In the area of ​​a 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 or water surface. The energy of a nuclear explosion, projected onto the earth, can lead to seismic tremors that spread over a considerable distance. Harm environment these shocks bring only within a radius of several hundred meters from the point of explosion.

Affecting factors

Nuclear weapons have the following damage factors:

1. radioactive infection.
2. Light emission.
3. shock wave.
4. electromagnetic impulse.
5. penetrating radiation.

The consequences of an atomic bomb explosion are detrimental to all living things. Due to the release of a huge amount of light and heat 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 being hit by light and thermal 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 acts only a minute after the explosion, but has a 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 poses a danger to all living beings. In humans, it causes the development of radiation sickness. Well, the electromagnetic pulse harms only technology. Taken together, the damaging factors of an atomic explosion carry a huge 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 great amount money and resources. The project manager was 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 ​​scientists to life. As a result, on July 16, 1945, the first test of an atomic bomb took place in the desert of New Mexico. Then America decided that in order to completely end the war, it needed to defeat Japan, an ally of Nazi Germany. The Pentagon quickly chose the targets for the first nuclear attacks, which were supposed to be a vivid illustration of the power of American weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the US atomic bomb, cynically called "Baby", was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The shot turned out to be just perfect - the bomb exploded at a height of 200 meters from the ground, due to which its blast wave caused terrifying damage to the city. In areas far from the center, charcoal stoves were overturned, causing severe 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, which 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, it began to rain from the sky, large drops of which were black. The rain fell due to the formation in the cold layers of the atmosphere of a huge amount of condensate, consisting of steam and ash.

People who were hit by the fireball within a radius of 800 meters from the point of explosion turned into dust. Those who were a little further from the explosion had burned skin, the remnants of which were torn 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 shock wave practically wiped Hiroshima off the face of the earth. More than half of the local residents (about 240 thousand people) died immediately from their injuries. 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 these weapons.

You and I 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, I.V. 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, headed by L. Beria.

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 handed over from England materials of closed scientific works in the field of nuclear energy. These materials illustrated that the work of foreign scientists on the creation of an atomic bomb has seriously advanced. At the same time, the American residents facilitated the introduction of reliable Soviet agents into the main centers of US nuclear research. Agents transmitted 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, Yu. Khariton, drew up a plan to develop two versions of the projectile. On June 1, 1946, the plan was signed by the top leadership.

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

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

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

When America found out that the Soviet Union possessed the secrets of creating nuclear weapons, it became eager to escalate preventive war as soon as possible. In the summer of 1949, the Trojan plan appeared, according to which on January 1, 1950 it was planned to start fighting against the USSR. Then the date of the attack was moved to the beginning of 1957, but on the condition that all NATO countries join it.

Tests

When information about America's plans came to the USSR through intelligence channels, the work of Soviet scientists accelerated significantly. Western experts believed that in the USSR atomic weapons would be created no earlier than in 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 training ground in Semipalatinsk. A large team of scientists took part in its creation, led by Kurchatov Igor Vasilyevich. The design of the charge belonged to the Americans, and the electronic equipment was created 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. 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. Thus began the era of peace on Earth, which exists under the threat of absolute annihilation.

"Nuclear club" of the world

To date, not only America and Russia have nuclear weapons, but also a number of other states. The set of countries that own such weapons is conditionally called the "nuclear club".

It includes:

1. America (since 1945).
2. USSR, and now Russia (since 1949).
3. England (since 1952).
4. France (since 1960).
5. China (since 1964).
6. India (since 1974).
7. Pakistan (since 1998).
8. 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 some of the nuclear weapons of the USSR, transferred their bombs to Russia after the collapse of the Union. She became the sole heir to the nuclear arsenal of the USSR.

Conclusion

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

Nuclear weapons are weapons of a strategic nature, capable of solving global problems. Its use is associated with terrible consequences for all mankind. This makes the atomic bomb not only a threat, but also a deterrent.

The appearance of weapons capable of putting an end to the development of mankind marked the beginning of its new era. The probability of a global conflict or a new world war is minimized due to the possibility of total destruction of the entire civilization.

Despite such threats, nuclear weapons continue to be in service with the world's leading countries. To a certain extent, it is precisely this that becomes the determining factor in international diplomacy and geopolitics.

History of the nuclear bomb

The question of who invented the nuclear bomb has no clear answer in history. The discovery of the radioactivity of uranium is considered to be a prerequisite for work on atomic weapons. In 1896, the French chemist A. Becquerel discovered the chain reaction of this element, initiating developments in nuclear physics.

