Chapter 1013 - Active Protection Mechanism

1013 Active Protection Mechanism

The entire conference room went silent.

No problems with the nuclear core, nor the power plant...

But the problem was with the external power grid?

Lermontov chuckled.

“So, you’re saying, there’s no problem with the battery, nor the battery case, but the problem is with the Russian power system? You’re saying we can’t handle nuclear fusion power? What a joke.”

Lu Zhou said, “Do I sound like I’m joking?”

Lermontov impolitely said, “Academician Lu Zhou, I know you are an excellent mathematician. There are hundreds or even thousands of scholars in St. Petersburg waiting for your report at ICM. But, I have to say, you’re a layman in the area of electricity.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “That’s true, I don’t know anything about the Russian power grid system, but I have enough data to support my claim.”

Lermontov didn’t say anything, he continued to sit there with his arms folded, waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Not just Lermontov, everyone in the conference room, including Academician Wang, was waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

“When we designed the nuclear core, we added many preventative safety measures. For example, the active shutdown mechanism on the core catcher, the temperature detection device on the heat dissipation system. These mechanisms can stop the ongoing nuclear reaction under special circumstances.”

Lermontov snorted.

“Like what?”

Lu Zhou: “Like, when the external power grid cannot handle the electrical energy generated by nuclear fusion.”

“That’s not the problem,” Minister Novak said. “We have adjusted the output of thermal power facilities in preparation for today’s ignition. Once the core is ignited, we will immediately reduce the output of a large thermal power station nearby. When the nuclear core output reaches 10%, we will shut down St. Petersburg nuclear power plants 1 and 2... We have a comprehensive plan to adjust our energy structure.”

Lu Zhou: “But have you thought about another possibility?”

Minister Novak said, “Like what?”

“Normally, unless the automatic generation control system is triggered, a little bit of electricity could easily enter the St. Petersburg power grid, but now...” Lu Zhou looked at Novak and said, “Your power grid is unable to accept even the tiniest bit of electricity from Helios.”

Lermontov said, “How is that possible? Are you mocking our energy experts? You’re saying our infrastructure is a joke?”

“You can interpret it however you want.” Lu Zhou shrugged and said emotionlessly, “The fact of the matter is, your energy management system... the EMS, has serious compatibility issues with the Helios fusion power station.

“I’m not sure if it’s a system error or a human error, basically, the electrical energy produced from the nuclear core is unable to enter the power grid. This triggered our nuclear core active protection mechanism. After looking at the plasma turbulence data, I am certain that this is the root of the problem.

“If it weren’t for this active protection mechanism, we would have been in a lot more trouble.”

Hundreds of millions of degree plasma melting through the nuclear core was quite dangerous.

Especially for people standing inside the power plant...

When Minister Novak heard this, his face turned blue.

Lermontov didn’t look well either, he was obviously shocked by the thought of a nuclear accident. God forbid another Chernobyl accident happening again.

However, he still couldn’t believe Lu Zhou was able to make inferences from the plasma turbulence data in such a short time frame.

It seemed like Lu Zhou was abusing his academic reputation.

Lermontov said, “... Stop trying to scare me, we all know you’re lying—”

“Mr. Lermontov.”

Lermontov was a little stunned to hear Lu Zhou mention his name. He frowned and replied, “What?”

Lu Zhou said in a serious manner, “Let me ask you this, do you really want this problem to be solved?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lermontov was a little flustered, but he quickly calmed down and said, “This project is worth tens of billions, and I am the person in charge of Rosatom’s participation in this project. Why wouldn’t I want this to work?!”

“Okay.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Minister Novak. “Go find some engineers to see if I’m correct, I’m sure it will be easy.”

Minister Novak nodded.

“Sure thing.”

Lu Zhou stood up and stared at Lermontov. He tapped his finger on the inch-thick stack of plasma turbulence data.

“You have no idea how many of these I’ve read.

“I already told you where the problem is. If you want this to be resolved, listen to me.

“If you just want an accident appraisal, I can calculate one for you, but I’m not sure you’ll understand my calculations.”

