Chapter 146 First Debugging

The day after the successful commissioning of the Divertor, Lin Mo made a decision.

"Seventy-two-hour continuous operation test."

In the conference room, everyone looked at him. Chen Xueming's teacup paused in mid-air, Li Xiao's pen dropped onto the table, and Zhao Gang scratched his head.

"Manager Lin," Chen Xueming put down his teacup, "Seventy-two hours? Isn't that too long? According to standard procedures, the initial comprehensive commissioning is usually twenty-four hours."

Lin Mo shook his head: "What problems can be spotted in twenty-four hours? Thermal cycling, material fatigue, control system response—which of these doesn't require time? What we want is not 'looks fine,' but 'truly fine.'"

He stood up, walked to the whiteboard on the wall, and drew a timeline.

"The first twelve hours, gradually increase power to 80% of the design value. The middle twenty-four hours, run stably at 80%. The next twelve hours, gradually increase to 100%. The final twenty-four hours, run at 100% full power."

He turned around and looked at everyone present: "Seventy-two hours to flush out all possible problems. If there are problems, solve them now. If there are none, then it's truly fine."

Chen Xueming was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Fine. I'll accompany you."

Li Xiao raised her hand: "I'll accompany you too."

Zhao Gang also raised his hand: "I... I'll keep watch outside."

A burst of light laughter filled the conference room.

Lin Mo looked at them, a wave of warmth rising in his heart.

"Then it's settled. Seventy-two hours, three shifts. Teacher Chen leads one shift, I'll lead one, and Li Xiao will lead one. Brother Zhao, you're responsible for external security; no one is allowed to enter the control room area."

He paused, emphasizing his tone:

"After seventy-two hours, we'll know if this thing that we've spent two years on actually works."

The commissioning began at two o'clock that afternoon.

Lin Mo took the first shift. Only he and two technicians were in the control room; everyone else was on standby in the lounge area. On the screen, the various subsystems of the tokamak-3 lit up green one by one, and data streams scrolled slowly.

"First hour, Magnet System loading."

He pressed the start button. A low humming sound came from the distance; that was the sound of the Superconducting Magnet starting to work. On the screen, the magnetic field strength data rose slowly: 1 Tesla, 2 Tesla, 3 Tesla...

By 5 Tesla, the humming sound became steady, like the breathing of some giant creature.

"Magnet System stable," the technician beside him reported.

Lin Mo nodded and continued to stare at the screen.

Fourth hour, the first wall began to heat up.

The plasma had not yet been injected, but the first wall needed to be preheated to operating temperature in advance. On the screen, the temperature curve rose slowly: 500 degrees, 800 degrees, 1000 degrees, 1200 degrees...

When it reached 1500 degrees, Chen Xueming pushed the door open, carrying two cups of coffee.

"How is it?"

Lin Mo took the coffee and took a sip: "The magnet is stable, and the first wall heating is normal. The cooling system is following along, with the temperature difference controlled within ±5 degrees."

Chen Xueming leaned in to look at the screen and nodded: "Better than the simulation data."

Lin Mo smiled: "Simulation is simulation, reality is reality. Only now is it for real."

Chen Xueming sat down next to him, and the two stared at the screen together, occasionally exchanging a few words. The sky outside the window gradually darkened, and the night wind of the Gobi Desert began to howl.

Eighth hour, the first wall temperature stabilized at 1800 degrees.

Tenth hour, the vacuum system pumped down to the design value.

Twelfth hour, Lin Mo handed over the shift to Chen Xueming.

"Teacher Chen, it's in your hands." He stood up and stretched his stiff neck: "Two a.m. to eight a.m., the sleepiest time. Can you hold out?"

Chen Xueming smiled: "Manager Lin, have you forgotten? During those years I spent abroad, pulling all-nighters was a common occurrence. This little bit of work is nothing."

Lin Mo nodded and walked out of the control room. Outside, the night sky of the Gobi Desert was filled with stars, and a cold breeze blowing made him feel much more awake.

He looked back at the control room window. Chen Xueming's silhouette was reflected on the glass, motionless, like a statue.

Twenty-fourth hour, Li Xiao took over from Chen Xueming.

She had slept for six hours and was full of energy. When she walked into the control room, Chen Xueming was staring at the screen, drinking his third cup of coffee.

"Teacher Chen, go get some sleep."

Chen Xueming shook his head: "Let me watch a bit longer. The power just increased to 80%, I want to see the response curve."

Li Xiao leaned over to look: "Is it stable?"

"Stable." Chen Xueming pointed to the data on the screen: "Look, the magnet, the first wall, the Divertor, the cooling system—all the curves are flat. The fluctuation range is even smaller than the design value."

Li Xiao watched for a long time, then said softly: "Teacher Chen, we're really almost there."

Chen Xueming was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

"Yeah, almost there."

Thirty-sixth hour, Lin Mo took over the shift again.

