In what year was the atomic bomb invented? The hydrogen bomb is a modern weapon of mass destruction

Sergey LESKOV

On August 12, 1953, the world's first hydrogen bomb was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. This was the fourth Soviet nuclear weapons test. The power of the bomb, which had the secret code “product RDS-6 s,” reached 400 kilotons, 20 times more than the first atomic bombs in the USA and USSR. After the test, Kurchatov turned to 32-year-old Sakharov with a deep bow: “Thank you, the savior of Russia!”

Which is better - Bee Line or MTS? One of the most pressing issues of Russian everyday life. Half a century ago, in a narrow circle of nuclear physicists, the question was equally acute: which is better - an atomic bomb or a hydrogen one, also known as thermonuclear one? The atomic bomb, which the Americans made in 1945, and we made in 1949, is built on the principle of releasing colossal energy by separating heavy uranium or artificial plutonium nuclei. A thermonuclear bomb is built on a different principle: energy is released by the fusion of light isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium. Materials based on light elements do not have a critical mass, which was a great design difficulty in the atomic bomb. In addition, the fusion of deuterium and tritium releases 4.2 times more energy than the fission of nuclei of the same mass of uranium-235. In short, a hydrogen bomb is a much more powerful weapon than an atomic bomb.

In those years, the destructive power of the hydrogen bomb did not scare away any scientists. The world entered the era of the Cold War, McCarthyism was raging in the USA, and another wave of revelations arose in the USSR. Only Pyotr Kapitsa allowed himself demarches, who did not even appear at the ceremonial meeting at the Academy of Sciences on the occasion of Stalin’s 70th birthday. The question of his expulsion from the ranks of the academy was discussed, but the situation was saved by the President of the Academy of Sciences Sergei Vavilov, who noted that the first to be expelled was the classic writer Sholokhov, who skimps on all meetings without exception.

As is known, scientists were helped by intelligence data in creating the atomic bomb. But our agents almost ruined the hydrogen bomb. The information obtained from the famous Klaus Fuchs led both Americans and Soviet physicists to a dead end. The group under the command of Zeldovich lost 6 years checking erroneous data. Intelligence also provided the opinion of the famous Niels Bohr about the unreality of the “superbomb”. But the USSR had its own ideas, the prospects of which were difficult and risky for Stalin and Beria, who were pushing for the atomic bomb with all their might. This circumstance must not be forgotten in fruitless and stupid disputes about who worked more on nuclear weapons - Soviet intelligence or Soviet science.

The work on the hydrogen bomb was the first intellectual race in human history. To create an atomic bomb, it was important, first of all, to solve engineering problems and carry out large-scale work in mines and factories. The hydrogen bomb led to the emergence of new scientific directions - physics of high-temperature plasma, physics of ultra-high energy densities, physics of anomalous pressures. For the first time I had to resort to mathematical modeling. Our scientists compensated for the lag behind the United States in the field of computers (von Neumann apparatuses were already in use overseas) with ingenious computational methods using primitive adding machines.

In short, it was the world's first battle of wits. And the USSR won this battle. An alternative design for a hydrogen bomb was invented by Andrei Sakharov, an ordinary employee of Zeldovich’s group. Back in 1949, he proposed the original idea of ​​the so-called “puff paste”, where cheap uranium-238, which was considered waste in the production of weapons-grade uranium, was used as an effective nuclear material. But if this “waste” is bombarded by fusion neutrons, 10 times more energy-intensive than fission neutrons, then uranium-238 begins to fission and the cost of obtaining each kiloton is reduced many times over. The phenomenon of ionization compression of thermonuclear fuel, which became the basis of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb, is still called “saccharization.” Vitaly Ginzburg proposed lithium deuteride as a fuel.

Work on the atomic and hydrogen bombs proceeded in parallel. Even before the atomic bomb tests in 1949, Vavilov and Khariton informed Beria about the “sloika”. After the infamous directive of President Truman in early 1950, at a meeting of the Special Committee chaired by Beria, it was decided to speed up work on the Sakharov design with a TNT equivalent of 1 megaton and a test date in 1954.

