Chapter 513: If we're going to play, let's play for real.

Before Su Hao lay a report on a nuclear energy project, a heavy bet Fang Huan Investment had placed in Guyana—
a formidable player capable of reshaping the future energy landscape:
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs).
This technology should have already emerged and flourished on the technological tree.
Unfortunately, the Fukushima disaster not only destroyed nuclear power plants but also shattered the confidence of global investors.
With the tide of capital receding, the technology naturally stalled.
But now, fortunes have turned, and nuclear energy has experienced a second spring.
As the global energy crisis once again sounded the alarm, nuclear energy was brought back from the sidelines, and those once-timid nuclear reactor projects are now standing tall and full of vigor.
"Chairman Su," Liu Bo reported, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement,
"According to the original plan, the first commercial application of SMR wouldn't be until 2030.
But our Fanghuan project is like a magnet, attracting the world's top technical experts!
At this pace, the commercialization process can be accelerated by at least several years!"
The project location was also a stroke of genius.
Guyana is practically a tailor-made paradise for small nuclear reactors.
The land is dotted with abandoned coal mines, and the underground structure is intricate, deep, and solid—a natural fortress designed specifically for building small nuclear reactors, saving countless hours of earthwork.
“But there are still some problems,” Liu Bo changed the subject,
“The environmental organizations are buzzing around like flies, that’s one thing, but the biggest time bomb is neighboring Venezuela.
Ever since their insane attack on the Jackson Mobil drilling platform, although they were given a beating by the US and seem to have calmed down on the surface, they’re still lunatics at heart. Nobody can guarantee when they won’t have another episode.
If those lunatics suddenly lose their minds and launch a military attack on our nuclear facilities…
That would be a huge mess, an unprecedented super disaster!”
That’s the biggest security threat.
On the other hand, the long-standing friction between North and South Korea, while seemingly tense, is more like a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) exhibition match. No matter how loud the arguments, the audience knows it’s staged; nobody takes it seriously.
But Venezuela and Guyana are like a no-holds-barred fight in the UFC octagon—no referee to stop it, it’s real, all-out, death-defying!
"There was a terrorist attack not long ago, and now skirmishes on the border are commonplace."
"So, all sorts of forces, especially environmental organizations, are fixated on this, constantly clamoring about uncontrollable risks.
Their core argument is this:
If those lunatics in Venezuela really don't play by the rules, our project is like carrying a time bomb, ready to explode at any moment, taking everyone to the heavens."
"To put it bluntly, unless the diplomatic issues between Venezuela and Guyana are resolved, we'll never be able to shake off this risk?"
Su Hao summarized.
"Yes, Chairman Su. Only by ensuring these two countries sign a peace agreement can we safely mine our 'gold mine'."
The problem is, getting these two countries, who'd fight tooth and nail over territorial disputes, to shake hands and make peace is harder than getting a cat and mouse to become sworn brothers.
Besides, even if you forced them to the negotiating table and sign today, who can guarantee they won't tear up the agreement and continue their actions tomorrow?
But Fanghuan Investment has already invested massive resources in this project, even getting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to back it up. From site selection to development, every step has been taken with meticulous care.
It's a crucial piece of Fanghuan Investment's future blueprint; how can it be abandoned so easily?
For a moment, the entire conference room fell into a deathly silence.
Just as everyone was frowning in worry, Li Huilin cautiously raised her hand.
"Chairman Su... how about... we hand this problem over to the group's 'Strategy Department'?"
"Strategy Department?"
"Yes. The strategy department you and Chairman Huang established specifically to handle these kinds of tricky overseas affairs.
It's said they've grown considerably, wielding immense power, even able to directly meet with overseas dignitaries.
Even if it can't solve the problem once and for all, it might serve as a warning, bringing about some positive changes?"
"Buzz—!"
The moment he heard the words "strategy department," Su Hao felt as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt.
His intuition was frantically sending him a signal: This is it!
He certainly knew this team.
Back then, Huang Fengwen was constantly flying around the world, working himself to the bone. Su Hao couldn't bear to see it and suggested recruiting a group of people to share the burden of these arduous overseas public relations tasks.
Unexpectedly, this small idea has now developed into such a mysterious and massive department.
To be honest, Su Hao had doubts about these people's abilities.
Expecting a group of well-dressed elites to act as peace ambassadors and mediate territorial disputes between two countries?
Isn't that even more absurd than expecting a husky to participate in synchronized swimming at the Olympics?
Their role, at best, is that of a high-level messenger, representing the company at meetings and tea parties.
They can't actually be expected to act as UN peace envoys, brokering a peace agreement, can they?
But his damned intuition was more active than ever at this moment, as if telling him, this group can do it!
"Alright!" Su Hao made a decisive decision.
"This matter will be entirely handled by the strategy department.
Tell them I don't care what methods they use, I only care about the results—
Ensure our nuclear energy development project is foolproof!
Oh, right, there's one more thing."
He turned to Liang Haiyuan and instructed:
"Also, inform the ESG Association, which we spearheaded, to make the Guyana project their first evaluation target."
"Yes, Chairman Su!
However… Guyana is riddled with mines, the infrastructure is in a terrible state, and conditions are extremely poor.
The ESG Association's evaluation score… will probably be very low."
"That's exactly what I want!" Su Hao's voice was resolute.
"We initiated the association's establishment; if we don't step forward to be the first target, who will?
Let's expose the worst of the problems and let the association's experts scrutinize it with a magnifying glass, making their reports as sharp as possible."
List out everything that needs improvement, how to protect workers' rights, and how to solve environmental problems.
"Let's take the brunt of the criticism first, then fix everything on the feedback list!"
The ESG Association, this organization that touts the lofty banner of "social and environmental responsibility," was something Su Hao didn't intend for Fang Huan's investment to be just an empty slogan.
He was going to play it for real!