What happens when a hydrogen bomb explodes. Nuclear bomb. Tsar Bomba - thermonuclear bomb of the USSR

24.01.2021

At the end of the 30s of the last century, the laws of fission and decay were already discovered in Europe, and the hydrogen bomb from the category of fiction passed into reality. The history of the development of nuclear energy is interesting and still represents an exciting competition between the scientific potential of the countries: Nazi Germany, the USSR and the USA. The most powerful bomb any state dreamed of owning was not only a weapon, but also a powerful political tool. The country that had it in its arsenal actually became omnipotent and could dictate its own rules.

The hydrogen bomb has its own history of creation, which is based on physical laws, namely the thermonuclear process. Initially, it was incorrectly called atomic, and the reason for this was illiteracy. The scientist Bethe, who later became a Nobel Prize winner, worked on an artificial energy source - the fission of uranium. This time was the peak of the scientific activity of many physicists, and among them there was such an opinion that scientific secrets should not exist at all, since initially the laws of science are international.

Theoretically, the hydrogen bomb was invented, but now, with the help of designers, it had to acquire technical forms. It only remained to pack it in a certain shell and test it for power. There are two scientists whose names will forever be associated with the creation of this powerful weapon: in the USA it is Edward Teller, and in the USSR it is Andrei Sakharov.

In the United States, a physicist began to study the thermonuclear problem back in 1942. By order of Harry Truman, at that time the President of the United States, the best scientists in the country were working on this problem, they were creating a fundamentally new weapon of destruction. Moreover, the government's order was for a bomb with a capacity of at least a million tons of TNT. The hydrogen bomb was created by Teller and showed to humanity in Hiroshima and Nagasaki its limitless, but destructive abilities.

A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which weighed 4.5 tons with a uranium content of 100 kg. This explosion corresponded to nearly 12,500 tons of TNT. The Japanese city of Nagasaki was erased by a plutonium bomb of the same mass, but already equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT.

The future Soviet Academician A. Sakharov in 1948, based on his research, presented the design of a hydrogen bomb under the name RDS-6. His research went along two branches: the first was called "puff" (RDS-6s), and its feature was the atomic charge, which was surrounded by layers of heavy and light elements. The second branch is a "pipe" or (RDS-6t), in which the plutonium bomb was in liquid deuterium. Subsequently, a very important discovery was made, which proved that the "pipe" direction is a dead end.

The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb is as follows: first, a charge, which initiates a thermonuclear reaction, explodes inside the HB shell, as a result of which a neutron flash occurs. In this case, the process is accompanied by the release of a high temperature, which is needed for further neutrons start bombarding the liner of lithium deuteride, which, in turn, under the direct action of neutrons is split into two elements: tritium and helium. The atomic fuse used forms the components necessary for the synthesis to proceed in the already activated bomb. This is such a complicated principle of the hydrogen bomb. After this preliminary action, a thermonuclear reaction begins in a mixture of deuterium and tritium. At this time, the temperature in the bomb increases more and more, and an increasing amount of hydrogen is involved in the synthesis. If you follow the time of these reactions, then the speed of their action can be characterized as instantaneous.

Subsequently, scientists began to use not the fusion of nuclei, but their fission. Fission of one ton of uranium creates energy equivalent to 18 Mt. Such a bomb has tremendous power. The most powerful bomb created by mankind belonged to the USSR. She even got into the Guinness Book of Records. Its blast wave was equal to 57 (approximately) megatons of TNT. It was blown up in 1961 in the region of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.

Hundreds of thousands of famous and forgotten armourers of antiquity fought in search of the perfect weapon, capable of evaporating an enemy army with one click. Periodically, a trace of this search can be found in fairy tales, more or less plausibly describing a miracle sword or bow that strikes without a miss.

Fortunately, technical progress has been moving so slowly for a long time that the real embodiment of the devastating weapon remained in dreams and oral stories, and later on the pages of books. The scientific and technological leap of the 19th century provided the conditions for the creation of the main phobia of the 20th century. The nuclear bomb, created and tested in real conditions, has revolutionized both military affairs and politics.

The history of the creation of weapons

For a long time it was believed that the most powerful weapon can only be created using explosives. The discoveries of scientists who worked with the smallest particles gave scientific justification for the fact that with the help of elementary particles, enormous energy can be generated. Becquerel, who discovered the radioactivity of uranium salts in 1896, was the first in the line of researchers.

Uranium itself has been known since 1786, but at that time no one suspected its radioactivity. The work of scientists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries revealed not only special physical properties, but also the possibility of obtaining energy from radioactive substances.

The version of making weapons based on uranium was first described in detail, published and patented by French physicists, the spouses Joliot-Curie in 1939.

Despite the value for the arms business, the scientists themselves were strongly opposed to the creation of such a devastating weapon.

After going through the Second World War in the Resistance, in the 1950s the spouses (Frederic and Irene), realizing the destructive power of war, advocate general disarmament. They are supported by Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and other prominent physicists of the time.