On November 1, 1952, at Elugelub Atoll, the United States tested the Mike thermonuclear device with an energy release of 10 megatons, 500 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. However, "Mike" was not a bomb - a gigantic structure the size of a two-story house. But the power of the explosion was amazing. The neutron flux was so great that it was possible to discover two new elements - einsteinium and fermium.

They threw all their efforts into the hydrogen bomb. The work was not slowed down by either the death of Stalin or the arrest of Beria. Finally, on August 12, 1953, the world's first hydrogen bomb was tested in Semipalatinsk. The environmental consequences were horrific. The first explosion during the nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk accounted for 82% of strontium-90 and 75% of cesium-137. But then no one thought about radioactive contamination, or about the environment in general.

The first hydrogen bomb caused the rapid development of Soviet cosmonautics. After the nuclear tests, the Korolev Design Bureau received the task of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile for this charge. This rocket, called the “seven”, launched the first artificial satellite of the Earth into space, and the first cosmonaut of the planet, Yuri Gagarin, launched on it.

On November 6, 1955, a hydrogen bomb dropped from a Tu-16 aircraft was tested for the first time. In the United States, the dropping of a hydrogen bomb took place only on May 21, 1956. But it turned out that Andrei Sakharov’s first bomb was also a dead end; it was never tested again. Even earlier, on March 1, 1954, near the Bikini Atoll, the United States detonated a charge of unheard-of power - 15 megatons. It was based on the idea of ​​Teller and Ulam about the compression of the thermonuclear unit not by mechanical energy and neutron flux, but by the radiation of the first explosion, the so-called initiator. After the test, which resulted in casualties among the civilian population, Igor Tamm demanded that his colleagues abandon all previous ideas, even the national pride of the “puff puff”, and find a fundamentally new path: “Everything that we have done so far is of no use to anyone. We are unemployed. I am confident that in a few months we will reach our goal."

And already in the spring of 1954, Soviet physicists came up with the idea of ​​an explosive initiator. The authorship of the idea belongs to Zeldovich and Sakharov. On November 22, 1955, a Tu-16 dropped a bomb with a design power of 3.6 megatons over the Semipalatinsk test site. During these tests there were deaths, the radius of destruction reached 350 km, and Semipalatinsk suffered.

There was a nuclear arms race ahead. But in 1955 it became clear that the USSR had achieved nuclear parity with the United States.

In August 1942, a secret “Metallurgical Laboratory” opened in a former school building in the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, not far from Santa Fe. Robert Oppenheimer was appointed head of the laboratory.

It took the Americans three years to solve the problem. In July 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at the test site, and in August two more bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It took seven years for the birth of the Soviet atomic bomb - the first explosion was carried out at the test site in 1949.

The American team of physicists was initially stronger. Only 12 Nobel laureates, present and future, took part in the creation of the atomic bomb. And the only future Soviet Nobel laureate, who was in Kazan in 1942 and who was invited to take part in the work, refused. In addition, the Americans were helped by a group of British scientists sent to Los Alamos in 1943.

Nevertheless, in Soviet times it was argued that the USSR solved its atomic problem completely independently, and Kurchatov was considered the “father” of the domestic atomic bomb. Although there were rumors about some secrets stolen from the Americans. And only in the 90s, 50 years later, one of the main figures then - - spoke about the significant role of intelligence in accelerating the lagging Soviet project. And American scientific and technical results were obtained by those who arrived in the English group.

So Robert Oppenheimer can be called the “father” of bombs created on both sides of the ocean - his ideas fertilized both projects. It is wrong to consider Oppenheimer (like Kurchatov) only as an outstanding organizer. His main achievements are scientific. And it was thanks to them that he became the scientific director of the atomic bomb project.

Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York on April 22, 1904. In 1925 he received a diploma from Harvard University. For a year he interned with Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory. In 1926 he moved to the University of Göttingen, where in 1927 he defended his doctoral dissertation under the guidance of Max Born. In 1928 he returned to the USA. From 1929 to 1947, Oppenheimer taught at two leading American universities - the University of California and the California Institute of Technology.

