The explosion happened in 1961. Within a radius of several hundred kilometers from the landfill, a hasty evacuation of people took place, as scientists calculated that they would be destroyed, without exception, all at home. But no one expected such an effect. The blast wave circled the planet three times. The polygon remained a “blank slate”, all the hills disappeared from it. Buildings turned to sand in a second. A terrible explosion was heard within a radius of 800 kilometers.
If you think that the atomic warhead is the most terrible weapon of mankind, then you don't know about the hydrogen bomb yet. We decided to correct this oversight and talk about what it is. We have already talked about and.
A little about the terminology and principles of work in pictures
Understanding what a nuclear warhead looks like and why, it is necessary to consider the principle of its operation, based on the fission reaction. First, an atomic bomb detonates. The shell contains isotopes of uranium and plutonium. They break up into particles, capturing neutrons. Then one atom is destroyed and the division of the rest is initiated. This is done through a chain process. At the end, the nuclear reaction itself begins. The parts of the bomb become one. The charge begins to exceed the critical mass. With the help of such a structure, energy is released and an explosion occurs.
By the way, a nuclear bomb is also called an atomic bomb. And hydrogen was called thermonuclear. Therefore, the question of how an atomic bomb differs from a nuclear one is, in essence, incorrect. This is the same. difference nuclear bomb from thermonuclear is not only in the name.
The thermonuclear reaction is based not on the fission reaction, but on the compression of heavy nuclei. A nuclear warhead is the detonator or fuse for a hydrogen bomb. In other words, imagine a huge barrel of water. An atomic rocket is immersed in it. Water is a heavy liquid. Here, the proton with sound is replaced in the hydrogen nucleus by two elements - deuterium and tritium:
- Deuterium is one proton and one neutron. Their mass is twice that of hydrogen;
- Tritium is made up of one proton and two neutrons. They are three times heavier than hydrogen.
Thermonuclear bomb tests
, the end of World War II, a race began between America and the USSR, and the world community realized that a nuclear or hydrogen bomb was more powerful. Destructive force atomic weapons began to involve each of the parties. The United States was the first to make and test a nuclear bomb. But it soon became clear that she could not have large sizes. Therefore, it was decided to try to make a thermonuclear warhead. Here again, America succeeded. The Soviets decided not to lose the race and tested a compact but powerful missile that could even be transported on a conventional Tu-16 aircraft. Then everyone understood the difference between a nuclear bomb and a hydrogen bomb.
For example, the first American thermonuclear warhead was as tall as a three-story building. It could not be delivered by small transport. But then, according to the developments of the USSR, the dimensions were reduced. If we analyze, we can conclude that these terrible destructions were not so big. In TNT equivalent, the impact force was only a few tens of kilotons. Therefore, buildings were destroyed in only two cities, and the sound of a nuclear bomb was heard in the rest of the country. If it were a hydrogen missile, all of Japan would be completely destroyed with just one warhead.
A nuclear bomb with too much charge can explode involuntarily. A chain reaction will start and an explosion will occur. Considering how the nuclear atomic and hydrogen bombs differ, it is worth noting this point. After all, a thermonuclear warhead can be made of any power without fear of spontaneous detonation.
This intrigued Khrushchev, who ordered the most powerful hydrogen warhead in the world to be made closer to winning the race. It seemed to him that 100 megatons was optimal. Soviet scientists pulled themselves together and managed to invest in 50 megatons. Tests began on the island of Novaya Zemlya, where there was a military training ground. Until now, the Tsar bomb is called the largest charge detonated on the planet.
The explosion happened in 1961. Within a radius of several hundred kilometers from the landfill, a hasty evacuation of people took place, as scientists calculated that they would be destroyed, without exception, all at home. But no one expected such an effect. The blast wave circled the planet three times. The polygon remained a “blank slate”, all the hills disappeared from it. Buildings turned to sand in a second. A terrible explosion was heard within a radius of 800 kilometers. The fireball from the use of a warhead such as the Universal Destroyer Runic Nuclear Bomb in Japan was only visible in cities. But from a hydrogen rocket, it rose 5 kilometers in diameter. A fungus of dust, radiation and soot has grown 67 kilometers. According to scientists, its cap was a hundred kilometers in diameter. Just imagine what would happen if the explosion occurred in the city.