In the next decade, alpha, beta and gamma rays were discovered, as well as a number of radioactive isotopes of some chemical elements. The subsequent discovery of the law of radioactive decay of the atom was the beginning for the study of nuclear isometry.

In December 1938, the German physicists O. Hahn and F. Strassmann were the first to be able to carry out the nuclear fission reaction under artificial conditions. On April 24, 1939, the leadership of Germany was informed about the likelihood of creating a new powerful explosive.

However, the German nuclear program was doomed to failure. Despite the successful advancement of scientists, the country, due to the war, constantly experienced difficulties with resources, especially with the supply of heavy water. In the later stages, exploration was slowed down by constant evacuations. On April 23, 1945, the developments of German scientists were captured in Haigerloch and taken to the USA.

The US was the first country to express interest in the new invention. In 1941, significant funds were allocated for its development and creation. The first tests took place on July 16, 1945. Less than a month later, the United States used nuclear weapons for the first time, dropping two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Own research in the field of nuclear physics in the USSR has been conducted since 1918. The Commission on the Atomic Nucleus was established in 1938 at the Academy of Sciences. However, with the outbreak of the war, its activities in this direction were suspended.

In 1943 information about scientific papers in nuclear physics were received by Soviet intelligence officers from England. Agents have been introduced into several US research centers. The information they obtained made it possible to accelerate the development of their own nuclear weapons.

The invention of the Soviet atomic bomb was headed by I. Kurchatov and Yu. Khariton, they are considered the creators of the Soviet atomic bomb. Information about this became the impetus for preparing the United States for a pre-emptive war. In July 1949, the Troyan plan was developed, according to which it was planned to start hostilities on January 1, 1950.

Later, the date was moved to the beginning of 1957, taking into account that all NATO countries could prepare and join the war. According to Western intelligence, a nuclear test in the USSR could not have been carried out until 1954.

However, the US preparations for the war became known in advance, which forced Soviet scientists to speed up research. In a short time they invent and create their own nuclear bomb. On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 (special jet engine) was tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk.

Tests like these thwarted the Trojan plan. Since then, the United States has ceased to have a monopoly on nuclear weapons. Regardless of the strength of the preemptive strike, there was a risk of retaliation, which threatened to be a disaster. From that moment on, the most terrible weapon became the guarantor of peace between the great powers.

Principle of operation

The principle of operation of an atomic bomb is based on the chain reaction of the decay of heavy nuclei or thermonuclear fusion of lungs. During these processes, a huge amount of energy is released, which turns the bomb into a weapon of mass destruction.

On September 24, 1951, the RDS-2 was tested. They could already be delivered to launch points so that they reached the United States. On October 18, the RDS-3, delivered by a bomber, was tested.

Further tests moved on to thermonuclear fusion. The first tests of such a bomb in the United States took place on November 1, 1952. In the USSR, such a warhead was tested after 8 months.

TX of a nuclear bomb

Nuclear bombs do not have clear characteristics due to the variety of applications of such ammunition. However, there are a number of general aspects that must be taken into account when creating this weapon.

These include:

• axisymmetric structure of the bomb - all blocks and systems are placed in pairs in containers of a cylindrical, spherical or conical shape;
• when designing, they reduce the mass of a nuclear bomb by combining power units, choosing the optimal shape of shells and compartments, as well as using more durable materials;
• the number of wires and connectors is minimized, and a pneumatic conduit or explosive cord is used to transmit the impact;
• the blocking of the main nodes is carried out with the help of partitions destroyed by pyro charges;
• active substances are pumped using a separate container or external carrier.

Taking into account the requirements for the device, a nuclear bomb consists of the following components:

• the case, which provides protection of the ammunition from physical and thermal effects - is divided into compartments, can be equipped with a power frame;
• nuclear charge with a power mount;
• self-destruction system with its integration into a nuclear charge;
• a power source designed for long-term storage - is activated already when the rocket is launched;
• external sensors - to collect information;
• cocking, control and detonation systems, the latter is embedded in the charge;
• systems for diagnostics, heating and maintaining the microclimate inside sealed compartments.

Depending on the type of nuclear bomb, other systems are integrated into it. Among these may be a flight sensor, a blocking console, a calculation of flight options, an autopilot. Some munitions also use jammers designed to reduce opposition to a nuclear bomb.

The consequences of using such a bomb

The "ideal" consequences of the use of nuclear weapons were already recorded during the bombing of Hiroshima. The charge exploded at a height of 200 meters, which caused a strong shock wave. Coal-fired stoves were overturned in many houses, causing fires even outside the affected area.

