Chapter 543 The News that Shocked the World

Throughout this year, the field of controlled nuclear fusion has not been peaceful.

In the past, the little things that were sesame seeds were worthy of ITER's press conference to explain, but the big news that followed this year made ITER's press spokesperson overwhelmed.

From the earliest plasma turbulence model, to the completion of the one-hour magnetic confinement experiment of the STAR device, to the questioning of the Chinese side by the US representative at the ITER meeting, so that the Chinese side chose to withdraw from ITER.

Throughout this year, the mood of practitioners in the entire controllable nuclear fusion industry has been as exciting as riding a roller coaster.

But now, the news of Huaguo’s withdrawal from the ITER project is still hot. A piece of news released by Renren Daily once again triggered a collective shock in the international plasma physics community and the controllable nuclear fusion industry.

On the first day of October, the birthday of the Republic, Huaguo suddenly announced that the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project will enter the next and final stage.

That is, construction of a demonstration reactor at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant began.

Once this news was released, not only the international plasma physics community and the controllable nuclear fusion industry, but also caused a sensation like an eight-magnitude earthquake all over the world.

Demonstration pile!

No one expected that everything would come so suddenly.

The BBC, the British broadcasting company, first reported the news.

In an interview with a BBC reporter, Bender Bauer, chairman of Tri Alpha, commented on the news.

"...If Huaguo becomes the first country to realize the commercialization of fusion technology, its economic, geopolitical, and political advantages will become more obvious, and its sense of presence in the Asia-Pacific region will also expand at an unimaginable speed."

"This is definitely not alarmist talk. This new technology is different from all the inventions we have had before. In a layman's terms, it is the holy grail of the energy field. It can illuminate the future we can't see."

"Of course, as tough as the situation is, the race is just beginning, and we're confident enough to outdo them. Of course, that's only if the bureaucrats in Congress stop stinging their money on us..."

In addition to Bendbauer, the BBC reporter also contacted Professor Steven Cowley, Dean of Corpus Christi College at Oxford University, former director of the UK Callum Fusion Center, and former CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Agency.

In an interview, Professor Steven gave his own views on Hua Guo's withdrawal from the group.

"Although ITER has been discussing kicking Huaguo out of the ITER international project team before, no one wants to see them withdraw in this way."

Reporter: "Is there any difference between the two?"

Facing the camera of the BBC, Steven Cowley pushed down and said slowly, "That's for sure."

"The number of Chinese employees in ITER was the smallest at the beginning, but now it is second only to the European Union. Not only that, they undertake the third largest funding among all member states, and they can always fulfill their funding commitments..."

"But now, the handover of work has not been completed normally. All Chinese employees have been forcefully withdrawn, and less than one-fifth of them choose to stay. Not only that, many key projects have also been trapped Stagnation."

"Their choice to withdraw in this way is undoubtedly a response to the US's pressure on them on the issue of the STAR device. The confidence that prompted them to do so is also largely due to the results achieved by the STAR device. "

"All countries have their own controllable fusion projects and their own technical reserves. ITER is not the only ongoing controllable fusion project, and the ITER agreement has never required other countries to disclose research that is not related to the agreement's scientific research projects."

"What I have to say is that at this point in time, it is a stupid choice to force Huaguo to leave the ITER project, and it is also a stupid choice to start a confrontational competition on this future technology."

"If Hua Guo no longer participates, the ITER project, which is plagued by severe funding overruns, may not be able to continue. We can only hope that the United States will fulfill its commitments, and South Korea, which is second only to the European Union in funding, will be able to undertake more funding...But From a practical point of view, it's very difficult to do."

Reporter: "Are you not optimistic about the future of the ITER organization?"

Professor Steven: "It should be said that I have never been optimistic about it. It was a wrong decision from the beginning to shut down our JET facility in Oxfordshire to support the European ITER project. Look where they plan to build a demonstration reactor? The town of Cadarache near Marseille. As soon as I heard that they were planning to build that demonstration reactor in France, I knew it would probably end up being messed up. Sure enough, they haven’t even built a house yet.”

The reporter coughed dryly and asked, "Where do you think is more suitable?"

Steven said without thinking: "Of course it is England."

reporter:"……"

...

Washington, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

A certain president with a cool hairstyle slammed a newspaper on the desk, spitting and roaring.

"I want to know what the hell is going on! I wouldn't even know what was happening across the Pacific Ocean if it wasn't for someone on Twitter reminding me to get a newspaper!"

The newspaper that was dropped on the table was the latest issue of "Ren Ren Daily - Overseas Edition".

The headlines of the news are reporting the latest progress of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project.

Ironically, the first channel he learned of this news was not from his own intelligence network, but from his opponent's newspaper.

The bright red and eye-catching title was particularly dazzling in his eyes.

Between the lines, he felt the provocation from his opponent.

Standing across his desk are CIA Director Gina Haspel and Helms, the CIA's Intelligence Specialist for Controlled Fusion.

Gina, who folded her arms, coughed lightly, and said unhurriedly: "...Maybe, Mr. Helms can explain."

Hearing the woman call his name, Helms' shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

Gina Haspel.

If anyone in the entire CIA was the person he was least willing to provoke, it would undoubtedly be this old woman in her sixties.

In addition to the prisoner abuse scandal that gave her the notoriety of "Bloody Gina", he had heard more rumors about the name, and the word cruel.

When Trump nominated him as the director of the CIA, there was almost an uproar in the public opinion in the United States...

Taking a deep breath, Helms spoke quickly.

"...This matter is our negligence. We underestimated Huaguo's determination in controllable fusion research. They may go further than we imagined."

The president took a deep breath.

"If the demonstration reactor is built, I wonder how many years they are away from getting the technology."

"I don't know," a bitter expression appeared on Helms' face, "but at their speed, if this technology is really obtained, it probably won't take too long from the demonstration pile to commercialization..."

There was silence in the office.

Seeing that neither Mr. President nor Mrs. Director spoke, Helms carefully figured out the psychological activities of the two, coughed lightly, and said in a low voice.

"I think we have to value a person."

Haspel glanced at him: "Alone?"

"Yes," Helms swallowed, and nodded with difficulty, "I have studied the relevant information. Before he returned to China, although Huaguo had made some achievements in the research of tokamak, it was far from us. It is far from being a threat. And its research on stellarator is almost blank."

"However, since he returned to China, this situation has changed in less than a year..."