Modern dangers of using the hydrogen bomb
We have already considered the difference between an atomic bomb and a thermonuclear one. Now imagine what the consequences of the explosion would have been if the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been hydrogen with a thematic equivalent. There would be no trace of Japan left.
According to the conclusions of the tests, scientists concluded about the consequences of a thermonuclear bomb. Some people think that the hydrogen warhead is cleaner, that is, in fact, not radioactive. This is due to the fact that people hear the name "water" and underestimate its deplorable impact on the environment.
As we have already figured out, a hydrogen warhead is based on a huge amount of radioactive substances. It is possible to make a rocket without a uranium charge, but so far this has not been applied in practice. The process itself will be very complex and costly. Therefore, the fusion reaction is diluted with uranium and a huge explosion power is obtained. Fallout that inexorably falls on the drop target is increased by 1000%. They will harm the health of even those who are tens of thousands of kilometers from the epicenter. When detonated, a huge fireball is created. Anything within its range is destroyed. Scorched earth can be uninhabited for decades. In a vast area, absolutely nothing will grow. And knowing the strength of the charge, using a certain formula, you can theoretically calculate the infected area.
Also worth mentioning about such an effect as nuclear winter. This concept is even more terrible than the destroyed cities and hundreds of thousands of human lives. Not only will the drop site be destroyed, but in fact the entire world. At first, only one territory will lose its habitable status. But a radioactive substance will be released into the atmosphere, which will reduce the brightness of the sun. All this will mix with dust, smoke, soot and create a veil. It will spread all over the planet. The crops in the fields will be destroyed for decades to come. Such an effect will provoke famine on Earth. The population will immediately decrease several times. And the nuclear winter looks more than real. Indeed, in the history of mankind, and more specifically, in 1816, a similar case was known after a powerful volcanic eruption. The planet then had a year without summer.
Skeptics who do not believe in such a combination of circumstances can convince themselves with the calculations of scientists:
- When on Earth will happen a degree colder, no one will notice. But this will affect the amount of precipitation.
- In autumn, the temperature will drop by 4 degrees. Due to the lack of rain, crop failures are possible. Hurricanes will start even where they never happened.
- When the temperature drops a few more degrees, the planet will have its first year without summer.
- The Little Ice Age will follow. The temperature drops by 40 degrees. Even in a short time it will be devastating to the planet. On Earth, there will be crop failures and the extinction of people living in the northern zones.
- Then comes the Ice Age. The reflection of the sun's rays will occur before reaching the surface of the earth. Due to this, the air temperature will reach a critical point. Crops, trees will stop growing on the planet, water will freeze. This will lead to the extinction of most of the population.
- Those who survive will not survive the last period - an irreversible cold snap. This option is quite sad. It will be the real end of humanity. The earth will turn into a new planet, unsuitable for the habitation of a human being.
Now for another danger. As soon as Russia and the United States exited the stage of the Cold War, a new threat appeared. If you have heard about who Kim Jong Il is, then you understand that he will not stop there. This rocket lover, tyrant and ruler North Korea in one bottle, can easily provoke a nuclear conflict. He talks about the hydrogen bomb all the time and notes that there are already warheads in his part of the country. Fortunately, no one has seen them live yet. Russia, America, as well as the nearest neighbors - South Korea and Japan are very concerned about even such hypothetical claims. Therefore, we hope that the developments and technologies of North Korea will be at an insufficient level for a long time to destroy the whole world.
For reference. At the bottom of the oceans are dozens of bombs that were lost during transportation. And in Chernobyl, which is not so far from us, huge reserves of uranium are still stored.
It is worth considering whether such consequences can be allowed for the sake of testing a hydrogen bomb. And if there is a global conflict between the countries possessing these weapons, there will be no states, no people, nothing at all on the planet, the Earth will turn into a clean slate. And if we consider how a nuclear bomb differs from a thermonuclear one, the main point can be called the amount of destruction, as well as the subsequent effect.
