When were nuclear weapons created? The nuclear bomb is a powerful weapon and a force capable of resolving military conflicts

In the USA and USSR, work began simultaneously on atomic bomb projects. In August 1942, the secret Laboratory No. 2 began to operate in one of the buildings located in the courtyard of Kazan University. The head of this facility was Igor Kurchatov, the Russian “father” of the atomic bomb. At the same time, in August, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the building of a former local school, a “Metallurgical Laboratory”, also secret, began operating. It was led by Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb from America.

It took a total of three years to complete the task. The first US bomb was blown up at the test site in July 1945. Two more were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. It took seven years for the birth of the atomic bomb in the USSR. The first explosion took place in 1949.

Igor Kurchatov: short biography

The "father" of the atomic bomb in the USSR, was born in 1903, on January 12. This event took place in the Ufa province, in today's city of Sima. Kurchatov is considered one of the founders of peaceful purposes.

He graduated with honors from the Simferopol men's gymnasium, as well as a vocational school. In 1920, Kurchatov entered the Tauride University, the physics and mathematics department. Just 3 years later, he successfully graduated from this university ahead of schedule. The “father” of the atomic bomb began working at the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology in 1930, where he headed the physics department.

The era before Kurchatov

Back in the 1930s, work related to atomic energy began in the USSR. Chemists and physicists from various scientific centers, as well as specialists from other countries, took part in all-Union conferences organized by the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Radium samples were obtained in 1932. And in 1939 the chain reaction of fission of heavy atoms was calculated. The year 1940 became a landmark year in the nuclear field: the design of an atomic bomb was created, and methods for producing uranium-235 were proposed. Conventional explosives were first proposed to be used as a fuse to initiate a chain reaction. Also in 1940, Kurchatov presented his report on the fission of heavy nuclei.

Research during the Great Patriotic War

After the Germans attacked the USSR in 1941, nuclear research was suspended. The main Leningrad and Moscow institutes that dealt with problems of nuclear physics were urgently evacuated.

The head of strategic intelligence, Beria, knew that Western physicists considered atomic weapons an achievable reality. According to historical data, back in September 1939, Robert Oppenheimer, the leader of the work on creating an atomic bomb in America, came to the USSR incognito. The Soviet leadership could have learned about the possibility of obtaining these weapons from the information provided by this “father” of the atomic bomb.

In 1941, intelligence data from Great Britain and the USA began to arrive in the USSR. According to this information, intensive work has been launched in the West, the goal of which is the creation of nuclear weapons.

In the spring of 1943, Laboratory No. 2 was created to produce the first atomic bomb in the USSR. The question arose about who should be entrusted with its leadership. The list of candidates initially included about 50 names. Beria, however, chose Kurchatov. He was summoned in October 1943 to a viewing in Moscow. Today the scientific center that grew out of this laboratory bears his name - the Kurchatov Institute.

In 1946, on April 9, a decree was issued on the creation of a design bureau at Laboratory No. 2. Only at the beginning of 1947 were the first production buildings, which were located in the Mordovian Nature Reserve, ready. Some of the laboratories were located in monastery buildings.

RDS-1, the first Russian atomic bomb

They called the Soviet prototype RDS-1, which, according to one version, meant special." After some time, this abbreviation began to be deciphered somewhat differently - "Stalin's Jet Engine." In documents to ensure secrecy, the Soviet bomb was called a "rocket engine."

It was a device with a power of 22 kilotons. The USSR carried out its own development of atomic weapons, but the need to catch up with the United States, which had gone ahead during the war, forced domestic science to use intelligence data. The basis for the first Russian atomic bomb was the Fat Man, developed by the Americans (pictured below).

It was this that the United States dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. "Fat Man" worked on the decay of plutonium-239. The detonation scheme was implosive: the charges exploded along the perimeter of the fissile substance and created a blast wave that “compressed” the substance located in the center and caused a chain reaction. This scheme was later found to be ineffective.

