Chapter 542: The News That Shocked the World

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The controllable nuclear fusion field had been action-packed for the entire year.

In the past, ITER would hold a press conference even for a tiny matter. However, this year, the amount of news overwhelmed the ITER spokesperson.

First was the plasma turbulence model, then it was the STAR one-hour magnetic confinement time, after that was the US representative questioning China at the ITER meeting, which resulted in China’s withdrawal from ITER.

Throughout the year, it was like everyone working in the controllable nuclear fusion field was riding a thrilling roller coaster.

The news that China had withdrawn from ITER was still trending when an article released by Everyone Daily once again shocked the international plasma physics and controllable nuclear fusion community.

The first day in October, which was a national holiday, China suddenly announced that the STAR-2 demonstration reactor would enter its next and final stage.

Which was, that the demonstration reactor would begin construction at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant.

Once this announcement was made, not only were the international plasma physics and controllable nuclear fusion community shocked, but it was like a magnitude 8 earthquake that shocked the entire world.

Demonstration reactor!

No one expected this to happen; it all came so suddenly.

The English media outlet BBC was first to report on this news.

Benderbauer, Chairman of the American Tri Alpha company, agreed to do an interview with BBC. He commented on this event.

“If China becomes the first country to commercialize fusion technology, then they will gain significant economic, geographical, and political advantages. Their presence in the Asia-Pacific region will also expand at an unimaginable speed.

“I’m not exaggerating at all when I say this. This new technology is completely different than anything we had in the past. To put it in simpler terms, it is the holy grail of the energy field, it can illuminate the dark future for mankind.

“Of course, even though the situation is severe, the competition has only just begun. We are confident we can surpass them. Of course, that is on the premise that Congress continues to invest in us…”

In addition to Benderbauer, the BBC reporter also contacted Professor Steven Cowley, who was also the dean of the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, former Director of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, and the former CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

During an interview, Professor Steven gave his opinion on China’s withdrawal.

“Even though ITER has been talking about kicking China out of the ITER international project, no one wanted to see it go down this way.”

Reporter: “Is there a difference?”

Steven Cowley looked into the BBC camera and said, “There definitely is a difference.

“In the beginning, China had the lowest amount of employees in ITER out of all of the countries. Now they are second only to the European Union. Not just that, but they were ranked third in all of the country members in terms of funding, and they were always able to meet their financial commitments…

“Because the withdrawal process was so abrupt, all of the Chinese employees were forced to evacuate. Less than one-fifth of them chose to stay. A lot of key projects have stagnated because of this.

“The reason they chose to quit is undoubtedly a counterattack to the US’ pressure on their STAR machine. The reason they were willing to do so was largely in part due to the success of their STAR machine.

“Every country has its own controllable fusion project and its own technologies. ITER isn’t the only ongoing controllable fusion project. ITER has also never asked any other countries to disclose their research that wasn’t related to the ITER project.

“What I have to say is that it is asinine to force China to leave ITER right now. Starting a competition for this future technology is also ridiculous.

“If China is no longer involved, then ITER, which is seriously under-funded, will no longer be able to continue. We can only hope that America fulfills its commitments and that South Korea and the European Union will be able to bear more funding… But looking at it practically, this is very difficult.”

Reporter: “Are you not optimistic about ITER’s future?”

Professor Steven: “Actually, I’ve never been optimistic. Shutting down our Joint European Torus in Oxfordshire to support the EU’s ITER program was the wrong decision from the beginning. Where are they planning to build a demonstration reactor? In Cadarache, near Marseille. The second I heard that they are planning to build the demonstration reactor in France, I knew this project was doomed. Sure enough, they haven’t even finished building the laboratory.”

Reporter coughed and said, “Which country do you think is a better choice?”

Steven didn’t even hesitate before saying, “Of course it’s the UK.”

Reporter: “…”

…

Washington, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

A president with a stylish haircut slammed the newspaper on his desk. His spit was flying all over the place.

“I want to know what is happening here! If it wasn’t for someone on Twitter reminding me to read the newspaper, I wouldn’t have even known what is happening in China!”

The newspaper he was talking about was the Everyone Daily – English edition.

The news headline was about the latest STAR-2 demonstration reactor project development.

The irony was that he didn’t first hear about this through his own intelligence channels. Instead, he read it in a Chinese newspaper.

The bright red eye-catching news title was painful to his eyes.

He could feel the provocation from China just through the newspaper alone.

Sitting next to him was CIA director Gina Haspel and the CIA controllable fusion intelligence commissioner Helms.

Gina had her arms crossed as she slowly said, “Maybe Mr. Helms can explain.”

When Helms heard the woman call his name, his shoulders couldn’t help but tremble.

Gina Haspel.

If there was one person in the CIA he didn’t want to piss off, then it undoubtedly was this sixty-year-old woman.

In addition to Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse rumor that gave her the name “Bloody Gina”, Helms had heard other rumors about Gina’s cruel doings.

When Trump appointed her as the CIA director, it set off an uproar in the United States…

Helms took a deep breath before he said, “This is our negligence. We underestimated the interest the Chinese have on controllable fusion. They might be more ahead than we think.”

Trump took a deep breath. “I want to know… After they finish building the demonstration reactor, how many years are they away from achieving this technology?”

“I don’t know.” Helms had a painful expression on his face as he said, “But at their speed, it shouldn’t take long for them to go from demonstration reactor to fusion commercialization…”

The office became silent.

Seeing that Mr. President and Ms. Director weren’t speaking, Helms carefully tried to defuse the situation. He coughed and muttered, “I think we should pay attention to one particular person.”

Haspel looked at him and said, “One person?”

“Yes.” Helms gulped and nodded. He then said, “I’ve done the research. Before he returned to China, even though China has made some achievements in the tokamak, they were far from catching up to us. They didn’t do any research on the stellarator.

“But after he returned to China, within a year, the situation changed drastically…”

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