Chapter 575: Controllable Nuclear Fusion

For a moment, it seemed as if time itself had stopped inside the conference room.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

No one even breathed.

Academician Chen's glasses slid down the bridge of his nose, yet he remained completely unaware. General Wang's teacup hung in mid-air, forgotten. Minister Zhang's mouth was slightly agape, yet he could not utter a sound. Everyone's brain seemed to have short-circuited, unable to process the information they had just heard.

Controlled nuclear fusion?

Stable net energy output?

An engineering timeline?

Combined together, these terms delivered a shock to everyone present that exceeded all imagination. They all understood what this meant—if it were true, it would fundamentally alter the global energy landscape and geopolitics.

Nuclear fission had brought strategic deterrence to Long Country, but nuclear fusion—that was the ultimate solution for human energy, the key to lighting up the stars and the sea, the ultimate power to change the world order!

Finally, Academician Chen broke the silence with a trembling voice: "Chief Engineer Li... are you joking?" He unconsciously took off his glasses and wiped them with his sleeve, as if that could help him understand the current situation more clearly, "Where... where would we have any 'Yanlong' project? Where is there any controlled nuclear fusion research?"

The others also regained their senses one after another, and a buzz of whispers rose in the conference room, with everyone trying to digest this information or confirm with colleagues around them that they hadn't misheard.

"Yes, how come I don't know about this project?" an Advanced engineer from the Military Industry Commission asked in confusion.

"Controlled nuclear fusion? Isn't that a technology that both the Star-Spangled Country and Beijixiong Guo are still at the laboratory stage with?" another scientist asked skeptically.

"It's absolutely impossible! The plasma stability problem of the Tokamak device remains unsolved to this day!" a physicist almost shouted.

Faced with these questions, Li Mingyuan did not respond immediately. He took a red envelope from his briefcase, printed with the words "Top Secret" and a peculiar Zhulong seal. He carefully opened the envelope, took out several photos and a thin report, and then placed them in the center of the conference table.

"This is the newly built underground laboratory in the northwest area of Penglai Dao, codenamed 'Zhulong'," Li Mingyuan said calmly. "Over the past eight months, we have conducted seventeen small-scale fusion experiments there. In the most recent one, we achieved a Q-value of approximately 1.2."

A Q-value greater than 1! This meant that the energy produced by the fusion reaction had already exceeded the input energy required to maintain the reaction—this was a fundamental milestone in nuclear fusion research, the key turning point from a laboratory toy to practical energy!

The scientists swarmed forward, vying to examine these photos and data. The photos showed a ring-shaped device, resembling a Tokamak but with obvious structural differences, the plasma in the center emitting a heart-stopping blue-white light. Another photo showed a special type of metal structure that looked like the inner wall material of a reactor.

"This... this is impossible!" a nuclear physicist cried out, pointing a trembling finger at the data report, "The stability problem of the Tokamak device is fundamentally unsolvable! Plasma confinement... first-wall material... ignition conditions..."

"It was indeed unsolvable in the past," Li Mingyuan said calmly, "but now, it is solved."

He pointed to the ring-shaped device in the photo: "This is not an ordinary Tokamak. We adopted a brand-new magnetic field topology, solving the fundamental problem of plasma instability. At the same time," he pointed to another photo, "this first-wall material adopts a special nanocomposite structure, capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and neutron irradiation without failing."

The scientists crowded together, carefully studying these photos and data; some exclaimed, some shook their heads, and some fell into deep thought.

Minister Zhang felt dizzy, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew Li Mingyuan too well and knew that this man never spoke empty words. If he said the "Yanlong" project existed, then it must exist; if he said a Q-value greater than 1 had been achieved, then it must have been achieved.

But the question was—how could this be?

Even if Li Mingyuan were a genius among geniuses, it would be impossible to achieve such a leap in technological breakthroughs within just a few years, starting from a country that had only just found its footing. Unless...

Minister Zhang dared not continue thinking. That absurd notion—that Li Mingyuan was not a person of this era—seemed more reasonable than ever at this moment. Only someone from the future could achieve a technological breakthrough like controlled nuclear fusion in the late fifties in Long Country, a feat that would have taken at least several decades to achieve on the original timeline.

General Wang sat in his seat, his face turning pale. He was not a scientist and did not understand those complex physical principles, but he knew what controlled nuclear fusion meant—endless clean energy, a revolutionary breakthrough in military affairs, an exponential increase in industrial productivity... If this were true, Long Country would leap to become the most powerful country in the world, bar none.

"Chief Engineer Li," General Wang spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse, "is... is this true? Have we really mastered controlled nuclear fusion technology?"

Li Mingyuan nodded: "Yes, although it is still in the early stages, the key technological breakthroughs have been achieved. A Q-value of 1.2 is just the beginning; our theoretical models indicate that after design optimization, the Q-value can be increased to over 5, which is sufficient to support commercial application."

"Why didn't we know?" an Advanced official suddenly questioned, "For such a major project, why was it not reported to the central authorities? Why was there no application for project initiation through formal channels?"

Li Mingyuan's expression became complex: "The security clearance for the 'Yanlong' project is extremely high, and it adopts a special management model. Project information is limited to the top leadership; even the specific staff members only know the parts they are responsible for and do not know the overall goal."

He looked at Minister Zhang, who instantly understood something—this was Li Mingyuan's personal plan, and it was very likely that only a very small number of top leaders were aware of it, and perhaps even they only knew part of the truth.

"But now, the time is ripe," Li Mingyuan continued, "we need to announce this breakthrough to the world, through the *Cangjie* journal, in the form of a formal academic paper."

"No, this is madness!" General Wang stood up abruptly, "Nuclear fusion technology is a hundred times more important than Long Chips and 'Kunpeng' combined! This is a true treasure of the nation; how can it be made public so easily?"

Others also expressed strong opposition, and the conference room fell into chaos once again. But this time, the opposition was different from before, carrying a near-fearful emotion—what they feared was no longer the risk of technology leakage, but the massive shift in the global landscape that such a disruptive technology might bring.

Li Mingyuan raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet: "Do you all think I would make the true core secrets public? Of course not."