Meanwhile, while Joliot-Curie were busy with the problem of the fascists in Paris, on the other side of the planet, in America, the world's first nuclear charge was being developed. Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the work, was given the broadest authority and enormous resources. The end of 1941 was marked by the beginning of the Manhattan project, which eventually led to the creation of the first nuclear warhead.

The first weapons-grade uranium production facility was erected in Los Alamos, New Mexico. In the future, the same nuclear centers appear throughout the country, for example, in Chicago, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, research was carried out in California. The best forces of the professors of American universities, as well as physicists who fled from Germany, were thrown into the creation of the bomb.

In the "Third Reich" itself, work on the creation of a new type of weapon was deployed in a manner characteristic of the Fuehrer.

Since "Possessed" was more interested in tanks and planes, and the more the better, he did not see any particular need for a new miracle bomb.

Accordingly, projects not supported by Hitler, at best, moved at a snail's pace.

When it began to bake, and it turned out that tanks and planes were swallowed by the Eastern Front, the new miracle of weapons received support. But it was too late, in the conditions of bombing and the constant fear of Soviet tank wedges, it was not possible to create a device with a nuclear component.

The Soviet Union was more attentive to the possibility of creating a new type of destructive weapon. In the pre-war period, physicists collected and brought together general knowledge about nuclear energy and the possibility of creating nuclear weapons. Intelligence worked intensively during the entire period of the creation of a nuclear bomb both in the USSR and in the USA. The war played a significant role in restraining the pace of development, as huge resources went to the front.

True, academician Kurchatov Igor Vasilievich, with characteristic persistence, promoted the work of all subordinate divisions in this direction. Running a little ahead, it will be he who will be instructed to accelerate the development of weapons in the face of the threat of an American strike on the cities of the USSR. It was he who stood in the gravel of a huge machine of hundreds and thousands of scientists and workers who will be awarded the honorary title of the father of the Soviet nuclear bomb.

World's first tests

But back to the American nuclear program. By the summer of 1945, American scientists managed to create the world's first nuclear bomb. Any boy who has made himself or bought a powerful firecracker in a store experiences extraordinary torment, wanting to blow it up as soon as possible. In 1945, hundreds of US military and scientists experienced the same thing.

On June 16, 1945, in the Alamogordo Desert, New Mexico, the first ever nuclear weapon tests and one of the most powerful explosions at that time were carried out.

Eyewitnesses who watched the detonation from the bunker were struck by the force with which the charge exploded at the top of the 30-meter steel tower. First, everything was flooded with light, several times stronger than the sun. Then a ball of fire rose up into the sky, turning into a pillar of smoke, shaped into the famous mushroom.

As soon as the dust settled, researchers and bomb creators rushed to the site of the explosion. They watched the aftermath from Sherman tanks hung with lead. What they saw amazed them, no weapon would have done such damage. The sand has melted down to glass in places.

Tiny remains of the tower were also found; in a funnel of huge diameter, disfigured and shattered structures clearly illustrated the destructive power.

Striking factors

This detonation gave the first information about the strength of the new weapon, about how it can destroy the enemy. These are several factors:

light radiation, a flash that can blind even protected organs of vision;
shock wave, a dense stream of air moving from the center, destroying most buildings;
an electromagnetic pulse that knocks out most of the equipment and does not allow the use of communication facilities for the first time after the explosion;
penetrating radiation, the most dangerous factor for those who have sheltered from other damaging factors, is divided into alpha-beta-gamma irradiation;
radioactive contamination that can adversely affect health and life for tens, or even hundreds of years.

The further use of nuclear weapons, including in hostilities, showed all the features of the impact on living organisms and nature. August 6, 1945 was the last day for tens of thousands of residents of the small city of Hiroshima, then famous for several important military sites.

The outcome of the war in the Pacific was a foregone conclusion, but the Pentagon believed that the operation in the Japanese archipelago would cost more than a million lives of the US marines. It was decided to kill several birds with one stone, to withdraw Japan from the war, saving on the landing operation, to test a new weapon in practice and declare it to the whole world, and, above all, the USSR.

At one o'clock in the morning, the plane, on board which was located the nuclear bomb "Kid", took off on a mission.

The bomb dropped over the city exploded at an altitude of about 600 meters at 8.15 am. All buildings located at a distance of 800 meters from the epicenter were destroyed. The walls of only a few buildings, designed for a 9-point earthquake, have survived.

Of every ten people who were within a radius of 600 meters at the time the bomb exploded, only one could survive. The light radiation turned people into coal, leaving shadow traces on the stone, a dark imprint of the place where the person was. The ensuing blast wave was so strong that it was able to knock out glass at a distance of 19 kilometers from the explosion site.

One teenager was knocked out of the house by a dense stream of air through the window, and when he landed, the guy saw how the walls of the house were folded like cards. The blast wave was followed by a fiery tornado that destroyed the few residents who survived the explosion and did not have time to leave the fire zone. Those at a distance from the explosion began to experience severe discomfort, the cause of which was initially unclear to the doctors.

