Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:45If one day, the energy from a cup of water scooped from the sea could light up an entire city,
00:00:49if one day new energy vehicles and spaceships
00:00:51were no longer restricted by fuel replenishment, achieving
00:00:55continuous operation. Would you feel that this is a fantasy?
00:00:59持 续 运 行 。
00:01:01But for scientists, these are not
00:01:03unreachable dreams,
00:01:07but the future after controlled fusion
00:01:11and significant changes have been achieved in human-made suns.
00:01:14The sun emits light and heat because of the massive
00:01:18energy produced by the fusion reaction within it.
00:01:22The first time a fusion reaction was achieved on Earth
00:01:25was in a hydrogen bomb. But that was uncontrollable.
00:01:29We are researching.
00:02:42attention on fusion, starting a fusion craze.
00:02:45There are two relatively extreme views. One view believes
00:02:49that fusion cannot escape the 50-year curse, believing
00:02:53that fusion is impossible to achieve. This view is too optimistic.
00:02:57Another view believes that
00:03:33the current nuclear energy we
00:03:36have, in fact, originated from the atomic bomb explosion, after which everyone
00:03:40hoped to use the principle of atomic bomb explosion and fission
00:03:43to provide energy for humans. Then, in less than a decade, the first
00:03:47nuclear power plant was successfully built. After
00:03:51the hydrogen bomb explosion, everyone saw that nuclear fusion
00:03:54could generate enormous energy. Its energy density
00:03:58is four times higher than that produced by fission.
00:04:02One of its main fuels is tritium.
00:04:16So, this has enormous appeal to humanity.
00:04:17。
00:04:23This is the working principle of the tokamak. It was first proposed by scientists
00:04:27in the 1950s. Later, it became
00:04:31the mainstream path for controlled fusion research.
00:04:34However, this path is very difficult.
00:04:37Humanity has spent over half a century,
00:04:41building more than 100 related experimental research devices.
00:04:45Some have undergone thousands, even tens of thousands of experiments. All the conditions
00:04:48have been met, but it is very difficult to achieve. So why can
00:04:52we in China build our own artificial sun?
00:04:54In fact,
00:04:58China started controlled fusion research
00:05:02in the 1950s, basically at the same time
00:05:06as the international community. However, at that time,
00:05:09due to technical conditions and funding support,
00:05:15progress was relatively slow. It wasn't until 1984 that China's first
00:05:18large tokamak device, which is China's
00:05:22HT-6B, was built. Compared with international standards,
00:05:26it lagged behind by more than 10 years.
00:05:29。
00:05:32At that time, any international fusion experiment was a project as the largest
00:05:35and most influential international nuclear fusion cooperation project,
00:05:39which was already completed. After China joined the plan, it actively chose one of the most difficult and challenging experiments, which is an experiment
00:06:59where no other object has been exposed to such intense heat before.
00:07:07I remember clearly when the technical staff
00:07:12encountered a coefficient problem that they couldn't solve, especially when it couldn't be solved
00:07:16for a long time, they would call me in the middle of the night. They were
00:07:20very worried and felt confused. What should we do?
00:07:23I said, let's have a good discussion tomorrow, we will always find a solution.
00:07:27Finally,
00:07:30the certification was in 2022. The first full-scale
00:07:34prototype successfully passed the relevant assessment,
00:07:38indicating that our country has progressed from following
00:07:41to keeping pace, and even leading
00:07:45internationally in this technology.
00:07:46列
00:07:49The main body and auxiliary systems,
00:07:58this main body, like this spherical body, is like our
00:08:01human heart, and the auxiliary part
00:08:05is like heating it up and down, that's our human
00:08:09body's blood vessels and脉络. Achieving controlled
00:08:13fusion reaction is actually very challenging. Everyone
00:08:17knows that the hydrogen bomb utilizes the principle of nuclear
00:08:20fusion. So, to achieve the conditions
00:08:24for a hydrogen bomb explosion, it is detonated by an atomic bomb
00:08:28to reach high temperature and high pressure. So, how do we generate such extreme
00:08:32conditions in this device? One way is wave heating, which is similar
00:08:36to our microwave heating method, which is very
00:08:39effective. Like a surfer at sea, everyone has seen them. Surfers
00:08:43can convert the energy of waves into their own kinetic
00:08:47energy. We compare microwaves to waves, and plasma particles
00:08:51are surfers. As long as the speed of the microwave
00:08:55is faster than the particles, it is possible to transfer energy to these particles
00:08:58for heating. Given such a high temperature, what kind of
00:09:02material can withstand such a high temperature bombardment?
