

Many of these products are even famous.

For example, salmon, Australian dragon, South American shrimp, etc. raised in the snow water of Tianshan Mountain.

"Does Professor Zhang still know about breeding?" said a local official.

"Can we really raise crabs here?"

Zhang Xingyang looked at the clear reservoir and said, "You can give it a try."

"Professor Zhang, we are here to talk about that matter. Can we let the crab matter go first?" The nuclear power expert who came with Zhang Xingyang was a little anxious.

When it comes to spacecraft reactor research, no country has any experience to draw from.

Zhang Xingyang had no choice but to start from scratch if he wanted to complete the relevant research and development work.

The first thing to do here is to select a construction site for the experimental reactor.

After a while of discussion, everyone chose the location in the Tengger Desert next to Minqin County.

There are many considerations when choosing here.

The first is safety. Almost everywhere in the Tengger Desert is no man's land.

Even if a nuclear leak occurs, it will not cause immediate casualties.

Secondly, there is a large reservoir not far away for convenient water use.

Molten salt reactors are still undergoing technical research, and it is unlikely that they will be completed for a while.

Therefore, within a period of time, we still need to use third-generation reactors for research.

The third-generation reactor has a huge water demand, and it will be difficult to operate without sufficient water.

Zhang Xingyang turned around and said, "We intend to build an experimental reactor in your area. Do you have any opinions?"

In the construction of nuclear reactors, local opinions must be taken into consideration.

Otherwise, you will face endless troubles in the future.

"We plan to invest 16.8 billion to build a nuclear power plant with a power generation capacity of more than 100 megawatts."

Zhang Xingyang did not hide anything, "Of course the specifics still depend on the opinions of your local people."

The accompanying officials were stunned.

They didn't expect it to be such a big thing.

Although before Zhang Xingyang and the others arrived, someone had greeted them and explained their importance.

But no one would have thought that such a large amount of investment would fall on them.

You know, the GDP for the whole of last year was less than 2 billion!

This is equivalent to their GDP in the past ten years!

Even if a little bit of garbage leaks out of the project, it will be enough to feed the local people.

Counties in the northwest are generally sparsely populated, with less than 150,000 people in the entire county.

It is less populous than a larger town in the east.

"Will nuclear power plants have emission problems?" However, the three words "nuclear power plant" immediately following Zhang Xingyang's investment still make people suspicious.

If it is true that nuclear power plants cause large-scale pollution in the local area.

Even if they lose their heads, they cannot afford such a responsibility.

"Don't worry, the nuclear power plant will be built in the Tengger Desert, some distance from the county seat. Even if an accident occurs, the people will be given enough time to evacuate." Zhang Xingyang understood their concerns very well.

"In this case, we seem to have no reason to refuse." The local official said with a smile.

In this era, for poor local people.

Being able to invest a huge amount of money is an incredible thing.

To do this they are willing to take some risks.

There is never anything in this world that comes without effort.

Zhang Xingyang smiled and extended his hand, "Then I wish us happy cooperation in the future."

The formal cooperation was finalized in less than a month.

Batch after batch of raw materials began to be pulled into the desert from various places.

Nuclear industry groups began to build corresponding infrastructure for nuclear reactors.

For this reason, they took the lead in building an 80-kilometer-long road deep into the desert.

Although it is just a simple road, it is enough to show the importance of the project.

A huge amount of money was invested in this project in the desert.

In an old office building used as a temporary office location.

"All the information that can be found on Project 728 is here."

Nuclear power expert Li Fei put a large pile of yellowed and musty-smelling papers on his desk.

"This project has been going on for too long. Many units involved at that time were merged, reorganized, and canceled. Now the legacy left behind is only this little."

Zhang Xingyang waved his hand to drive some of the dust away from his face, "It would be good to find something of reference value."

In the early 1970s, when China was preparing to develop its own civilian nuclear energy, it also considered developing a thorium-based molten salt reactor.

It was even completed at one point, with a zero-power cold molten salt reactor.

and brought it to a supercritical state.

However, due to the economic, technological and other factors at the time, we ultimately did not stick to this path.

Instead, a less difficult and more economical light water reactor was chosen.

Li Fei said: "Oak Ridge Laboratory was the only laboratory in the world that once built a molten salt reactor, and it was abandoned not long after."

"What we have here is probably all the reference material for molten salt reactors."

There seemed to be a lot of information stacked together that was almost half the height of a person.

But for nuclear power plants, this little information is simply pitiful.

"Our current technology has also made great progress, so don't underestimate yourself!"

Zhang Xingyang was very optimistic. He reached out and picked up the top document and read it.

"Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Thorium-Based Molten Salts in Supercritical State"

"In the past few decades, the development of materials and technology has been enough to solve some of our once extremely difficult problems."

Li Fei still frowned: "But we still haven't solved the core problem of the thorium-based molten salt reactor."

Thorium-based molten salt reactors face two biggest problems.

The first is the refining and processing of thorium-based molten salt itself.

Thorium-based molten salt reactors are different from traditional water reactors in that molten salt mixed with nuclear fuel is used as the heat transfer medium.

The current ideal medium is fluoride salt, which is very difficult to extract.

The second question is related to fluoride salt.

Fluorine salt is highly corrosive.

Especially at high temperatures, the corrosiveness will be enhanced.

This places extremely high requirements on the materials of molten salt flow pipes.

Extremely corrosion resistance is required.

"In terms of molten salt, we have accumulated a lot of experience in solar molten salt tower power generation."

Zhang Xingyang briefly talked about some of their technical reserves:

"We also have certain technologies in terms of corrosion-resistant materials, so you don't have to worry too much."