Much later, a few weeks later, the term "radiation poisoning" was announced, now known as radiation sickness.

More than 280 thousand people became victims of just one bomb, both directly from the explosion and from the ensuing diseases.

The bombing of Japan with nuclear weapons did not end there. According to the plan, only four to six cities were to be attacked, but weather conditions made it possible to hit only Nagasaki. In this city more than 150 thousand people became victims of the Fat Man bomb.

The promises of the American government to deliver such strikes before Japan's surrender led to an armistice, and then to the signing of an agreement that ended the World War. But for nuclear weapons, this was only the beginning.

The most powerful bomb in the world

The post-war period was marked by the confrontation between the USSR bloc and the allies with the USA and NATO. In the 1940s, the Americans seriously considered the possibility of attacking the Soviet Union. To contain the former ally, work on the creation of the bomb had to be accelerated, and already in 1949, on August 29, the US monopoly in nuclear weapons was ended. During the arms race, two nuclear weapons tests deserve the most attention.

Bikini Atoll, known primarily for its frivolous swimwear, in 1954 literally thundered all over the world in connection with the tests of a nuclear charge of special power.

The Americans, having decided to test a new design of atomic weapons, did not calculate the charge. As a result, the explosion turned out to be 2.5 times more powerful than planned. The inhabitants of nearby islets, as well as the ubiquitous Japanese fishermen, were under attack.

But it was not the most powerful American bomb. In 1960, the B41 nuclear bomb was adopted, which never passed full tests due to its power. The force of the charge was calculated theoretically, for fear of detonating such a dangerous weapon at the test site.

The Soviet Union, which loved to be the first in everything, tested it in 1961, nicknamed “Kuz'kina's mother”.

In response to America's nuclear blackmail, Soviet scientists created the world's most powerful bomb. Tested on Novaya Zemlya, it has left its mark in almost every corner of the globe. According to recollections, a slight earthquake was felt in the most remote corners at the time of the explosion.

The blast wave, of course, having lost all destructive power, was able to go around the Earth. Today it is the most powerful nuclear bomb in the world, created and tested by mankind. Of course, if hands were untied, Kim Jong-un's nuclear bomb would be more powerful, but he does not have a New Earth to test it.

Atomic bomb device

Consider a very primitive, purely for understanding, atomic bomb device. There are many classes of atomic bombs, but we will consider three main ones:

uranium, based on uranium 235, first detonated over Hiroshima;
plutonium, based on plutonium 239, first detonated over Nagasaki;
thermonuclear, sometimes called hydrogen, based on heavy water with deuterium and tritium, fortunately, it was not used against the population.

The first two bombs are based on the effect of fission of heavy nuclei into smaller ones through an uncontrolled nuclear reaction with the release of a huge amount of energy. The third is based on the fusion of hydrogen nuclei (or rather, its isotopes deuterium and tritium) with the formation of helium, which is heavier than hydrogen. With the same weight of a bomb, the destructive potential of a hydrogen bomb is 20 times greater.

If for uranium and plutonium it is enough to bring together a mass greater than the critical mass (at which a chain reaction begins), then for hydrogen it is not enough.

To reliably combine several pieces of uranium into one, a cannon effect is used in which smaller pieces of uranium are shot into larger ones. Gunpowder can also be used, but low-power explosives are used for reliability.

In a plutonium bomb, to create the necessary conditions for a chain reaction, explosives are placed around ingots with plutonium. Due to the cumulative effect, as well as located in the very center of the initiator of neutrons (beryllium with a few milligrams of polonium), the necessary conditions are achieved.

It has a main charge, which by itself cannot explode in any way, and a fuse. To create the conditions for the fusion of deuterium and tritium nuclei, we need unimaginable pressures and temperatures at least at one point. Then a chain reaction will occur.

To create such parameters, the bomb includes a conventional, but low-power, nuclear charge, which is the fuse. Undermining it creates conditions for the start of a thermonuclear reaction.

To assess the power of an atomic bomb, the so-called "TNT equivalent" is used. An explosion is the release of energy, the most famous explosive in the world is TNT (TNT - trinitrotoluene), and all new types of explosives are equated with it. Bomb "Kid" - 13 kilotons of TNT. That is, it is equivalent to 13,000.

Bomb "Fat Man" - 21 kilotons, "Tsar Bomba" - 58 megatons TNT. It is scary to think of 58 million tons of explosives concentrated in a mass of 26.5 tons, this is how much fun this bomb is.

The danger of nuclear war and disasters associated with the atom

Emerging in the midst of the worst war of the 20th century, nuclear weapons have become the greatest threat to humanity. Immediately after the Second World War, the Cold War began, several times almost escalating into a full-fledged nuclear conflict. The threat of the use of at least one side of nuclear bombs and missiles began to be discussed back in the 1950s.

Everyone understood and understands that there can be no winners in this war.

