I am devoted to scientific research, but you want to trick me into having a love relationship?

Chapter 752 We need to give the Xia people some strength.

University of Seville, Spain.

The SMART device, led by the Laboratory for Plasma Science and Fusion Technology, is located here.

A key feature of the SMART device is its negative triangular plasma cross section, which significantly reduces the risk of edge localized modes (ELMs) and improves plasma stability.

The world's first negative triangular plasma tokamak.

Inside the office.

The project's lead engineer, Carton Sack, was looking down at the data submitted by the magnetic confinement team.

"If all goes well, the first ignition can be carried out as planned before February 2022."

Carton Sack squinted. The ignition time was brought forward by two years, thanks to Xia Guo's superconducting thin film, which solved their problem with superconducting magnets.

Boom~boom~
An old man with white hair knocked on the door and came in.

"Hey, Mr. Doncic, it seems last night's party didn't go well."

Sack looked at his old friend's face and teased him with a smile.

"I much prefer enjoying a glass of whiskey at home by myself to boring bureaucratic gatherings."

"Unfortunately, our research funding is in the hands of politicians."

Nuclear physicist Guelph Doncic sat down and handed me a tablet. “However, now is not the time to criticize those people. You should watch this news.”

Sack took it with a puzzled look, as if he had seen something terrible. His eyes widened, and he exclaimed incredulously, "Oh my God, this is impossible!"

"In fact, the moment I saw this news, I only had one thought: Impossible!"

Doncic handed the latest issue of Nature to Sack.

The cover features a unique shape of negative triangular plasma rendered in 3D.

1000-Second Fusion at 100 Million℃ via Negative-Triangularity Spherical Tokamak

Inside the office, the two fell silent.

SMART currently only achieves plasma generation, making it seem like a toy compared to Xia Guo's Q1-NTST.

"Alright, it seems we'll have to make a trip to Xia Kingdom."

Sack said helplessly.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the field of controlled nuclear fusion was also shaken.

NIF Device Research Center.

Energy Department Commissioner Marco and Professor Maxwell are having afternoon tea.

"Reaching the international pinnacle in just one year is a speed that is simply impossible for human beings to achieve, until I saw the relevant paper in Nature."

Professor Maxwell looked on with admiration: "Q1-NTST incorporates many amazing and ingenious ideas. I think it is enough to be called a 'quantum leap' in the history of fusion energy."

"The United States still has an advantage in technology, but there is no doubt that China has caught up."

Marco nodded.

Next month, the national ignition device will conduct a stable operation test of net energy gain, with a target of 60 seconds.

If successful, the construction of the demonstration reactor can proceed.

This will be an unprecedented improvement.

"The committee is drafting a proposal."

"draft?"

"Yes, as mentioned earlier, our adversaries are rising at a terrifying pace."

Marco stated, "The committee has decided to unite with its allies to impose a more comprehensive blockade on Xia in the field of controlled nuclear fusion."

"But there are still transactions between Europe and China on superconducting thin films."

Professor Maxwell frowned.

"Don't forget, we also have superconducting thin films, and their performance is no worse than that of the Chinese. The committee has already sent an expert group to lobby Europe to use American products."

“We will offer a price much lower than that of Xia Kingdom,” Marco said confidently.

Their Export-Import Bank (EXIM) may offer low-interest loans to reduce European procurement costs, while also being willing to cover some of the default costs for Europe.

Overall, Europe will not be affected much.

"What's the reason?"

Professor Maxwell was curious.

"We intend to use the pretext of 'technology security review' to demand that Europe exclude Xia's technology. As you've seen, this is a very effective method."

"But this is not a good thing for the academic field."

Professor Maxwell frowned.

Xia Guo is already in a leading position in many aspects, with four exchanges related to controlled nuclear fusion at Princeton alone.

As for allies.

Japan, South Korea, and the European Union all have related exchange activities.

"Competition has always been brutal."

Starting on May 28th, Professor Xiao Chenghan and his visiting team came to the institute. As a sister institution, Xu Qingzhou and his team did not hold back and showed everything they could.

The two sides further exchanged data.

Spherical tokamaks and traditional tokamaks like the EAST tokamak are different after all, and Xu Qingzhou is quite interested in some of the technologies of the EAST tokamak.

Spherical tokamaks have an advantage in cost control due to their compact structure and high specific pressure characteristics, making them suitable for distributed clean energy, such as urban power supply. However, traditional tokamaks still have the advantage in large power plants.

Xu Qingzhou's goal is certainly not limited to small-scale devices; the demonstration reactor to be built in the future must be able to meet the needs of large-scale power generation.

Saturday afternoon, Xishan No. 1 Courtyard.

A Geely SUV was parked at the entrance.

Guo Ziyang got out of the car, looked around, and sighed, "Damn, it seems like my car has lowered the overall price level of cars in this neighborhood."

In April, the two finally bought a car worth 150,000 yuan for commuting, and the studio got back on track. Having a car was definitely much more convenient.

I came here specifically to take a look, and the entire neighborhood was lined with luxury cars.

Their car, worth around 100,000 yuan, seemed out of place.

"As long as it can get me around, that's fine."

Xu Qingzhou smiled faintly. The cars he and Song Yao owned together didn't even cost more than a million yuan, making them seem somewhat outdated compared to the other cars in Xishan No. 1 Courtyard.

We usually eat stir-fries, so for dinner we naturally choose hot pot.

The four of us had a meal in Chengdu during the Chinese New Year, and that's how it's been since then.

With half an hour to spare before grocery shopping, everyone decided to chat in the living room.

"Second Meow~"

Ding Jiahui originally wanted to pet the cat, but Er Miao flicked its tail a few times. She was about to go upstairs to sleep when this two-legged creature grabbed her and started petting her.

But it still couldn't escape Song Yao's clutches, "It sleeps all day long."

Ding Jiahui poked the tabby cat a few times, and seeing the second cat's round eyes looking at her, she thought it was even cuter. She took it from Song Yao and said, "My cat is the same. Cat masters are not easy to take care of."

The two girls were discussing their experiences raising cats when Xu Qingzhou looked at Guo Ziyang beside her and asked, "When are you two going to start a company?"

It's been a few months since I last saw Guo Ziyang, and he's lost even more weight. He must be really busy.

"August."

Guo Ziyang, munching on an apple, said, "This project can still be done for about two more months. We plan to take a trip around China after that, and then we'll talk about it again when we get back."

How many people are you planning to recruit?

"About 15. We're a small company, not like large research institutes like yours. We're steady and progressive, and we've managed to establish ourselves in Kyoto."

(End of this chapter)