Chapter 38 Nuclear Test

"Professor Ding, how long do you think it will take to complete?" Yu Yifeng asked. He had a lot of work to do and the task was heavy. He couldn't wait here endlessly, although he was also very curious.

"It's hard to say. At this rate, it will probably take another five or six hours." Professor Ding Yidong said. "After that, we have to package the nuclear bomb and the rocket. We are not professional in this work, so we will leave it to other laboratories. Finally, we have to conduct ultrasonic testing. In total, it will probably take two or three days."

Yu Yifeng was thoughtful. He picked up the design of the nuclear bomb and studied it carefully for a while. There was a lot of data and various images recorded in it, which was as thick as a book. With his existing knowledge level, he could only barely take a look and could not make any effective suggestions.

"Professor, you made it too sophisticated, didn't you? Things that are too sophisticated are often not very reliable..."

"Alas, Captain Yu, you have to know that the smaller the nuclear bomb, the more difficult it is. A large nuclear bomb is simpler..."

Professor Ding Yidong smiled bitterly, "Time is limited, resources are limited, I made that 20-nanometer iron sheet paper because I had to. If I build a large nuclear bomb and have enough funds, it will not be this structure."

Yu Yifeng nodded, "By the way, if the helium-3 nuclear bomb is completed and needs nuclear testing, it will still need to go through some procedures. You know this, right? Uh... Anyway, there will be no problem on my side, and I will definitely approve it."

For these highly destructive and high-risk weapons, certain safety procedures are still taken.

"Okay, I know this." Ding Yidong nodded, "I will type up the report tomorrow." Halfway through his words, he hesitated for a moment and slowly said, "Captain Yu, if the explosion is successful, then my advancement plan..." He didn't say anything else, staring at Yu Yifeng with expectation.

Yu Yifeng couldn't help but think of his "Gigaton Helium-3 Nuclear Bomb Propulsion Plan", and he muttered in his heart, alas, this plan, how to say, too crazy... He thought of the current progress of various projects, and finally made up his mind.

"If the test is successful, we will definitely consider your plan again!"

"Then it's a deal!" Professor Ding said excitedly, "I have prepared that plan a long time ago, and I have revised it several times to ensure that it is foolproof!"

When he walked out of the laboratory, Yu Yifeng's mood was complicated. Although today's party was very effective and generally successful, there was still one thing that weighed on his heart like a mountain.

That is-the engineering project of the Noah Plan did not meet expectations.

Half of the time has passed, and more than one hundred projects, only half of them have met expectations, and the other half have not... It's not that people are lazy, nor that people don't work hard, but that there is a lack of energy!

Because of time, people can't build more nuclear power plants. The current power equipment is running at full capacity almost every moment, but it's still not enough.

Industrial production requires a huge amount of electricity, especially the smelting of non-ferrous metals, which requires a lot of energy.

Generally speaking, iron ore (Fe) and copper ore (Cu) are weaker in reducing power than carbon. As long as they are burned together with carbon (C), they can be reduced to metal elements. On Earth, they are basically produced with coal.

But there are no such things on the moon. Only electrolysis can be used, and the energy consumption is too great.

Yu Yifeng has a headache. Without copper, there can be no cables, and without iron, there can be no steel bars. Therefore, the construction of the interior of the spacecraft is seriously lagging behind. Many ores are piled up like mountains, but there is not enough electricity to produce. It is said that a good cook cannot cook without rice, but even if there is rice, there is no firewood.

From today's report, the construction of various large-scale life support systems has just begun. It is too busy... If the spacecraft is launched, but the things are not built, then everyone's survival will not be guaranteed.

Therefore, a batch of energy must be moved from somewhere! Whether it is a little deduction or a little saving, energy is the first key, which is a mountain weighing on his heart.

Yu Yifeng and Yuriko walked one after the other, thinking about this.

Although the agricultural transformation plan was successfully completed and a large amount of energy could be freed up, which is a good thing, this batch of energy is expected and has been written into the plan. Many new projects need to use this batch of energy.

Therefore, a batch of unexpected energy must be found to speed up the progress of the project.

So, where to find it?

Either, dismantle the original base and turn it upside down to obtain a large amount of metal materials. However, this project is also very large and must be done at the end. Otherwise, the spacecraft has not been built yet, the base is empty, and where will people live.

The best way is to cut off the original hydrogen bomb manufacturing plan and replace it with a helium-3 nuclear bomb!

Because making hydrogen bombs consumes too much energy, whether it is deuterium or tritium, it is very troublesome. Although deuterium is in water, it is troublesome to purify it. It needs to be distilled repeatedly and then electrolyzed, and each step consumes a lot of energy. And tritium can't even expand production for a while, and can only be slowly generated in the reactor.

Most of the energy freed up by agricultural reform has been used to make hydrogen bombs. If possible, cut off all of this energy and use it to smelt metals!

Making a helium-3 nuclear bomb basically does not require any energy. People have nearly 2,000 tons of helium-3 in stock, so it can be used directly! This is a very good way. Yu Yifeng can only secretly hope that Professor Ding Yidong's helium-3 nuclear bomb can be successfully developed.

...

Soon, three days passed, and Ding Yidong lived up to expectations. A report quietly appeared on Yu Yifeng's desk. It was the "Application for a 1 million ton helium-3 nuclear weapon test"!

It was developed successfully! Yu Yifeng was a little excited. He flipped through a few pages. The basic content was similar to what he saw that day. The safety review procedures had been passed. He waved his hand and immediately wrote two words:

"Approved!"

The new government's efficiency is very high. It was approved in the morning and the nuclear test was held in the afternoon of the same day. After the notifications were sent down, there were more than 100 people participating in the observation, including Yu Yifeng, Ding Yidong, Li Wu, and about 100 other scientific authorities. They came to estimate the explosion effect of this helium-3 nuclear bomb.

Everyone attaches great importance to this test. If it succeeds, people will get more powerful nuclear bombs. The way of nuclear propulsion will also be different. This is a nuclear test with special significance.

"I declare that the first helium-3 nuclear weapon test of mankind has officially begun! The code name of this test is Qiming!"

When the time came, Yu Yifeng read it out.

"The estimated equivalent of this nuclear test is 1 million tons of TNT, and the test site is the Ekri Crater. Please be prepared, observers."

The Ekri Crater is an uninhabited area 2,000 kilometers away from the base. There should be no problem in conducting a nuclear test here, and it will not affect the production of the base. .

With an order, the helium-3 nuclear bomb was loaded into a huge steel container and transported from the factory by train and giant trailer to a place about 100 kilometers outside the base, where there is a rocket launch tower as high as 30 meters.

"The launch vehicle is ready!"

"The observation satellite has been docked!"

"The observation force has arrived at the location!"

...

"All procedures have been set, please give instructions!"

"Launch!" Yu Yifeng announced solemnly, pressed the nuclear button, and a ten-minute countdown appeared. This is a necessary safety measure. The launch can be stopped at any time within these ten minutes. Of course, if you want to launch it urgently, you must have a string of 64-digit nuclear codes, which only Yu Yifeng knows.

Ten minutes... nine minutes, as the time counts down, everyone can't help but get nervous. Professor Ding Yidong is even more so. This nuclear bomb is the result of his ten years of hard work. It is like his own child. How can he not be nervous? His ten fingers clenched and loosened, clenched and loosened, and it was obvious that he was very uneasy.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven... three, two, one, zero!" The missile took off with a bang!