Efforts of many scientists and politicians have been and are being made to contain. The University of Chicago, using the opinion of visiting nuclear scientists, including Nobel laureates, sets the Doomsday clock a few minutes before midnight. Midnight marks a nuclear cataclysm, the beginning of a new World War and the destruction of the old world. In different years, the hands of the clock ranged from 17 to 2 minutes until midnight.

Several major accidents at nuclear power plants are also known. These disasters are indirectly related to weapons, nuclear power plants are still different from nuclear bombs, but they show the best results of using the atom for military purposes. The largest of them are:

1957, Kyshtym accident, because of a failure in the storage system, an explosion occurred near Kyshtym;
1957, Britain, North West England not being watched for security;
1979, USA, an explosion and release from a nuclear power plant occurred due to an untimely detected leak;
1986, tragedy in Chernobyl, explosion of the 4th power unit;
2011, an accident at the Fukushima station, Japan.

Each of these tragedies left a heavy stamp on the fate of hundreds of thousands of people and turned entire areas into non-residential areas with special control.

There were incidents that almost cost the start of an atomic catastrophe. Soviet nuclear-powered submarines have repeatedly had reactor-related accidents on board. The Americans dropped the Super Fortress bomber with two Mark 39 nuclear bombs on board, with a capacity of 3.8 megatons. But the triggered "safety system" did not allow the charges to detonate and the catastrophe was avoided.

Nuclear weapons past and present

Today it is clear to anyone that nuclear war will destroy modern humanity. Meanwhile, the desire to possess nuclear weapons and enter the nuclear club, or rather to burst into it, knocking down the door, still excites the minds of some leaders of states.

India and Pakistan have arbitrarily created nuclear weapons, the Israelis are hiding the presence of a bomb.

For some, possession of a nuclear bomb is a way to prove importance in the international arena. For others, it is a guarantee of non-interference by winged democracy or other external factors. But the main thing is that these reserves do not go into business, for which they were really created.

Video

In the area of \u200b\u200ba nuclear explosion, two key areas are distinguished: the center and the epicenter. In the center of the explosion, the process of energy release takes place directly. The epicenter is the projection of this process onto the earth's or water surface. The energy of a nuclear explosion, projected onto the ground, can lead to seismic shocks that propagate over a considerable distance. These shocks cause harm to the environment only within a radius of several hundred meters from the point of explosion.

Striking factors

Nuclear weapons have the following factors of destruction:

Radioactive contamination.
Light radiation.
Shock wave.
Electromagnetic impulse.
Penetrating radiation.

The consequences of an atomic bomb explosion are fatal to all living things. Due to the release of a huge amount of light and warm energy, the explosion of a nuclear projectile is accompanied by a bright flash. In terms of power, this flash is several times stronger than the sun's rays, so there is a danger of damage from light and heat radiation within a radius of several kilometers from the point of explosion.

Another most dangerous damaging factor of atomic weapons is the radiation generated during the explosion. It works only a minute after the explosion, but has maximum penetrating power.

The shock wave has the strongest destructive effect. She literally erases everything that stands in her way from the face of the earth. Penetrating radiation is dangerous for all living things. In humans, it causes the development of radiation sickness. Well, an electromagnetic pulse only harms technology. In the aggregate, the damaging factors of an atomic explosion carry a tremendous danger.

First tests

Throughout the history of the atomic bomb, America has shown the greatest interest in its creation. At the end of 1941, the country's leadership allocated a huge amount of money and resources for this direction. The project manager was named Robert Oppenheimer, who is considered by many to be the creator of the atomic bomb. In fact, he was the first who was able to bring the idea of \u200b\u200bscientists to life. As a result, on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb test took place in the New Mexico desert. Then America decided that in order to completely end the war, it needed to defeat Japan, an ally of Nazi Germany. The Pentagon quickly selected targets for the first nuclear attacks, which were to be a vivid illustration of the power of American weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the US atomic bomb, cynically dubbed "Kid", was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The shot was just perfect - the bomb exploded at a height of 200 meters from the ground, due to which its blast wave caused terrible damage to the city. In districts far from the center, coal stoves were overturned, leading to violent fires.

The bright flash was followed by a heat wave, which in 4 seconds of action managed to melt the tiles on the roofs of houses and incinerate telegraph poles. The heat wave was followed by a shock wave. The wind that swept through the city at a speed of about 800 km / h, demolished everything in its path. Of the 76,000 buildings located in the city before the explosion, about 70,000 were completely destroyed. A few minutes after the explosion, rain began to fall from the sky, large drops of which were black. The rain fell due to the formation of a huge amount of condensate, consisting of steam and ash, in the cold layers of the atmosphere.

People who were hit by a fireball within a radius of 800 meters from the explosion point turned into dust. Those who were a little further from the explosion burned their skin, the remains of which were ripped off by the shock wave. Black radioactive rain left incurable burns on the skin of the survivors. Those who miraculously managed to escape soon began to show signs of radiation sickness: nausea, fever and bouts of weakness.

Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, America attacked another Japanese city - Nagasaki. The second explosion had the same disastrous consequences as the first.

In a matter of seconds, two atomic bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people. The shockwave practically wiped out Hiroshima. More than half of local residents (about 240 thousand people) died immediately from their wounds. In the city of Nagasaki, about 73 thousand people died from the explosion. Many of those who survived were exposed to severe radiation, which caused infertility, radiation sickness and cancer. As a result, some of the survivors died in terrible agony. The use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki illustrated the terrible power of this weapon.

We already know who invented the atomic bomb, how it works and what consequences it can lead to. Now we will find out how things were with nuclear weapons in the USSR.

After the bombing of Japanese cities, JV Stalin realized that the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb was a matter of national security. On August 20, 1945, a committee on nuclear energy was created in the USSR, and L. Beria was appointed its head.

It is worth noting that work in this direction has been carried out in the Soviet Union since 1918, and in 1938, a special commission on the atomic nucleus was created at the Academy of Sciences. With the outbreak of World War II, all work in this direction was frozen.

In 1943, intelligence officers of the USSR transferred from England materials of closed scientific papers in the field of atomic energy. These materials have illustrated that the work of foreign scientists on the creation of the atomic bomb has made significant progress. At the same time, American residents facilitated the introduction of reliable Soviet agents into major US nuclear research centers. Agents passed information about new developments to Soviet scientists and engineers.

Technical task

When in 1945 the issue of creating a Soviet nuclear bomb became almost a priority, one of the project leaders, Yuri Khariton, drew up a plan for the development of two versions of the projectile. On June 1, 1946, the plan was signed by senior management.

According to the assignment, the designers had to build an RDS (Special Jet Engine) of two models:

RDS-1. A plutonium-charged bomb that is detonated by spherical compression. The device was borrowed from the Americans.
RDS-2. A cannon bomb with two uranium charges converging in the barrel of a cannon before a critical mass is created.

In the history of the notorious RDS, the most common, albeit humorous, formulation was the phrase "Russia does it itself." It was invented by the deputy of Y. Khariton, K. Shchelkin. This phrase very accurately conveys the essence of the work, at least for the RDS-2.

When America learned that the Soviet Union possessed the secrets of creating nuclear weapons, it had a desire for an early escalation of the preventive war. In the summer of 1949, the Troyan plan appeared, according to which on January 1, 1950, it was planned to start military operations against the USSR. Then the date of the attack was postponed to the beginning of 1957, but on the condition that all NATO countries join it.

Tests

When information about America's plans came through intelligence channels to the USSR, the work of Soviet scientists accelerated significantly. Western experts believed that in the USSR atomic weapons would be created no earlier than 1954-1955. In fact, the tests of the first atomic bomb in the USSR took place already in August 1949. On August 29, the RDS-1 device was blown up at the Semipalatinsk test site. A large team of scientists took part in its creation, headed by Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov. The charge design was American, and the electronics were built from scratch. The first atomic bomb in the USSR exploded with a power of 22 Kt.

Due to the likelihood of a retaliatory strike, the Troyan plan, which involved a nuclear attack on 70 Soviet cities, was thwarted. The tests at Semipalatinsk marked the end of the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons. The invention of Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov completely destroyed the military plans of America and NATO and prevented the development of another world war. This is how the era of peace on Earth began, which exists under the threat of absolute destruction.

"Nuclear club" of the world

Today, not only America and Russia have atomic weapons, but also a number of other states. The totality of countries possessing such weapons is conventionally called the "nuclear club".

It includes:

America (since 1945).
USSR, and now Russia (since 1949).
England (since 1952).
France (since 1960).
China (since 1964).
India (since 1974).
Pakistan (since 1998).
Korea (since 2006).

Israel also has nuclear weapons, although the country's leadership refuses to comment on their presence. In addition, on the territory of NATO countries (Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada) and allies (Japan, South Korea, despite the official refusal), there are American nuclear weapons.

Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which owned part of the USSR's nuclear weapons, donated their bombs to Russia after the collapse of the Union. She became the only heir to the USSR's nuclear arsenal.

Conclusion

Today we have learned who invented the atomic bomb and what it is. Summarizing the above, we can conclude that today nuclear weapons are the most powerful instrument of global politics that has become firmly established in relations between countries. On the one hand, it is an effective deterrent, and on the other, a convincing argument for preventing military confrontation and strengthening peaceful relations between states. The atomic weapon is a symbol of an entire era, which requires particularly careful handling.

Who invented the nuclear bomb?

The Nazi Party has always recognized the importance of technology and invested heavily in the development of missiles, aircraft and tanks. But the most outstanding and dangerous discovery was made in the field of nuclear physics. Germany was perhaps the leader in nuclear physics in the 1930s. However, with the rise to power of the Nazis, many German physicists who were Jews left the Third Reich. Some of them emigrated to the United States, bringing with them troubling news: Germany may be working on an atomic bomb. This news prompted the Pentagon to take steps to develop its own nuclear program, which is called the "Manhattan Project" ...

