Behind the scenes technology company

Chapter 152 Explosion Accident
Luzhou, Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.During the time when the whole people celebrate the Spring Festival, the relevant personnel of the EAST project are still sticking to their jobs.Different from the holidays and rest cycles of ordinary people, for scientific researchers, the struggle for scientific research time can be described as a race against time.

EAST, "Eastern Super Ring", "Artificial Sun". EAST is spelled from the initials of the four words "Experimental", "Advanced", "Superconducting" and "Tokamak". Its Chinese meaning is "Advanced Experimental Superconducting Tokamak".

At the same time, EAST also means "Oriental", and it is also the world's first fully superconducting tokamak device designed and developed by Huaxia itself.Speaking of large scientific projects such as the EAST project, it is not new after several years of development, and it is also an important manifestation of China's scientific research strength.

The predecessor of the EAST project is the HT-7 superconducting tokamak, which is a medium-sized fusion research device that can generate long-pulse high-temperature plasma. It was successfully developed through international cooperation as early as 1994. Renamed to EAST.

The existence of the EAST project is to study the issue of controllable nuclear fusion, the ultimate proposition of human energy. The host part of the EAST device is 11 meters high, 8 meters in diameter, and weighs 400 tons. It is composed of six major components, including an ultra-high vacuum chamber, a longitudinal field coil, a poloidal field coil, an inner and outer cold shield, an outer vacuum Dewar, and a support system.

Its experimental operation requires large-scale low-temperature helium refrigeration, large-scale high-power pulse power supply and its circuit, large-scale superconductor testing, large-scale computer control and data acquisition and processing, megawatt-level low-clutter current drive and radio-frequency wave heating, large-scale ultra-high vacuum, And a variety of advanced diagnostic measurement and other system support.

Today, the EAST project has a history of 30 years, but the important change is still after the emergence of normal temperature superconducting materials.It is precisely because of the emergence of room temperature superconducting technology that the progress of controllable nuclear fusion research has been greatly advanced, and it is also one of the reasons for the explosion.

For controllable nuclear fusion, we have no way of knowing the way forward. Only through repeated experiments and explorations can we get the corresponding data and verification of conjectures.

On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, when people are still discussing new occupations and new tax laws, an urgent report has touched the hearts of the people across the country. It is slightly different from the previous international attention to domestic policy changes. This report will all All eyes and attention are focused on the territory of Huaxia Luzhou.

The spread of the news was much faster than imagined. The CCTV report immediately announced that "an urgent news was inserted. Just now, at 3:24 p.m., Kyoto time, an explosion occurred in the experiment of the Huaxia EAST project. It is not yet clear, the incident is under urgent investigation, please pay attention to safety.”

After the CCTV report, the local people breathed a sigh of relief.After all, loud noises resounding through the sky can be heard in many places in Luzhou.But just before this breath was swallowed, new worries arose. What kind of project EAST is is not unfamiliar to the people of China, but it is also not that familiar.

Everyone knew that this was a project related to nuclear testing, and in an instant, the resulting panic returned to the local people. The explosion of the EAST project experiment rushed to the headlines of the hot search on the Internet immediately, and panic and rumors spread on the Internet.

However, for the center of the explosion accident, the accident is not so terrible and dangerous. In the EAST control hall, the scientific researchers looked serious. After all, the economic loss caused by the explosion was not small, and the equipment of the tokamak was not cheap.

At the same time, the cause of the accident is also very simple, because the experimental temperature became uncontrollable in an instant, and the explosion caused the inner wall of the device to burn. The high temperature turned the entire device into a larger fireball. After contact with the air, an explosion occurred. It is equivalent to a small missile blowing up the building where the device is located, and the affected area is about 150 meters.

Fortunately, the EAST control center was not affected, and there were no casualties in the entire explosion.But as long as there are experiments related to nuclear technology, there is no small matter, and this is true for everyone on a global scale.The leader immediately received a report from the EAST staff. There were no casualties, the device was completely damaged, and the economic loss is being counted.

The notification of the cause of the accident requires everyone in the team to make a detailed explanation and sort out before drawing a conclusion.The official announced the progress of the incident as soon as possible. "The explosion was caused by the failure of the experiment. There were no casualties, and the specific economic losses are still being counted."

But netizens are often more impatient, for three reasons.First, nuclear power is no small matter.As long as it can be connected with nuclear technology, the sensitive nerves of the people are like clockwork stretched and taut strings.Atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs are the largest weapons of mass destruction; nuclear power plants are the most efficient energy sources. At the same time, the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear leaks are all vivid, and it is hard for people not to have more worries. Whether it is for your own safety or your own living environment.

Second, EAST, as an "artificial sun" in the country's official propaganda, has always been a positive and positive publicity image. It is also a manifestation of China's comprehensive national strength and scientific and technological strength, and it is also one of the research directions for the future development of mankind. At the same time, the country has always done a good job in controlling the safety of the project. Now that there have been safety accidents and explosions, the public's trust in the country has been shaken a little.

The reason for this wavering comes from the uneven cultural level of the majority of netizens and the unequal information. In fact, conspiracy theories, in the era of 2033, conspiracy theories also have their living space.No matter what kind of science popularization the country conducts, some people are still willing to believe in more conspiracy theories, and thus have doubts about the country.

The third and most important reason is that if you spread rumors, you will lose your legs if you refute them.Because nuclear testing is a cutting-edge experimental field, there is quite little content open to the outside world, and the official announcement is not yet detailed. The birth of rumors makes netizens even more panic. The more they are faced with natural and man-made disasters, the more rampant the rumors .

In fact, this is not the first time that the EAST experiment has failed, and at the same time, it is not that high in terms of danger. In addition to the huge economic loss, this explosion is like the process of demining on the road of scientific research. It is just a sound Louder.The specific story still has to start with the past and present of nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.

(End of this chapter)