Oppenheimer studied quantum mechanics, the theory of relativity, elementary particle physics, and carried out a number of works on theoretical astrophysics. In 1927, he created the theory of interaction of free electrons with atoms. Together with Born, he developed the theory of the structure of diatomic molecules. In 1930 he predicted the existence of the positron.

In 1931, together with Ehrenfest, he formulated the Ehrenfest-Oppenheimer theorem, according to which nuclei consisting of an odd number of particles with spin ½ should obey Fermi-Dirac statistics, and those consisting of an even number should obey Bose-Einstein statistics. Investigated the internal conversion of gamma rays.

In 1937, he developed the cascade theory of cosmic showers, in 1938 he first calculated a model of a neutron star, and in 1939, in his work “On irreversible gravitational compression,” he predicted the existence of “black holes.”

Oppenheimer wrote several popular science books: Science and Common Knowledge (1954), The Open Mind (1955), and Some Reflections on Science and Culture (1960).

7 countries with nuclear weapons form the nuclear club. Each of these states spent millions to create their own atomic bomb. Development has been going on for years. But without the gifted physicists who were tasked with conducting research in this area, nothing would have happened. About these people in today's Diletant selection. media.

Robert Oppenheimer

The parents of the man under whose leadership the world's first atomic bomb was created had nothing to do with science. Oppenheimer's father was involved in the textile trade, his mother was an artist. Robert graduated from Harvard early, took a course in thermodynamics and became interested in experimental physics.


After several years of work in Europe, Oppenheimer moved to California, where he lectured for two decades. When the Germans discovered uranium fission in the late 1930s, the scientist began to think about the problem of nuclear weapons. Since 1939, he actively participated in the creation of the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project and directed the laboratory at Los Alamos.

There, on July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer’s “brainchild” was tested for the first time. “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds,” said the physicist after the tests.

A few months later, atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Oppenheimer has since insisted on the use of atomic energy exclusively for peaceful purposes. Having become a defendant in a criminal case due to his unreliability, the scientist was removed from secret developments. He died in 1967 from laryngeal cancer.

Igor Kurchatov

The USSR acquired its own atomic bomb four years later than the Americans. It could not have happened without the help of intelligence officers, but the merits of the scientists who worked in Moscow should not be underestimated. Atomic research was led by Igor Kurchatov. His childhood and youth were spent in Crimea, where he first learned to be a mechanic. Then he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Taurida University and continued to study in Petrograd. There he entered the laboratory of the famous Abram Ioffe.

Kurchatov headed the Soviet atomic project when he was only 40 years old. Years of painstaking work involving leading specialists have brought long-awaited results. Our country's first nuclear weapon, called RDS-1, was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site on August 29, 1949.

The experience accumulated by Kurchatov and his team allowed the Soviet Union to subsequently launch the world's first industrial nuclear power plant, as well as a nuclear reactor for a submarine and an icebreaker, which no one had achieved before.

Andrey Sakharov

The hydrogen bomb appeared first in the United States. But the American model was the size of a three-story house and weighed more than 50 tons. Meanwhile, the RDS-6s product, created by Andrei Sakharov, weighed only 7 tons and could fit on a bomber.

During the war, Sakharov, while evacuated, graduated with honors from Moscow State University. He worked as an engineer-inventor at a military plant, then entered graduate school at the Lebedev Physical Institute. Under the leadership of Igor Tamm, he worked in a research group for the development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov came up with the basic principle of the Soviet hydrogen bomb - the puff pastry.

The first Soviet hydrogen bomb was tested in 1953

The first Soviet hydrogen bomb was tested near Semipalatinsk in 1953. To evaluate its destructive capabilities, a city of industrial and administrative buildings was built at the test site.

Since the late 1950s, Sakharov devoted a lot of time to human rights activities. He condemned the arms race, criticized the communist government, spoke out for the abolition of the death penalty and against forced psychiatric treatment of dissidents. He opposed the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1980 he was exiled to Gorky for his beliefs, where he repeatedly went on hunger strikes and from where he was able to return to Moscow only in 1986.