A flash of light was followed by a heatstroke that lasted a matter of seconds. However, its power was enough to melt tiles and quartz within a radius of 4 km, as well as to spray telegraph poles.

The heat wave was followed by a shock wave. The wind speed reached 800 km / h, its gust destroyed almost all the buildings in the city. Of the 76 thousand buildings, about 6 thousand partially survived, the rest were completely destroyed.

The heat wave, as well as rising steam and ash, caused heavy condensation in the atmosphere. A few minutes later it began to rain with drops black from the ashes. Their contact with the skin caused severe incurable burns.

People who were within 800 meters of the epicenter of the explosion were burned to dust. The rest were exposed to radiation and radiation sickness. Her symptoms were weakness, nausea, vomiting, and fever. There was a sharp decrease in the number of white cells in the blood.

In seconds, about 70 thousand people were killed. The same number later died from wounds and burns.

3 days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki with similar consequences.

Stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world

The main stocks of nuclear weapons are concentrated in Russia and the United States. In addition to them, the following countries have atomic bombs:

• Great Britain - since 1952;
• France - since 1960;
• China - since 1964;
• India - since 1974;
• Pakistan - since 1998;
• North Korea - since 2008.

Israel also possesses nuclear weapons, although there has been no official confirmation from the country's leadership.

There are US bombs on the territory of NATO countries: Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey and Canada. The allies of the United States - Japan and South Korea, although the countries officially refused to have nuclear weapons on their territory.

After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus had nuclear weapons for a short time. However, later it was transferred to Russia, which made it the only heir to the USSR in terms of nuclear weapons.

The number of atomic bombs in the world changed during the second half of the XX - early XXI century:

• 1947 - 32 warheads, all in the US;
• 1952 - about a thousand bombs from the USA and 50 from the USSR;
• 1957 - more than 7 thousand warheads, nuclear weapons appear in the UK;
• 1967 - 30 thousand bombs, including the weapons of France and China;
• 1977 - 50 thousand, including Indian warheads;
• 1987 - about 63 thousand - the largest concentration of nuclear weapons;
• 1992 - less than 40 thousand warheads;
• 2010 - about 20 thousand;
• 2018 - about 15 thousand people

It should be borne in mind that tactical nuclear weapons are not included in these calculations. This has a lesser degree of damage and a variety in carriers and applications. Significant stocks of such weapons are concentrated in Russia and the United States.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

American Robert Oppenheimer and Soviet scientist Igor Kurchatov are officially recognized as the fathers of the atomic bomb. But in parallel, deadly weapons were developed in other countries (Italy, Denmark, Hungary), so the discovery rightfully belongs to everyone.

The German physicists Fritz Strassmann and Otto Hahn were the first to tackle this issue, who in December 1938 for the first time managed to artificially split the atomic nucleus of uranium. And six months later, at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin, the first reactor was already being built and urgently purchased uranium ore from the Congo.

"Uranium project" - the Germans start and lose

In September 1939, the Uranium Project was classified. To participate in the program attracted 22 authoritative scientific centers, Minister of Armaments Albert Speer oversaw the research. The construction of an isotope separation plant and the production of uranium for extracting an isotope from it that supports a chain reaction was entrusted to the IG Farbenindustry concern.

For two years, a group of the venerable scientist Heisenberg studied the possibilities of creating a reactor with and heavy water. A potential explosive (the isotope uranium-235) could be isolated from uranium ore.

But for this, an inhibitor is needed that slows down the reaction - graphite or heavy water. The choice of the last option created an insurmountable problem.

The only plant for the production of heavy water, which was located in Norway, after the occupation was put out of action by local resistance fighters, and small stocks of valuable raw materials were taken to France.

The explosion of an experimental nuclear reactor in Leipzig also prevented the rapid implementation of the nuclear program.

Hitler supported the uranium project as long as he hoped to obtain a super-powerful weapon that could influence the outcome of the war he unleashed. After the cuts in public funding, the programs of work continued for some time.

In 1944, Heisenberg managed to create cast uranium plates, and a special bunker was built for the reactor plant in Berlin.

It was planned to complete the experiment to achieve a chain reaction in January 1945, but a month later the equipment was urgently transported to the Swiss border, where it was deployed only a month later. In a nuclear reactor there were 664 cubes of uranium weighing 1525 kg. It was surrounded by a graphite neutron reflector weighing 10 tons, an additional one and a half tons of heavy water was loaded into the core.

On March 23, the reactor finally started working, but the report to Berlin was premature: the reactor did not reach a critical point, and a chain reaction did not occur. Additional calculations have shown that the mass of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally adding the amount of heavy water.