Now a small conclusion. We figured out that a nuclear and an atomic bomb are one and the same. And yet, it is the basis for a thermonuclear warhead. But to use neither one nor the other is not recommended even for testing. The sound of the explosion and what the aftermath looks like isn't the scariest part. This threatens with a nuclear winter, the death of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants at one time and numerous consequences for humanity. Although there are differences between such charges as the atomic and nuclear bomb, the effect of both is destructive to all living things.
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 thermonuclear 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 synthesis. 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 approximately 8 times greater than the radius of action of a shock wave generated by an explosion of an atomic bomb with a TNT equivalent of 20,000 tons, while the bomb's power 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, 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 they conclude foreign specialists that the explosion of one bomb of similar 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, it is possible to reduce the damaging effect of 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 with a curtain density (oil fogs) 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 an explosion, a safe shelter from the effects of light radiation and penetrating radiation is a shelter with a 1.6 m thick earthen layer or a 1 m concrete layer.
A light type shelter reduces the radius of the affected area for people compared to open location six times, 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 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, 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 the fallout of radioactive dust largely depend on the meteorological conditions, the terrain, the height of the explosion, the size of the bomb charge, the nature of the soil, etc. Most an important factor, which determines the size of the area of contamination, its configuration, is the direction and strength of the winds prevailing in the area of the explosion 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. The total area of dangerous contamination 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 action of the fallen 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 injuries 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 shock 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 products of the explosion 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 settled dust particles will again rise into the air.
Consequently, vulnerable people and animals can be affected by radioactive dust that enters the respiratory organs 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 taken into account 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 region 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 the cloud is to a certain extent logical. This circumstance must be taken into account when organizing and carrying out measures for the radiation 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. but 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 protective properties buildings and structures, one can be guided by the following indicative 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, a gap with overlap from 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 receiving 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 where the settlement 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 within 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 various principles protection of 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;
- sheltering 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 enterprises Catering, as well as sources of water supply from contamination with radioactive dust (sealing storage facilities, preparing containers, improvised materials for sheltering products, preparing means for decontaminating food and packaging, equipping with dosimetric devices);
- carrying out measures to protect animals and provide assistance to animals in case of damage.
To ensure reliable protection of animals, it is necessary to provide for their keeping in collective farms, state farms, if possible. small groups by 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).
To carry out 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 it is possible to carry out disinfection and veterinary treatment;
Organization and preparation of formations and institutions for carrying out work on the decontamination of structures, terrain, transport, 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.
August 21st, 2015
The Tsar Bomba is the nickname for the AN602 hydrogen bomb, which was tested in the Soviet Union in 1961. This bomb was the most powerful ever detonated. Its power was such that the flash from the explosion was visible for 1000 km, and the nuclear mushroom rose almost 70 km.
The Tsar bomb was a hydrogen bomb. It was created in Kurchatov's laboratory. The power of the bomb was such that it would be enough for 3800 Hiroshima.
Let's take a look at its history...
At the beginning of the "atomic age" the United States and Soviet Union entered the race not only in the number of atomic bombs, but also in their power.
The USSR, which acquired atomic weapons later than its competitor, sought to equalize the situation by creating more advanced and more powerful devices.
Development of a thermonuclear device according to code name Ivan was started in the mid-1950s by a group of physicists led by Academician Kurchatov. The group involved in this project included Andrei Sakharov, Viktor Adamsky, Yuri Babaev, Yuri Trunov and Yuri Smirnov.
During research work scientists also tried to find the limits of the maximum power of a thermonuclear explosive device.
The theoretical possibility of obtaining energy by thermonuclear fusion was known even before the Second World War, but it was the war and the subsequent arms race that raised the question of creating technical device for the practical creation of this reaction. It is known that in Germany in 1944, work was underway to initiate thermonuclear fusion by compressing nuclear fuel using charges of conventional explosives - but they were unsuccessful, since they could not obtain the necessary temperatures and pressures. The USA and the USSR have been developing thermonuclear weapons since the 1940s, having tested the first thermonuclear devices almost simultaneously in the early 1950s. In 1952, on the Enewetok Atoll, the United States carried out an explosion of a charge with a capacity of 10.4 megatons (which is 450 times the power of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki), and in 1953 a device with a capacity of 400 kilotons was tested in the USSR.