In fact, there is one thing Zhang Xingyang did not say, that is, the application of fourth-generation reactors is not in ground space, but in space.

Therefore, their fourth-generation reactor must face problems that other experimental reactors have not faced.

That is the problem of weightlessness in space.

This problem may seem inconspicuous, but in fact it will have a great impact on the operation of the entire reactor.

However, Li Fei is still under review, and Zhang Xingyang cannot say much to him.

Until now, Li Fei still thinks that the fourth-generation reactor they developed will be used on submarines or aircraft carriers.

"So, we really hope to complete the operation of the experimental reactor within five years!?" Li Fei said with some surprise.

As a nuclear energy practitioner, he certainly wants to see Longguo take the lead in the world in nuclear power development.

"According to our timetable, the trial operation of the experimental reactor will be achieved within three years."

Zhang Xingyang quickly browsed the various documents in front of him while answering Li Fei's questions.

"Within five years, we will obtain the qualification certificate for official operation."

The first experimental reactor built locally will be used to provide local power.

It is expected to meet the electricity needs of 10,000 households.

The formal operation of a nuclear power plant requires approval from the Nuclear Safety Administration.

Only after everything is ensured will it be officially operated at full power and connected to the grid for power generation.

"This time is too tight." Li Fei said with some smacking of his tongue.

It will take three years to build a new generation of nuclear reactors.

Even though Zhang Xingyang had just introduced a series of technical reserves to him, it still felt difficult to complete in a short time.

"Ten years is not too much to develop this technology."

Zhang Xingyang raised his head and glanced at him, "Ten years from now, you might be able to see a miniaturized nuclear reactor."

After speaking, Zhang Xingyang took out a document with only a few pages from his desk drawer, "You should read this document first."

The document totals no more than three pages and can normally be read in a few minutes.

Li Fei watched it for nearly twenty minutes.

The pile of documents in front of Zhang Xingyang, which was originally half a person tall, had shrunk by less than half.

"Is what you said above true?"

Li Fei raised his head in shock.

"A super-large container ship that can accommodate 24,000 standard containers and has a displacement of 240,000 tons? Or is it nuclear powered?"

For a moment, Li Fei felt that he might be dreaming and that he was actually still sleeping in the bed.

If it weren't for the fear of pain, he would have given himself a mouth to try to see if he was in a dream.

"Do we have the strength?"

Faced with doubts, Zhang Xingyang said angrily, "Remove the word "?"

"The reactor is just on the ship, does it need such a big reaction?!"

Just boarding the ship? !

At this moment, Li Fei wanted to rush forward, grab the other person's neck and ask if he understood what this meant!

It has the ability to build a 240,000-ton nuclear-powered container ship, and it can also build a 100,000-ton nuclear-powered super aircraft carrier!

"In other words, do we really want to develop a marine nuclear reactor?"

Li Fei asked with a trembling voice.

"There is this item in the plan, but it will not start until the thorium-based molten salt reactor is developed."

"If the current third-generation reactor is put on a ship, it is still not suitable and has many problems."

Li Fei: "In other words, we will be able to have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the future?"

When Zhang Xingyang heard this, he raised his head and looked at the other person with a retarded look, "It's a pity that you don't have the ability to associate with others to write novels."

"Nowadays, marine nuclear reactors can be connected to nuclear-powered aircraft carriers without even saying a word."

Not to mention nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, there is not even a single aircraft carrier in the country.

The Varyag, which is undergoing renovation work in the Northern Shipyard, has been launched, but the outfitting will take at least one to two years.

The subsequent sea trial process will take at least a year, and there is still a long way to go before it can achieve combat effectiveness.

Of course, if the development speed is fast enough, it is possible to apply nuclear reactors to the second aircraft carrier, which is the first domestically produced aircraft carrier.

"At least there is hope." Li Fei said with a smile.

"I don't know when we will see our domestically produced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier."

"Then again, we don't have much experience in marine nuclear reactors."

Although Li Fei is an expert in nuclear power, he is not proficient in other fields.

It can only be said that I have a little understanding of it, and the same is true for ships.

Zhang Xingyang sighed, "So we will start developing marine reactors after our thorium-based molten salt reactor is successful."

"It's because the thorium-based molten salt reactor itself has various advantages."

"The temperature of the molten salt itself can directly drive the supercritical carbon dioxide turbine instead of using a steam turbine."

The only operational Oak Ridge Laboratory-built molten salt reactor used a steam turbine.

Compared with steam turbines, the most important thing for gas turbines is the starting time.

A steam turbine must wait for water to boil to form steam before it can drive the turbine.

This is nothing on a civilian ship, but on a warship.

Undoubtedly, it greatly increases the start-up time during wartime.

This is one of the reasons why most modern large warships use steam turbines.

"In addition, the molten salt reactor does not have solid fuel rods. Instead, the nuclear fuel is dissolved in the molten salt. As the molten salt circulates, it continues to enter the reaction zone. This also means that ships using molten salt reactors are not like water. Heaps like this need to be overhauled in the shipyard every few years for half a year."

Therefore, warships using molten salt reactors can really continue to sail on the sea without stopping for refueling or overhaul.

This is something that all current nuclear-powered warships, aircraft carriers, etc. cannot do.

After saying that, Zhang Xingyang buried his head in the pile of documents and said:

"So keep working hard. Let's build the thorium-based molten salt pile earlier and see the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier earlier."

After hearing this, Li Fei was immediately full of energy, "Then let's speed up and get started!"

In fact, Li Fei also understood that Zhang Xingyang had drawn a big pie for him.

However, people sometimes need such lofty ideals to unleash their full strength.

He is also very willing to work hard towards this big pie. (End of chapter)