Purchasing Knowledge

[iKrolm]

[b]Public Message:[/b]

Selenarctos is interested to purchase complete plans and working knowledge of the German (former GDR) fusion reactors. If the individuals/entities in possession of this would be so kind as to send a reply, a meeting to discuss price can be arranged immediately.




edit: grammarz

Edited August 25, 2010 by iKrolm

[iKrolm]

...pressed reply instead of edit...

Edited August 25, 2010 by iKrolm

[Lynneth]

[b]*Private message to Selenarctos*[/b]

"From what we know, some older models of the reactors are in the HAE and Cochin. However, they most likely do not know how to replicate the technology needed for them.
However, reactors with current technology based on GDR designs are being built in Sri Lanka, which had quite an influx from former GDR-engineers, scientists and the like.
Perhaps we can come to an understanding regarding this."

Regards,
Mahinda Rajapaksa
[i]President of Sri Lanka[/i]

[iKrolm]

[b]Encrypted Reply:[/b]

Excellent news, we feared that the knowledge might have become lost during the course of the war. If it would not cause an inconvenience for you, Economic Director Antonio Pilar will be sent to discuss a trade in person.

[Lynneth]

[b]*Private Reply*[/b]

"This is not a problem. I will meet Mister Pilar personally at the Airport of Colombo."

Regards,
Champika Ranawaka
[i]Directorate of Energy and Power[/i]

[iKrolm]

OOC: was gone for a few days, back now
IC:

Antonio Pilar arrived at the Airport of Colombo and greeted Director Ranawaka upon disembarking from the plane. "Good tidings from Manila, Mr. Ranawaka. It's a pleasure to finally visit Sri Lanka."


EDIT: correct location this time...

Edited September 2, 2010 by iKrolm

[Lynneth]

OOC: Sri Lanka's in Asia. That Island in the south of India.
I'll ignore that 'Africa' bit in favour of your guy saying Asia.

IC:

Ranakawa smiled widely at the Selenarctian representative. "Mister Pilar, welcome in Sri Lanka."
The Director lead Pilar to a limousine, requesting him to enter. Once both men were in the vehicle, it began moving.
"Our destination is one of the laser-based fusion plants currently under construction. Being quite sophisticated technology, they're somewhat expensive, but make up for it with durability and a relatively little need for maintenance. Do you have any questions? I'll gladly answer them to the best of my knowledge."

[iKrolm]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1283330438' post='2438065']
OOC: Sri Lanka's in Asia. That Island in the south of India.
I'll ignore that 'Africa' bit in favour of your guy saying Asia.

IC:

Ranakawa smiled widely at the Selenarctian representative. "Mister Pilar, welcome in Sri Lanka."
The Director lead Pilar to a limousine, requesting him to enter. Once both men were in the vehicle, it began moving.
"Our destination is one of the laser-based fusion plants currently under construction. Being quite sophisticated technology, they're somewhat expensive, but make up for it with durability and a relatively little need for maintenance. Do you have any questions? I'll gladly answer them to the best of my knowledge."
[/quote]

OOC: God, I know that and typed Africa anyway... D:
IC:

"I've been briefed on the basics of a reactor, and I must say the exact workings are beyond me, I'm a business man after all, but he physicists we've contracted with assured me it's within our ability to achieve net energy gain. What I'm interested to learn is, at what size can we achieve peak cost efficiency and, as a matter of curiosity, how small could one make a reactor?

[Lynneth]

"Well, the size depends entirely on the type of reactor. The laser-based ones - called Ignition Facilities - we're mainly using is most suitable for simply powering civilian and military structures on land. There's one or two types that can be miniaturised relatively efficiently for use in Battleships or Aircraft carriers, but that's pretty much the smallest you can get for cost-efficiency. Any smaller and it'll be too expensive to be worth it.
The larger IF plants are capable of producing up to 14 Gigawatt of power, variable as needed. The plants are relatively cheap at 4.3 billion dollars each. This is about 307 dollars per kilowatt, while comparable fission plants - commonly known as nuclear power plants - would cost between 1,100 and 4,500 dollars per kilowatt.
In addition, the upkeep costs for the IF are quite low, so that you can supply your population with cheap and easy power. The only thing you might need to build in addition is a plant to filter Deuterium and Tritium from normal water, which is somewhat time-consuming. Not in construction, but in waiting for the plant to produce the required amount of heavy and superheavy water that can be used."

While they wre talking, the vehicle was already moving to the IF A-01 facility, the first of several large-scale power plants.

[iKrolm]

WWhat we're seeking to do is move away from wave and wind powers, which have proven quite expensive to maintain as the generators have aged, and to phase out a few fossil fuel plants too. For this, I think the Ignition Facility fits the bill perfectly. There's two sites that have been designated as possibilities for a demonstration plant and if successful, we'd like to build several more in the near Manila. For fuel, the philippine trench possesses one of the largest supplies of deuterium in the world; a few refinement plants should keep us supplied with more than enough. Where this leaves us, however, is with the will and money to build but without the knowledge. What we'd like to purchase is all the knowledge, plans, research and technical information you're willing to sell us."

