The hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb was cornerstone arms race between the US and the USSR. The two superpowers have been arguing for several years about who will be the first owner of a new type of destructive weapon.
thermonuclear weapons project
At the beginning cold war trial hydrogen bomb was for the leadership of the USSR the most important argument in the fight against the United States. Moscow wanted to achieve nuclear parity with Washington and invested huge amounts of money in the arms race. However, work on the creation of a hydrogen bomb began not thanks to generous funding, but because of reports from secret agents in America. In 1945, the Kremlin learned that in USA is coming preparation for the creation of new weapons. It was a super-bomb, the project of which was called Super.
The source of valuable information was Klaus Fuchs, an employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the USA. He gave the Soviet Union specific information that concerned the secret American developments of the superbomb. By 1950, the Super project was thrown into the trash, as it became clear to Western scientists that such a scheme for a new weapon could not be implemented. The head of this program was Edward Teller.
In 1946, Klaus Fuchs and John developed the ideas of the Super project and patented their own system. Fundamentally new in it was the principle of radioactive implosion. In the USSR, this scheme began to be considered a little later - in 1948. In general, we can say that at the initial stage it was completely based on American information received by intelligence. But, continuing research already on the basis of these materials, Soviet scientists were noticeably ahead of their Western counterparts, which allowed the USSR to first obtain the first, and then the most powerful thermonuclear bomb.
On December 17, 1945, at a meeting of a special committee established under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, nuclear physicists Yakov Zel'dovich, Isaak Pomeranchuk and Julius Khartion made a report "Using nuclear energy light elements. This paper considered the possibility of using a deuterium bomb. This speech was the beginning of the Soviet nuclear program.
In 1946 theoretical studies hoists are carried out at the Institute of Chemical Physics. The first results of this work were discussed at one of the meetings of the Scientific and Technical Council in the First Main Directorate. Two years later, Lavrenty Beria instructed Kurchatov and Khariton to analyze the materials on the von Neumann system, which were delivered to Soviet Union thanks to secret agents in the west. The data from these documents gave an additional impetus to the research, thanks to which the RDS-6 project was born.
Evie Mike and Castle Bravo
On November 1, 1952, the Americans tested the world's first thermonuclear bomb. It was not yet a bomb, but already its most important component. The explosion occurred on the Enivotek Atoll, in pacific ocean. and Stanislav Ulam (each of them is actually the creator of the hydrogen bomb) shortly before developed a two-stage design, which the Americans tested. The device could not be used as a weapon, as it was produced using deuterium. In addition, it was distinguished by its enormous weight and dimensions. Such a projectile simply could not be dropped from an aircraft.
The test of the first hydrogen bomb was carried out by Soviet scientists. After the United States learned about the successful use of the RDS-6s, it became clear that it was necessary to close the gap with the Russians in the arms race as soon as possible. The American test passed on March 1, 1954. Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was chosen as the test site. The Pacific archipelagos were not chosen by chance. There was almost no population here (and those few people who lived on nearby islands were evicted on the eve of the experiment).
The most devastating American hydrogen bomb explosion became known as "Castle Bravo". The charge power turned out to be 2.5 times higher than expected. The explosion led to radiation contamination a large area (many islands and the Pacific Ocean), which led to a scandal and a revision of the nuclear program.
Development of RDS-6s
The project of the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb was named RDS-6s. The plan was written by the outstanding physicist Andrei Sakharov. In 1950, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to concentrate work on the creation of new weapons in KB-11. According to this decision, a group of scientists led by Igor Tamm went to the closed Arzamas-16.
Especially for this grandiose project, the Semipalatinsk test site was prepared. Before the test of the hydrogen bomb began, numerous measuring, filming and recording devices were installed there. In addition, on behalf of scientists, almost two thousand indicators appeared there. The area affected by the hydrogen bomb test included 190 structures.
The Semipalatinsk experiment was unique not only because of the new type of weapon. Unique intakes designed for chemical and radioactive samples were used. Only a powerful shock wave could open them. Recording and filming devices were installed in specially prepared fortified structures on the surface and in underground bunkers.
alarm clock
Back in 1946, Edward Teller, who worked in the United States, developed the RDS-6s prototype. It was called Alarm Clock. Initially, the project of this device was proposed as an alternative to Super. In April 1947, a whole series of experiments began at the Los Alamos laboratory to investigate the nature of thermonuclear principles.
From the Alarm Clock, scientists expected the greatest energy release. In the fall, Teller decided to use lithium deuteride as fuel for the device. Researchers had not yet used this substance, but expected that it would increase efficiency. Interestingly, Teller already noted in his memos dependence of the nuclear program on further development computers. This technique was needed by scientists for more accurate and complex calculations.
Alarm Clock and RDS-6s had much in common, but they differed in many ways. The American version was not as practical as the Soviet one due to its size. Big sizes he inherited from the Super project. In the end, the Americans had to abandon this development. The last studies took place in 1954, after which it became clear that the project was unprofitable.
Explosion of the first thermonuclear bomb
First in human history The hydrogen bomb test took place on August 12, 1953. In the morning, a bright flash appeared on the horizon, which blinded even through goggles. The RDS-6s explosion turned out to be 20 times more powerful than an atomic bomb. The experiment was considered successful. Scientists were able to achieve important technological breakthrough. For the first time, lithium hydride was used as a fuel. Within a radius of 4 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion, the wave destroyed all the buildings.
Subsequent tests of the hydrogen bomb in the USSR were based on the experience gained using the RDS-6s. This devastating weapon was not only the most powerful. An important advantage of the bomb was its compactness. The projectile was placed in the Tu-16 bomber. Success allowed Soviet scientists to get ahead of the Americans. In the USA at that time there was a thermonuclear device, the size of a house. It was non-transportable.
When Moscow announced that the USSR's hydrogen bomb was ready, Washington disputed this information. The main argument of the Americans was the fact that the thermonuclear bomb should be manufactured according to the Teller-Ulam scheme. It was based on the principle of radiation implosion. This project will be implemented in the USSR in two years, in 1955.
