novelraw Chapter 59 A battery that can last for 8 years? Look at Sergei and his entourage kneeling in disbeli
Chapter 59 A battery that can last for 8 years? Look at Sergei and his entourage kneeling in disbeli
Lin Yu keenly noticed that the experts' expressions suddenly turned somber, but he pretended not to notice and spoke calmly and nonchalantly.
"Speaking."
Sergei's voice was no longer as joyful and enthusiastic as when he discussed the history of scholarship; instead, it sounded like lead weights buried somewhere.
"Chennobi".
He slowly uttered the word.
"The radioactive material produced by the reactor core meltdown after the 1986 accident is still sealed under the sarcophagus."
Sergei paused, and not only him, but the other Soviet experts also showed a hint of pain in their gray-blue eyes.
"After Chernobyl was buried, hardly anyone dared to go near there."
"But we are not willing to let Chernobyl remain in ruins. At least the remains of those who died there should be collected."
"We have tried various methods to deal with these nuclear wastes, but without exception, all of them have had limited effectiveness."
"Highly radioactive waste has a decay period of tens of thousands of years, while traditional shielding and storage methods..."
Lin Yu took over the conversation and revealed the truth that Sergei was unwilling to face.
"There is a risk of leakage."
Sergei nodded.
"That's right, what's worse is that the sarcophagus itself is aging, and we need a new solution."
"But time, funding, and technology are all problems."
"And new technologies..."
"I've heard you have an actinide-based photovoltaic cell technology? Could you tell me more about it?"
Chernobyl was not only a painful lesson for the Soviet Union, but also one of the most tragic lessons for all mankind on the road to conquering nuclear energy.
60 military personnel and civilians participated in the rescue efforts, and countless people suffered radiation damage.
To this day, there are still thousands of square kilometers of land that are unsuitable for habitation.
When Lin Yu first learned about this, he was deeply shocked by the fact that countless soldiers and civilians still stood up to die without hesitation in the face of the danger of nuclear radiation.
This hymn to human courage had a profound impact on young Lin Yu.
Taking one step forward means death, but no one is afraid of death.
He faced his execution calmly and died a martyr with magnanimity.
This heroic spirit stands in stark contrast to the later country that lived a comfortable life and dumped nuclear wastewater.
And this incident happened just seven years ago.
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Lin Yu said softly:
"I have read the accident report."
"The graphite reactor had design flaws, and operational errors during safety testing compounded the disaster."
"But you've done your best in handling the aftermath of the accident."
These words sounded sincere, and the expressions of Sergei's team members softened.
"Therefore, you can understand our urgency."
Sergei looked directly into Lin Yu's eyes.
"We are willing to pay the price to acquire any technology that has the potential to improve the current situation."
Sergei's Russian trilled accent was particularly pronounced when he emphasized the word "price".
He then placed the rolled-up design draft on the table and handed it to the Chinese expert team.
The scroll was not opened, and none of the Chinese professors knew what was inside. Lin Yu also did not know what technology was being presented this time.
Lin Yu remained silent for a few seconds, then lightly tapped his fingers on the table.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he took a few steps forward, turned to a certain page of his notebook, and pushed it to the center of the table.
The title of that page was written in English:
Preliminary Feasibility Analysis of Optimizing the Photoelectric Conversion Efficiency of Actinide Decay Energy
Upon seeing this title, the Soviet experts almost held their breath.
Radiation protection expert Gregory was the first to rush over, his eyes fixed on the formula at the top of the page.
"This is…"
Gregory's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
What is the formula for the conversion efficiency of radiant energy to light energy?
"But what does the T (E) you wrote on here mean?"
"The response function of traditional photovoltaic materials doesn't look like this."
As expected of a radiation protection expert, he spotted the key point at a glance.
Lin Yu gave him a look of approval, then said calmly.
"Because it's not a traditional photovoltaic material at all."
"T(E) is the energy transfer function of a tantalum-doped calcium fluoride crystal."
"Faced with the extremely powerful particle stream emitted by uranium-238 decaying into lead-207, we discovered that only treasury can convert this radiation wave into light."
"The alpha ions released during the decay of actinides can excite tungsten ions in the crystal."
"Or it can emit visible light through FF transition and then be captured by conventional silicon photovoltaic cells."
Lin Yu paused, giving them time to process the information, before adding more.
"Theoretically calculated maximum conversion efficiency can reach 34%, which is 7 times that of the most advanced isotope batteries currently available."
"34?!"
Gregory screamed out loud, completely losing his expert demeanor and his previous disdain for Chinese technology.
The meeting room erupted in chaos.
Isotope batteries are not a new concept; Soviet space probes currently in space contain plutonium-238 isotope batteries.
The same goes for the United States.
However, their traditional thermal power units are only 5% to 6% efficient and require extreme temperature differences in the space environment to maintain operation.
If it really can reach 34%...
That conversion rate was enough for them to convince the higher-ups to pay the price to save Chernobyl once again.
"That's impossible!"
Materials expert Andrei blurted out.
"With such a wide decay spectrum, how could you possibly achieve such a high conversion rate?"
His words came to an abrupt end.
Because he saw Lin Yu come to the blackboard again and start writing.
This time, his derivation is more complex, involving the intersection of three fields: nuclear physics, solid-state physics, and optics.
This is a groundbreaking scientific achievement made by Suzhou University in later generations. Lin Yuguang almost couldn't understand it even after studying the theories they published.
It is entirely Chinese technology.
It would be incredibly fitting to revisit this era and exploit the legacy of the Soviet Union.
The derivation process is very complicated.
The discussion begins with the energy loss mechanism of alpha particles in solids, then moves to the forbidden transition selection rule for terbium ions, and finally concludes with the interaction between photons and semiconductor band structures.
Although the formula was complex, Lin Yu wrote it very quickly, and each step was clear and easy to follow.
As he wrote down the final parameters, Gregory's face turned bright red, and he was completely feverish with excitement.
He understood.
He understood!
The derivation is logically sound and the parameters are chosen appropriately.
This is definitely not a hypothetical or unrealistic plan.
This is a well-thought-out, and perhaps truly feasible, technical approach!
The group of Soviet experts were so excited they almost fainted.
What shocked them most was the theoretical selection of rare earth elements for the luminescent material.
This was a path none of them had ever considered.
But it makes so much sense in Lin Yu's writing. Now, telling them not to choose this option would be a huge mistake.
"Temperature ions serve as luminescent centers."
"Yes, yes."
"It has a long transition lifetime and a small Stokes displacement."
"Therefore, quantum efficiency can approach 100%."
Grigory's whisper was affirmed by the group of Soviet experts.
Lin Yu then drew a schematic diagram of the excited state of the crystal concentration, and chose murex-243 as the radioactive actinide metal.
The handwriting on the blackboard is clear, concise, and perfect.
Looking at the theoretical model of a nuclear battery with a radioactive half-life of 7380 years.
The Soviet experts fell completely silent; they were practically kneeling in apprehension.