lerbook Chapter 854 Nuclear Energy Technology Available in 1941, Operation Malacca
Chapter 854 Nuclear Energy Technology Available in 1941, Operation Malacca
The office was quiet.
Jiang Wenjin sat upright, quietly waiting for Fang Wen's follow-up.
The energy problem that has plagued the nuclear research team for a long time is another hurdle in the purification of weapons-grade uranium. Only when the energy problem is overcome can other aspects be carried out.
Fang Wen stood by the window, gazing at the brightly lit physics laboratory building in the distance, his mind filled with countless pieces of information about mature nuclear power technologies from later generations.
He mentally compared them one by one, searching for reactor technologies suitable for the early nuclear industry system.
There are three conventional solutions.
The first type is the light water pile.
This is the most widely used nuclear power technology in later generations. It has a compact structure, high power density, and excellent power generation efficiency, and is widely used in civilian nuclear power plants and ship propulsion.
However, it has one hard hurdle that is currently completely unsolvable: fuel requirements.
Light water has a high neutron absorption cross section, which leads to the loss of a large number of neutrons, making it impossible to sustain the chain reaction of natural uranium. Its fuel must be artificially enriched low-enriched uranium, requiring a uranium-235 enrichment of 3% to 5%.
The problem with Mount Tai is that it currently lacks any large-scale isotope enrichment capabilities.
Currently, Taishan only possesses high chemical purity natural uranium refined from yellowcake, with uranium-235 abundance remaining at the natural level of 0.72%.
To build a reactor, we would first have to spend a huge amount of resources enriching low-enriched uranium, which is putting the cart before the horse and completely contradicts the current goals.
Fang Wen disagreed in his heart.
This path is blocked.
The second type is the heavy water reactor.
Heavy water has extremely low neutron loss, which is a significant advantage. It can directly burn natural uranium without prior enrichment, making it compatible with our current yellowcake refining process.
However, it has a fatal flaw that makes it unsuitable for Mount Tai.
That's heavy water.
The preparation of heavy water is very difficult, requiring large-scale electrolysis, distillation, and isotope separation in multiple stages in series. The equipment requirements are high, the energy consumption is enormous, and the process is extremely demanding.
Given Taishan's current industrial level, let alone mass-producing heavy water, it is difficult to stably prepare even laboratory-grade high-purity heavy water.
Heavy water reactors may seem to have fuel freedom, but in reality, they are hampered by core cooling and moderation materials. At this stage, Taishan is simply not qualified to touch this technological route.
Fang Wen then rejected this approach.
There is also a third type: the natural uranium graphite gas-cooled reactor.
(Image of a graphite gas-cooled reactor)
The British had studied this technology in 1951.
Jiang Wenjin's team also initially researched this area.
Furthermore, Fang Wen previously destroyed the Japanese army's graphite factory in Datong and stole a large amount of high-purity graphite.
It seemed as if some unseen thread was guiding Fang Wen down this path.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen turned around and said, "There is a technology that is very suitable for us now. It is called the natural uranium graphite gas-cooled reactor."
"A natural uranium graphite gas-cooled reactor?" Jiang Wenjin stood up abruptly. "General Manager, how much do you know about this technology?"
"I know more about it, let's talk about it slowly."
Fang Wen picked up the chalk and began writing on the blackboard.
"This technology consumes natural uranium as raw material. As we all know, even the highest purity natural uranium is 99.3% uranium-238, while the weapons-grade uranium-235 we need is only 0.7%. But this technology does not require uranium-235 to participate in the reaction; it only needs to increase the purity of the natural uranium ore to achieve nuclear power generation."
Fang Wen put down his pen and turned to look at Jiang Wenjin.
"Simply put, as long as we purify high-purity yellowcake, we can use it directly as fuel to generate electricity through this technology."
Jiang Wenjin was extremely excited: "General Manager, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me quickly."
Seeing his eagerness, Fang Wen smiled slightly, picked up the chalk and quickly wrote on the blackboard, rapidly spreading out clear technical framework lines.
"Our route uses chemically purified natural uranium."
Fang Wen pointed to the simplified core structure diagram on the blackboard and said in a deep voice:
“With our current production capacity, after refining yellowcake, we can produce uranium rods with a chemical purity of over 90%, as your previous reports have already confirmed. Its isotope ratio remains unchanged, still 0.72% U-235 and 99.28% U-238, but that's enough.”
Jiang Wenjin stared intently at the blackboard, her mind racing as she analyzed the situation.
"Its core structure consists of three parts."
Fang Wen held up three fingers.
"First, the moderator is high-purity graphite."
“Graphite has an extremely low neutron absorption cross section, so it hardly wastes any neutrons. The fast neutrons produced by the chain reaction are slowed down by passing through layers of graphite and become thermal neutrons, which are enough to continuously bombard the rare U-235 in natural uranium, steadily maintaining the chain reaction without breaking or going out.”
"Second, the coolant, either atmospheric air or carbon dioxide."