Antonio paused as the first of buildings came into view and nodded appreciatively. "I must say though, I'm quite impressed by the scale of construction, especially in a country that so recently claimed sovereignty."

[Lynneth]

"Just don't forget that Tritium is needed as well for the reaction to work most efficiently. D-D fusion is good, but D-T fusion is the easiest yet most cost-effective type of reaction currently available. Half a dozen plants should be sufficient, though."
When the large [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/AEIOU/FUTURE/NIF01building_layout.jpg"]construction[/url] - looking quite simple from the outside, but with numerous other buildings nearby which it dwarfed - came into sight, Ranakawa continued.

"Anyways, we'd gladly share our knowledge with you. We're lucky to have received a number of top-scientists and other great minds from the former GDR that helped us with all this. Without them, we'd barely be able to build a simple fission reactor. However, everything comes at a price; The government's currently running at a large deficit, having to build housing for millions in record time, as well as having to organise hundreds of thousands into various governmental agencies. Deals like this lessen the burden upon our taxpayers."


OOC: Just a note, you need the nuclear plant ingame for fusion. I'm assuming this is lead-up RP due to you soon buying one IG?

[iKrolm]

OOC: Yep. I could buy one now, but I'm holding off for another collection cycle or two.
IC:

"Of course not, so I understand correctly would that be a half dozen refinement plants per reactor, or in total?

"As for price, I'm sure we can come to an agreement. Inheriting the technology from the GDR greatly reduces your development costs and likewise, purchasing from Sri Lanka saves Selenarctos money. As for debt and deficit, I completely understand; it's a position no country would prefer but sometimes occur. Is there a coin amount you had in mind, or would you be willing to quote a price estimate?"

[Lynneth]

OOC: I see.

IC:
"How many D-T plants are needed depends on a number of factors. With the philippine trench being a rich source, a single refinement plant could be sufficient for up to two fusion plants.
Now, regarding the price...Construction of a plant costs roughly 4.3 billion dollars with a developed and powerful economy, which the GDR's was. Your economy is very strong too, though probably lacking some infrastructure that was readily available in the GDR, mostly because no fusion plants have been built previously.
For us, building one such plant costs approximately 7.1 billion dollars or almost 80 billion Rupees, which still is very economical if you consider that an equivalent fission plant could easily cost two to four times as much per kilowatt. I'd estimate the construction cost for you being somewhere between five and six billion dollars per plant, resulting in less than 500 dollars per kilowatt."

While they were still talking, the limousine stopped and the two would be taken on a tour through the complex. The construction being rather large, the tour would only show necessary parts and key components, such as the control room, from which one has a nice view into the [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/AEIOU/FUTURE/NIF04target_chamber_exterior.jpg"]exterior[/url] of the reaction chamber - though not at the reaction itself, which would be bright enough to rival the sun.
"Now, seeing as we would very much like to make a profit from both construction and upkeep until you have built the facilities to do so yourself...I would like to either ask for help from Selenarctan companies in our construction endeavours at a decent discount, or for you to accept us raising the price per plant by 5 to 15%, pending further negotiations.
It may seem like a lot we're asking for, but let's say one of the fusion plants costs five billion for you. An additional 15% would result in 5.75 billion. At 14 gigawatt per plant, this is..."
He takes out a calculator to do the math. "Roughly 411 dollars per kilowatt. Most nuclear fission plants cost [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_new_nuclear_power_plants#Recent_construction_cost_estimates"]at least 1,500[/url] dollars per kilowatt. If the IF was to cost that much, it would be at least 21 billion per plant. So in theory, even if we requested you to pay not 15, but a hundred percent additionally, it would [i]still[/i] be a most economical solution in comparison to common fission power plants.
What do you say, Mister Pilar?"

Edited September 4, 2010 by Lynneth

[iKrolm]

"It's an excellent deal, but I'm afraid I should have been clearer on our intentions: we seek to purchase the knowledge and plans to build fusion power plants rather than contract to have them built."

[Lynneth]

"I see, I see. Forgive me for misunderstanding you.
While it is most certainly possible that we could sell you plans, blueprints et cetera, I would have to consult this with some of my colleagues. Obviously, a contract would be more beneficial for us in the short term, due to immediately available money.
Perhaps a sort of fee could be arranged; We give you the plans and whatnot for free, but for every plant you build, we receive some set amount of money until a certain amount of plants have been built.
Though the actual construction price would most likely be similar as what I estimated earlier. If the GDR couldn't build it more cheaply than for 4.3 billion per plant, it's unlikely anyone could achieve that."

Edited September 4, 2010 by Lynneth

[iKrolm]

"I can understand your need for money up front, so how does this sound: we'll contract with you to building the first prototype plant at a cost of around 5.25 billion NSC-I can authorize the transfer of up to 1 billion NSC immediately-and allow Selenarctan corporations to do much of the work to grow the infrastructure to produce further plants. Once the first plant is up and running successfully, then we'll purchase the plans to build more, though it would be helpful if we could agree on a price this meeting. Is this a deal you'd be interested in?"