“You little sh*t!”

Lermontov furiously stood up, but under the gaze of Maksim, he decided to sit back down.

Normally, Lermontov would have started a fight.

But for the safety of everyone, he decided against it.

...

The fusion ignition ceremony was forced to put on hold.

Per Lu Zhou’s advice, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation had sent people to contact the Unified Energy System of Russia, starting an investigation on the power grid.

And for whether or not the problem really was with the power grid...

Lu Zhou was 95% certain that he was correct.

However, if he had to write down his analysis and prove his speculation using a mathematical model, it would take him at least a week.

Instead of wasting a week’s time, it would be better to investigate the power grid first.

After leaving the nuclear power plant, Lu Zhou didn’t return to his hotel. Instead, he found a Chinese restaurant and ate some food with Academician Wang.

They began to talk about what just happened. Academician Wang sighed and spoke emotionally.

“Honestly, this is strange. Looking at Lermontov’s attitude, I think Rosatom is behind all this.”

Lu Zhou put down his chopsticks and looked at Academician Wang.

“But how would this help them?”

Even though he wasn’t an expert in business, he still knew a little about corporation operations.

This kind of large-scale investment into public utility projects often included many bank loans, even one day of delay could mean millions in losses.

Wang Zengguang explained patiently.

“This is a multi-billion dollar project. There are bank loans and insurance involved. If there’s a problem with the nuclear core, not only can they apply for compensation from the insurance company, they can also pressure us to provide them with full technical details of the nuclear core. After all, without a third-party testing organization, it is our word against theirs.”

Basically, the China National Nuclear Corporation and East Asia Energy were like the retail giants of the nuclear industry—they had a total monopoly on the industry. Now that the Russians wanted to open a retail franchise, everything about the store was stored by the Chinese.

Because China had control over the nuclear core, the Russians had to make many compromises.

However, the Russians also had limits.

One of their biggest concerns was safety.

Especially since the Russians didn’t have the best track record for nuclear accidents.

Of course, having no accidents would be ideal. Both parties would benefit from clean energy.

However, now there was a serious problem with the reactor.

If the nuclear core couldn’t be ignited, the Russians didn’t have the technology to inspect the nuclear core. It was totally up to East Asia Energy to inspect the nuclear core.

Therefore, this was the perfect opportunity for Rosatom to pressure China into giving them nuclear core diagnosis technologies.

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Did the Russian authorities made them do this?”

“Unlikely, but even if the Russian authorities didn’t condone this, they would be on Rosatom’s side. After all, Rosatom is a huge player in the nuclear power field, and the Russian government wouldn’t turn on their own people.”

Academician Wang Zengguang sighed and said, “I didn’t expect this at all. I mean, we have a good relationship with the Russians, imagine if this happened in America.”

If something like this happened in America, the relationship between the Chinese and Americans would become irreparable.

However, this was also a good lesson for East Asia Energy, which had just begun expanding overseas.

Even China’s allies couldn’t be fully trusted. For small Southeast Asian countries, they were glad to be supported by a superpower, but giants like Russia much preferred to take a piece themselves.

Next time, they would have to include the connected grid system as one of their inspection criteria.

Of course, that would involve national security issues and disclosure issues, so the other party might not want to cooperate.

But even then, it would be better than having a failed nuclear power station.

Academician Wang downed a shot with Lu Zhou and spoke sincerely.

“Thanks for helping today.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “No worries, I’m still a shareholder of East Asia Energy.”

“Oh, I see how it is, this meal’s on you then!”

Academician Wang smiled and spoke in a more serious tone.

“I’ll contact our people, ask them what we should do.

“Regardless of whether the problem is with the power grid, we cannot give them any inspection technologies. We have a decade lead in terms of fusion energy, we cannot give that up.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Is there anything I can help with?”

“No, you’ve done a lot already.” Academician Wang Zengguang smiled and said, “You should focus your energy on the International Congress of Mathematicians.

“As for the fusion ignition, we’ll handle it!”