Investor That Can See The Future

Chapter 347

Nikolai Sergeevich Petrov.

His father was a genius nuclear physicist who took the lead in developing nuclear weapons for the Soviet Union against the United States during the Cold War.

Prof. Petrov, like his father, followed the path of a nuclear physicist, but his work was completely different. Now the Cold War is over and the Soviet Union is disbanded. There is no longer a need to develop nuclear weapons that will no longer be used. But in the energy sector, nuclear power is still useful.

Except for radioactivity and nuclear waste, nuclear power is cheaper and more efficient than other power plants.

Professor Mohan said while drinking beer.

“Professor Petrov is developing a traveling wave reactor. We are a pioneer in that field.”

I just saw it through foreknowledge, but I just admired it as if I didn’t know it.

“Ah, traveling wave reactors… … i See.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“I don’t know much about liberal arts, but roughly.”

I remember seeing it in this paper and article recently.

Any skill will evolve over time. First built in the 1950s, nuclear power plants have evolved several times over the course of more than half a century.

The Traveling Wave Reactor is a next-generation nuclear power plant technology that dramatically improves the problems of current nuclear power plants.

Existing nuclear reactors require periodic replacement of nuclear fuel and maintenance of cooling systems to prevent meltdown.

Mistakes in this process can lead to terrible accidents. Most of the nuclear accidents that have occurred so far are due to human error, not natural disasters.

However, traveling wave reactors can operate uninterrupted for more than 50 years once refueled.

Since no human manipulation is involved, the chance of mistakes is significantly reduced. Because it is cooled with liquid metal rather than coolant, the reactor pressure is also lower than 100 times, so there is little possibility of explosion or core melting.

By burning more than 99 percent of the fuel bundle, radioactive waste is also reduced and the creation of nuclear weapons from waste fuel can be prevented.

If Prof. Petrov succeeds in the traveling wave reactor experiment, as predicted, the path to a safer and more efficient nuclear power plant will be opened.

How valuable is this technology?

Money is money, but until a new technology such as nuclear fusion energy is developed, it may be possible to dramatically improve the energy problem.

Either way, you’ll need to see Professor Petrov to get things going.

I asked gently.

“What are you meeting for?”

“It’s a meeting with friends. Professor Petrov had visited Caltech several times before. We’ve been interacting with each other since then, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other because we’re busy. By the way, Professor Petrov also said that he has some spare time, so I think I will take this opportunity to meet him.”

A nuclear physicist who develops nuclear power technology and a geologist who studies earthquakes.

I wonder if these two are related, but in reality they are closely related. This is because safety is the most important consideration in nuclear power technology. After the Fukushima nuclear accident, awareness of nuclear power plants increased, and seismic design was further strengthened.

What would people think if I suddenly made contact with a Russian nuclear physicist I had no connection with and offered to invest?

Of course you will be puzzled. However, if there is Professor Mohan in the middle, it is a different story. You can pursue a very natural encounter.

“Can I come with you?”

Professor Mohan looked surprised at my words.

“You too?”

“I have a little interest in that these days.”

“Are you talking about the reactor?”

Even if I didn’t say anything, Taek-gyu patted my shoulder and said, apparently noticing the situation.

“of course. We are paying great attention to the energy business these days. Let’s take this opportunity to visit Russia as well.”

After thinking for a moment, Professor Mohan nodded his head.

“Well, since we’re meeting in person anyway, it doesn’t really matter. I’ll have to talk to Professor Petrov first, though.”

“I’d like to ask you a favor.”

Ellie, who was having a conversation with Yuri at another seat, returned to our seat. She noticed that she had been drinking some alcohol, her face reddened and her eyes were slightly opened. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Where are you going?”

“Russia.”

“What happened?”

I briefly explained the situation.

Then Ellie spoke like a grumpy.

“what? I also wanted to go to Russia.”

“Then shall we go together?”

“Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

Ellie quickly ran to the table where Hyunjoo’s older sister was. She then returned as she drooped her shoulders after a while.

“Hey, Jessica won’t even dream.”

“… … .”

It’s very busy these days.

As I comfort her, Ellie narrows her eyes.

“Aren’t you going to visit Russian beauties?”

