"Callisto Base had a total population of 88,836. Aside from a small number of former foreign nationals, nearly all were of Huaxia descent. The male-to-female ratio was roughly 1 to 0.6."
Callisto Base had originally been Huaxia's space base, so it was hardly surprising that most of its residents were citizens of Huaxia. However, the gender ratio was indeed severely unbalanced.
There was nothing to be done about it. The major bases were all more or less the same.
Yue Yuan continued, "Because we reacted quickly, the base's starch-production equipment was preserved fairly well. If it operated as usual, it could produce around thirty tons of starch per day."
"Under normal circumstances, with some vegetables and meat supplied from outside, that would basically be enough to sustain life at the base. But now those supplies are gone. Vegetables can only come from the base's cultivation gardens, while meat is completely unavailable. Based on the Logistics Department's data, the base's meat reserves can sustain normal distribution for roughly two more months. But that isn't the biggest problem. After all, people won't immediately die without meat. The truly serious problem is that we lack energy."
As the most distant base, Callisto Base's equipment was indeed more comprehensive than that of the other bases. Still, it was not as if they had raised pigs or cattle there, so meat had basically all been transported from Earth.
The laboratories did have quite a few experimental animals such as white mice. But even if the mice could be processed into meat products and eaten, they still might not meet the needs of so many people.
Besides, they could not eat them all. Otherwise, the survivors would truly be cutting off their own path to survival. All kinds of medical experiments required them, unless they intended to jump straight into human experimentation. That was unrealistic.
Embryo cultivation was one possible path. Callisto Base had the equipment and technology for it, but energy remained a major problem.
Back when they were still on the surface, they could draw power from the Nuclear Power Plant on the ground and from various Solar Sail Power Generation systems. But now, all of that was gone.
"Beyond that, our reserves of Carbon Dioxide and water are also a major problem." Yue Yuan paused and looked at the scholars, doctors, and members of the Engineering Department and Logistics Department. "So now, I need a reasonable plan: a reasonable distribution plan, a reasonable energy-use plan, and possibly a way to resolve the energy shortage."
Yes, Yue Yuan had consistently been talking about energy.
With energy, Callisto Base basically would not need to worry about food.
Thanks to artificial starch synthesis technology, the mature industrialized technology for synthesizing starch artificially had largely solved the problem of food in space. As long as there was energy, Carbon Dioxide, and the necessary biological enzymes, starch could be produced continuously.
That was how the major bases had operated before. The cultivation gardens inside the bases were used to grow fruits, vegetables, and small amounts of wheat and rice, basically ensuring the cellulose and other trace elements needed by the human body.
Only meat could not be grown. It depended entirely on Mother Earth's supply.
Originally, apart from recycling the Carbon Dioxide exhaled by the population, Callisto Base obtained its Carbon Dioxide and water by directly extracting them from Callisto's ice layer.
Now that source was gone, the Carbon Dioxide produced through the base population's breathing cycle alone clearly could not meet the demands of industrial starch production.
"Two months is enough. In another month, the aftermath of the solar eruption will pass. Our engineering machinery has not suffered much damage, and one month will be enough for us to dig our way back to the surface," a doctor said.
"And after we return to the surface?" another person asked.
"Of course, we'll continue extracting resources from Callisto's ice layer. What's the problem?" the doctor replied.
The man sighed. "Who can say whether Callisto's surface even still has an ice layer?"
Those words made everyone think of the magma that had surged in.
That was right. The violent energy impact could very well have vaporized the ice layer and blown it all away. A celestial body with Callisto's mass could not retain an atmosphere.
Still, as long as they returned to the surface, with an entire planet like Callisto beneath them, there was still great hope. For now, the most important issue remained energy, whether they stayed underground or returned to the surface in the future.
"At the root of it, it's still an energy problem," Yue Yuan said. "The Energy Storage Station has reserves, but they can last for no more than one month. Optimistically speaking, we can dig our way back to the surface in a month. But we can't possibly build a power station the instant we return to the surface."
"Don't we have Nuclear Fission Batteries?" someone asked.
"Yes, we do, but their output is far too low. The nuclear batteries in the base's inventory can only support low-power equipment or small electrical devices. Heavy industrial equipment such as heavy-duty cranes, excavators, loaders, hammers, and pile drivers cannot run on them," Yue Yuan explained.
Nuclear batteries, also known as Atomic Energy batteries, worked by converting the heat generated by radioactive isotope decay into electricity.
This phenomenon was called the Seebeck Effect, also known as the First Thermoelectric Effect.
Nuclear Fission Batteries did not produce large quantities of nuclear waste like Nuclear Power Plants. They were considered harmless clean energy, though they were nonrenewable resources.
Nuclear battery technology had already matured by the end of the last century. With their long lifespan and lack of need for recharging, they had been widely used in all kinds of remote probes. A single nuclear battery could generally last for decades or even centuries.
But they also had a fatal flaw: their power output was far too low. To generate more electricity, their mass had to be increased, and excessive mass was undoubtedly a tremendous burden for any piece of equipment.
After all, they could not exactly install a battery weighing several or even more than ten tons in a transport vehicle.
Therefore, even after humanity had reached Jupiter's orbit and established bases, Nuclear Fission Batteries had not been used in large vehicles.
Of course, as mature technology had resolved the safety issue, Nuclear Fission Batteries were now widely used in some small devices. Mobile phones and tablets, for example, no longer needed charging. Many small appliances illuminated using light-emitting diode technology also used such batteries.
Therefore, Callisto Base did not need to worry much about power for lighting and small electrical appliances.
Accordingly, the energy issue Yue Yuan spoke of was not this kind of issue. He was referring to the electricity needed for large-scale heavy industry and large-scale production equipment for daily necessities.
Previously, these had been powered by the Nuclear Power Plant or Solar Sail Power Generation systems on Callisto's surface. Now, because of the great disaster, all of that was gone, creating the energy shortage.
At that moment, an expert rose and offered his opinion. "As for the energy problem, I believe we can consider connecting multiple Small-Scale Radiation Power Generation units in parallel. Our stockpile of nuclear fuel is enough to last until the power station is completed."
The moment those words were spoken, everyone fell into deep thought.
The basic principle was still similar to that of nuclear batteries, but this seemed to be the most feasible option currently available to Callisto Base.
The Nuclear Power Plant originally built on Callisto's surface had been destroyed. Meanwhile, due to heat dissipation, safety, and space constraints, they could not build a Nuclear Power Plant inside the base. This method was therefore the best way to solve the problem using existing resources.
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