After completing the construction of the first magnetic monopole detector, Tom once again faced a difficult problem.

Because theoretical calculations indicated that magnetic monopoles were extremely rare, the detector not only needed to be built large enough but also needed to be as numerous as possible to increase the probability of detecting them.

However, the construction of magnetic monopole detectors required helium-3.

Over the years, Tom had accumulated only a few million tons of helium-3 in total, and all of it was now invested in the construction of this single magnetic monopole detector, which alone exhausted almost all his reserves.

And… the reserves of helium-3 in nature were too small.

Helium-3 is an isotope of helium. Ordinary helium, helium-4, has two neutrons and two protons in its atomic nucleus. Helium-3, however, has only one neutron in its atomic nucleus.

The reserves of helium-4 are enormous; tens of millions to hundreds of millions of tons can easily be mined on various planets in the Pegasus V342 star system, but helium-3 is different.

According to the evolution model of helium-3, Tom knew that relatively large amounts of helium-3 would exist on dwarf planets or large moons without atmospheres and closer to their stars.

For example, Earth's moon.

Under the bombardment of solar wind, the lunar surface material is continuously affected by high-energy particles, constantly forming and enriching helium-3.

However, the term "large amount" here is relative.

Compared to other planets, its helium-3 reserves are indeed more abundant. But in terms of absolute quantity, even the entire moon's total helium-3 reserves are only a few million tons, which is roughly enough for Tom to build one magnetic monopole detector.

Moreover, these few million tons of helium-3 reserves on the moon accumulated over more than 4 billion years under the influence of solar radiation.

The Pegasus V342 star is too young, only a few tenths the age of the Sun.

Its planets simply haven't had enough time to accumulate so much helium-3.

Another potential source of significant helium-3 reserves is the star itself.

But that path is out of the question. For a massive star like Pegasus V342, getting within 6 million kilometers is already Tom's limit; mining on the star itself is simply impossible.

Another potentially promising location is gas giants.

The elemental composition of gas giants is usually similar to that of stars. There's no reason for stars to be rich in helium-3 while gas giants are not.

However, after some inspection, Tom had to abandon this plan as well.

Gas giants do indeed accumulate helium-3, and their content is indeed higher compared to other planets.

But again, this is relative. In terms of absolute content, its concentration is much lower than deuterium, which Tom considers the primary fusion fuel, only a few millionths of deuterium; Tom would die of exhaustion before collecting enough.

Faced with this situation, Tom found himself in a dilemma.

"If there's really no other way, I'll just have to make it myself."

Tom gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

That's right, besides obtaining helium-3 from nature, Tom had another method: making it himself!

To manufacture matter at this fundamental atomic level, ordinary chemical reactions are clearly impossible.

Just as alchemy cannot truly produce gold.

But nuclear reactions can produce gold. Similarly, nuclear reactions can also produce helium-3.

Coincidentally, Tom knew of a fusion mode whose byproduct was helium-3.

Deuterium-Deuterium fusion.

Deuterium-Deuterium fusion has two reaction pathways, each accounting for 50%. And one of these reaction pathways happens to have helium-3 as its final product.

Calculations show that one kilogram of deuterium, when fully fused, can produce approximately 0.375 kilograms of helium-3!

Currently, Tom consumes about 100 million tons of deuterium annually. Based on this data, on average, Tom can generate 37.5 million tons of helium-3 in nuclear fusion reactors each year, enough to supply the construction of nearly ten magnetic monopole detectors!

However, while this mode seems simple, it also entails significant difficulties.

Currently, Tom's energy supply is primarily Deuterium-Tritium fusion. The reason is simple: Deuterium-Tritium fusion is highly efficient, converting about 0.375% of mass into energy, more than four times that of nuclear fission, and it is relatively easy to achieve.

It is both economical and practical, with high efficiency.

In contrast to Deuterium-Tritium fusion, Deuterium-Deuterium fusion has an energy conversion efficiency of only 0.092%, just slightly higher than nuclear fission, and requires more demanding fusion conditions.

It is neither economical nor practical, and its efficiency is low.

If the energy supply mode were to switch from Deuterium-Tritium fusion to Deuterium-Deuterium fusion, Tom would need to increase the number of his current 326,000 nuclear fusion power plants to four times their current number to maintain the same scale of power supply capacity.

Furthermore, because Deuterium-Deuterium fusion requires higher temperatures and pressures, the construction difficulty of each nuclear fusion power plant would also increase to more than double its original level, significantly raising costs.

What an enormous construction task this is!

But... there's no other way. Since he decided to achieve technological breakthroughs in the Pegasus V342 star system, no matter how massive the construction task, he must face the challenge head-on.

Then build!

Tom made arrangements and deployments.

While ensuring his industrial system maintained normal operation and research in proton decay detectors and numerous sub-fields and application levels proceeded normally, Tom allocated approximately 500 million clones to the large-scale upgrade, renovation, and new construction of nuclear fusion power plants.

The industrial system once again began full-power production; massive quantities of parts, components, and machinery were produced and transported by numerous heavy spacecraft to various planets.

Hestia AI, relying on the immense computing power of quantum supercomputers, once again demonstrated its prowess; countless humanoid general-purpose robots and intelligent machines worked 24/7 without interruption, and at the control center, numerous clones and Bluetoth engineers rotated shifts day and night, not daring to waste a moment.

Soon, the first Deuterium-Deuterium fusion power plant was completed.

It had the same scale as a standardized Deuterium-Tritium fusion power plant, but while a Deuterium-Tritium fusion power plant could generate about 3 billion kilowatt-hours per hour, this Deuterium-Deuterium fusion power plant could only generate about 700 million kilowatt-hours per hour.

Correspondingly, it needed to consume about two tons of deuterium per day and generate about 750 KG of helium-3.

With the new Deuterium-Deuterium fusion power plant put into operation, the power of the previous Deuterium-Tritium fusion power plant was reduced.

When four Deuterium-Deuterium fusion power plants were put into operation, the Deuterium-Tritium fusion power plant finally shut down completely.

Correspondingly, the four Deuterium-Deuterium fusion power plants could produce about 3 tons of helium-3 per day.

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