I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 229



Only Krnovel

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (229)

“What should we do?”

“Well… this is a really difficult problem.”

This is America,

An incident has occurred that has troubled the political and scientific worlds.

Rare earth elements were first discovered in the late 18th century. At the time, many people did not know their value, but as industry developed, their importance gradually increased.

The United States has been operating rare earth mines since the 1950s, but the problem is that chemical processing is required to extract the minerals from the soil.

Do you think the United States, which does not even sell oil due to concerns about environmental destruction, would extract rare earth elements domestically? For this reason, the United States exported rare earth elements overseas and shifted the production process overseas.

But as time goes by, science and technology continue to advance,

In 1974, technology to separate yttrium from ytterbite was developed, and more recently, thorium has been successfully extracted from monazite.

Technology has also advanced, so wouldn’t it be possible to bring rare earth production back to the country?

Scientists’ claims also lend support here.

“If we build a thorium-based reactor instead of a uranium-based light-water reactor, we can reduce radioactive waste by 80% and the half-life will only be seven years.”

“We, the United States, must build the thorium reactor first.”

“No… We know that too… It’s difficult.”

Politicians were reluctant to accept the scientists’ claims.

First, to extract thorium, you have to dig up dirt from a monazite mine.

How lethal is the radiation coming out of this to the human body? Unlike those who only insist on the efficiency of thorium reactors, some scientists have made a confession of conscience.

“Actually, there is a result of 30 years of research in the scientific community.”

“What is that?”

“It has been confirmed that 20,000 miners have died due to radiation from monazite. This is more than the number of deaths from air pollution (19,000) or traffic accidents (17,400).”

If the number of deaths is greater than that caused by air pollution or traffic accidents, its harmful effects go without saying.

However, the U.S. government should bring rare earth production domestically and build a thorium reactor, but if this information leaks out, public opinion will be in an uproar.

[The US government built a nuclear reactor at the risk of human lives!!]

[A national fraud!! Sacrificed the lives of the people!!]

A news article that is obvious even without looking at it,

Can politicians who live off their image do this?

It is best to avoid policies that do not work, and the US government ignored the efficiency of thorium reactors even though it knew about them.

How can progress be made if those in power do not invest?

Scientists who had absolute confidence in thorium reactors were heartbroken.

“No, are you going to ignore the convenience that hundreds of millions of people can enjoy just because you care about the lives of a mere 20,000 people?”

“In modern society, people are dying from air pollution. Why wouldn’t we make this level of sacrifice?”

In modern society, environmental pollution is an unavoidable fate.

We live in a world where tens of thousands of people die every year from air pollution.

This is a problem that needs to be viewed from the perspective of traffic accidents. Tens of thousands of people die in traffic accidents every year, so should we just give up our cars?

Are you going to stop running your factory because you’re afraid of air pollution?

That’s how everyone lives, and that’s how we should approach radiation.

Light water reactors produce a lot of nuclear waste and are not very safe, but if we build thorium reactors, we can drastically reduce the amount of nuclear waste.

Stability is a double-edged sword,

Light water reactors can begin to melt down and, in the worst case, even explode if the supply of cooling water is cut off.

However, when a thorium reactor is shut down, the molten salt falls into a storage chamber located underneath the reactor and hardens, so there is no risk of radiation leaks. So, will light water reactors be maintained?

Light water reactors are already causing environmental problems throughout the United States.

A few years ago, there was a radiation leak from a nuclear reactor, and environmental problems caused by nuclear waste have reached alarming levels.

This problem can be solved by sacrificing 20,000 people. Is that inhumane? If that’s the logic, why do we drive cars that kill that many people every year?

Ultimately, it’s a question of perception.

Cars are now a part of civilization, so we all drive them even though we know their dangers. Factories just need to be out of the area where I live.

Air pollution from factories? If that’s the logic, then why do you keep a cigarette in your mouth?

You’re opposing environmental pollution while putting something in your mouth that’s full of all kinds of chemicals and radioactive substances?

It is not logical at all and is difficult for scientists to accept.

Science must be bold to advance. Are the doctors who use torture-like treatments to advance surgical techniques foolish?

Are the scientists who put needles in their own bodies to prove the effectiveness of a drug idiots?

Today’s civilization was born because someone repeated such actions.

No matter how much they talk about human rights and the environment, science and technology are at a standstill, and scientists are looking for new sponsors to help them realize their dreams.

***

“Your Majesty, we have received a call from the American Academy of Sciences.”

“But what is going on?”

“That’s… The content is a bit… Let’s check it out first.”

This is the Daedeok County official residence, and I opened the letter that had flown in from the United States.

Now that my reach has expanded, I receive hundreds of letters every day asking for investment. How can I check them all?

The people below open it and dispose of the useless ones, so the fact that it has come up to this point means that it is a pretty serious matter.

As expected, the letter was full of shocking content.

My head felt dizzy for a moment.

