"The Golden Crow Plan is part of the Yutani Plan and one of the most important parts."

"Have you read the report?" Liu Yiming held the teacup in both hands, looking like a veteran cadre.

"So, after refining the uranium ore we dug out from Australia, it can be used to burn and generate electricity, just like coal?" Xu Hui felt that the world had become strange again.

The report said that there is huge energy in uranium metal, and the Yutani Project is to develop this energy.

Can metal be burned? Can it also generate electricity?

How long can a piece of uranium metal be burned? The price is still so expensive (compared to oil). Nanhua has a lot of oil reserves. The cost of extracting a ton of oil is only a few cents. Can uranium metal be comparable?

However, as a possible future energy source, Xu Hui still nodded.

"So we need a power plant to purify uranium metal so that it can reach a purity that can be burned?" Xu Hui looked at the plan behind it and felt that something was wrong.

"Uh-huh!" Liu Yiming curled his lips and nodded.

"Do we still need to rebuild a place that is uninhabited, has stable geology, and is rich in water resources?" Xu Hui wanted to ask why not build a hydropower station in such a place.

"This is a scientific attempt. We at least found a method to use it." Liu Yiming knew what Xu Hui was thinking.

"In terms of geological stability alone, we don't have many places to choose from, Arabia?" Xu Hui thought for a while.

"The water resources in the two river basins are relatively scarce, and there is oil around them. We can build thermal power plants nearby. It is not difficult to find a deserted place. It is completely suitable." Xu Hui said.

"No." Liu Yiming immediately rejected the proposal because it was too close to Europe.

If Europe discovers something, Nanhua will lose the opportunity.

Liu Yiming had been struggling for so long and had a first-mover advantage. Even if physics caused a group of scientists to stop research, there were still many scientists left.

If discovered by Europe, their research progress might surpass that of Nanhua.

Even if these things are slower, they must be kept secret, at least they cannot be obtained by war madmen who have not experienced the baptism of the war.

The two world wars broke not only the colonial system, but also the rights system built by the aristocracy. Only after World War II did the aristocracy completely transfer their full power to votes.

There is not much difference between votes and capital.

"Tianjin Wei?" Xu Hui did not ask why, but gave the second answer.

"No! This thing is somewhat harmful." Liu Yiming immediately denied it and then explained.

"Hazardous...Bangkok?" Xu Hui thought for a long time and thought of Thailand, the South China colony.

"Well...Thailand still has large tracts of open space. Let the King of Thailand clear out a piece of land and tell him that we will pay for it." Liu Yiming thought for a while and patted his head.

Even he didn't pay attention to Thailand.

After all, Thailand’s presence is too low, the market is not big, the consumption power is weak, and there are not many specialties worth mentioning.

Everything that is available in Thailand is basically available in Nanhua, the production methods are more advanced, and the quantities are large and cheap.

It just so happens that the peninsula is not in a volcanic and seismic zone, the geology is relatively stable, and other conditions are relatively easy to meet. At worst, the Thai people will be forced to move.

"I am going to send Luo Yu as the colonial governor of Thailand to take charge of this matter. He is not suitable to appear as a soldier." Liu Yiming said.

"Let him retire from active service? Is it necessary?" Xu Hui felt that Liu Yiming was making too much of a fuss.

Also, Liu Yiming paid so much attention to it after seeing the nuclear explosion video, regardless of the cost. After all, this is a weapon that can change the strategic situation.

Xu Hui, who had never seen a nuclear explosion, could not quite understand this plan. To have a general retire from active service and work in the colonies was considered by many to be a relegation.

There is no suitable reason for assigning a veteran, and the turmoil caused by this matter is enough to keep Xu Hui busy.

"It's necessary, it's very necessary, believe me." Liu Yiming nodded seriously.

~~

"Okay, I'll take care of it." Xu Hui nodded after hesitating for a long time.

…

In November 1910, Liu Yiming came to Guinea.

"See your majesty!" Liu Yiming heard Sir Rutherford's peculiar accent as soon as he entered the laboratory.

Rutherford cupped his hands and performed an ancient Chinese salute, that is, stretching his hands to both sides, closing them forward, and then bowing.

This is what Liu Yiming learned after Rutherford asked Liu Yiming to teach him.

"I love you, no etiquette, please stay on your own." Liu Yiming felt a little uncomfortable, after all, he usually didn't pay attention to etiquette.

Under his leadership, Nanhua did not care much about etiquette in informal settings, but this group of white nobles did not and attached great importance to various "aristocratic etiquette".

"Sir Rutherford, I heard that your research has made breakthrough progress?" Liu Yiming went straight to the point.

"Yes, Your Majesty, graphite pile No. 3 has completed its self-sustainment, which proves that our theory is correct!" Rutherford said excitedly.

"Come on, Your Majesty, here, I will take you to see, we have opened a new era!" Rutherford excitedly led the way.