"The entire process operates at atmospheric pressure, requiring no high-pressure tanks or special pressure-resistant steel. Our existing ordinary carbon steel and cast iron equipment can be used to build a complete set of air supply, heat exchange, and circulation pipelines, with absolutely no industrial barriers."
"The heat generated by the reactor core reaction is carried away directly by the flowing air, and then used to heat water through a heat exchanger to produce steam, which drives a steam turbine and generator to generate electricity. The principle is no different from that of ordinary thermal power, the only difference is that the heat from nuclear fission is used instead of coal combustion."
Jiang Wenjin instantly understood the core advantage and couldn't help but say, "This means that we don't need to tackle any advanced materials or develop special equipment; everything is something that can be implemented within our existing industrial system!"
"Yes."
Fang Wen nodded and continued his explanation.
"Third, the control system is manually controllable and has a high safety tolerance rate."
"We use boron steel control rods to adjust the reaction power. If we insert them deeper, the neutron flux decreases and the power drops; if we pull them out a little, the reaction intensifies and the power increases. It doesn't matter if there's no complicated control system; it all depends on manual monitoring and adjustment. With the rigor of our researchers, it can operate stably."
“We cannot produce low-enriched uranium, nor do we have the resources to produce it on a large scale using the gaseous diffusion method. But the graphite gas-cooled reactor can generate electricity from what we can produce.”
Jiang Wenjin nodded, muttering to himself, "Yellowcake is refined into high-purity natural uranium rods, which are then filled into a graphite reactor core for nuclear fission to generate heat, which in turn generates electricity. This requires a startup neutron source, which can be made with polonium powder. The polonium needs to be collected from the slag we extract from yellowcake."
He felt a surge of heat throughout his body; the shackles that had been building up for months were finally shattered, and his eyes were filled with extreme exhilaration.
The biggest challenge plaguing the entire nuclear project team was the inescapable law of conservation of energy: to obtain matter with terrifying power, one would need to consume terrifying amounts of electricity.
All previous calculations showed that even if all the diesel generators and thermal power equipment at the northern Myanmar base were used, it would not be enough to support the gas diffusion purification method.
Cyclotrons use electromagnetic separation technology and require a large amount of electrical energy to operate.
Without electricity, even the best purification principles and the most advanced equipment are useless.
Now, Fang Wen has provided a perfect solution that is fully adapted to the current situation of the Taishan base and in line with the current level of industrial development.
"General Manager, its power generation capacity... is it sufficient to support the operation of the cyclotron?" Jiang Wenjin asked the most crucial question, suppressing his excitement. "More than enough."
Fang Wen recalled and gave an affirmative answer.
"Initially, we built a small experimental reactor with a thermal power of 15 megawatts and a stable output of 3 megawatts of industrial electricity. This is enough to support multiple cyclotrons working in rotation at the same time to achieve small-batch purification of weapons-grade uranium."
"In the future, we can expand the core size and add heat exchange units, and the power generation capacity can continue to increase, which is fully compatible with the subsequent expansion needs."
In addition, Fang Wen had a crucial addition, which was another discovery he made while searching for future memories.
"Moreover, this heap has a hidden value."
“When natural uranium is irradiated inside the reactor core for a long period of time, U-238 will be converted into plutonium-239. In other words, this reactor can not only generate electricity, but also produce weapons-grade plutonium as a byproduct.”
"Even if the uranium refining route encounters bottlenecks in the future, we will still be able to master plutonium bomb technology. With two backup plans, our nuclear research and development will definitely succeed."
These words completely shook Jiang Wenjin to her core.
One core serves two purposes: generating electricity and purifying the material, and producing new nuclear materials through irradiation.
This doesn't just solve the power problem; it paves two parallel and inevitable paths to victory for the entire nuclear weapons program!
Jiang Wenjin could no longer contain his excitement: "I immediately adjusted the research and development direction of the project team, suspended all ineffective pre-research work, and focused all our efforts on tackling the graphite gas-cooled reactor!"
With Fang Wen's finalized technical roadmap, the Taishan nuclear research team finally had a clear direction, like seeing the sun after the clouds had parted, completely breaking free from their previous aimless exploration.
Upon returning, Jiang Wenjin immediately convened a meeting of all members of the nuclear project team, halting all pre-research projects on the spot and directing all scientific researchers and resources to the intensive work on the natural uranium graphite gas-cooled reactor.
The experts on the team studied and analyzed day and night, relying on the complete technical framework provided by Fang Wen and combining their own experience to broaden their thinking.
They had already delved into the theory of graphite piles, but previously lacked a complete technical loop and a clear direction. Now, with clear principles and templates, their research and development progress is advancing by leaps and bounds.
In just three days, a complete construction plan for a small-scale experimental graphite gas-cooled reactor was developed and implemented.
Holding the thick proposal manual, Jiang Wenjin immediately went to Fang Wen to report and seek instructions.
Inside the office, Fang Wen read page by page.
The content is designed based on the framework he proposed.
The design drawings, including the core size, graphite arrangement, cooling air ducts, control mechanism and heat exchange system, were made and various parameters were provided.