[Sir, 19,000 Americans die each year from air pollution. Over 17,000 die in traffic accidents. Even if we have to make that much sacrifice, it is worth keeping the factories running and the cars in our cars.

Thorium reactors could reduce waste by 80% compared to light water reactors, and have a half-life of only seven years. Of course, it will take at least 15 years to commercialize this.

Radiation exposure may occur during the processing and reprocessing of thorium, but it is at the level of a traffic accident. This technology must be developed for the future of humanity.

But American politicians are cowards and are trying to ignore this reality. I believe that our enemy will listen to what we have to say.]

I closed the letter and took a moment to collect my thoughts.

Humanity has spent 50 years discovering rare earth elements without knowing their value.

Just as it took hundreds of thousands of years to move from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic Age, science and technology are also taking their first steps over a long period of time.

However, compared to the past, the pace of civilization development has become unusually fast, and now new technologies are emerging every time we close our eyes and open them.

What should humanity demand from the scientific community in these times?

When AI emerged, many people emphasized its dangers, but eventually AI became an undeniable trend of the future.

It’s not something that can be stopped just because you try to stop it, and it’s something that will happen someday. What kind of disaster will light water reactors bring in the future?

I know that future.

The Chernobyl nuclear explosion, the Tokyo radiation leak, some people say that blind faith in science led to these results, but if you think about it, science has never betrayed humanity.

There is no unconditional giving in the world.

Science and humanity have only traded so far.

God gives grace based on faith, so isn’t it natural that science also gives benefits to humans by setting some conditions?

What mankind had to deal with through scientific advancement was environmental destruction and the development of lethal weapons, but mankind progressed to that extent and has come this far.

Are you afraid of environmental destruction, so you’re going to close your factories and abandon your cars?

No one will do that, and humanity will continue to live with environmental pollution.

Because it’s worth the risk, and this case is no exception.

The technology to replace light water reactors and nuclear power has emerged, but are we ignoring it? Of course, there will be enormous costs and sacrifices to commercialize it.

But is it worth it to risk it, how many people are suffering because of the cost of energy production?

If thorium reactors are commercialized, many problems can be solved, including environmental destruction and maintenance costs.

This is a transaction between humans and science,

So I reached out to the devil called science.

“Pay the price you deserve, I will give you 20,000 lives.”

If it can’t do this, the devil called science will only prove its own incompetence, and if it can’t even do that, it shouldn’t even think about doing business with humans.

Will the devil show his talents this time too?

That’s the devil’s lot,

I gave up human life, so the scientists took care of the rest.

American scientists moved to Korea one by one, and thus the experiment began.

***

“Have all the residents been evacuated?”

“Yes, the only ones left here are the workers.”

“Okay, let’s get started.”

This is a mine in Inner Mongolia, China.

As soon as the order was given, the workers gathered their equipment and started climbing up and down the mountain.

With the collapse of the communist regime, China has become a vacuum. Without a government, there is no order.

The majority of the people here are poor, barely surviving, and will do anything to make money.

So this place became a testing ground,

Unaware workers dug up the dirt and transported it back to the processing plant.

In the past, it took a long time to extract rare earth elements from the soil, but now, with the development of separation technology, extraction is possible in just 4 hours.

The rare minerals produced here were then transported elsewhere, and at the end of the line was a thorium nuclear power plant.

By now, the US government must have noticed.

But they were silent.

Since Korea is doing the work they should be doing, they just pretend not to see or hear.

Since it was a business that put human lives at stake, scientists also risked their lives.

“Von Neumann’s death was not in vain.”

“As scientists, we too must risk our lives for the advancement of humanity.”

Why did von Neumann, the genius of the century, die?

He died of pancreatic cancer after being exposed to radiation while leading the U.S. government’s nuclear tests. Does that mean his death was in vain?

Thanks to great sacrifice, World War II ended with minimal damage.

If the US had not developed the atomic bomb, the US would have invaded Japan and killed tens of millions of people. The Japanese tend to think of themselves as victims of the atomic bomb, but in fact, the great science of the US minimized the damage.

Which is more humane: ending the war with just two nuclear bombs or carrying out a genocide to wipe out the Japanese people?

Today’s sacrifice will bring greater happiness to humanity,

American scientists succeeded in developing a new type of nuclear reactor in just three years after the project began.

But it is too early to reveal this to the world, and the Korean government has also begun developing technology to amplify electric signals and supply energy to various locations.

Only when it succeeds to this point can we discuss commercialization, and with the full support of the Korean government and the head of state, the construction project for the new nuclear reactor gained momentum.

The results surprised even the U.S. government.

In the end, I ended up killing him and giving him to the dog.

The Korean government has a firm grip on rare earth production, mining, supply, and even energy production technology, so what is the United States going to do?

The devil’s technique that was missed in a moment of hesitation,

I hit the ground and regretted it, but it was already too late.