Entering the laboratory, Liu Yiming put on protective clothing. The protective clothing was made of lead-containing rubber. In fact, Rutherford did not usually wear protective clothing.

Because lead is toxic, and Nanhua does not yet have the technology to make it harmless, long-term exposure will lead to heavy metal poisoning.

The most important thing is that lead poisoning will cause baldness, and Rutherford's remaining hair cannot withstand the torture.

But it's okay. As long as uranium fission is not activated, the radiation is very small and can be ignored.

After walking a distance of about 500 meters, Liu Yiming followed Rutherford into a "factory".

Or a warehouse?

The empty laboratory is surrounded by electric fans, and in the center of the laboratory is a cube about four meters high.

"Your Majesty, this is graphite pile No. 3. We have given it the code name Giant. This is the largest graphite pile." Rutherford pointed to the cube of graphite and uranium metal.

After years of mining and smelting, Nanhua has thousands of tons of uranium metal reserves, enough for consumption.

"We placed about 70 tons of uranium metal and oxides in it, and spent 700 tons of graphite to build the giant." Rutherford introduced,

"Last month, the giant achieved self-sustainability and successfully exported energy, proving our theory and the future of nuclear energy!"

It can be said that they have experienced many hardships.

First of all, they were stumped by how to build a reactor to ensure safety.

According to their calculations, 70 tons of uranium and its oxides can release the energy of burning thousands of tons of standard coal.

To convert to TNT equivalent, you can divide this value by 0.4.

That's right, under the same volume, the energy released by TNT is only 40% of that of coal.

The No. 1 reactor was only one cubic meter in size and did not form a reaction at all. The No. 2 reactor was 2.5 meters long, wide and high. A fission reaction occurred, but it failed to complete self-sustainment.

After discovering this situation, the original No. 3 Pile "Giant" with a length, width and height of five meters was reduced to four meters in length, width and height.

The volume was reduced from 125 cubic meters to 64 cubic meters, more than half.

At this point, Rutherford almost activated the "emergency state" - detonating the reactor and interrupting self-sustainment.

This would cause great pollution, but fortunately, the simple graphite pile withstood it.

"The energy output is 615.2 watts. If used to generate electricity, it can ignite twenty light bulbs. But I believe that we will soon be able to truly develop the true value of nuclear energy." Rutherford chattered.

Liu Yiming looked at the scientists wearing airtight protective suits in a room without air conditioning, looking at this simple reactor, and he felt so proud that he didn't know how to express it.

"How is the practical reactor design work going?" Liu Yiming asked.

"We have prepared several plans based on theory. At present, everything seems to be under control. We are confident that we can complete the design and construction of the reactor within five years." Rutherford said relaxedly.

Their theoretical research has been very advanced, but they have no experiments to verify it, so they have temporarily stopped progressing.

In order to verify, they designed many experiments, and for the sake of funding, they have already started on the practical path - the practical reactor is also their future laboratory.

"This reactor still uses metallic uranium. Ordinary uranium is too stable and does not participate in the reaction. We are designing a filter in the hope of enriching uranium." Rutherford said here, feeling a little bad.

The centrifugal separation method proposed by Liu Yiming got stuck on the centrifuge as expected. Driven by a motor, Nanhua built a centrifuge with a speed of 6,000 rpm in the laboratory.

However, the performance is very poor, the life of the core components is extremely short, and the machine will vibrate at a speed of 6,000 revolutions per second.

The weight difference between 235 and 238 is not big, and this kind of vibration is almost fatal, because it will cause the uranium that may have just separated to mix again.

This is the conclusion that Rutherford came to after ordering some centrifuges, setting up a centrifuge unit, and working on it for three months.

In the past three months, the centrifuge unit has consumed more than two million yuan, which almost made Rutherford heartbroken to death.

"Filter?" Liu Yiming asked curiously.

"Yes, the atomic masses of isotopes are different, and the masses are also different. According to their physical properties, we are going to create a membrane to allow gaseous uranium to pass through this membrane, and its isotopes will more easily break through the membrane."

"In this way, each time it passes through a membrane, the concentration will be higher. As long as there are enough membranes, we will eventually get pure enriched uranium." Rutherford said firmly.

"At present, we have completed the preliminary preparations and are experimenting with suitable materials. Within a month, the first machine can be assembled." Rutherford is now betting all his money on this thing.

Liu Yiming thought it sounded familiar, but couldn't remember it. Maybe someone had used this method before?

He only remembered the classic centrifugal separation method. If he couldn't remember it, he didn't think about it. He went back and looked through his notes to see if there was anything there.

Liu Yiming nodded and stretched out his hand behind him.

"Before enrichment, I want you to go to Thailand to participate in the design of the first practical reactor."

"You have opened up an unprecedented field. In recognition of your outstanding contributions to the South China Empire and science, you are specially awarded this Imperial Medal." Liu Yiming took a box.

This thing was sent to Rutherford's heart. He didn't need a luxurious life, but he needed others' recognition of his career.
Chapter completed!