An interesting, but more than dubious version of the "secret weapon of the Third Reich" was suggested by Hans Ulrich von Kranz. In his book "The Secret Weapon of the Third Reich," the version is put forward that the atomic bomb was created in Germany and that the United States only imitated the results of the "Manhattan Project". But let's talk about this in more detail.

Otto Hahn, the famous German physicist and radiochemist, together with another prominent scientist, Fritz Straussmann, discovered the fission of a uranium nucleus in 1938, actually giving this start to work on the creation of nuclear weapons. In 1938, atomic developments were not classified, but in almost no country, except Germany, they were not given due attention. They did not see much sense in them. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain argued: "This abstract matter has nothing to do with government needs." Professor Gang assessed the state of nuclear research in the United States of America as follows: “If we talk about the country in which the processes of nuclear fission are given the least attention, then we should undoubtedly name the USA. Of course, I'm not considering Brazil or the Vatican right now. However, among developed countries, even Italy and communist Russia are far ahead of the United States. " He also noted that little attention is paid to the problems of theoretical physics on the other side of the ocean, priority is given to applied developments that can give immediate profit. Ghana's verdict was unequivocal: "I can confidently say that over the next decade, North Americans will not be able to do anything significant for the development of atomic physics." This statement served as the basis for constructing von Krantz's hypothesis. Let's consider his version.

At the same time, the Alsos group was created, whose activities were limited to "headhunting" and the search for the secrets of atomic research in Germany. Here a natural question arises: why should the Americans look for other people's secrets if their own project is in full swing? Why were they so counting on other people's research?

In the spring of 1945, thanks to the activities of Alsos, many scientists who took part in German nuclear research fell into the hands of the Americans. By May, they had Heisenberg, Hahn, Osenberg, Diebner, and many other outstanding German physicists. But the Alsos group continued active searches in the already defeated Germany - until the very end of May. And only when all the major scientists were sent to America, "Alsos" ceased its activities. And at the end of June, the Americans are testing an atomic bomb, allegedly for the first time in the world. And in early August, two bombs are dropped on Japanese cities. Hans Ulrich von Kranz drew attention to these coincidences.

The researcher also doubts that only a month has passed between the tests and the combat use of the new superweapon, because the manufacture of a nuclear bomb is impossible in such a short time! After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the next bombs in the United States appeared in service only in 1947, which was preceded by additional tests in El Paso in 1946. This suggests that we are dealing with a carefully hidden truth, since it turns out that in 1945 the Americans are dropping three bombs - and everything is successful. The next tests - the same bombs - take place a year and a half later, and not very successfully (three out of four bombs did not explode). Serial production began six months later, and it is not known how the atomic bombs that appeared in the American army warehouses corresponded to their terrible purpose. This led the researcher to the idea that “the first three atomic bombs - the same ones in 1945 - were not built by the Americans independently, but were obtained from someone. To put it bluntly, from the Germans. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by the reaction of German scientists to the bombing of Japanese cities, which we know about thanks to the book by David Irving. " According to the researcher, the atomic project of the Third Reich was controlled by the Ahnenerbe, which was personally subordinate to the SS leader Heinrich Himmler. According to Hans Ulrich von Krantz, "a nuclear charge is the best instrument of post-war genocide, both Hitler and Himmler believed." According to the researcher, on March 3, 1944, an atomic bomb (object "Loki") was delivered to the test site - in the swampy forests of Belarus. The tests were successful and aroused unprecedented enthusiasm in the leadership of the Third Reich. German propaganda had previously mentioned the "miracle weapon" of gigantic destructive power, which the Wehrmacht would soon receive, now these motives have sounded even louder. Usually they are considered a bluff, but can we definitely make this conclusion? As a rule, Nazi propaganda did not bluff; it only embellished reality. So far, it has not been possible to convince her of a major lie on the "miracle weapon". Let's remember that propaganda promised jet fighters - the fastest in the world. And already at the end of 1944, hundreds of "Messerschmitts-262" patrolled the airspace of the Reich. Propaganda promised rocket rain to enemies, and since the fall of that year, dozens of Fau cruise missiles have been raining daily on English cities. So why on earth would the promised super-destructive weapon be considered a bluff?

In the spring of 1944, feverish preparations began for the serial production of nuclear weapons. But why weren't these bombs used? Von Krantz gives the following answer - there was no carrier, and when the Junkers-390 transport plane appeared, the Reich was waiting for betrayal, moreover, these bombs could no longer decide the outcome of the war ...

How plausible is this version? Was it really the Germans who first developed the atomic bomb? It is difficult to say, but such a possibility should not be ruled out, because, as we know, it was German specialists who were the leaders in atomic research in the early 1940s.

Despite the fact that many historians are engaged in the study of the secrets of the Third Reich, because many secret documents have become available, it seems that today archives with materials about Germany's military developments reliably store many mysteries.

