The Step Was Too Big?

The entire Controlled Fusion Battery project was divided into thirteen subprojects, covering every component from the laser ignition system to the generator units. Six research institutions would be participating in the project.

With the successful example of the Pangu Fusion Reactor before him, Lu Zhou was still fairly confident about the project.

However, disagreements still arose during the discussion about the nuclear fuel for the Fusion Battery.

Stunned as he listened to Lu Zhou describe that insane plan, Bender Bauer opened and closed his mouth in astonishment. After a long while, he finally spoke in an incredulous tone.

"Are you sure you want to use helium-3 as fuel? The reaction cross section of helium-3 and deuterium is only one-tenth—or even one-hundredth—of that of the DT reaction. Igniting it will be dozens of times more difficult than igniting DT mixed fuel!"

Wang Zengguang, chief engineer and academician of the Nuclear Industry Group, was not the only one who held this opinion. He nodded as well.

"I also think going straight to helium-3 may be a little impractical. Although, as you said, it saves space and costs in the reactor core, in reality, those costs are merely being shifted to other components, such as the laser ignition or microwave ignition systems."

Academician Yu Jiannan, who was not very familiar with Lu Zhou, did not directly object. He merely expressed his opinion tactfully.

"Taking too big a step may not necessarily be a good thing."

Lu Zhou lightly tapped his index finger on the table and thought for a long time.

This was a matter of trade-offs.

If they chose a DT mixture as the fuel, the reactor core would have to carry a "liquid" lithium neutron-recovery system, lowering the volumetric energy density of the entire Fusion Battery. If they chose He-3/D as