Bertrand Goldschmidt

The ideologist of the French nuclear program was Charles de Gaulle, and the creator of the first bomb was Bertrand Goldschmidt. Before the start of the war, the future specialist studied chemistry and physics and joined Marie Curie. The German occupation and the Vichy government's attitude towards Jews forced Goldschmidt to stop his studies and emigrate to the United States, where he collaborated first with American and then with Canadian colleagues.


In 1945, Goldschmidt became one of the founders of the French Atomic Energy Commission. The first test of the bomb created under his leadership occurred only 15 years later - in the southwest of Algeria.

Qian Sanqiang

The PRC joined the club of nuclear powers only in October 1964. Then the Chinese tested their own atomic bomb with a yield of more than 20 kilotons. Mao Zedong decided to develop this industry after his first trip to the Soviet Union. In 1949, Stalin showed the great helmsman the capabilities of nuclear weapons.

The Chinese nuclear project was led by Qian Sanqiang. A graduate of the physics department of Tsinghua University, he went to study in France at public expense. He worked at the Radium Institute of the University of Paris. Qian communicated a lot with foreign scientists and carried out quite serious research, but he became homesick and returned to China, taking several grams of radium as a gift from Irene Curie.

Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction with explosive action, based on the use of fission energy of heavy nuclei of some isotopes of uranium and plutonium, or in thermonuclear reactions of synthesis of light nuclei of hydrogen isotopes of deuterium and tritium, into heavier ones, for example, nuclei of helium isotopes.

Warheads of missiles and torpedoes, aircraft and depth charges, artillery shells and mines can be equipped with nuclear charges. Based on their power, nuclear weapons are divided into ultra-small (less than 1 kt), small (1-10 kt), medium (10-100 kt), large (100-1000 kt) and super-large (more than 1000 kt). Depending on the tasks being solved, it is possible to use nuclear weapons in the form of underground, ground, air, underwater and surface explosions. The characteristics of the destructive effect of nuclear weapons on the population are determined not only by the power of the ammunition and the type of explosion, but also by the type of nuclear device. Depending on the charge, they are distinguished: atomic weapons, which are based on the fission reaction; thermonuclear weapons - when using a fusion reaction; combined charges; neutron weapons.

The only fissile substance found in nature in appreciable quantities is the isotope of uranium with a nuclear mass of 235 atomic mass units (uranium-235). The content of this isotope in natural uranium is only 0.7%. The remainder is uranium-238. Since the chemical properties of the isotopes are exactly the same, separating uranium-235 from natural uranium requires a rather complex process of isotope separation. The result can be highly enriched uranium containing about 94% uranium-235, which is suitable for use in nuclear weapons.

Fissile substances can be produced artificially, and the least difficult from a practical point of view is the production of plutonium-239, which is formed as a result of the capture of a neutron by a uranium-238 nucleus (and the subsequent chain of radioactive decays of intermediate nuclei). A similar process can be carried out in a nuclear reactor operating on natural or slightly enriched uranium. In the future, plutonium can be separated from spent reactor fuel in the process of chemical reprocessing of the fuel, which is noticeably simpler than the isotope separation process carried out when producing weapons-grade uranium.

To create nuclear explosive devices, other fissile substances can be used, for example, uranium-233, obtained by irradiation of thorium-232 in a nuclear reactor. However, only uranium-235 and plutonium-239 have found practical use, primarily due to the relative ease of obtaining these materials.

The possibility of practical use of the energy released during nuclear fission is due to the fact that the fission reaction can have a chain, self-sustaining nature. Each fission event produces approximately two secondary neutrons, which, when captured by the nuclei of the fissile material, can cause them to fission, which in turn leads to the formation of even more neutrons. When special conditions are created, the number of neutrons, and therefore fission events, increases from generation to generation.

The first nuclear explosive device was detonated by the United States on July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The device was a plutonium bomb that used a directed explosion to create criticality. The power of the explosion was about 20 kt. In the USSR, the first nuclear explosive device similar to the American one exploded on August 29, 1949.

The history of the creation of nuclear weapons.