The designs of the first thermonuclear devices were ill-suited for real combat use. For example, a device tested by the United States in 1952 was an above-ground structure as high as a 2-story building and weighing over 80 tons. Liquid thermonuclear fuel was stored in it with the help of a huge refrigeration unit. Therefore, in the future, the mass production of thermonuclear weapons was carried out using solid fuel- lithium-6 deuteride. In 1954, the United States tested a device based on it at Bikini Atoll, and in 1955, a new Soviet thermonuclear bomb was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. In 1957, a hydrogen bomb was tested in the UK.
Design studies lasted for several years, and the final stage of development of the "product 602" fell on 1961 and took 112 days.
The AN602 bomb had a three-stage design: the first-stage nuclear charge (the estimated contribution to the explosion power is 1.5 megatons) launched a thermal nuclear reaction in the second stage (the contribution to the explosion power is 50 megatons), and it, in turn, initiated the so-called nuclear "Jekyll-Hyde reaction" (fission of nuclei in blocks of uranium-238 under the action of fast neutrons produced as a result of a thermonuclear fusion reaction) in the third stage (another 50 megatons of power), so the total design power of AN602 was 101.5 megatons.
However, the original version was rejected, since in this form the bomb explosion would have caused extremely powerful radiation pollution (which, however, according to calculations, would still be seriously inferior to that caused by much less powerful American devices).
In the end, it was decided not to use the "Jekyll-Hyde reaction" in the third stage of the bomb and replace the uranium components with their lead equivalent. This reduced the estimated total explosion power by almost half (to 51.5 megatons).
Another limitation for developers was the capabilities of aircraft. The first version of a bomb weighing 40 tons was rejected by aircraft designers from the Tupolev Design Bureau - the carrier aircraft could not deliver such a load to the target.
As a result, the parties reached a compromise - nuclear scientists reduced the weight of the bomb by half, and aviation designers prepared for it a special modification of the Tu-95 bomber - Tu-95V.
It turned out that it would not be possible to place a charge in the bomb bay under any circumstances, so the Tu-95V had to carry the AN602 to the target on a special external sling.
In fact, the carrier aircraft was ready in 1959, but the nuclear physicists were instructed not to force work on the bomb - just at that moment there were signs of a decrease in tension in international relations in the world.
In early 1961, however, the situation escalated again, and the project was revived.
The final weight of the bomb, together with the parachute system, was 26.5 tons. The product turned out to have several names at once - “ Big Ivan”,“ Tsar Bomba ”and“ Kuzkina mother ”. The latter stuck to the bomb after the speech of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to the Americans, in which he promised them to show "Kuzkin's mother."
The fact that the Soviet Union plans to test a super-powerful thermonuclear charge in the near future was quite openly told by Khrushchev to foreign diplomats in 1961. On October 17, 1961, the Soviet leader announced the upcoming tests in a report at the XXII Party Congress.
The test site was the Dry Nose test site on Novaya Zemlya. Preparations for the explosion were completed in last days October 1961.
The Tu-95V carrier aircraft was based at the airfield in Vaenga. Here, in a special room, the final preparation for the tests was carried out.
On the morning of October 30, 1961, the crew of pilot Andrei Durnovtsev received an order to fly to the area of the test site and drop the bomb.
Taking off from the airfield in Vaenga, the Tu-95V reached the calculated point two hours later. A bomb on a parachute system was dropped from a height of 10,500 meters, after which the pilots immediately began to withdraw the car from the dangerous area.
At 11:33 Moscow time, an explosion was made above the target at an altitude of 4 km.
The power of the explosion significantly exceeded the calculated one (51.5 megatons) and ranged from 57 to 58.6 megatons in TNT equivalent.