But the reserves of strategic raw materials were at the limit, as was the fate of the Third Reich. On April 23, the Americans entered the village of Haigerloch, where the tests were carried out. The military dismantled the reactor and transported it to the United States.

The first atomic bombs in the USA

A little later, the Germans took up the development of the atomic bomb in the United States and Great Britain. It all started with a letter from Albert Einstein and his co-authors, immigrant physicists, sent by them in September 1939 to US President Franklin Roosevelt.

The appeal stressed that Nazi Germany was close to building an atomic bomb.

Stalin first learned about the work on nuclear weapons (both allies and opponents) from intelligence officers in 1943. They immediately decided to create a similar project in the USSR. The instructions were issued not only to scientists, but also to intelligence, for which the extraction of any information about nuclear secrets has become a super task.

The invaluable information about the developments of American scientists, which Soviet intelligence officers managed to obtain, significantly advanced the domestic nuclear project. It helped our scientists avoid inefficient search paths and significantly speed up the implementation of the final goal.

Serov Ivan Alexandrovich - head of the operation to create a bomb

Of course, the Soviet government could not ignore the successes of German nuclear physicists. After the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany - future academicians in the form of colonels of the Soviet army.

Ivan Serov, the first deputy commissar of internal affairs, was appointed head of the operation, which allowed scientists to open any doors.

In addition to their German colleagues, they found reserves of uranium metal. This, according to Kurchatov, reduced the development time of the Soviet bomb by at least a year. More than one ton of uranium and leading nuclear specialists were also taken out of Germany by the American military.

Not only chemists and physicists were sent to the USSR, but also skilled labor - mechanics, electricians, glass blowers. Some employees were found in POW camps. In total, about 1,000 German specialists worked on the Soviet nuclear project.

German scientists and laboratories on the territory of the USSR in the postwar years

A uranium centrifuge and other equipment were transported from Berlin, as well as documents and reagents from the von Ardenne laboratory and the Kaiser Institute of Physics. As part of the program, laboratories "A", "B", "C", "D" were created, which were headed by German scientists.

The head of laboratory "A" was Baron Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gaseous diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

For the creation of such a centrifuge (on an industrial scale) in 1947, he received Stalin Prize. At that time, the laboratory was located in Moscow, on the site of the famous Kurchatov Institute. The team of each German scientist included 5-6 Soviet specialists.

Later, laboratory "A" was taken to Sukhumi, where a physico-technical institute was created on its basis. In 1953, Baron von Ardenne became a Stalin laureate for the second time.

Laboratory "B", which conducted experiments in the field of radiation chemistry in the Urals, was headed by Nikolaus Riehl - key person project. There, in Snezhinsk, the talented Russian geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky worked with him, with whom they were friends back in Germany. Successful atomic bomb test earns Riel a Hero star Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize.

The research of laboratory "B" in Obninsk was led by Professor Rudolf Pose, a pioneer in the field of nuclear testing. His team managed to create fast neutron reactors, the first nuclear power plant in the USSR, and designs for reactors for submarines.

On the basis of the laboratory, the A.I. Leipunsky. Until 1957, the professor worked in Sukhumi, then in Dubna, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Technologies.

Laboratory "G", located in the Sukhumi sanatorium "Agudzery", was headed by Gustav Hertz. The nephew of the famous 19th-century scientist gained fame after a series of experiments that confirmed the ideas of quantum mechanics and the theory of Niels Bohr.

The results of his productive work in Sukhumi were used to create an industrial plant in Novouralsk, where in 1949 they made the filling of the first Soviet bomb RDS-1.

The uranium bomb that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima was a cannon-type bomb. When creating the RDS-1, domestic nuclear physicists were guided by the Fat Boy, the “Nagasaki bomb”, made from plutonium according to the implosive principle.

In 1951, Hertz was awarded the Stalin Prize for his fruitful work.

German engineers and scientists lived in comfortable houses, they brought their families, furniture, paintings from Germany, they were provided with a decent salary and special food. Did they have the status of prisoners? According to academician A.P. Alexandrov, an active participant in the project, they were all prisoners in such conditions.

Having received permission to return to their homeland, the German specialists signed a non-disclosure agreement about their participation in the Soviet atomic project for 25 years. In the GDR, they continued to work in their specialty. Baron von Ardenne was twice a laureate of the German National Prize.