The physicist Andrei Sakharov made the greatest contribution to the creation of the RDS-6s. The hydrogen bomb was his brainchild - it was he who proposed the revolutionary those technical solutions, which made it possible to successfully complete tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. Young Sakharov immediately became an academician at the USSR Academy of Sciences, a Hero of Socialist Labor and a laureate Stalin Prize. Other scientists also received awards and medals: Yuli Khariton, Kirill Shchelkin, Yakov Zeldovich, Nikolai Dukhov, etc. In 1953, the test of the hydrogen bomb showed that Soviet science could overcome what until recently seemed fiction and fantasy. Therefore, immediately after the successful explosion of the RDS-6s, the development of even more powerful projectiles began.
RDS-37
On November 20, 1955, another test of the hydrogen bomb took place in the USSR. This time it was two-stage and corresponded to the Teller-Ulam scheme. The RDS-37 bomb was about to be dropped from an aircraft. However, when he took to the air, it became clear that the tests would have to be carried out in an emergency. Contrary to forecasts of weather forecasters, the weather deteriorated noticeably, due to which dense clouds covered the test site.
For the first time, experts were forced to land a plane with a thermonuclear bomb on board. For some time there was a discussion at the Central Command Post about what to do next. A proposal was considered to drop the bomb on the mountains nearby, but this option was rejected as too risky. Meanwhile, the plane continued to circle near the landfill, producing fuel.
Zel'dovich and Sakharov received the decisive word. A hydrogen bomb that did not explode at a test site would have led to disaster. Scientists understood the full degree of risk and their own responsibility, and yet they gave written confirmation that the landing of the aircraft would be safe. Finally, the commander of the Tu-16 crew, Fyodor Golovashko, received the command to land. The landing was very smooth. The pilots showed all their skills and did not panic in critical situation. The maneuver was perfect. The Central Command Post let out a breath of relief.
The creator of the hydrogen bomb Sakharov and his team have postponed the tests. The second attempt was scheduled for 22 November. On this day, everything went without emergency situations. The bomb was dropped from a height of 12 kilometers. While the projectile was falling, the plane managed to retire to a safe distance from the epicenter of the explosion. A few minutes later, the nuclear mushroom reached a height of 14 kilometers, and its diameter was 30 kilometers.
The explosion was not without tragic incidents. From the shock wave at a distance of 200 kilometers, glass was knocked out, because of which several people were injured. A girl who lived in a neighboring village also died, on which the ceiling collapsed. Another victim was a soldier who was in a special waiting area. The soldier fell asleep in the dugout, and he died of suffocation before his comrades could pull him out.
Development of the "Tsar bomb"
In 1954, the best nuclear physicists of the country, under the leadership, began the development of the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in the history of mankind. Andrey Sakharov, Viktor Adamsky, Yuri Babaev, Yuri Smirnov, Yuri Trutnev, etc. also took part in this project. Due to its power and size, the bomb became known as the Tsar Bomba. Project participants later recalled that this phrase appeared after Khrushchev's famous statement about "Kuzka's mother" at the UN. Officially, the project was called AN602.
Over the seven years of development, the bomb has gone through several reincarnations. At first, scientists planned to use uranium components and the Jekyll-Hyde reaction, but later this idea had to be abandoned due to the danger of radioactive contamination.
Trial on New Earth
For some time, the Tsar Bomba project was frozen, as Khrushchev was going to the United States, and there was a short pause in the Cold War. In 1961, the conflict between the countries flared up again and in Moscow they again remembered thermonuclear weapons. Khrushchev announced the upcoming tests in October 1961 during the XXII Congress of the CPSU.
On the 30th, a Tu-95V with a bomb on board took off from Olenya and headed for Novaya Zemlya. The plane reached the target for two hours. Another Soviet hydrogen bomb was dropped at an altitude of 10.5 thousand meters above the Dry Nose nuclear test site. The shell exploded while still in the air. A fireball appeared, which reached a diameter of three kilometers and almost touched the ground. According to scientists, the seismic wave from the explosion crossed the planet three times. The impact was felt a thousand kilometers away, and all living things at a distance of a hundred kilometers could receive third-degree burns (this did not happen, since the area was uninhabited).
At that time, the most powerful US thermonuclear bomb was four times less powerful than the Tsar Bomba. The Soviet leadership was pleased with the result of the experiment. In Moscow, they got what they wanted so much from the next hydrogen bomb. The test showed that the USSR has weapons much more powerful than the United States. In the future, the devastating record of the Tsar Bomba was never broken. Most powerful explosion The hydrogen bomb was a milestone in the history of science and the Cold War.
Thermonuclear weapons of other countries
British development of the hydrogen bomb began in 1954. The project leader was William Penney, who had previously been a member of the Manhattan Project in the United States. The British had crumbs of information about the structure of thermonuclear weapons. American allies did not share this information. Washington cited the 1946 Atomic Energy Act. The only exception for the British was permission to observe the tests. In addition, they used aircraft to collect samples left after the explosions of American shells.
At first, in London, they decided to limit themselves to the creation of a very powerful atomic bomb. Thus began the testing of the Orange Herald. During them, the most powerful non-thermonuclear bomb in the history of mankind was dropped. Its disadvantage was excessive cost. On November 8, 1957, a hydrogen bomb was tested. The history of the creation of the British two-stage device is an example of successful progress in the conditions of lagging behind the two superpowers arguing with each other.
In China, the hydrogen bomb appeared in 1967, in France - in 1968. Thus, there are five states in the club of countries possessing thermonuclear weapons today. Information about the hydrogen bomb in North Korea remains controversial. The head of the DPRK stated that his scientists were able to develop such a projectile. During the tests, seismologists different countries recorded seismic activity caused by a nuclear explosion. But there is still no specific information about the hydrogen bomb in the DPRK.