[Lynneth]

"That is acceptable. Though, do you know how many plants will be built?
We could either determine a one-time cost for the plans depending on the number of plans planned, or we give you the plans for free, instead receiving a small fee for every plant built from then on.
For the latter option, I would think that around 100 to 200 million should be more than fair, seeing as your companies will be able to gain considerable experience from the first plant which will cheapen further plants in the long run.
For the former, a simple estimate would be enough. I could then phone some colleagues and we would determine a price for the one-time cost."

[iKrolm]

"I'd estimate 10 in the greater Manila area and perhaps 5 scattered around the rest of Selenarctos: about fifteen total including the prototype."

[Lynneth]

"Then please excuse me for a moment..."

Ranakawa walked into another room, taking a mobile phone out of his chest pocket in the process. Just a short time later, perhaps five minutes, he returns, smiling.
"Mister Pilar, I and my colleagues have talked and come to a conclusion. If you wish to purchase the plans, blueprints, et cetera, it will be six billion, to be paid at once or in rates over three years. If you wish to instead pay a small fee per plant built, the cost will be 450 million per plant. Which of the two will it be?"

[iKrolm]

"In the long term, I believe a one-time payment paid over three years will work best. Given the potential for fusion power, 6 billion is a fair price; plus the cost of the first plant comes to a total cost of 11.25 billion if my math serves me correctly. As soon as the documents are drawn up, I've been authorized to sign for Selenarctos."



OOC: Write something out if you want to, but it's not that important to me

[Lynneth]

OOC: Eh, don't need a treaty for this.

IC:
"Very well...We'll prepare the contract and send it to your government within the next days. In the meantime, would you like to see anything else within the power plant, or would you prefer to return to the airport and back home?"

[iKrolm]

"I look forwards to recieving the documents and it's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Rajapaksa. I'd be honored to finish touring the plant and any other locations you feel to be noteworthy. Afterwards, I've a room booked in a hotel and I fly out tomorrow."

[Lynneth]

OOC: Rajapaksa is my President. You're talking with Champika Ranawaka, my Directorate of Energy and Power.

IC:
Ranawaka nodded. "I'll continue the tour, then."
Over the next few hours, the men would be walking through the rest of the facility, with the Selenarctan representarive being shown, among other things, the [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/AEIOU/FUTURE/NIF07_Laser_Bay.jpg"]Laser Bay 2[/url] as well as some of the [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/AEIOU/FUTURE/NIF05flashlamps.jpg"]flashlamps[/url] utilized in these bays - though only through cameras, as even talking was restricted in the rooms these things were being handled.
At the conclusion of the tour, Ranawaka handed Pilar one of the [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/AEIOU/FUTURE/NIF06Fusion_microcapsule.jpg"]microcapsules[/url] used to power the plant, sealed and suspended in the center of a five times five centimeter large crystal glass cube, using plastic webbing.

By then, it was dusk and night crept towards the city of Colombo. Thus, Pilar would be brought directly to his hotel shortly after the tour was concluded.


Some days later, the documents would arrive in Selenarctos. Soon after they were signed, the first architects and some construction workers would arrive at the airport nearest to the prototype's to-be location, of course working together with local companies to build the first fusion plant of the Philippines.

[iKrolm]

OOC: Sorry, just copied the name from your first post. I'm not doing so well in this thread... v_v
IC:

The workers were met at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila and transported to the Bulacan region, where housing was provided in the city of Infanta. In recent years, in part in response to growth in Manila, Infanta's population had grown to almost 250,000 permanent residents. The plant itself would be built on a compound fifteen kilometers northwest of Infanta, close enough to cheaply wire power to Manila but far enough away to provide a reasonable margin of error should anything go catastrophically wrong. Security would be light during the early stages of construction, workers only need provide identification and sign in, however as work proceeded and the compound surrounding the plant was completed, security would be tightened until all personnel entering the compound would be required to submit to an iris scan and pass through a metal detector. Security personnel for the compound would be drawn from Ground Force Infantry, who were instructed to treat the foreign works with special courtesy.

[Lynneth]

OOC: No worries. lol

IC:
Nuclear fusion was, however, a technology that was very unlikely to explode even in the worst of all cases. After all, it was largely free of hazardous radiation - unlike fission - and while the very powerful reaction was contained by a massive magnetic field, it would most likely fizzle in the case of disruption of the field, instead of things somehow leading to an explosion.
The only thing potentially dangeous with this reactor design were the lasers utilized to initiate the reaction, and those were usually contained by a massive steel-alloy globe which formed the reaction chamber.
Catastrophic failure was practically impossible with this design, according to Sri Lankan scientists, even if someone actively [b]tried[/b] to bring the reaction to an uncontrolled, explosive reaction. There simply wasn't enough fuel in the reaction chamber at any given moment for this.

Regardless, all personnel from Sri Lanka would work hard and well with the Selenarctan workers and didn't protest even as security was tightened considerably.