By this time, the device had been running stably for a day and a half. Power was maintained at 80%, and all parameters were within the design range. The atmosphere in the control room was much more relaxed than on the first day; the technicians started chatting in low voices, occasionally cracking a few jokes.

But Lin Mo dared not relax.

He stared at the temperature curve of the Divertor on the screen, always feeling that something was a bit off.

"Xiao Li," he called Li Xiao over, "Look at this, is there a bit of fluctuation?"

Li Xiao leaned over and watched for a long time, then shook her head: "Manager Lin, this fluctuation is within ±2 degrees, completely normal. Are you perhaps too nervous?"

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds, then said: "Pull up the temperature data for all the Divertor channels and let me see."

Li Xiao pulled up the data. On the screen, thousands of curves were densely arranged, most of them flat. But Lin Mo's gaze landed on one of them—the channel where the glitch had been discovered earlier.

That curve did indeed have slightly larger fluctuations than the other channels. Although still within range, it was definitely present.

"Teacher Chen," Lin Mo picked up the walkie-talkie, "Come to the control room."

Chen Xueming came quickly. He stared at the curve for a long time, then said: "It might be that the flow control valve for that channel has an issue. Although the glitch was cleared, the valve itself might have slight sticking."

Lin Mo nodded: "Can it be handled?"

"Yes," Chen Xueming said, "but it requires shutting down."

Shut down?

A seventy-two-hour continuous operation test, and it was only thirty-six hours in. If they shut down, the previous efforts would be wasted, and they would have to start over from the beginning.

Lin Mo was silent.

Chen Xueming didn't speak either, waiting for him to make a decision.

The atmosphere in the control room suddenly tightened. Everyone looked at Lin Mo, seeing how he would choose.

Thirty seconds.

One minute.

Lin Mo suddenly spoke: "No shutdown."

Chen Xueming was stunned: "Manager Lin..."

"I said no shutdown." Lin Mo pointed to the curve, "The fluctuation is within ±2 degrees, still far from the alarm threshold. Continue running, let's see if it gets worse."

He looked at Chen Xueming: "If it stays like this, it's a minor issue; we can adjust it later. If it worsens, then we shut down. Shutting down now would be too much of a pity."

Chen Xueming was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Fine. I'll keep an eye on it."

Forty-eighth hour, that curve was still fluctuating, but it hadn't worsened.

Fifty-sixth hour, the magnitude of the fluctuation began to decrease.

Sixtieth hour, the fluctuation completely disappeared, and the curve became a straight line.

Chen Xueming stared at the screen for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

"Manager Lin, it fixed itself."

Lin Mo leaned over: "What happened?"

Chen Xueming pointed to the data: "Look, the action record of the flow control valve. It was indeed slightly sticking before, but after dozens of hours of continuous operation and repeated actions, it smoothed out that bit of sticking. Now it's completely normal."

Lin Mo looked at the straight curve and let out a long breath.

"Good," he said, "continue running."

Seventy-second hour, exactly ten o'clock in the morning.

Everyone was in the control room. Lin Mo, Chen Xueming, Li Xiao, Fang Lin, and several technicians. Zhao Gang stood at the door, peeking inside.

On the screen, all subsystems of the tokamak-3 were running stably. Power 100%, temperature, pressure, magnetic field, cooling—all parameters were within the design range.

Lin Mo stared at the screen, silent for a long time.

Then he turned around and looked at the group of people behind him.

Chen Xueming's eyes were dark, but his eyes were startlingly bright. Li Xiao had stayed up for two days, her hair messy, but there was a smile on her face. Fang Lin was rarely relaxed, leaning against the back of her chair, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned. At the door, Zhao Gang grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

Lin Mo suddenly didn't know what to say.

Chen Xueming handed over a cup of coffee, steaming hot.

"Old Lin," he said, his voice a bit hoarse but filled with unspeakable emotion, "We're really almost there."

Old Lin.

Not Manager Lin, but Old Lin.

Lin Mo took the coffee and took a sip. It was bitter, but his heart felt sweet.

He nodded, looking at the data pulsing steadily on the screen, and said softly:

"Yeah, almost there."

The control room was silent for three seconds.

Then, not knowing who started it, applause broke out.

At first it was sparse, then it got louder and louder, finally merging into one. Some cheered, some whistled, some pounded the tables hard. Zhao Gang rushed in from the door, hugged Lin Mo, then went to hug Chen Xueming, and finally didn't even spare Li Xiao.

Fang Lin stood outside the crowd, watching this scene, her eyes slightly red.

She quietly turned away and wiped the corners of her eyes.

Then she turned back and looked at the device running stably on the screen.

Two years.

From Room-Temperature Superconductivity to Nuclear Fusion, from one person to a team, from a blueprint to a device.

Almost there.

Really almost there.

Outside the window, the sunlight of the Gobi Desert was just right.

On that wasteland that had slept for thousands of years, one of the most complex energy devices in human history was running quietly.

And the people who created it were in the control room, cheering and celebrating a successful commissioning.