This text is an introductory fragment. author

From the book The newest book of facts. Volume 3 [Physics, chemistry and technology. History and archeology. Miscellanea] author Kondrashov Anatoly Pavlovich

From the book of 100 great mysteries of the 20th century author

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The history of human development has always accompanied war as a way to resolve conflicts by violence. Civilization has suffered more than fifteen thousand small and large armed conflicts, the loss of human lives is estimated in the millions. In the nineties of the last century alone, more than a hundred military clashes took place, involving ninety countries of the world.

At the same time, scientific discoveries and technological progress have made it possible to create weapons of destruction with increasing power and sophistication of use. In the twentieth century nuclear weapons became the peak of mass destructive impact and a policy tool.

Atomic bomb device

Modern nuclear bombs as means of destruction of the enemy are created on the basis of advanced technical solutions, the essence of which is not widely publicized. But the main elements inherent in this type of weapon can be seen on the example of the device of a nuclear bomb with the code name "Fat Man", dropped in 1945 on one of the cities of Japan.

The explosion power was equal to 22.0 kt in TNT equivalent.

She had the following design features:

the length of the item was 3250.0 mm, while the diameter of the volumetric part was 1520.0 mm. Total weight over 4.5 tons;
the body is elliptical. In order to avoid premature destruction due to the ingress of anti-aircraft ammunition and unwanted influences of a different kind, 9.5 mm armored steel was used for its manufacture;
the body is divided into four internal parts: a nose, two halves of an ellipsoid (the main one is a compartment for a nuclear filling), a tail.
the bow compartment is equipped with rechargeable batteries;
the main compartment, like the nasal compartment, is evacuated to prevent the ingress of harmful media, moisture, create comfortable conditions for the work of the beard sensor;
the ellipsoid contained a plutonium core surrounded by a uranium tamper (shell). It played the role of an inertial limiter for the course of a nuclear reaction, providing maximum activity of weapons-grade plutonium by reflecting neutrons to the side of the active zone of the charge.

A primary source of neutrons, called an initiator or "hedgehog", was placed inside the nucleus. Presented by beryllium spherical shape with a diameter 20.0 mm with an outer coating based on polonium - 210.

It should be noted that the expert community has determined such a design of a nuclear weapon to be ineffective and unreliable in use. Uncontrolled neutron initiation was not used further .

Operating principle

The process of fission of the nuclei of uranium 235 (233) and plutonium 239 (this is what a nuclear bomb consists of) with a huge release of energy with a limited volume is called a nuclear explosion. The atomic structure of radioactive metals is unstable - they are constantly being divided into other elements.

The process is accompanied by the detachment of neurons, some of which fall on neighboring atoms, initiate a further reaction, accompanied by the release of energy.

The principle is as follows: shortening the decay time leads to a greater intensity of the process, and the concentration of neurons on the bombardment of nuclei leads to a chain reaction. When two elements are combined to a critical mass, a supercritical mass will be created, leading to an explosion.

In domestic conditions, it is impossible to provoke an active reaction - high speeds of convergence of elements are needed - at least 2.5 km / s. Achievement of this speed in a bomb is possible when using combining types of explosives (fast and slow), balancing the density of the supercritical mass, producing an atomic explosion.

Nuclear explosions refer to the results of human activities on the planet or its orbit. Natural processes of this kind are possible only on some stars in outer space.

Atomic bombs are rightfully considered the most powerful and destructive weapons of mass destruction. Tactical application solves the tasks of destroying strategic, military objects of ground and deep-based, destruction of a significant accumulation of equipment and manpower of the enemy.

It can be applied globally only in pursuit of the goal of complete extermination of the population and infrastructure in large areas.

To achieve certain goals, to fulfill tasks of a tactical and strategic nature, the detonation of atomic weapons can be carried out:

at critical and low altitudes (above and below 30.0 km);
in direct contact with the earth's crust (water);
underground (or underwater explosion).

A nuclear explosion is characterized by the instantaneous release of enormous energy.

Leading to the defeat of objects and a person as follows:

Shock wave. When an explosion above or on the earth's crust (water) is called an air wave, underground (water) - a seismic explosion wave. An air wave is formed after a critical compression of air masses and propagates in a circle until attenuation at a speed exceeding sound. It leads to both direct damage to manpower and indirect (interaction with fragments of destroyed objects). The action of excess pressure makes the technique non-functional by moving and hitting the ground;
Light radiation. The source is the light part formed by the evaporation of the product with air masses, in case of ground use - soil vapor. Exposure occurs in the ultraviolet and infrared spectra. Its absorption by objects and people provokes charring, melting and burning. The degree of damage depends on the removal of the epicenter;
Penetrating radiation - these are neutrons and gamma rays moving from the place of rupture. Exposure to biological tissues leads to ionization of cell molecules, leading to radiation sickness of the body. The destruction of property is associated with reactions of fission of molecules in the damaging elements of ammunition.
Radioactive contamination. With a ground explosion, soil vapors, dust and other things rise. A cloud appears, moving in the direction of movement of air masses. Sources of destruction are represented by fission products of the active part of a nuclear weapon, isotopes, and not destroyed parts of the charge. When the radioactive cloud moves, a continuous radiation contamination of the area occurs;
Electromagnetic impulse. The explosion accompanies the appearance of electromagnetic fields (from 1.0 to 1000 m) in the form of a pulse. They lead to the failure of electrical devices, controls and communications.

