Great Power Technology

After a night's rest, Ye Zhou re-entered the simulator. This time he did not enter the plot simulation. Instead, he opened the playback of the last simulation and began to check the surveillance video frame by frame.

According to his previous judgment, the two groups of engineers who appeared alone in the reactor workshop were the most suspicious, because according to the rules and regulations of this base, in order to rule out malicious sabotage or leaks, the minimum number of people who can enter the core confidentiality area is two people.

However, when Ye Zhou watched the entire surveillance video without any blind spots, he still found no clues.

The first group of engineers were Jinwu's structural mechanics engineers. They went to the reactor workshop to confirm the weight and operating vibration data of the reactor for the last time, so as to match the fuselage structure they were responsible for and prepare for the subsequent installation of the reactor.

Their process of collecting data is very standardized, and from the monitoring, it can be seen that each of them is wearing a portable recorder. The running indicator light on it is always on, and everything they do is completely normal from beginning to end—— They didn't even get close to the reactor, they just collected data from the data collection terminal on the side.

As for the second group, their purpose was even simpler. They simply visited the reactor workshop after obtaining multiple layers of approvals and reviews.

One of them is a senior aviation expert in China, but has never worked on a nuclear-powered engine, so out of curiosity, he wanted to take a final look at the engine before it goes on board; while the other is a senior security personnel of the base security department. The eighteen generations of family members have been strictly scrutinized, and there are other restrictive measures that are inconvenient to mention, so there is basically no possibility of rebellion.

This speculation has almost come to an end here. The cause of the reactor explosion should not have occurred in one day.

But why?

Ye Zhou's head was spinning.

He went back to the first second of the replay and spent two hours watching the entire replay in slow motion, focusing on the last ten minutes before the explosion.

Likewise, he didn't notice anything unusual.

The reactor just stayed there quietly, then there was a flash of blue light, and suddenly it exploded without warning.

Wait, Blu-ray.

Ye Zhou's talent as a planner was suddenly triggered, and he realized that he had been ignoring this blind spot.

He had always subconsciously believed that the blue light before the explosion was Cherenkov radiation in the nuclear reaction, which was a normal phenomenon of nuclear explosions.

But now that I think about it, I realize that everything is so unreasonable.

Where did the Cherenkov radiation come from in the nuclear explosion of the criticality accident?

This radiation effect can only occur in liquids!

The blue glow in critical accidents is the spectrum emitted by ionized excited atoms or molecules in the air when they return to the non-excited state, mainly produced by oxygen and nitrogen.

Electric sparks will be generated in the air, and even light blue lightning will form.

The blue light produced by so-called Cherenkov radiation is very similar in color to the blue light emitted by ionized air, but this is just a coincidence, and their formation principles are very different.

Therefore, there is only one other explanation for this blue light, that is, there is indeed something wrong with the reactor, and the emergency safety system has intervened.

When the test data was all normal, something went wrong with the reactor?

Unless the system has been tampered with and a backdoor can be left.

For safety reasons, this reactor was only delivered to the base one month before the simulation took place. At that time, the reactor had completed its first loading and had completed the start-up experiment. It could be used as long as it was put on the machine.

This operation is to maximize the safety of the base and shorten the contact time between base personnel and the nuclear reactor. This is originally a very humane consideration, but at the same time, it also brings new risks.

Whether it is the Jinwu Base or the Nuclear Energy Research Institute that produces nuclear reactors, they are the most confidential places in the country, but the journey from the research institute to the Jinwu Base cannot be completely safe!

According to Ye Zhou's fused memory, the reactor's transportation went through three stages of transportation: road, railway, and then highway. The confidentiality and security of any one of these environments were far lower than those inside the base.

What if someone made a move at this time?

For a nuclear reactor to explode without any problems occurring during testing, there is only one explanation, and the key point is inside the reactor.

The reactor must be opened and the core must be fully inspected!

He had opened the upper cover of the reactor before and confirmed that there was no problem with the control rod group. Then the only two key points that might have problems were the rod group material and the solution material.

45 minutes is not enough time to open the reactor, find out the internal faults, and eliminate the faults.

But, give it a try anyway.

Ye Zhou exited the playback, reset the mental programming model based on the experience of the previous simulation, and then immediately entered the simulation.

He ran all the way, applied emergency command authority, and declared the base to be in a state of emergency. The pre-process was almost the same, but this time, he did not go to the disaster control office, but went straight to the reactor workshop.

"Disaster control, please immediately mobilize all nuclear physics engineers present to the reactor workshop. I will dismantle the reactor in the shortest possible time, and all other irrelevant personnel will evacuate immediately!"

Ye Zhou decisively issued the order. The temporary commander of the disaster control office hesitated for a moment and finally agreed to his request.

Such an order does not violate the basic principle of "maximizing personnel safety", nor does it exceed the authority of emergency command authority.

With a countdown of 38 minutes, Ye Zhou arrived at the reactor workshop. The nuclear physics engineers who arrived earlier than him had all put on protective clothing and were beginning to dismantle the external structure of the reactor.

This step has not touched the core reactor yet, so the risk is not high. It only took less than 6 minutes to dismantle all the external structures and expose the reactor to everyone.

This reactor is a miniaturized thorium-based molten salt reactor and belongs to the fourth generation reactor. In addition to the safety structure of the reactor, the chain reaction realized by breeder nuclear reaction technology is also much safer than the direct use of uranium and plutonium, but it is relatively , its structure is also more complex.

After the reactor was exposed, all the engineers present looked at Ye Zhou in confusion. None of them knew what Ye Zhou was going to do next.

Is it possible that even the reactor filled with molten salt liquid needs to be dismantled?

In that case, the nuclear fuel will be directly exposed to the air, and everyone will be exposed to a huge amount of nuclear radiation, and this radiation is absolutely fatal!

Ye Zhou took a deep breath and then said:

"Take out a control rod and send it to the materials laboratory for spectral analysis to determine the material composition!"

"Extract the boric acid filling solution and send it to the chemical laboratory for analysis of its components!"

"Also, open the emergency storage tank from below and check the condition of the freeze plug!"

Everyone was startled by Ye Zhou's words. Even in a state of emergency, the danger of these three orders seemed too high.

Extracting the control rods and boric acid filling fluid is fine, but opening the emergency storage tank?

This is the last line of defense for the reactor. If something goes wrong with the reactor core, the high temperature generated by the reaction will burn the freezing plug, and all the molten salt liquid carrying the nuclear fuel will flow into the emergency storage tank below to avoid fast neutron radiation. This forcibly stops the fission reaction.

If the emergency storage tank is opened, it means they have lost their last resort.

"Ye Gong. Is this too risky?"

Ye Zhou did not answer, but said firmly:

"dismantle!"

After the words fell, several engineers gritted their teeth, took out the high-temperature cutting machine from the tool box on the side, walked to the reactor, and quickly cut a small opening in the emergency storage tank.

It is impossible for them to resist orders, but at least they can be relatively safe.

Cutting just a small opening and using a probe to check the condition of the freeze plug will keep your emergency storage tank at least 80% functional.

The time counted down to 15 minutes, and the probe penetrated deep into the storage tank.

The picture was transmitted to the large inspection screen in the workshop through the probe. With an exclamation, everyone's expressions turned cold.

"Fuck! The freezing plug has been replaced!"