The destructive power of which, in the event of an explosion, cannot be stopped by anyone. What is the most powerful bomb in the world? To answer this question, you need to understand the features of certain bombs.
What is a bomb?
Nuclear power plants operate on the principle of releasing and shackling nuclear energy. This process must be controlled. The released energy is converted into electricity. An atomic bomb sets off a chain reaction that is completely uncontrollable, and great amount released energy causes monstrous destruction. Uranium and plutonium are not so harmless elements of the periodic table, they lead to global catastrophes.
Atomic bomb
To understand what is the most powerful atomic bomb on the planet, we will learn more about everything. Hydrogen and atomic bombs are nuclear power. If you combine two pieces of uranium, but each will have a mass below the critical mass, then this "union" will greatly exceed the critical mass. Each neutron participates in a chain reaction, because it splits the nucleus and releases 2-3 more neutrons, which cause new decay reactions.
Neutron force is completely beyond human control. In less than a second, hundreds of billions of newly formed decays not only release a huge amount of energy, but also become sources of the strongest radiation. This radioactive rain covers the earth, fields, plants and all living things in a thick layer. If we talk about the disasters in Hiroshima, we can see that 1 gram caused the death of 200 thousand people.
Working principle and advantages of vacuum bomb
It is believed that the vacuum bomb, created by the latest technologies, can compete with nuclear. The fact is that instead of TNT, a gas substance is used here, which is several tens of times more powerful. The high-yield aerial bomb is the most powerful non-nuclear vacuum bomb in the world. It can destroy the enemy, but at the same time houses and equipment will not be damaged, and there will be no decay products.
What is the principle of its work? Immediately after dropping from a bomber, a detonator fires at some distance from the ground. The hull collapses and a huge cloud is dispersed. When mixed with oxygen, it begins to penetrate anywhere - into houses, bunkers, shelters. The burning of oxygen forms a vacuum everywhere. When this bomb is dropped, a supersonic wave is produced and a very high temperature is generated.
The difference between an American vacuum bomb and a Russian one
The differences are that the latter can destroy the enemy, even in the bunker, with the help of an appropriate warhead. During the explosion in the air, the warhead falls and hits the ground hard, burrowing to a depth of 30 meters. After the explosion, a cloud is formed, which, increasing in size, can penetrate shelters and explode there. American warheads, on the other hand, are filled with ordinary TNT, which is why they destroy buildings. vacuum bomb destroys a certain object, as it has a smaller radius. It doesn't matter which bomb is the most powerful - any of them delivers an incomparable destructive blow that affects all living things.
H-bomb
The hydrogen bomb is another terrible nuclear weapon. The combination of uranium and plutonium generates not only energy, but also a temperature that rises to a million degrees. Hydrogen isotopes combine into helium nuclei, which creates a source of colossal energy. The hydrogen bomb is the most powerful - this is an indisputable fact. It is enough just to imagine that its explosion is equal to the explosions of 3000 atomic bombs in Hiroshima. Both in the USA and former USSR you can count 40 thousand bombs of various capacities - nuclear and hydrogen.
The explosion of such ammunition is comparable to the processes that are observed inside the Sun and stars. Fast neutrons split the uranium shells of the bomb itself with great speed. Not only heat is released, but also radioactive fallout. There are up to 200 isotopes. The production of such nuclear weapons is cheaper than nuclear weapons, and their effect can be increased as many times as desired. This is the most powerful detonated bomb that was tested in the Soviet Union on August 12, 1953.
Consequences of the explosion
The result of the explosion of the hydrogen bomb is threefold. The very first thing that happens is a powerful blast wave is observed. Its power depends on the height of the explosion and the type of terrain, as well as the degree of transparency of the air. Large fiery hurricanes can form that do not calm down for several hours. Yet the secondary and most dangerous consequence that the most powerful thermonuclear bomb can cause is radioactive radiation and contamination of the surrounding area for a long time.
Radioactive residue from the explosion of a hydrogen bomb
During the explosion, the fireball contains many very small radioactive particles that are trapped in the atmospheric layer of the earth and remain there for a long time. Upon contact with the ground, this fireball creates incandescent dust, consisting of particles of decay. First, a large one settles, and then a lighter one, which, with the help of the wind, spreads over hundreds of kilometers. These particles can be seen with the naked eye, for example, such dust can be seen on the snow. It is fatal if anyone is nearby. The smallest particles can stay in the atmosphere for many years and so “travel”, flying around the entire planet several times. Their radioactive emission will become weaker by the time they fall out in the form of precipitation.
Its explosion is capable of wiping Moscow off the face of the earth in a matter of seconds. The city center would easily evaporate in the truest sense of the word, and everything else could turn into the smallest rubble. The most powerful bomb in the world would have wiped out New York with all the skyscrapers. After it, a twenty-kilometer molten smooth crater would have remained. With such an explosion, it would not have been possible to escape by going down the subway. The entire territory within a radius of 700 kilometers would be destroyed and infected with radioactive particles.
The explosion of the "Tsar bomb" - to be or not to be?
In the summer of 1961, scientists decided to test and observe the explosion. The most powerful bomb in the world was supposed to explode at a test site located in the very north of Russia. The huge area of the landfill covers the entire territory of the island New Earth. The scale of the defeat was to be 1000 kilometers. The explosion could have left such industrial centers as Vorkuta, Dudinka and Norilsk infected. Scientists, having comprehended the scale of the disaster, took up their heads and realized that the test was cancelled.
There was no place to test the famous and incredibly powerful bomb anywhere on the planet, only Antarctica remained. But it also failed to carry out an explosion on the icy continent, since the territory is considered international and it is simply unrealistic to obtain permission for such tests. I had to reduce the charge of this bomb by 2 times. The bomb was nevertheless detonated on October 30, 1961 in the same place - on the island of Novaya Zemlya (at an altitude of about 4 kilometers). During the explosion, a monstrous huge atomic mushroom was observed, which rose up to 67 kilometers, and the shock wave circled the planet three times. By the way, in the museum "Arzamas-16", in the city of Sarov, you can watch a newsreel of the explosion on an excursion, although they say that this spectacle is not for the faint of heart.