In early 1939, the French physicist Frédéric Joliot-Curie concluded that a chain reaction was possible that would lead to an explosion of monstrous destructive force and that uranium could become a source of energy as an ordinary explosive. This conclusion became the impetus for developments in the creation of nuclear weapons. Europe was on the eve of the Second World War, and the potential possession of such powerful weapons gave any owner enormous advantages. Physicists from Germany, England, the USA, and Japan worked on the creation of atomic weapons.

By the summer of 1945, the Americans managed to assemble two atomic bombs, called “Baby” and “Fat Man”. The first bomb weighed 2,722 kg and was filled with enriched Uranium-235.

The "Fat Man" bomb with a charge of Plutonium-239 with a power of more than 20 kt had a mass of 3175 kg.

US President G. Truman became the first political leader to decide to use nuclear bombs. The first targets for nuclear strikes were Japanese cities (Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kokura, Niigata). From a military point of view, there was no need for such bombing of densely populated Japanese cities.

On the morning of August 6, 1945, there was a clear, cloudless sky over Hiroshima. As before, the approach of two American planes from the east (one of them was called Enola Gay) at an altitude of 10-13 km did not cause alarm (since they appeared in the sky of Hiroshima every day). One of the planes dived and dropped something, and then both planes turned and flew away. The dropped object slowly descended by parachute and suddenly exploded at an altitude of 600 m above the ground. It was the Baby bomb. On August 9, another bomb was dropped over the city of Nagasaki.

The total human losses and the scale of destruction from these bombings are characterized by the following figures: 300 thousand people died instantly from thermal radiation (temperature about 5000 degrees C) and the shock wave, another 200 thousand were injured, burned, and radiation sickness. On an area of ​​12 sq. km, all buildings were completely destroyed. In Hiroshima alone, out of 90 thousand buildings, 62 thousand were destroyed.

After the American atomic bombings, on August 20, 1945, by order of Stalin, a special committee on atomic energy was formed under the leadership of L. Beria. The committee included prominent scientists A.F. Ioffe, P.L. Kapitsa and I.V. Kurchatov. A communist by conviction, scientist Klaus Fuchs, a prominent employee of the American nuclear center in Los Alamos, provided a great service to Soviet nuclear scientists. During 1945-1947, he transmitted information on practical and theoretical issues of creating atomic and hydrogen bombs four times, which accelerated their appearance in the USSR.

In 1946 - 1948, the nuclear industry was created in the USSR. A test site was built in the area of ​​Semipalatinsk. In August 1949, the first Soviet nuclear device was detonated there. Before this, US President Henry Truman was informed that the Soviet Union had mastered the secret of nuclear weapons, but the Soviet Union would not create a nuclear bomb until 1953. This message caused the US ruling circles to want to start a preventive war as quickly as possible. The Troyan plan was developed, which envisaged the start of hostilities at the beginning of 1950. At that time, the United States had 840 strategic bombers and over 300 atomic bombs.

The damaging factors of a nuclear explosion are: shock wave, light radiation, penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination and electromagnetic pulse.

Shock wave. The main damaging factor of a nuclear explosion. About 60% of the energy of a nuclear explosion is spent on it. It is an area of ​​sharp air compression, spreading in all directions from the explosion site. The damaging effect of a shock wave is characterized by the magnitude of excess pressure. Excess pressure is the difference between the maximum pressure at the shock wave front and the normal atmospheric pressure ahead of it. It is measured in kilopascals - 1 kPa = 0.01 kgf/cm2.

With excess pressure of 20-40 kPa, unprotected people can get mild injuries. Exposure to a shock wave with an excess pressure of 40-60 kPa leads to moderate damage. Severe injuries occur when excess pressure exceeds 60 kPa and are characterized by severe contusions of the entire body, fractures of the limbs, and ruptures of internal parenchymal organs. Extremely severe injuries, often fatal, are observed at excess pressure above 100 kPa.

Light radiation is a stream of radiant energy, including visible ultraviolet and infrared rays.

Its source is a luminous area formed by the hot products of the explosion. Light radiation spreads almost instantly and lasts, depending on the power of the nuclear explosion, up to 20 s. Its strength is such that, despite its short duration, it can cause fires, deep skin burns and damage to the organs of vision in people.