00:09:05In fact, there is no material on Earth
00:09:09that can withstand such a high temperature and intense
00:09:13bombardment. So, how do we prevent these high-energy
00:09:17particles from interacting with each other? We rely on very strong
00:09:21magnetic fields. You can see that these
00:09:24toroidal objects generate this directional
00:09:28magnetic field, which is a coil. We
00:09:32have very strong currents in these toroidal coils,
00:09:36which also generate perpendicular magnetic fields. When they are put
00:09:39together, their magnetic field lines are what we call helical magnetic
00:09:43field lines. This structure can stably
00:09:47confine these high-energy particles.
00:09:47。
00:09:52Not long ago, a major breakthrough was achieved on the China HL-3 device.
00:09:56The ion temperature and electron temperature achieved
00:10:00operation with different degrees of difference. This means it has
00:10:04the ability to conduct fuel injection research.
00:10:08Previously, internationally, there were only two
00:10:11major devices: the US's
00:10:25T F T T R.
00:10:33When controlled fusion truly becomes a reality, our lives will undergo profound changes.
00:10:39Green self-sustained industries and materials.
00:10:46This is like artificial intelligence, which will have a profound impact on the development of artificial intelligence.
00:10:52In addition,
00:10:55new journeys and other sci-fi scenarios
00:10:59may also become reality
00:12:55to move forward one step, this still requires us to carry out
00:12:58combustion and other self-sustaining research, after cutting off the external energy source,
00:13:02it can achieve this condition by itself.
00:13:06reaction.
00:13:08。
00:13:11And let it continue to burn by itself. Yes. Understand. So, Teacher Duan,
00:13:15do we have a rough timeline plan now?
00:13:18From the current technical situation of our homework,
00:13:22we can see. We,
00:16:37Teacher Duan, does this vision have prospects? Can
00:16:41it be realized? It's fine to imagine.
00:16:44But in reality, given the current
00:16:48technological development and the requirements for
00:16:51nuclear fusion, this is very difficult. Our current
00:16:55device. Its current size, China's
00:16:59Tokamak No. 3, is only a few dozen.
00:17:01。
00:17:31But there's one thing: with the development of stored energy technology, we
00:17:35can make it very small, which is economically very
00:17:38advantageous. Through technology,
00:17:41we can utilize nuclear energy to store energy in a very small
00:17:44space for mobile phones and cars.
00:17:48Then we don't have to worry about energy shortages.
00:17:51From this perspective, it's feasible.
00:18:37No one has ever done it. The person responsible for this procurement package,
00:18:41almost my age, failed many times. He tried all sorts of
00:18:45methods, thought of every possible solution, but just couldn't solve it. He couldn't overcome this
00:18:49obstacle. So he called me in the middle of the night.
00:18:51。
00:18:55He couldn't do it.
00:18:56。
00:18:59He was also quite frustrated at the time, and I understood.
00:19:02。
00:19:07So, at that time, I knew that many problems that we hadn't
00:19:11solved in the past could still be solved. This problem, this
00:19:15hurdle can be overcome. I have this confidence,
00:19:18so I said we'll talk about it tomorrow. So, tomorrow we'll
00:19:22discuss it. Didn't you actually have
00:19:26any idea at that time? Uh,
00:19:29yes, because in the world, no one else has done it. Is
00:19:32this path feasible? There's no 100% guarantee
00:19:36yet.
00:26:54as a scientific researcher at that time, the environmental conditions
00:26:58were much, much worse than now.
00:27:22So if the decision is wrong, then
00:27:24it could lead to a dead end for the future.
00:27:28So from another perspective, I still am.
00:28:32Another thing is to be sincere. That is, when interacting with
00:28:36some foreign scientists, it means that if you can
00:28:40do it, we can promise them. If you can't, don't
00:28:44just say you can. Otherwise, in the end, they expect
00:28:47you to help them solve this problem, then
00:28:51their trust in you will be greatly
00:28:55reduced. Right. Many things need to be thought over
00:28:58and over again. Every word, every phrase must be carefully considered and practiced to achieve it.
00:30:02Right? How many checks a day, 40 to 60 times,
00:30:06and various data adjustments. You guys are also very meticulous with details.
00:30:10So maybe this is what our team has already learned
00:30:14from Teacher Duan's principles and abilities
00:30:18of dealing with people. Right? Yes, we are indeed
00:30:21exerting our respective
00:31:45He said, "Did you see the news about the HT-3?" I said, "I'll take a look."
00:31:48"If you don't even watch this, how can you do fusion?"
00:31:51。
00:31:57But I also observed that in Western countries, more
00:32:01and more private enterprises are continuously investing, unlike our country, which invests nationally.