Operating principle:
The action of a hydrogen bomb is based on the use of energy released during the reaction of thermonuclear fusion of light nuclei. It is this reaction that takes place in the interiors of stars, where, under the influence of ultrahigh temperatures and gigantic pressure, hydrogen nuclei collide and merge into heavier helium nuclei. During the reaction, part of the mass of hydrogen nuclei is converted into a large amount of energy - thanks to this, the stars emit great amount energy constantly. Scientists copied this reaction using hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium, which gave the name "hydrogen bomb". Initially, liquid isotopes of hydrogen were used to produce charges, and later lithium-6 deuteride, a solid compound of deuterium and an isotope of lithium, was used.
Lithium-6 deuteride is the main component of the hydrogen bomb, thermonuclear fuel. It already stores deuterium, and the lithium isotope serves as a raw material for the formation of tritium. To start a thermonuclear fusion reaction, you need to create high temperature and pressure, as well as isolate tritium from lithium-6. These conditions are provided as follows.
The shell of the container for thermonuclear fuel is made of uranium-238 and plastic, next to the container is placed a conventional nuclear charge with a capacity of several kilotons - it is called a trigger, or a charge-initiator of a hydrogen bomb. During the explosion of the initiator plutonium charge, under the action of powerful X-ray radiation, the container shell turns into plasma, shrinking thousands of times, which creates the necessary high pressure and great temperature. At the same time, neutrons emitted by plutonium interact with lithium-6, forming tritium. The nuclei of deuterium and tritium interact under the influence of ultra-high temperature and pressure, which leads to a thermonuclear explosion.
If you make several layers of uranium-238 and lithium-6 deuteride, then each of them will add its power to the bomb explosion - that is, such a "puff" allows you to increase the power of the explosion almost unlimitedly. Thanks to this, a hydrogen bomb can be made of almost any power, and it will be much cheaper than a conventional nuclear bomb of the same power.
Witnesses of the test say that they have never seen anything like it in their lives. The nuclear mushroom explosion rose to a height of 67 kilometers, light radiation could potentially cause third-degree burns at a distance of up to 100 kilometers.
Observers reported that at the epicenter of the explosion, the rocks took on a surprisingly even shape, and the earth turned into a kind of military parade ground. Complete destruction was achieved on an area equal to the territory of Paris.
Atmospheric ionization caused radio interference even hundreds of kilometers from the test site for about 40 minutes. The lack of radio communication convinced the scientists that the tests went well. shock wave, which arose as a result of the explosion of the Tsar Bomba, circled the globe three times. The sound wave generated by the explosion reached Dixon Island at a distance of about 800 kilometers.
Despite heavy cloud cover, witnesses saw the explosion even at a distance of thousands of kilometers and could describe it.
The radioactive contamination from the explosion turned out to be minimal, as the developers had planned - more than 97% of the explosion power was produced by a thermonuclear fusion reaction that practically did not create radioactive contamination.
This allowed scientists to start studying the test results on the experimental field two hours after the explosion.
The explosion of the Tsar Bomba really made an impression on the whole world. It turned out to be four times more powerful than the most powerful American bomb.
There was a theoretical possibility of creating even more powerful charges, but it was decided to abandon the implementation of such projects.
Oddly enough, the main skeptics were the military. From their point of view, such a weapon had no practical meaning. How would you order him to be delivered to the "enemy's lair"? The USSR already had missiles, but they could not fly to America with such a load.
Strategic bombers were also unable to fly to the United States with such a "luggage". In addition, they became an easy target for air defense systems.
Atomic scientists turned out to be much more enthusiastic. Plans were put forward to place several superbombs with a capacity of 200-500 megatons off the coast of the United States, the explosion of which was supposed to cause a giant tsunami that would literally wash America away.
Academician Andrei Sakharov, future human rights activist and laureate Nobel Prize peace, put forward another plan. “The carrier can be a large torpedo launched from a submarine. I fantasized that it was possible to develop for such a torpedo a direct-flow water-steam atomic jet engine. The target of an attack from a distance of several hundred kilometers should be the ports of the enemy. The war at sea is lost if the ports are destroyed, the sailors assure us of this. The body of such a torpedo can be very durable, it will not be afraid of mines and obstacle nets. Of course, the destruction of ports - both by a surface explosion of a torpedo with a 100-megaton charge that “jumped out” of the water, and an underwater explosion - is inevitably associated with very large human casualties, ”the scientist wrote in his memoirs.