“Ugh!”

Ellie quickly turned into an angry expression.

“I’m really going to get mad at you.”

I burst out laughing.

“Hey, I can’t do that. Don’t worry, I won’t see another woman.”

“Really? You won’t turn your head when a very pretty Russian girl passes by next to you, right?”

“of course.”

If you don’t do it, the human heart makes you want to do it more. After I promise not to see you, I suddenly want to see you.

There are so many beauties in Russia.

Thinking so, I could feel Ellie staring at me with a cold gaze.

“I’ll ask Taek-gyu everything later.”

“… … .”

I’ll pretend I don’t see it as much as I can and take a peek at it. Or, did you put Oh Taek-gyu under a lockdown?

Taek-gyu said confidently from the side.

“Hey, that’s why you can’t have a lover. I’ll have to look at it openly.”

I said in a passing tone.

“We reach Min Ha-young, Yang Hana, and Princess Enrique.”

“… … Huh?”

* * *

After the meeting, he returned home.

Eli was drunk or not washed, and she fell asleep. In the meantime, I went to the living room and chatted quietly with Taek-gyu.

“You mean that Russian professor succeeds in conducting a traveling wave reactor experiment?”

“Huh.”

The proliferation of electric vehicles is inevitably linked to energy problems. If this problem is not solved, it may be unreasonable for electric vehicles to completely replace internal combustion engine vehicles. (So there was a talk at one time that hydrogen cars would become the mainstream).

Nikola’s founder, Allen Eberhart, invested in a solar power company called Solarland to solve this problem, and later merged it with Nikola.

Solar Land’s main product is the solar roof. The plan is to build a solar roof that can be installed on the roof of a house to charge electric vehicles and secure the energy needed at home.

There may be limitations in non-detached houses, but it is definitely a good idea.

I did some more research.

Nuclear power technology is not only related to energy, but also to nuclear weapons. Therefore, countries with nuclear reactors can develop nuclear weapons if they want to.

And to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, there are international regulations such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) turns on its eyes and monitors it.

However, this does not apply to the permanent members of the Security Council, which already possess nuclear weapons.

To use an analogy, large organizations armed with heavy weapons are restricting firearms in order to prevent neighborhood bastards from shooting.

It is meaningless to argue whether this is right or wrong. The international order, as it was before and now, is driven by the logic of power. And it is also true that doing this rather than developing nuclear weapons will help maintain world order.

Anyway, unlike other countries that are heavily regulated, the US, China and Russia are free to test nuclear weapons. Therefore, research on nuclear power technology has been actively conducted.

The United States is at the forefront in this field. In particular, in the case of mega power, it has come to the experimental stage for commercialization.

Although the United States is not particularly sanctioned by international organizations for its nuclear tests, the government’s regulations are severe. The fear of radiation is the same for Americans, so if you do an experiment in your own country, the public won’t like it either.

So Megapower was going to work with a Chinese company to test a nuclear reactor in China. However, before the experiment, a problem arose.

“What problem?”

“The U.S.-China trade war broke out.”

Nuclear-related technologies in any country have the highest security level. If joint experiments are conducted in China, there will be no law prohibiting Chinese companies from copying the technology.

For national security reasons, Ronald halted joint development with Chinese companies and nuclear reactor tests in China.

“what? Then it was because of you.”

“What… … It would have nothing to do with it.”

It has already been approved by the Chinese government. If the trade dispute had been delayed for just one month, it would have entered the experiment.

While the U.S. and China were working to develop a traveling wave reactor, Russia was not idle either.

I don’t know how it is compared to the US, but Russia’s nuclear power technology is also world class. First of all, it has a long history of technological development. It has been developing nuclear power since the Soviet era and took the lead in the commercialization and operation of nuclear power plants.

Traveling wave reactors are also known to have already been significantly developed. As experiments in the US and China have been suspended, it is a good opportunity for Russian researchers to outsmart their competitors. However, research in Russia has also been halted.

“why?”

“This is also because of the circumstances of adults.”

The current economic situation in Russia is difficult to say with empty words. The biggest problem is falling oil prices. Oil prices have risen due to the damage of Big One and the North Sea oil fields, but it is not comparable to the days of high oil prices.

