Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 7：Supercomputer

The proposal from the superconducting expert professor was immediately met with unanimous approval!

A supercomputer is a machine designed to perform calculations that regular personal computers cannot handle, particularly those involving vast amounts of data and high-speed computations. Its instruction cycle can often reach trillions  of operations per second.

Supercomputers are widely used in national high-tech fields and cutting-edge research, serving as a reflection of a country's scientific research capabilities. They play a crucial role in national security, economic development, and societal progress, marking a country's technological development and comprehensive national strength.

Huaking's supercomputer is one of the most advanced in Longguo (Dragon Country). It is typically used for scientific research in the country but also accepts large domestic commercial computational projects, which helps Huaking secure additional research funding.

Longke University and Huaking aren't far apart, only about a 20-minute drive.

Director Li immediately called the president of Longke University, Mr. Lu Yongxiang, and briefly explained the situation.

President Lu was shocked. If what Director Li said was true, and this document could save Longguo ten years of research in controllable nuclear fusion, it was far beyond just important.

Due to the urgency, President Lu immediately ordered a school bus to pick up the professors and head to Huaking. He himself rushed to the site from his home.

Pressed for time, he skipped breakfast, but upon learning that Director Li and the professors hadn't eaten either, he instructed his assistant to buy some buns and soy milk on the way.

When everyone arrived at the entrance of the supercomputer facility, they found that the person in charge, Wang Hongbo, hadn't arrived yet. Without his guidance, the security guards wouldn't let them in.

Since supercomputers are extremely expensive and typically used for critical projects, the facility is restricted to authorized personnel only.

Director Li called Wang Hongbo again. He said it would take about ten more minutes for him to arrive.

At that moment, President Lu also arrived. The professors and experts sat in the lobby, eagerly awaiting verification of the formulas and data for the controllable nuclear fusion project. If the calculations were correct, Longguo would be positioned at the global forefront in controllable nuclear fusion.

"Experts, I've brought some buns and soy milk. Please eat something to tide you over," President Lu said.

"Thank you, President Lu!"

Everyone wasn't being polite. After staying up all night, they were indeed hungry, so they quickly grabbed the buns and soy milk and began eating, completely without any pretensions.

Afterward, President Lu pulled Director Li aside to discuss the situation in more detail.

"This important document—are they really just trying to get into Longke University?" President Lu asked in surprise.

"Hmm, I checked the original email, and that's what it says!" Director Li replied.

President Lu began to think things over. If the document's verification came out clean, and they were able to recruit this student to Longke University, it would be a huge victory for them. In the future, the country would strongly support Longke's research projects.

With this thought, President Lu became even more hopeful, wishing for everything to go smoothly with the supercomputer calculations.

Once everyone finished their breakfast, Wang Hongbo finally arrived. He was surprised to see more than ten professors and experts waiting for him.

"What's going on here?" Wang Hongbo thought. "Director Li only said they were running some formulas and data on the supercomputer. Why are there so many people here? And these professors are top-tier experts in their fields."

Seeing so many people waiting for him made Wang Hongbo feel a bit embarrassed.

"Sorry, everyone, for the wait," Wang Hongbo said.

"Ha-ha... It's fine. We had a good breakfast while waiting!" one of the experts chuckled.

"Wang, stop with the small talk. Take us inside!" President Lu said, walking up to him.

"President Lu, you've come too!" Wang Hongbo said in surprise. He hadn't expected that this matter would draw the attention of the president of Longke University.

"Wang, take us inside, please!" Director Li said.

Wang Hongbo looked at the group, feeling a bit awkward. The control room had strict regulations. Only five people could enter at a time to avoid too many external factors disrupting the supercomputer's operations.

But these were top experts—he couldn't afford to upset anyone.

Seeing Wang Hongbo's hesitance, Director Li immediately asked, "Is there a problem, Engineer Wang?"

"You know the rules here...," Wang Hongbo began.

President Lu, clearly annoyed by the delay, snapped, "Wang, do you know what project we're running on this supercomputer? Don't waste time. If this affects our work, I'm afraid your tenure as chief engineer will be over. Open the door. If there's an issue, I'll take responsibility!"

Hearing President Lu's words, Wang Hongbo had no choice but to allow everyone in. After all, with President Lu taking responsibility, he couldn't refuse.

However, he was curious—what kind of project was so important that it required the attention of so many experts?

Everyone changed into white dust-proof suits and, under Wang Hongbo's lead, entered the supercomputer's operation room.

Without wasting time, Director Li plugged the USB drive into the appropriate port and said to Wang Hongbo, "Engineer Wang, stop all ongoing projects. Start the computation now!"

"What? Stop all running projects? Director Li, are you serious?" Wang Hongbo was shocked. Currently, four major projects were running, including a national research project and three commercial projects worth over 100 million each.

Director Li was asking him to stop everything for this?

"Director Li, as you know, the hardware here is quite powerful: a/7168x2 Intel Hexacore Xeon X5670 2.93 GHz + 7168 NVIDIA Tesla M2050 @1.15 GHz + 2048 Hexcore FT-1000 @ 1 GHz. It can handle a peak computational speed of 10 billion billion operations per second. I can allocate one-tenth of the space to run your research project, and it'll be enough," Wang Hongbo explained.

But his words were immediately met with strong objections from the experts present. Using just one-tenth of the supercomputer's capacity to compute the data for controllable nuclear fusion would take an unimaginable amount of time!

"Wang, do you know what project we're running? Controllable nuclear fusion! You should know how vast its data is!" President Lu said.

"Controllable nuclear fusion?" Wang Hongbo exclaimed.

He knew about controllable nuclear fusion. The national research institute had previously used this supercomputer for a few tests, and each one had taken at least a full day to complete!

"If you stop the other projects, I really can't make this decision," Wang Hongbo said helplessly.

President Lu didn't continue to press him and instead called Zhou Huaide, the head of the national controllable nuclear fusion research institute.

Upon hearing that they had obtained a top-secret document on controllable nuclear fusion, Zhou Huaide was immediately excited and promised to come over right away.

He had been stuck in a bottleneck with the controllable nuclear fusion project for over a year with no progress, which had caused him great distress.

After the call, he reported the matter to the authorities. Shortly after, Wang Hongbo received an order to stop all current projects and fully cooperate with Director Li.