Sakharov told Vice Admiral Pyotr Fomin about his idea. An experienced sailor, who headed the "atomic department" under the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy, was horrified by the scientist's plan, calling the project "cannibalistic". According to Sakharov, he was ashamed and never returned to this idea.
Scientists and the military received generous awards for the successful testing of the Tsar Bomba, but the very idea of super-powerful thermonuclear charges began to become a thing of the past.
The designers of nuclear weapons focused on things less spectacular, but much more effective.
And the explosion of the "Tsar Bomba" to this day remains the most powerful of those that have ever been produced by mankind.
Tsar bomb in numbers:
- Weight: 27 tons
- Length: 8 meters
- Diameter: 2 meters
- Power: 55 megatons of TNT
- Mushroom Height: 67 km
- Mushroom base diameter: 40 km
- Fireball Diameter: 4.6 km
- Distance at which the explosion caused skin burns: 100 km
- Explosion Visibility Distance: 1 000 km
- The amount of TNT needed to match the power of the Tsar Bomb: a giant TNT cube with a side 312 meters (height of the Eiffel Tower)
sources
http://www.aif.ru/society/history/1371856
http://www.aif.ru/dontknows/infographics/kak_deystvuet_vodorodnaya_bomba_i_kakovy_posledstviya_vzryva_infografika
http://lllolll.ru/tsar-bomb
And a little more about the non-peaceful ATOM: for example, and here. But there was also such that there were still The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -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 release and shackle nuclear energy. This process must be controlled. The released energy is converted into electricity. An atomic bomb causes a chain reaction that is completely uncontrollable, and the huge amount of energy released 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 in the former USSR, one can count 40,000 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. And 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 polygon occupies the entire territory of the island of Novaya Zemlya. 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.
Places to test the famous and incredible powerful bomb was nowhere 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 October 30, 1961, the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind thundered at the Soviet nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya. The nuclear mushroom rose to a height of 67 kilometers, and the diameter of the “cap” of this mushroom was 95 kilometers. The shock wave circled the globe three times (and the blast wave demolished wooden buildings at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the test site). The flash of the explosion was visible from a distance of a thousand kilometers, despite the fact that thick clouds hung over Novaya Zemlya. For almost an hour there was no radio communication in the entire Arctic. The power of the explosion, according to various sources, ranged from 50 to 57 megatons (millions of tons of TNT).
However, as Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev joked, they did not begin to increase the power of the bomb to 100 megatons, only because in this case all the windows in Moscow would have been knocked out. But, in every joke there is a share of a joke - it was originally planned to detonate a 100 megaton bomb. And the explosion on Novaya Zemlya convincingly proved that the creation of a bomb with a capacity of at least 100 megatons, at least 200 megatons, is a completely feasible task. But even 50 megatons is almost ten times more than the capacity of all the ammunition spent during the entire Second World War by all participating countries. In addition, in the case of testing a product with a capacity of 100 megatons, only a melted crater would remain from the test site on Novaya Zemlya (and from most of this island). In Moscow, the glass, most likely, would have survived, but in Murmansk they could have taken off.
Model of a hydrogen bomb. Historical and Memorial Museum of Nuclear Weapons in Sarov
The device, blown up at an altitude of 4200 meters above sea level on October 30, 1961, went down in history under the name "Tsar Bomba". Another not official name- "Kuzkina Mother". And the official name of this hydrogen bomb was not so loud - a modest product AN602. This miracle weapon had no military significance - not tons of TNT equivalent, but in ordinary metric tons, the “product” weighed 26 tons and it would be problematic to deliver it to the “addressee”. It was a show of force - clear evidence that the Land of Soviets has the strength to create weapons mass destruction any power. What made the leadership of our country take such an unprecedented step? Of course, nothing else than the aggravation of relations with the United States. Until quite recently, it seemed that the United States and the Soviet Union had reached an understanding on all issues - in September 1959, Khrushchev paid an official visit to the United States, and President Dwight Eisenhower was also planning a return visit to Moscow. But on May 1, 1960 over Soviet territory An American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down. In April 1961, American intelligence services organized the landing of detachments of well-prepared and trained Cuban emigrants in Playa Giron Bay in Cuba (this adventure ended in a convincing victory for Fidel Castro). In Europe, the great powers could not decide on the status of West Berlin. As a result, on August 13, 1961, the capital of Germany was blocked off by the famous Berlin Wall. Finally, in 1961, the United States deployed PGM-19 Jupiter missiles in Turkey - European part Russia (including Moscow) was within range of these missiles (a year later the Soviet Union would deploy missiles in Cuba and the famous Cuban Missile Crisis would begin). This is not to mention the fact that at that time there was no parity in the number of nuclear charges and their carriers between the Soviet Union and America - we could oppose only 300 to 6 thousand American warheads. So, the demonstration of thermonuclear power was not at all superfluous in the current situation.