The professor headed the Physics Institute in Dresden, which was created under the auspices of the Scientific Council for the Peaceful Applications of Atomic Energy. The Scientific Council was headed by Gustav Hertz, who received the National Prize of the GDR for his three-volume textbook on atomic physics. Here in Dresden Technical University, Professor Rudolf Pose also worked.

The participation of German specialists in the Soviet atomic project, as well as the achievements of Soviet intelligence, do not diminish the merits of Soviet scientists, who, with their heroic labor, created domestic atomic weapons. And yet, without the contribution of each participant in the project, the creation of the atomic industry and the nuclear bomb would have dragged on for indefinite

Under what conditions and with what efforts the country that survived the most terrible war XX century, created its own atomic shield
Almost seven decades ago, on October 29, 1949, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued four top-secret decrees on awarding 845 people with the titles of Heroes of Socialist Labor, the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor and the Badge of Honor. In none of them, in relation to any of the awarded, it was said what exactly he was awarded for: everywhere there was a standard wording “for exceptional services to the state in carrying out special task". Even for the Soviet Union, accustomed to secrecy, this was a rare occurrence. Meanwhile, the recipients themselves knew perfectly well, of course, what kind of "exceptional merits" they meant. All 845 people were, to a greater or lesser extent, directly connected with the creation of the first Soviet nuclear bomb.

For the awardees, it was not strange that both the project itself and its success were shrouded in a thick veil of secrecy. After all, they all knew very well that, to a large extent, they owe their success to courage and professionalism. Soviet intelligence officers, for eight years supplying scientists and engineers with top-secret information from abroad. And so high mark, which the creators of the Soviet atomic bomb deserved, was not exaggerated. As one of the creators of the bomb, academician Yuli Khariton, recalled, at the presentation ceremony, Stalin suddenly said: "If we were late for one to a year and a half, then we would probably try this charge on ourselves." And this is not an exaggeration...

Atomic bomb sample ... 1940

To the idea of ​​creating a bomb that uses the energy of a chain nuclear reaction, in the Soviet Union came almost simultaneously with Germany and the United States. The first officially considered project of this type of weapons was presented in 1940 by a group of scientists from the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology led by Friedrich Lange. It was in this project that, for the first time in the USSR, a scheme, which later became classic for all nuclear weapons, was proposed for detonating conventional explosives, due to which two subcritical masses of uranium almost instantly form a supercritical one.

The project received negative reviews and was not considered further. But the work on which it was based continued, and not only in Kharkov. In the pre-war USSR, at least four large institutes dealt with nuclear issues - in Leningrad, Kharkov and Moscow, and Vyacheslav Molotov, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, supervised the work. Shortly after the presentation of the Lange project, in January 1941, the Soviet government made a logical decision to classify domestic atomic research. It was clear that they could really lead to the creation of a new type of powerful one, and such information should not be scattered, all the more so since it was at that time that the first intelligence on the American atomic project was received - and Moscow did not want to risk theirs.

The natural course of events interrupted the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. But, despite the fact that the entire Soviet industry and science were very quickly transferred to a military footing and began to provide the army with the most vital developments and inventions, forces and means were also found to continue the atomic project. Although not immediately. The resumption of research should be counted from the decision of the State Defense Committee of February 11, 1943, which stipulated the beginning practical work to build the atomic bomb.

Enormous project

By this time, Soviet foreign intelligence was already hard at work on extracting information on the Enormoz project - this is how the American atomic project was called in operational documents. The first meaningful data indicating that the West was seriously engaged in the creation of uranium weapons came from the London station in September 1941. And at the end of the same year, from the same source, a message comes that America and Great Britain agreed to coordinate the efforts of their scientists in the field of atomic energy research. Under war conditions, this could be interpreted in only one way: the allies are working on the creation of atomic weapons. And in February 1942, intelligence received documentary evidence that Germany was actively doing the same.

As the efforts of Soviet scientists, working according to their own plans, advanced, intelligence work also intensified to obtain information about the American and British atomic projects. In December 1942, it became finally clear that the United States was clearly ahead of Britain in this area, and the main efforts were focused on extracting data from across the ocean. In fact, every step of the participants in the "Manhattan Project", as the work on creating an atomic bomb in the United States was called, was tightly controlled by Soviet intelligence. Suffice it to say that the most detailed information about the construction of the first real atomic bomb in Moscow was received less than two weeks after it was assembled in America.