On August 12, 1953, at 7:30 am, the first Soviet hydrogen bomb was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site, which had the service name "Product RDS‑6c". It was the fourth Soviet test of a nuclear weapon.
The beginning of the first work on the thermonuclear program in the USSR dates back to 1945. Then information was received about the research being conducted in the United States on the thermonuclear problem. They were initiated by the American physicist Edward Teller in 1942. Teller's concept of thermonuclear weapons was taken as the basis, which received the name "pipe" in the circles of Soviet nuclear scientists - a cylindrical container with liquid deuterium, which was supposed to be heated by the explosion of an initiating device such as a conventional atomic bomb. Only in 1950, the Americans found that the "pipe" was unpromising, and they continued to develop other designs. But by this time, Soviet physicists had already independently developed another concept of thermonuclear weapons, which soon - in 1953 - led to success.
Andrei Sakharov came up with an alternative scheme for the hydrogen bomb. The bomb was based on the idea of "puff" and the use of lithium-6 deuteride. Developed in KB‑11 (today it is the city of Sarov, former Arzamas‑16, Nizhny Novgorod Region) thermonuclear charge RDS-6s was a spherical system of layers of uranium and thermonuclear fuel, surrounded by a chemical explosive.
To increase the energy release of the charge, tritium was used in its design. The main task in creating such a weapon was to use the energy released during the explosion of an atomic bomb to heat and set fire to heavy hydrogen - deuterium, to carry out thermonuclear reactions with the release of energy that can support themselves. To increase the proportion of "burnt" deuterium, Sakharov proposed to surround the deuterium with a shell of ordinary natural uranium, which was supposed to slow down the expansion and, most importantly, significantly increase the density of deuterium. The phenomenon of ionization compression of thermonuclear fuel, which became the basis of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb, is still called "saccharization".
According to the results of work on the first hydrogen bomb, Andrei Sakharov received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and laureate of the Stalin Prize.
"Product RDS-6s" was made in the form of a transportable bomb weighing 7 tons, which was placed in the bomb hatch of the Tu-16 bomber. For comparison, the bomb created by the Americans weighed 54 tons and was the size of a three-story house.
To assess the devastating effects of the new bomb, a city was built at the Semipalatinsk test site from industrial and administrative buildings. In total, there were 190 different structures on the field. In this test, for the first time, vacuum intakes of radiochemical samples were used, which automatically opened under the action of a shock wave. In total, 500 different measuring, recording and filming devices installed in underground casemates and solid ground structures were prepared for testing the RDS-6s. Aviation and technical support of tests - measurement of the pressure of the shock wave on the aircraft in the air at the time of the explosion of the product, air sampling from the radioactive cloud, aerial photography of the area was carried out by a special flight unit. The bomb was detonated remotely, by giving a signal from the remote control, which was located in the bunker.
It was decided to make an explosion on a steel tower 40 meters high, the charge was located at a height of 30 meters. The radioactive soil from previous tests was removed to a safe distance, special facilities were rebuilt in their own places on old foundations, a bunker was built 5 meters from the tower to install equipment developed at the Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which registers thermonuclear processes.
Installed on the field military equipment all branches of the military. During the tests, all experimental structures within a radius of up to four kilometers were destroyed. The explosion of a hydrogen bomb could completely destroy a city 8 kilometers across. Environmental consequences explosions were horrendous: the first explosion accounted for 82% of strontium-90 and 75% of cesium-137.
The power of the bomb reached 400 kilotons, 20 times more than the first atomic bombs in the USA and the USSR.
The work on the creation of the hydrogen bomb was the world's first intellectual "battle of wits" on a truly global scale. The creation of the hydrogen bomb initiated the emergence of completely new scientific areas - the physics of high-temperature plasma, the physics of ultrahigh energy densities, and the physics of anomalous pressures. For the first time in the history of mankind, mathematical modeling was used on a large scale.
Work on the "RDS-6s product" created a scientific and technical reserve, which was then used in the development of an incomparably more advanced hydrogen bomb of a fundamentally new type - a hydrogen bomb of a two-stage design.
The Sakharov-designed hydrogen bomb not only became a serious counterargument in the political confrontation between the USA and the USSR, but also caused the rapid development of Soviet cosmonautics in those years. It was after successful nuclear tests that OKB Korolev received an important government task to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile to deliver the created charge to the target. Subsequently, the rocket, called the "seven", launched the first artificial satellite of the Earth into space, and it was on it that the first cosmonaut of the planet, Yuri Gagarin, launched.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Atomic energy is released not only by fission atomic nuclei heavy elements, but also during the combination (synthesis) of light nuclei into heavier ones.
For example, the nuclei of hydrogen atoms, when combined, form the nuclei of helium atoms, and more energy is released per unit weight of nuclear fuel than during the fission of uranium nuclei.
These nuclear fusion reactions occurring at very high temperatures, measured in tens of millions of degrees, are called thermonuclear reactions. A weapon based on the use of energy instantly released as a result of a thermonuclear reaction is called thermo nuclear weapons .
Thermonuclear weapons that use hydrogen isotopes as the charge (nuclear explosive) are often referred to as hydrogen weapons.
The fusion reaction between hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium - proceeds especially successfully.
Lithium deuterium (a compound of deuterium with lithium) can also be used as a charge for a hydrogen bomb.
Deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, occurs naturally in trace amounts in heavy water. Ordinary water contains about 0.02% heavy water as an impurity. To obtain 1 kg of deuterium, it is necessary to process at least 25 tons of water.
Tritium, or superheavy hydrogen, is practically never found in nature. It is obtained artificially, for example, by irradiating lithium with neutrons. For this purpose, neutrons released in nuclear reactors can be used.