The U.S. still excites shale oil and shale gas and sells them around the world, bringing down oil prices.

In 2014, the Crimean Peninsula conflict broke out. After Russia devoured Ukraine’s territory of Crimea, the Western world was subjected to strong economic sanctions.

As a result, the ruble plummeted and the economy suffered great difficulties. Moreover, the Crimean Peninsula crisis, which was hoped to be settled, has now spread to eastern Ukraine, causing frequent military clashes.

In this situation, the possibility of success is uncertain and the nuclear reactor experiment, which costs a lot of money, has been pushed back from the priority list.

“You might have expected that there would be technical difficulties with the U.S. and China halting the experiment.”

Thanks to you, we have a great opportunity.

Taehyung nodded his head.

“At this point, it’s time to do something with the brown bears.”

* * *

Professor Mohan canceled the plane ticket he had originally booked, and decided to travel together on our private plane after the Korean tour was over. Joining Professor Mohan and Carey, we flew straight to Russia.

Carrie is fine, she didn’t know what to do.

“It’s a private plane! Can I take a picture to show off to my friends?”

“of course. Take pictures as much as you like and show off as much as you want.

In Korea, the weather is slowly getting warmer, but Russia is still in the middle of winter. So I brought enough winter clothes.

Flight time to Moscow is about 9 hours.

While the plane was moving, I skimmed through Russian conversation books. Unlike English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, which are derived from Latin, Russia uses the Cyrillic script for the Slavic family.

Since the language system is completely different, reading and pronunciation is usually not difficult. In the end, I memorized a few greetings and closed the book.

Taek-gyu was muttering Tsubasiba for nothing.

When he arrived at the airport, an interpreter and security guard were waiting. Golden Gate, a global financial company, also has a presence in Russia and has dispatched English and Russian-speaking employees.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kang. This is Angelina Rudakova.”

She was a tall, white-skinned Slavic beauty with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Taek-gyu put his hand on my shoulder and said.

“Come to Ellie.”

“… … already?”

I haven’t even seen it properly yet!

We immediately got into the prepared car and headed to Moscow University.

The first Moscow University I visited was large and beautiful.

Taek-gyu said with admiration.

“I can feel the spirit of the Great Marshal of Steel. Oh oh! Comrade Stalin!”

“… … .”

This is not wrong. In fact, these buildings are called ‘Stalinian’, and there are seven of them in Moscow.

Professor Petrov was meeting outside the school. Professor Mohan, who had been reunited after a long time, greeted him warmly.

Looking at the photos, I thought he had a good physique, but when I met him, he was more than that. The height is over 190 centimeters. He was blonde and had a rough beard, and his broad shoulders and steel forearms seemed to be able to beat a bear with his bare hands.

Taek-gyu asked in a low voice.

“Do you have to build that much muscle to become a nuclear physicist?”

“… … No way.”

It’s not like you’re running around carrying fuel rods yourself.

Fortunately, Professor Petrov spoke English.

“I heard you were coming with me. Nice to meet you like this. This is Nikolai Petrov.”

“nice to meet you. This is Jinhoo Kang.”

We shook hands lightly.

“Let’s go inside.”

* * *

It soon became known that Kang Jin-hoo had gone to Russia with Professor Mohan. This is his first trip to Russia.

He moved not only the head of OTK Company, but also the vice president. Naturally, attention is drawn to the purpose of his visit.

The Kremlin, where the Russian President’s office is located, closely watched Kang Jin-hoo’s movements. President Vysotsky received frequent reports.

“I am currently moving to Moscow University. We will arrive in 30 minutes to meet with Professor Petrov.”

For what purpose did you come here? Are you trying to look around the situation in Russia with the excuse of accompanying Professor Mohan?

He is recognized as the richest man in the world. He owns companies that have the technology to move the global economy, not just the money.

It is also an old saying that Russia was the leader of the communist federation. Now, wealthy capitalists are welcome with open arms.

With tensions rising with NATO allies and groaning from Western sanctions, if OTK Company invests in Russia, the economy will be refreshed.

President Vysotsky gave the order.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen, so let’s cancel everything except for important events.”