Light radiation does not penetrate through opaque materials, so any barrier that can create a shadow protects against the direct action of light radiation and prevents burns.

Light radiation is significantly weakened in dusty (smoky) air, fog, and rain.

Penetrating radiation.

This is a stream of gamma radiation and neutrons. The impact lasts 10-15 s. The primary effect of radiation is realized in physical, physicochemical and chemical processes with the formation of chemically active free radicals (H, OH, HO2) with high oxidizing and reducing properties. Subsequently, various peroxide compounds are formed, inhibiting the activity of some enzymes and increasing others, which play an important role in the processes of autolysis (self-dissolution) of body tissues. The appearance in the blood of decay products of radiosensitive tissues and pathological metabolism when exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation is the basis for the formation of toxemia - poisoning of the body associated with the circulation of toxins in the blood. Of primary importance in the development of radiation injuries are disturbances in the physiological regeneration of cells and tissues, as well as changes in the functions of regulatory systems.

Radioactive contamination of the area

Its main sources are nuclear fission products and radioactive isotopes formed as a result of the acquisition of radioactive properties by the elements from which nuclear weapons are made and those that make up the soil. A radioactive cloud is formed from them. It rises to a height of many kilometers and is transported with air masses over considerable distances. Radioactive particles falling from the cloud to the ground form a zone of radioactive contamination (trace), the length of which can reach several hundred kilometers. Radioactive substances pose the greatest danger in the first hours after deposition, since their activity is highest during this period.

Electromagnetic pulse .

This is a short-term electromagnetic field that occurs during the explosion of a nuclear weapon as a result of the interaction of gamma radiation and neutrons emitted during a nuclear explosion with atoms of the environment. The consequence of its impact is burnout or breakdown of individual elements of radio-electronic and electrical equipment. People can only be harmed if they come into contact with wire lines at the time of the explosion.

A type of nuclear weapon is neutron and thermonuclear weapons.

Neutron weapons are small-sized thermonuclear ammunition with a power of up to 10 kt, designed primarily to destroy enemy personnel through the action of neutron radiation. Neutron weapons are classified as tactical nuclear weapons.

Attracted specialists from many countries. Scientists and engineers from the USA, USSR, England, Germany and Japan worked on these developments. The Americans were especially active in this area, having the best technological base and raw materials, and also managing to attract the strongest intellectual resources of those times to research.

The United States government has set a task for physicists to create, in an extremely short time, a new type of weapon that could be delivered to the most remote point of the planet.

Los Alamos, located in the deserted desert of New Mexico, became the center of American nuclear research. Many scientists, designers, engineers and military personnel worked on the top-secret military project, and all the work was led by the experienced theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who is most often called the “father” of atomic weapons. Under his leadership, the best specialists from all over the world developed controlled technology, without interrupting the search process for a minute.

By the fall of 1944, the creation of the first nuclear power plant in history had in general terms come to an end. By this time, a special aviation regiment had already been formed in the United States, which was to carry out the tasks of delivering lethal weapons to the places where they would be used. The regiment's pilots underwent special training, performing training flights at different altitudes and in conditions close to combat ones.

First atomic bombings

In mid-1945, US designers managed to assemble two nuclear devices ready for use. The first targets for attack were also selected. Japan was a strategic enemy of the United States at that time.

The American leadership decided to launch the first atomic strikes on two Japanese cities in order to intimidate not only Japan, but also other countries, including the USSR, with this action.

On August 6th and 9th, 1945, American bombers dropped the first atomic bombs in history on the unsuspecting inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, more than one hundred thousand people died from thermal radiation and shock waves. These were the consequences of the use of unprecedented weapons. The world has entered a new phase of its development.

However, the US monopoly on the military use of the atom did not last too long. The Soviet Union also intensively searched for ways to practically implement the principles underlying nuclear weapons. The work of the team of Soviet scientists and inventors was headed by Igor Kurchatov. In August 1949, the Soviet atomic bomb, which received the working name RDS-1, was successfully tested. The fragile military balance in the world was restored.