That is why the boastful message of the new US President Harry Truman, who decided to stun Stalin at the Potsdam Conference by declaring that America had a new weapon of unprecedented destructive power, did not cause the reaction that the American was counting on. The Soviet leader calmly listened to him, nodded - and did not answer. Foreigners were sure that Stalin simply did not understand anything. In fact, the leader of the USSR sensibly assessed Truman's words and on the same day in the evening demanded that Soviet specialists speed up the work on creating their own atomic bomb as much as possible. But it was no longer possible to overtake America. In less than a month, the first atomic mushroom grew over Hiroshima, three days later - over Nagasaki. And over Soviet Union the shadow of a new, atomic war loomed, and not with anyone, but with former allies.

Time forward!

Now, seventy years later, no one is surprised that the Soviet Union got the much-needed margin of time to create its own super-bomb, despite the sharply deteriorating relations with ex-partners in the anti-Hitler coalition. After all, already on March 5, 1946, six months after the first atomic bombings, Winston Churchill's famous Fulton speech was delivered, which laid the foundation for cold war. But according to the plan of Washington and its allies, it should have developed into a hot one later - at the end of 1949. After all, as they calculated overseas, the USSR was not supposed to receive its own atomic weapons before the mid-1950s, which means that there was nowhere to rush.

Atomic bomb tests. Photo: U.S. Air Force / AR

From the height of today, it seems surprising that the date of the start of a new world war - more precisely, one of the dates of one of the main plans, Fleetwood - and the date of the test of the first Soviet nuclear bomb: 1949, seems surprising. But in reality, everything is natural. The foreign political situation was heating up quickly, the former allies were talking to each other more and more sharply. And in 1948, it became quite clear that Moscow and Washington, apparently, would not be able to come to an agreement between themselves. Hence, it is necessary to count the time until the start of a new war: a year is the deadline for which countries that have recently emerged from a colossal war can fully prepare for a new one, moreover, with the state that bore the brunt of the Victory on its shoulders. Even the atomic monopoly did not give the United States the opportunity to shorten the period of preparation for war.

Foreign "accents" of the Soviet atomic bomb

All this was perfectly understood by us. Since 1945, all work related to the atomic project has sharply intensified. During the first two post-war years, the USSR, tormented by the war and having lost a considerable part of its industrial potential, managed to create a colossal nuclear industry from scratch. Future nuclear centers emerged, such as Chelyabinsk-40, Arzamas-16, Obninsk, large scientific institutes and production facilities were formed.

Not so long ago, a common point of view on the Soviet atomic project was this: they say, if it were not for intelligence, scientists of the USSR would not have been able to create any atomic bomb. In fact, everything was far from being as unambiguous as the revisionists of Russian history tried to show. In fact, the data obtained by Soviet intelligence about the American atomic project allowed our scientists to avoid many mistakes that inevitably had to be made by their American colleagues who had gone ahead (who, we recall, the war did not interfere with their work in earnest: the enemy did not several months half of the industry). In addition, intelligence data undoubtedly helped Soviet specialists evaluate the most advantageous designs and technical solutions that made it possible to assemble their own, more advanced atomic bomb.

And if we talk about the degree of foreign influence on the Soviet atomic project, then, rather, we need to remember several hundred German nuclear specialists who worked for two secret objects near Sukhumi - in the prototype of the future Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology. So they really helped a lot to move forward work on the “product” - the first atomic bomb of the USSR, and so much so that many of them were awarded Soviet orders by the same secret decrees of October 29, 1949. Most of these specialists went back to Germany five years later, mostly settling in the GDR (although there were some who went to the West).

Objectively speaking, the first Soviet atomic bomb had, so to speak, more than one "accent". After all, it was born as a result of the colossal cooperation of the efforts of many people - both those who were involved in the project of their own free will, and those who were recruited to work as prisoners of war or interned specialists. But the country, which by all means needed to get weapons as soon as possible, equalizing its chances with ex-allies, who quickly turned into mortal enemies, had no time for sentimentality.

Russia makes itself!

In documents relating to the creation of the first nuclear bomb of the USSR, the term “product” that later became popular has not yet been encountered. Much more often, it was officially referred to as a "special jet engine", or RDS for short. Although, of course, there was nothing reactive in the work on this design: the whole thing was only in the strictest secrecy requirements.

With light hand academician Yuliy Khariton, the unofficial decoding “Russia does it herself” very quickly stuck to the abbreviation RDS. There was also a considerable amount of irony in this, since everyone knew how much the information obtained by intelligence gave our atomic scientists, but also a large share of truth. After all, if the design of the first Soviet nuclear bomb was very similar to the American one (simply because the most optimal one was chosen, and the laws of physics and mathematics do not have national features), then, say, the ballistic body and the electronic filling of the first bomb were purely domestic development.