Practical Device hydrogen bomb can be imagined as follows: next to a hydrogen charge containing heavy and superheavy hydrogen (i.e., deuterium and tritium), there are two hemispheres of uranium or plutonium (atomic charge) distant from each other.
For the convergence of these hemispheres, charges from a conventional explosive (TNT) are used. Exploding simultaneously, the TNT charges bring together the hemispheres of the atomic charge. At the moment of their connection, an explosion occurs, thereby creating conditions for a thermonuclear reaction, and, consequently, an explosion of a hydrogen charge will also occur. Thus, the reaction of a hydrogen bomb explosion goes through two phases: the first phase is the fission of uranium or plutonium, the second is the fusion phase, in which helium nuclei and free neutrons of high energy are formed. At present, there are schemes for constructing a three-phase thermonuclear bomb.
In a three-phase bomb, the shell is made from uranium-238 (natural uranium). In this case, the reaction goes through three phases: the first phase of fission (uranium or plutonium for detonation), the second - a thermonuclear reaction in lithium hydrite and the third phase - the fission reaction of uranium-238. The fission of uranium nuclei is caused by neutrons, which are released in the form of a powerful stream during the fusion reaction.
The fabrication of the shell from uranium-238 makes it possible to increase the power of the bomb at the expense of the most accessible nuclear raw materials. According to the foreign press, bombs with a capacity of 10-14 million tons or more have already been tested. It becomes obvious that this is not the limit. Further improvement of nuclear weapons goes both along the line of creating bombs of especially high power, and along the line of developing new designs that make it possible to reduce the weight and caliber of bombs. In particular, they are working on creating a bomb based entirely on fusion. There are, for example, reports in the foreign press about the possibility of using a new method of detonating thermonuclear bombs based on the use of shock waves of conventional explosives.
The energy released by the explosion of a hydrogen bomb can be thousands of times greater than the energy of an atomic bomb explosion. However, the radius of destruction cannot be as many times greater than the radius of destruction caused by the explosion of an atomic bomb.
The radius of action of the shock wave during an air explosion of a hydrogen bomb with a TNT equivalent of 10 million tons is more than the radius of action of a shock wave formed during the explosion of an atomic bomb with a TNT equivalent of 20,000 tons by about 8 times, while the power of the bomb is 500 times greater, t i.e., by the cube root of 500. Correspondingly, the destruction area also increases by about 64 times, i.e., in proportion to the cube root of the bomb power increase factor squared.
According to foreign authors, in a nuclear explosion with a capacity of 20 million tons, the area of complete destruction of conventional ground structures, according to American experts, can reach 200 km 2, the zone of significant destruction - 500 km 2 and partial - up to 2580 km 2.
This means, foreign experts conclude, that the explosion of one bomb of such power is enough to destroy the modern big city. As you know, the area occupied by Paris is 104 km2, London - 300 km2, Chicago - 550 km2, Berlin - 880 km2.
The scale of damage and destruction from a nuclear explosion with a capacity of 20 million tons can be represented schematically, in the following form:
Region lethal doses initial radiation within a radius of up to 8 km (on an area up to 200 km 2);
The area affected by light radiation (burns)] within a radius of up to 32 km (over an area of about 3000 km 2).
Damage to residential buildings (broken glass, crumbled plaster, etc.) can be observed even at a distance of up to 120 km from the explosion site.
The given data from open foreign sources are indicative, they were obtained during testing of nuclear weapons of lower power and by calculations. Deviations from these data in one direction or another will depend on various factors, and primarily on the terrain, the nature of development, meteorological conditions, vegetation cover, etc.
To a large extent, it is possible to change the radius of damage by artificially creating certain conditions that reduce the effect of exposure damaging factors explosion. So, for example, you can reduce the damaging effect light radiation, reduce the area where people can burn and objects can ignite by creating a smoke screen.
Conducted experiments in the United States on the creation of smoke screens during nuclear explosions in 1954-1955. showed that at the density of the curtain (oil fog) obtained at a consumption of 440-620 l of oil per 1 km 2, the effect of light radiation from a nuclear explosion, depending on the distance to the epicenter, can be weakened by 65-90%.
Other smokes also weaken the damaging effect of light radiation, which are not only not inferior, but in some cases surpass oil fogs. In particular, industrial smoke, which reduces atmospheric visibility, can reduce the effects of light radiation to the same extent as oil fogs.
The damaging effect of nuclear explosions can be greatly reduced by dispersed construction of settlements, the creation of forest plantations, etc.
Of particular note is the sharp decrease in the radius of damage to people, depending on the use of certain means of protection. It is known, for example, that even at a comparatively small distance from the epicenter of the explosion, a safe shelter from the effects of light radiation and penetrating radiation is a shelter with a 1.6 m thick earth cover layer or a 1 m concrete layer.
A light-type shelter reduces the radius of the affected area by six times compared to an open location, and the affected area is reduced tenfold. When using covered slots, the radius of possible damage is reduced by 2 times.
Consequently, with the maximum use of all available methods and means of protection, it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in the impact of the damaging factors of nuclear weapons and, thereby, a reduction in human and material losses during their use.
Speaking about the scale of destruction that can be caused by explosions of high-power nuclear weapons, it must be borne in mind that the damage will be inflicted not only by the action of a shock wave, light radiation and penetrating radiation, but also by the action of radioactive substances that fall along the path of the cloud formed during the explosion , which includes not only gaseous explosion products, but also solid particles of various sizes, both in weight and in size. Especially a large number of radioactive dust is formed during ground explosions.
The height of the rise of the cloud and its size largely depend on the power of the explosion. According to the foreign press, when testing nuclear charges with a capacity of several million tons of TNT, which were carried out by the United States in the Pacific Ocean in 1952-1954, the top of the cloud reached a height of 30-40 km.
In the first minutes after the explosion, the cloud has the shape of a ball and, over time, stretches in the direction of the wind, reaching a huge size (about 60-70 km).