The combination of factors of a nuclear explosion inflicts different levels of damage to manpower, equipment and infrastructure of the enemy, and the fatality of the consequences is associated only with the distance from its epicenter.

History of the creation of nuclear weapons

The creation of weapons using a nuclear reaction was accompanied by a number of scientific discoveries, theoretical and practical research, including:

1905 year - the theory of relativity has been created, which states that a small amount of matter corresponds to a significant release of energy according to the formula E \u003d mc2, where "c" represents the speed of light (by A. Einstein);
1938 year - German scientists conducted an experiment on the separation of an atom into parts by attacking uranium with neutrons, which ended successfully (O. Hann and F. Strassmann), and a physicist from Great Britain gave an explanation for the fact of energy release (R. Frisch);
1939 year - to scientists from France, that when carrying out a chain of reactions of uranium molecules, energy will be released that can produce an explosion of enormous force (Joliot-Curie).

The latter became the starting point for the invention of atomic weapons. Germany, Great Britain, USA and Japan were engaged in parallel development. The main problem was the extraction of uranium in the required volumes for conducting experiments in this area.

The problem was solved faster in the USA, having purchased raw materials from Belgium in 1940.

Within the framework of the project, called Manhattan, from the thirty-ninth to the forty-fifth year, a uranium purification plant was built, a center for the study of nuclear processes was created, and the best physicists from all over Western Europe were attracted to work in it.

Great Britain, which was conducting its own development, was forced, after the German bombing, to voluntarily transfer the developments on its project to the US military.

It is believed that the Americans are the first to invent the atomic bomb. The tests of the first nuclear charge were carried out in New Mexico in July 1945. The flash from the explosion eclipsed the sky, and the sandy landscape turned to glass. After a short period of time, nuclear charges called "Baby" and "Fat Man" were created.

Nuclear weapons in the USSR - dates and events

The formation of the USSR as a nuclear power was preceded by the long work of individual scientists and state institutions. Key periods and significant dates of events are presented as follows:

1920 year considered the beginning of the work of Soviet scientists on atomic fission;
Since the thirties the direction of nuclear physics is becoming a priority;
October 1940 - an initiative group of scientists - physicists came up with a proposal to use atomic developments for military purposes;
In the summer of 1941 in connection with the war, the institutes of atomic energy were transferred to the rear;
Autumn 1941 years, Soviet intelligence informed the country's leadership about the start of nuclear programs in Britain and America;
September 1942 - studies of the atom began to be done in full, work on uranium continued;
February 1943 - a special research laboratory was created under the leadership of I. Kurchatov, and the general leadership was assigned to V. Molotov;

The project was supervised by V. Molotov.

August 1945 - in connection with the nuclear bombing in Japan, the high importance of developments for the USSR, a Special Committee was created under the leadership of L. Beria;
April 1946 - KB-11 was created, which began to develop samples of Soviet nuclear weapons in two versions (using plutonium and uranium);
Mid 1948 - work on uranium was terminated due to low efficiency at high costs;
August 1949 - when the atomic bomb was invented in the USSR, the first Soviet nuclear bomb was tested.

The reduction in the development time of the product was facilitated by the high-quality work of the intelligence agencies, which were able to obtain information on American nuclear developments. Among those who were the first to create the atomic bomb in the USSR was a team of scientists led by Academician A. Sakharov. They developed more advanced technical solutions than those used by the Americans.

The atomic bomb "RDS-1"

In 2015-2017, Russia made a breakthrough in improving nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles, thereby declaring a state capable of repelling any aggression.

The first tests of the atomic bomb

After testing an experimental nuclear bomb in New Mexico in the summer of 1945, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed on August 6 and 9, respectively.

the development of the atomic bomb was completed this year

In 1949, under conditions of increased secrecy, Soviet designers at KB - 11 and a scientist completed the development of an atomic bomb called RDS-1 (jet engine "C"). On August 29, the first Soviet nuclear device was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. The atomic bomb of Russia - RDS-1 was a "drop-shaped" product, weighing 4.6 tons, a volumetric part diameter of 1.5 m, and a length of 3.7 meters.

The active part included a plutonium block, which made it possible to achieve an explosion power of 20.0 kilotons commensurate with TNT. The test site covered a radius of twenty kilometers. The specifics of the conditions of the test detonation have not yet been made public.

On September 3 of the same year, American aviation reconnaissance established the presence of traces of isotopes in the air masses of Kamchatka, indicating a nuclear test. On the twenty-third, the first person in the United States publicly announced that the USSR had succeeded in testing an atomic bomb.