When work on the Soviet atomic project progressed far enough, the leadership of the USSR formulated tactical and technical requirements for the first atomic bombs. It was decided to simultaneously refine two types: an implosion-type plutonium bomb and a cannon-type uranium bomb, similar to that used by the Americans. The first received the RDS-1 index, the second, respectively, RDS-2.

According to the plan, the RDS-1 was to be submitted for state testing by explosion in January 1948. But these deadlines could not be met: there were problems with the manufacture and processing of the required amount of weapons-grade plutonium for its equipment. It was received only a year and a half later, in August 1949, and immediately went to Arzamas-16, where the almost finished first Soviet atomic bomb was waiting. Within a few days, the specialists of the future VNIIEF completed the assembly of the “product”, and it went to the Semipalatinsk test site for testing.

The first rivet of Russia's nuclear shield

The first nuclear bomb of the USSR was detonated at seven o'clock in the morning on August 29, 1949. Almost a month passed before overseas recovered from the shock caused by intelligence about the successful testing of our own "big club" in our country. Only on September 23, Harry Truman, who not so long ago boastfully reported to Stalin about America's success in creating atomic weapons, made a statement that the same type of weapons were now available in the USSR.

Presentation of a multimedia installation in honor of the 65th anniversary of the creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb. Photo: Geodakyan Artem / TASS

Oddly enough, Moscow was in no hurry to confirm the Americans' statements. On the contrary, TASS actually came out with a refutation of the American statement, arguing that the whole point is in the colossal scope of construction in the USSR, which also uses blasting with the use of the latest technologies. True, at the end of the Tassov statement there was a more than transparent allusion to the possession of their own nuclear weapons. The agency reminded everyone interested that as early as November 6, 1947, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declared that no secret of the atomic bomb had existed for a long time.

And it was twice true. By 1947, no information about atomic weapons was a secret for the USSR, and by the end of the summer of 1949 it was no longer a secret for anyone that the Soviet Union had restored strategic parity with its main rival, the United States. A parity that has been maintained for six decades now. Parity, which is supported by the nuclear shield of Russia and the beginning of which was laid on the eve of the Great Patriotic War.

The one who invented the atomic bomb could not even imagine what tragic consequences this miracle invention of the 20th century could lead to. Before this superweapon was tested by the inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a very long way.

A start

In April 1903, the famous French physicist Paul Langevin gathered his friends in the Paris Garden. The reason was the defense of the dissertation of the young and talented scientist Marie Curie. Among the distinguished guests was the famous English physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford. In the midst of the fun, the lights were put out. Marie Curie announced to everyone that there would now be a surprise.

With a solemn air, Pierre Curie brought in a small tube of radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing extraordinary delight among those present. In the future, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that thanks to radium, the acute problem of lack of energy would be solved. This inspired everyone to new research and further perspectives.

If they were then told that laboratory works with radioactive elements will lay the foundation for a terrible weapon of the 20th century, it is not known what their reaction would be. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.

Game ahead of the curve

On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. In fact, he managed to split the atom. AT scientific world it was regarded as a new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gunn did not share the political views of the Third Reich.

Therefore, in the same year, 1938, the scientist was forced to move to Stockholm, where, together with Friedrich Strassmann, he continued his scientific research. Fearing that fascist Germany will be the first to receive a terrible weapon, he writes a letter to the President of America with a warning about this.

The news of a possible lead greatly alarmed the US government. The Americans began to act quickly and decisively.

Who created the atomic bomb? American project

Even before the outbreak of World War II, a group of American scientists, many of whom were refugees from the Nazi regime in Europe, were tasked with developing nuclear weapons. Initial studies, it should be noted, were carried out in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the government of the United States of America began funding its own program to develop atomic weapons. An incredible amount of two and a half billion dollars was allocated for the implementation of the project.

Towards this secret project outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited, among whom there were more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only the military, but also civilians. The development team was led by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, with Robert Oppenheimer as supervisor. He is the man who invented the atomic bomb.

A special secret engineering building was built in the Manhattan area, which is known to us under the code name "Manhattan Project". Over the next few years, the scientists of the secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.

Non-peaceful atom by Igor Kurchatov

Today, every schoolchild will be able to answer the question of who invented the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And then, in the early 30s of the last century, no one knew this.

In 1932, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was one of the first in the world to start studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilievich in 1937 created the first cyclotron in Europe. In the same year, he and his like-minded people create the first artificial nuclei.

In 1939, I. V. Kurchatov began to study a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in studying this phenomenon, the scientist gets at his disposal a secret research center, which was named "Laboratory No. 2". Today, this secret object is called "Arzamas-16".