Approximately an hour after the explosion of a bomb with a TNT equivalent of 20 thousand tons, the volume of the cloud reaches 300 km 3, and with a bomb explosion of 20 million tons, the volume can reach 10 thousand km 3.
Moving in the direction of the flow of air masses, an atomic cloud can occupy a strip with a length of several tens of kilometers.
From the cloud during its movement, after rising into the upper layers of the rarefied atmosphere, after a few minutes, radioactive dust begins to fall to the ground, contaminating an area of several thousand square kilometers along the way.
At first, the heaviest dust particles fall out, which have time to settle within a few hours. The main mass of coarse dust falls in the first 6-8 hours after the explosion.
About 50% of the (largest) particles of radioactive dust fall out within the first 8 hours after the explosion. This fallout is often referred to as local as opposed to general, ubiquitous.
Smaller dust particles remain in the air at various altitudes and fall to the ground for about two weeks after the explosion. During this time, the cloud can go around the globe several times, while capturing a wide strip parallel to the latitude at which the explosion was made.
Particles of small size (up to 1 micron) remain in the upper layers of the atmosphere, are distributed more evenly around the globe, and fall out over the next number of years. According to scientists, the fallout of fine radioactive dust continues everywhere for about ten years.
The greatest danger to the population is radioactive dust that falls in the first hours after the explosion, since the level of radioactive contamination is so high that it can cause fatal injuries to people and animals that find themselves in the territory along the path of the radioactive cloud.
The size of the area and the degree of contamination of the area as a result of fallout of radioactive dust largely depend on meteorological conditions, the terrain, the height of the explosion, the size of the bomb charge, the nature of the soil, etc. The most important factor determining the size of the area of contamination, its configuration, is the direction and the strength of the winds prevailing in the explosion area at various heights.
To determine the possible direction of cloud movement, it is necessary to know in which direction and with what speed the wind blows at different heights, starting from a height of about 1 km and ending with 25-30 km. To do this, the meteorological service must conduct continuous observations and measurements of the wind using radiosondes at various heights; based on the data obtained, determine in which direction the radioactive cloud is most likely to move.
During the explosion of a hydrogen bomb, produced by the United States in 1954 in the central part of the Pacific Ocean (on Bikini Atoll), the contaminated area had the shape of an elongated ellipse, which extended 350 km downwind and 30 km against the wind. The maximum width of the strip was about 65 km. total area dangerous infection reached about 8 thousand km 2.
As is known, as a result of this explosion, the Japanese fishing vessel Fukuryumaru, which was at that time at a distance of about 145 km, was contaminated with radioactive dust. The 23 fishermen who were on this vessel were injured, and one of them was fatal.
The fallout of radioactive dust after the explosion on March 1, 1954 also affected 29 American employees and 239 residents of the Marshall Islands, all of whom were injured at a distance of more than 300 km from the explosion site. Other ships that were in the Pacific Ocean at a distance of up to 1,500 km from Bikini, and some fish near the Japanese coast, also turned out to be infected.
The pollution of the atmosphere by the products of the explosion was indicated by the rains that fell on the Pacific coast and Japan in May, in which greatly increased radioactivity was detected. The areas in which radioactive fallout was recorded during May 1954 occupy about a third of the entire territory of Japan.
The above data on the scale of damage that can be inflicted on the population in the explosion of large-caliber atomic bombs show that high-yield nuclear charges (millions of tons of TNT) can be considered a radiological weapon, that is, a weapon that affects more radioactive explosion products than impact wave, light radiation and penetrating radiation acting at the time of the explosion.
Therefore, during the preparation of settlements and facilities National economy to civil defense, it is necessary to provide everywhere for measures to protect the population, animals, food, fodder and water from contamination by explosion products of nuclear charges that may fall along the path of the radioactive cloud.
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that as a result of the fallout of radioactive substances, not only the surface of the soil and objects, but also the air, vegetation, water in open reservoirs, etc. will be contaminated. The air will be contaminated both during the period of sedimentation of radioactive particles and in the following time, especially along roads during traffic or in windy weather, when the settled dust particles will again rise into the air.
Consequently, unprotected people and animals may be affected by radioactive dust that enters the respiratory system along with the air.
Dangerous will also be food and water contaminated with radioactive dust, which, if ingested, can cause serious illness, sometimes fatal. Thus, in the area of fallout of radioactive substances formed during a nuclear explosion, people will be affected not only as a result of external radiation, but also when contaminated food, water or air enters the body. When organizing protection against damage by products of a nuclear explosion, it should be borne in mind that the degree of infection along the trail of cloud movement decreases with distance from the explosion site.
Therefore, the danger to which the population located in the area of the infection zone is exposed is not the same at different distances from the site of the explosion. The most dangerous will be the areas close to the place of the explosion, and the areas located along the axis of the cloud movement (the middle part of the strip along the trail of the cloud movement).
The unevenness of radioactive contamination along the path of cloud movement is to a certain extent natural. This circumstance must be taken into account when organizing and carrying out activities for antiradiation protection of the population.
It should also be taken into account that some time elapses from the moment of explosion to the moment of falling out of the cloud of radioactive substances. This time is longer the farther from the place of explosion, and can be calculated in several hours. The population of areas remote from the site of the explosion will have sufficient time to take appropriate protective measures.
In particular, subject to the timely preparation of warning means and the accurate work of the relevant civil defense units, the population can be notified of the danger in about 2-3 hours.
During this time, with advance preparation of the population and high organization, it is possible to carry out a number of measures that provide sufficiently reliable protection against radioactive damage to people and animals. The choice of certain measures and methods of protection will be determined specific conditions the created situation. However general principles must be determined, and in accordance with this, civil defense plans are developed in advance.
It can be considered that at certain conditions the most rational should be to recognize the adoption in the first place of protective measures on the spot, using all means and. methods that protect both from the ingress of radioactive substances into the body and from external radiation.