“The plan is feasible, but I estimate that the data on the drawings may not be correct. We need to find and correct it in practice.” Fang Wen closed the drawings and immediately made the decision.
Jiang Wenjin's heart settled down, and he immediately asked for instructions: "General Manager, we have proposed a site for the experimental reactor in an uninhabited valley in the northeast of the base. It has already been purchased, and troops can be stationed there to guard it. The secrecy should be quite good."
Fang Wen, however, had a different idea. After several incidents involving Japanese spies, he believed that there should still be Japanese spies hiding in the base in northern Myanmar, but they were not in important positions, which was why the secrets had not been leaked.
However, with nuclear research experiments located at a base in northern Myanmar, it becomes much harder to keep them secret.
Moreover, this kind of experiment carries the risk of nuclear radiation leakage, and the entire base cannot be affected by radiation issues.
Therefore, Fang Wen replied, "The experiments are stored at a secret island base in the southern Indian Ocean."
That deserted island, far from the mainland, was originally a dedicated nuclear test site planned in advance by Fang Wen.
It will be used initially for small-scale experimental reactor research, and even if radiation leakage occurs during the trial operation, it will not affect the spread.
"Understood!" Jiang Wenjin instantly grasped the deeper meaning.
“I’ll cover your funding,” Fang Wen continued. “I’ll grant you a special budget of ten million US dollars. All materials, precision parts, and imported instruments needed for nuclear research and development will be given priority in approval, and Taishan Group will assist in the procurement.”
Ten million US dollars is a huge sum of money in this day and age, enough to support a major national project.
Jiang Wenjin was greatly encouraged and nodded solemnly: "Thank you, General Manager! With this budget as a guarantee, we are more confident that we can complete the construction of the experimental reactor and connect it to the grid for power generation within six months!"
From then on, the nuclear project team entered a state of full-speed tackling of key problems.
Large quantities of construction equipment, scientific research materials, high-purity graphite, and boron steel control components were continuously transported to the isolated island in the southern Indian Ocean via cargo ships from Taishan.
Meanwhile, the storage plant is also working overtime to refine high-purity yellowcake for use in manufacturing natural uranium fuel rods.
Meanwhile, at the research institute in northern Myanmar, Fang Wen personally took charge of tackling another core piece of equipment: the cyclotron ion accelerator.
The original cyclotron technology obtained from the United States was only a first-generation version, with high energy consumption, limited separation accuracy, and poor operational stability.
Based on the more mature and streamlined electromagnetic separation equipment template from later generations in his mind, Fang Wen optimized and modified the entire equipment.
He possesses the ability to perceive mechanical things and is aided by a secret artifact for controlling electricity, making him extremely talented in improving equipment.
Fine-tune the vacuum cavity structure, optimize the fan-shaped magnetic field arrangement, upgrade the ion ionization device, correct the ion beam flight trajectory, and improve the end target collection system.
After several days of refinement and adjustments, a brand-new, upgraded cyclotron ion accelerator was officially assembled.
On the day of the equipment trial operation test, the entire research institute's laboratory building was sealed off, and the factory was shut down for one hour to avoid affecting the test results.
With the power system operating at full capacity, the massive accelerator equipment roared to life.
The vacuum chamber rapidly evacuates air, and the internal magnetic field is steadily established.
The staff sent the pretreated radium raw material into the ionization device, where the metal atoms were instantly ionized into a beam of charged ions. Under the influence of the electric field, the ions were accelerated at high speed and rushed into the strong magnetic field region.
Fang Wen activated his supernatural power, penetrating the interior of the device from all angles to observe the flight trajectory, deflection radius, and separation state of ions from an extremely microscopic perspective.
He saw it clearly.
Lighter isotope ions have smaller deflection radii and fall precisely into the pre-collection tank;
Heavier ions have longer trajectories and fall into the rear target, resulting in a clear and perfect separation of the two types of ions, with no mixing, shifting, or loss throughout the process.
The enriched high-purity isotope materials achieved a separation precision far exceeding the measured data from the original American equipment.
"Success."
Fang Wen looked at the high-purity raw materials enriched inside the target, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.
The upgraded cyclotron fully meets the standards and has the capability to separate and enrich weapon-grade uranium isotopes.
Everything is ready now, except for a stable power supply.
Once the island graphite reactor is successfully connected to the grid for power generation, this accelerator can operate continuously around the clock, and the mass production of weapons-grade uranium will no longer be a problem.
Of course, from equipment development and power generation to nuclear fuel mass production, missile design, overall assembly, and nuclear explosion testing, there is still a long and rigorous road ahead, which cannot be rushed.
The current war situation and geopolitical situation of the Japanese army in Southeast Asia must also be taken into account.
The next morning.
Fang Wen, accompanied by his bodyguard Gong Xiuneng, flew to Yangon in a seaplane.
He will fly from Taishan Civil Aviation's Southeast Asian feeder route to Malacca, where he will first gather information from the British before deciding on his trip to Sarawak. (End of Chapter)