The target direction of this center was a serious research and development of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. There were only ten people on his team then.

atomic bomb to be

By the end of 1945, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov managed to assemble a serious team of scientists numbering more than a hundred people. The best minds of various scientific specializations came to the laboratory from all over the country to create atomic weapons. After the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists realized that this could also be done with the Soviet Union. "Laboratory No. 2" receives a sharp increase in funding from the country's leadership and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The enormous labors of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.

Semipalatinsk test site

The atomic bomb in the USSR was first tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). On August 29, 1949, a 22 kiloton nuclear device shook the Kazakh land. Nobel Laureate, physicist Otto Hanz, said: “This is good news. If Russia has atomic weapons, then there will be no war.” It was this atomic bomb in the USSR, encrypted as product number 501, or RDS-1, that eliminated the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.

Atomic bomb. Year 1945

In the early morning of July 16, the Manhattan Project conducted its first successful test of an atomic device - a plutonium bomb - at the Alamogordo test site in New Mexico, USA.

The money invested in the project was well spent. The first in human history nuclear explosion was made at 5:30 am.

“We have done the work of the devil,” said later Robert Oppenheimer, the one who invented the atomic bomb in the United States, later called the “father of the atomic bomb.”

Japan does not capitulate

By the time of the final and successful testing of the atomic bomb Soviet troops and the allies finally defeated Nazi Germany. However, there remained one state that promised to fight to the end for dominance in pacific ocean. From mid-April to mid-July 1945, the Japanese army repeatedly carried out air strikes against allied forces, thereby inflicting heavy losses on the US army. At the end of July 1945, the militarist government of Japan rejected the Allied demand for surrender in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration. In it, in particular, it was said that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army would face rapid and complete destruction.

President agrees

The American government kept its word and began targeted bombing of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides on the invasion of American troops into Japan. However, the military command dissuades its president from such a decision, citing the fact that the American invasion would entail a large number of victims.

At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use more effective method end of the war. A big supporter of the atomic bomb, US Presidential Secretary James Francis Byrnes, believed that the bombing of Japanese territories would finally end the war and put the US in a dominant position, which would positively affect the future course of events in the post-war world. Thus, US President Harry Truman was convinced that this was the only correct option.

Atomic bomb. Hiroshima

The first target was the small Japanese city of Hiroshima, with a population of just over 350,000, located five hundred miles from Japan's capital, Tokyo. After the modified Enola Gay B-29 bomber arrived at the US naval base on Tinian Island, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was supposed to experience the effects of 9,000 pounds of uranium-235.
This hitherto unseen weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. The US atomic bomb bore the cynical name "Baby". On the morning of August 6, 1945, at about 8:15 am, the American "Baby" was dropped on the Japanese Hiroshima. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred and forty thousand inhabitants of the city died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese died a painful death from radiation sickness.

They were destroyed by the American atomic "Kid". However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided to another bombardment of Japanese territory.

Nagasaki. Sky on fire

The American atomic bomb "Fat Man" was installed on board the B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, all in the same place, at the US naval base in Tinian. This time the aircraft commander was Major Charles Sweeney. Initially, the strategic target was the city of Kokura.

However, the weather conditions did not allow to carry out the plan, a lot of clouds interfered. Charles Sweeney went into the second round. At 11:02 am, the American nuclear-powered Fat Man swallowed up Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which, in its strength, was several times higher than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10,000 pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.

The geographical location of the Japanese city reduced the expected effect. The thing is that the city is located in a narrow valley between the mountains. Therefore, the destruction of 2.6 square miles did not reveal the full potential of American weapons. The Nagasaki atomic bomb test is considered the failed "Manhattan Project".

Japan surrendered

On the afternoon of August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender in a radio address to the people of Japan. This news quickly spread around the world. In the United States of America, celebrations began on the occasion of the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.
September 2, 1945 on board the American battleship "Missouri", anchored in Tokyo Bay, was signed a formal agreement to end the war. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in the history of mankind.

For six long years, the world community has been moving towards this significant date - since September 1, 1939, when the first shots of Nazi Germany were fired on the territory of Poland.

Peaceful atom

In total, 124 nuclear explosion. It is characteristic that all of them were carried out for the benefit National economy. Only three of them were accidents involving the release of radioactive elements.

Programs for the use of peaceful atom were implemented only in two countries - the United States and the Soviet Union. Nuclear peaceful energy knows an example of a global catastrophe, when on April 26, 1986 at the fourth power unit Chernobyl nuclear power plant the reactor exploded.