As is known, the most effective tool protection from external radiation are shelters (adapted to meet the requirements of anti-nuclear protection, as well as buildings with massive walls built of dense materials (brick, cement, reinforced concrete, etc.), including basements, dugouts, cellars, covered slots and ordinary residential buildings.
When evaluating the protective properties of buildings and structures, one can be guided by the following approximate data: a wooden house weakens the effect of radioactive radiation depending on the thickness of the walls by 4-10 times, a stone house - by 10-50 times, cellars and basements in wooden houses - by 50-100 times times, a gap with an overlap of a layer of earth 60-90 cm - 200-300 times.
Consequently, civil defense plans should provide for the use, if necessary, in the first place of structures with more powerful protective equipment; upon receipt of a signal of danger of injury, the population should immediately take refuge in these premises and remain there until further action is announced.
The length of time people spend in sheltered areas will depend mainly on the extent to which the area in which the population is located becomes contaminated and the rate at which radiation levels decrease over time.
So, for example, in settlements located at a considerable distance from the explosion site, where the total radiation doses that unprotected people will receive can become safe in a short time, it is advisable for the population to wait out this time in shelters.
In areas of high radioactive contamination, where the total dose that unprotected people can receive will be high and its reduction will be prolonged under these conditions, prolonged stay in shelters will become difficult for people. Therefore, it should be considered most rational in such areas to first shelter the population on the spot, and then evacuate them to uncharged areas. The beginning of the evacuation and its duration will depend on local conditions: the level of radioactive contamination, the availability of vehicles, means of communication, the time of year, the remoteness of the places of accommodation of the evacuees, etc.
Thus, the territory of radioactive contamination according to the trace of a radioactive cloud can be conditionally divided into two zones with different principles of protecting the population.
The first zone includes the territory where radiation levels after 5-6 days after the explosion remain high and decrease slowly (by about 10-20% daily). The evacuation of the population from such areas can begin only after the radiation level drops to such levels that during the time of collection and movement in the contaminated zone people will not receive a total dose of more than 50 r.
The second zone includes areas in which radiation levels decrease during the first 3-5 days after the explosion to 0.1 roentgen/hour.
The evacuation of the population from this zone is not advisable, since this time can be waited out in shelters.
The successful implementation of measures to protect the population in all cases is unthinkable without careful radiation reconnaissance and observation and constant monitoring of the radiation level.
Speaking about the protection of the population from radioactive damage in the wake of the movement of a cloud formed during a nuclear explosion, it should be remembered that it is possible to avoid damage or achieve its reduction only with a clear organization of a set of measures, which include:
- organization of a warning system that provides timely warning of the population about the most probable direction of movement of the radioactive cloud and the danger of injury. For these purposes, all available means of communication must be used - telephone, radio stations, telegraph, radio broadcasting, etc.;
- preparation of civil defense formations for reconnaissance both in cities and in rural areas;
- shelter of people in shelters or other premises that protect against radioactive radiation (basements, cellars, crevices, etc.);
- carrying out the evacuation of the population and animals from the area of stable contamination with radioactive dust;
- preparation of formations and institutions of the medical service of the civil defense for actions to provide assistance to the affected, mainly treatment, sanitization, water examination and food products for infection radioactive substances you;
- early implementation of measures to protect food products in warehouses, in the distribution network, at public catering establishments, as well as water supply sources from contamination with radioactive dust (sealing storage facilities, preparing containers, improvised materials for sheltering products, preparing means for decontaminating food and containers, equipping dosimetric devices);
- carrying out measures to protect animals and providing assistance to animals in case of damage.
To provide reliable protection animals, it is necessary to provide for their keeping in collective farms, state farms, if possible, in small groups according to brigades, farms or settlements with places of shelter.
It should also provide for the creation of additional reservoirs or wells, which can become backup sources of water supply in case of contamination of the water of permanent sources.
Storage areas for fodder are important, as well as livestock buildings, which should be sealed whenever possible.
To protect valuable breeding animals, it is necessary to have individual means protection, which can be made from improvised materials on the spot (bandages to protect the eyes, sacks, blankets, etc.), as well as gas masks (if available).
For decontamination of premises and veterinary treatment of animals, it is necessary to take into account in advance the disinfection units, sprayers, sprinklers, liquid spreaders and other mechanisms and containers available on the farm, with the help of which disinfection and veterinary treatment can be carried out;
Organization and preparation of formations and institutions for carrying out work on the decontamination of structures, terrain, vehicles, clothing, equipment and other property of the civil defense, for which measures are taken in advance to adapt municipal equipment, agricultural machines, mechanisms and devices for these purposes. Depending on the availability of equipment, appropriate formations must be created and trained - detachments, teams, groups, units, etc.
The atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb are powerful weapon, which uses nuclear reactions as a source of explosive energy. Scientists first developed nuclear weapons technology during World War II.
Atomic bombs were only used twice in real war, and both times by the United States against Japan at the end of World War II. After the war, a period of nuclear proliferation followed, and during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for dominance in the global nuclear arms race.
What is a hydrogen bomb, how it is arranged, the principle of operation of a thermonuclear charge, and when the first tests were carried out in the USSR are written below.
How an atomic bomb works
After the German physicists Otto Hahn, Lisa Meitner and Fritz Strassmann discovered the phenomenon of nuclear fission in Berlin in 1938, it became possible to create weapons of extraordinary power.
When an atom of radioactive material splits into lighter atoms, there is a sudden, powerful release of energy.
The discovery of nuclear fission opened up the possibility of using nuclear technology, including weapons.
An atomic bomb is a weapon that derives its explosive energy only from a fission reaction.
The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb or a thermonuclear charge is based on a combination of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
Nuclear fusion is another type of reaction in which lighter atoms combine to release energy. For example, as a result of a nuclear fusion reaction, deuterium and tritium atoms form a helium atom with the release of energy.
Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project - code name American project to develop a practical atomic bomb during World War II. The Manhattan Project was started as a response to the efforts of German scientists working on weapons using nuclear technology, since the 1930s.