00:32:05So I would like to ask Professor Duan, why is our country so
00:32:09keen on achieving an artificial sun?
00:32:11。
00:33:45This is a path that must be taken. Because without these steps,
00:33:49some technologies and operational risks will not be
00:33:52mitigated. If you don't go through
00:33:55some preliminary stages to release its risks,
00:33:59then the final product may be able to generate electricity,
00:34:02but many risks will lead to fatal
00:34:06consequences for the next step of development.
00:34:16In fact, the question raised by this student just now also involves
00:34:19why our country has been persevering, where our advantage lies.
00:34:48But our country has accumulated very limited
00:34:52talent in the past few decades of development.
00:34:56The real professional and technical talent does not exceed 3,000 people.
00:35:00So now, to break through some key technologies as soon as possible,
00:35:03these advantageous teams must gather their strength together. This
00:35:07requires the country to have a suitable system and mechanism
00:35:11advantage, to gather these limited advantageous forces.
00:36:27the more confused I get. Because in the current era,
00:36:31fields like nuclear fusion, AI, and new energy
00:36:34are all receiving a lot of attention. But I've also observed
00:36:38that every industry has its cyclical fluctuations. For example, you just mentioned
00:36:42that nuclear fusion was once stuck in the "always 50 years away"
00:36:46curse. AI also went through a long winter.
00:36:50So for us students who are about to leave the laboratory,
00:36:54should we really seize the opportunity of the times and choose?
00:37:28If you're not very interested in scientific research itself, then choosing
00:37:32a scientific research unit or a direction with greater technical challenges
00:37:35won't last long.
00:37:39At the moment you can't solve the difficulties, you might
00:37:42shrink back, because you feel hopeless.
00:37:46When I chose fusion
00:37:48itself, the national investment and development
00:37:52at that time were still not satisfactory, right?
00:37:56。
00:38:27He had no confidence, but you waited outside a bit longer.
00:38:31So I stayed for a few more years. Then I came back in 2007,
00:38:35and I already saw hope, which is that China
00:38:38applied to join the ITER project. This
00:38:42great master, the president told me, "You can come
00:38:45back now." So I came back. Of course,
00:38:49if it weren't for my own interest, I definitely wouldn't
00:38:53have chosen to be a civil servant.
00:38:55。
00:39:28At that time, Professor Duan, did you have
00:39:31any plans for your life?
00:39:33。
00:39:41I hadn't thought about it carefully when I came back, but I had thought that we had the opportunity to participate
00:39:45in the ITER project. This was indeed a very, very
00:39:48good opportunity for China's fusion community,
00:39:52including myself.
00:39:54。
00:41:46Then I would like to ask Professor Duan, if one day we all get rid of our dependence on energy,
00:41:50and there are no so-called energy struggles, then will
00:41:54everyone be able to sit down and talk about peace?
00:41:58What do you think, Professor Duan?
00:41:59。
00:42:05gradually replace other sources.
00:42:07。
00:42:11It's relatively economical, but it's affected by weather and climate, and by local conditions. So
00:42:15solar energy is also. So there's a process. Then
00:42:19after it can completely replace other energy sources,
00:42:23I think it won't be a problem from an economic
00:42:26perspective, from the perspective of supply and demand.
00:42:30It may also develop to what you just predicted. So,
00:42:34will we not worry about energy in the future, and will there be no
00:42:38wars over energy?
00:43:40For example, some countries also hope that China can help
00:43:43them develop nuclear fusion research, including talent training, which is already underway.
00:44:00this topic, our director provided me with a set of data, saying that by extracting
00:44:04deuterium from a liter of seawater, we can achieve
00:44:07the energy equivalent of 300 liters of gasoline.
00:44:10Many people would say, "Isn't this like drawing a big pie?" But
00:44:14today, this pie, in fact, our
00:44:17chefs are cooking it for us,
00:44:21and it's in the pot. In the future, it's possible to serve
00:44:25it hot to the table. So everyone can open their minds. Just like
00:44:29we said at the beginning, when watching those sci-fi movies, everyone might
00:44:32feel that it is in a future that is out of reach.
00:44:36Today, the teacher has laid a solid foundation for this vision, which means that when our
00:44:40controllable fusion technology is fully developed,
00:44:44it may just happen around us. So, whether it's what
00:44:48the young man said about world peace, no more energy conflicts, or
00:44:51what everyone imagined, including Teacher Duan's space
00:44:55travel, it's all possible. So, one more
00:44:59thing, I hope everyone, especially young students, can all come
00:45:03to the front and contribute their own strength to this grand cause.
00:45:07。