Soviet short film about the test of the Tsar Bomba
There is a popular myth that the superbomb was developed on the orders of Khrushchev all in the same 1961 in a record short time– in just 112 days. In fact, the development of the bomb has been going on since 1954. And in 1961, the developers simply brought the existing “product” to the required power. In parallel, the Tupolev Design Bureau was engaged in the modernization of the Tu-16 and Tu-95 aircraft for new weapons. According to initial calculations, the weight of the bomb was supposed to be at least 40 tons, but the aircraft designers explained to the nuclear scientists that at the moment there are no carriers for a product with such a weight and cannot be. The nuclear scientists promised to reduce the weight of the bomb to a perfectly acceptable 20 tons. True, both such weight and such dimensions required complete overhaul bomb bays, mounts, bomb bays.
H-bomb explosion
Work on the bomb was carried out by a group of young nuclear physicists led by I.V. Kurchatov. This group also included Andrei Sakharov, who at that time had not yet thought about dissidence. Moreover, he was one of the leading developers of the product.
This power was achieved through the use of a multi-stage design - a uranium charge with a capacity of "only" one and a half megatons launched a nuclear reaction in a second-stage charge with a capacity of 50 megatons. Without changing the dimensions of the bomb, it was possible to make it a three-stage one (this is already over 100 megatons). Theoretically, the number of stage charges could be unlimited. The design of the bomb was unique for its time.
Khrushchev hurried the developers - in October, in the newly built Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the XXII Congress of the CPSU came off and announced the news about the powerful explosion in the history of mankind it would be necessary from the rostrum of the congress. And on October 30, October 30, 1961, Khrushchev received a long-awaited telegram signed by the Minister of Medium Machine Building E. P. Slavsky and Marshal of the Soviet Union K. S. Moskalenko (test leaders):
"Moscow. Kremlin. N. S. Khrushchev.The test on Novaya Zemlya was a success. The safety of the testers and the nearby population is ensured. The landfill and all participants completed the task of the Motherland. Let's go back to the convention."
The explosion of the Tsar Bomba almost immediately served as fertile ground for all sorts of myths. Some of them were distributed ... by the official press. So, for example, Pravda called the Tsar Bomba nothing more than yesterday's day of atomic weapons and claimed that more powerful charges had already been created. Not without rumors about a self-sustaining thermonuclear reaction in the atmosphere. The decrease in the power of the explosion, according to some, was due to the fear of splitting the earth's crust or ... call thermonuclear reaction in the oceans.
But be that as it may, a year later, during the Caribbean crisis, the United States still had an overwhelming superiority in the number of nuclear warheads. But they did not dare to apply them.
In addition, this mega-explosion is believed to have helped break the deadlock in the three-medium nuclear-test-ban negotiations that have been underway in Geneva since the late 1950s. In 1959-60, all the nuclear powers, with the exception of France, accepted a unilateral test waiver while these negotiations were underway. But about the reasons that forced the Soviet Union not to comply with its obligations, we spoke below. After the explosion at Novaya Zemlya, negotiations resumed. And on October 10, 1963, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Tests in the Atmosphere was signed in Moscow. outer space and under water. As long as this Treaty is respected, the Soviet Tsar Bomba will remain the most powerful explosive device in human history.
Modern computer reconstruction