On December 28, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the creation of the Manhattan Project to bring together various scientists and military officials working on nuclear research.
Much of the work was done in Los Alamos, New Mexico, under the direction of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
On July 16, 1945, in a remote desert location near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the first atomic bomb, equivalent in yield to 20 kilotons of TNT, was successfully tested. The explosion of the hydrogen bomb created a huge mushroom cloud about 150 meters high and ushered in the atomic age.
The only photo of the first in the world atomic explosion by American physicist Jack Aeby Kid and Fat Man
Scientists at Los Alamos had developed two different types of atomic bombs by 1945 - a uranium-based project called the Kid and a plutonium-based weapon called the Fat Man.
While the war in Europe ended in April, fighting in the Pacific continued between Japanese troops and US troops.
At the end of July the president Harry Truman called for Japan's surrender in the Potsdam Declaration. The declaration promised "rapid and utter destruction" if Japan did not surrender.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber called "Enola Gay" in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The explosion of the "Kid" corresponded to 13 kilotons of TNT, leveled five square miles of the city and instantly killed 80,000 people. Tens of thousands of people would later die from radiation exposure.
The Japanese continued to fight, and the United States dropped a second atomic bomb three days later on the city of Nagasaki. The Fat Man explosion killed about 40,000 people.
Citing the destructive power of the "new and most brutal bomb", Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender on August 15, ending World War II.
Cold War
In the post-war years, the United States was the only country with nuclear weapons. At first, the USSR did not have enough scientific developments and raw materials to create nuclear warheads.
But, thanks to the efforts of Soviet scientists, intelligence data and discovered regional sources of uranium in Eastern Europe, on August 29, 1949, the USSR tested its first nuclear bomb. The hydrogen bomb device was developed by Academician Sakharov.
From atomic weapons to thermonuclear
The United States responded in 1950 by launching a program to develop more advanced thermonuclear weapons. The Cold War arms race began, and nuclear testing and research became wide-ranging targets for several countries, especially the United States and the Soviet Union.
this year, the United States detonated a 10 megaton TNT thermonuclear bomb
1955 - The USSR responded with its first thermonuclear test - only 1.6 megatons. But the main successes of the Soviet military-industrial complex were ahead. In 1958 alone, the USSR tested 36 nuclear bombs. different class. But nothing that the Soviet Union experienced can compare with the Tsar Bomb.
Test and first explosion of a hydrogen bomb in the USSR
On the morning of October 30, 1961, a Soviet Tu-95 bomber took off from the Olenya airfield on the Kola Peninsula in Russia's far north.
The plane was a specially modified version that appeared in service a few years ago - a huge four-engine monster tasked with carrying the Soviet nuclear arsenal.
modified version TU-95 "Bear", specially prepared for the first test of the hydrogen Tsar bomb in the USSR The Tu-95 carried a huge 58-megaton bomb under it, a device too large to fit inside the plane's bomb bay, where such munitions were normally transported. An 8 m long bomb had a diameter of about 2.6 m and weighed more than 27 tons and remained in history with the name Tsar Bomba - “Tsar Bomba”.
The Tsar Bomba was not an ordinary nuclear bomb. It was the result of strenuous efforts by Soviet scientists to create the most powerful nuclear weapon.
Tupolev had reached his target point, Novaya Zemlya, a sparsely populated archipelago in the Barents Sea, above the frozen northern reaches of the USSR.
Tsar Bomba exploded at 11:32 Moscow time. The results of the hydrogen bomb test in the USSR demonstrated the entire bouquet of damaging factors of this type of weapon. Before answering the question of which is more powerful, an atomic or a hydrogen bomb, one should know that the power of the latter is measured in megatons, while that of atomic bombs is measured in kilotons.
light emission
In the blink of an eye, the bomb created a fireball seven kilometers wide. The fireball pulsed with the force of its own shockwave. The flash could be seen thousands of kilometers away - in Alaska, Siberia and Northern Europe.
shock wave
The consequences of the explosion of the hydrogen bomb on Novaya Zemlya were catastrophic. In the village of Severny, about 55 km from Ground Zero, all the houses were completely destroyed. It was reported that on Soviet territory everything was damaged hundreds of kilometers from the explosion zone - houses were destroyed, roofs fell, doors were damaged, windows were destroyed.
The range of a hydrogen bomb is several hundred kilometers.
Depending on the power of the charge and damaging factors.
The sensors recorded the blast wave that circled the Earth not once, not twice, but three times. The sound wave was recorded near Dixon Island at a distance of about 800 km.
electromagnetic pulse
For more than an hour, radio communications were disrupted throughout the Arctic.
penetrating radiation
The crew received some dose of radiation.
Radioactive contamination of the area
The explosion of the Tsar bomb on Novaya Zemlya turned out to be surprisingly “clean”. The testers arrived at the point of explosion two hours later. The radiation level in this place did not pose a great danger - no more than 1 mR / hour in a radius of only 2-3 km. The reasons were the design features of the bomb and the execution of the explosion at a sufficiently large distance from the surface.
thermal radiation
Despite the fact that the carrier aircraft, covered with a special light and heat-reflecting paint, had gone 45 km at the time of the bombing, it returned to the base with significant thermal damage to the skin. At unprotected person the radiation would cause third-degree burns up to 100 km away.
 |
The mushroom after the explosion is visible at a distance of 160 km, the diameter of the cloud at the time of shooting is 56 km |
 |
Flash from the explosion of the Tsar bomb, about 8 km in diameter |
How the hydrogen bomb works
Hydrogen bomb device. The primary stage acts as a switch - trigger. The plutonium fission reaction in the trigger initiates thermonuclear reaction synthesis in the secondary stage, at which the temperature inside the bomb instantly reaches 300 million ° C. A thermonuclear explosion occurs. The first test of the hydrogen bomb shocked global community with its destructive power.
Video of an explosion at a nuclear test site