The Soviet RDS-1 was made in the form of a large diameter and mass free-falling bomb. The charge of an explosive atomic device was made from plutonium. The electrical equipment, as well as the ballistic body of the RDS-1, were domestically developed. The bomb consisted of a ballistic body, a nuclear charge, an explosive device, as well as equipment for automatic charge detonation systems.

Uranium shortage

Soviet physics, taking the American plutonium bomb as a basis, was faced with a problem that had to be solved in an extremely short time: plutonium production had not yet begun in the USSR at the time of development. Therefore, captured uranium was initially used. However, the reactor required at least 150 tons of this substance. In 1945, mines in East Germany and Czechoslovakia resumed their work. Uranium deposits in the Chita region, Kolyma, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, the North Caucasus and Ukraine were discovered in 1946.

In the Urals, near the city of Kyshtym (not far from Chelyabinsk), they began to build Mayak, a radiochemical plant, and the first industrial reactor in the USSR. Kurchatov personally supervised the laying of uranium. Construction began in 1947 in three more places: two in the Middle Urals and one in the Gorky region.

Construction work proceeded at a rapid pace, but there was still not enough uranium. The first industrial reactor could not be launched even by 1948. It was only on June 7 of this year that uranium was loaded.

Nuclear reactor startup experiment

The “father” of the Soviet atomic bomb personally took over the duties of the chief operator at the control panel of the nuclear reactor. On June 7, between 11 and 12 o'clock at night, Kurchatov began an experiment to launch it. The reactor reached a power of 100 kilowatts on June 8. After this, the “father” of the Soviet atomic bomb silenced the chain reaction that had begun. The next stage of preparing the nuclear reactor lasted for two days. After cooling water was supplied, it became clear that the available uranium was not enough to carry out the experiment. The reactor reached a critical state only after loading the fifth portion of the substance. The chain reaction became possible again. This happened at 8 o'clock in the morning on June 10.

On the 17th of the same month, Kurchatov, the creator of the atomic bomb in the USSR, made an entry in the shift supervisors' journal in which he warned that the water supply should under no circumstances be stopped, otherwise an explosion would occur. On June 19, 1938 at 12:45, the commercial launch of a nuclear reactor, the first in Eurasia, took place.

Successful bomb tests

In June 1949, the USSR accumulated 10 kg of plutonium - the amount that was put into the bomb by the Americans. Kurchatov, the creator of the atomic bomb in the USSR, following Beria's decree, ordered the RDS-1 test to be scheduled for August 29.

A section of the Irtysh arid steppe, located in Kazakhstan, not far from Semipalatinsk, was set aside for a test site. In the center of this experimental field, whose diameter was about 20 km, a metal tower 37.5 meters high was constructed. RDS-1 was installed on it.

The charge used in the bomb was a multi-layer design. In it, the transfer of the active substance to a critical state was carried out by compressing it using a spherical converging detonation wave, which was formed in the explosive.

Consequences of the explosion

The tower was completely destroyed after the explosion. A funnel appeared in its place. However, the main damage was caused by the shock wave. According to the description of eyewitnesses, when a trip to the explosion site took place on August 30, the experimental field presented a terrible picture. The highway and railway bridges were thrown to a distance of 20-30 m and twisted. Cars and carriages were scattered at a distance of 50-80 m from the place where they were located; residential buildings were completely destroyed. The tanks used to test the force of the impact lay with their turrets knocked down on their sides, and the guns became a pile of twisted metal. Also, 10 Pobeda vehicles, specially brought here for testing, burned down.

A total of 5 RDS-1 bombs were manufactured. They were not transferred to the Air Force, but were stored in Arzamas-16. Today in Sarov, which was formerly Arzamas-16 (the laboratory is shown in the photo below), a mock-up of the bomb is on display. It is located in the local nuclear weapons museum.

"Fathers" of the atomic bomb

Only 12 Nobel laureates, future and present, participated in the creation of the American atomic bomb. In addition, they were helped by a group of scientists from Great Britain, which was sent to Los Alamos in 1943.

In Soviet times, it was believed that the USSR had completely independently solved the atomic problem. Everywhere it was said that Kurchatov, the creator of the atomic bomb in the USSR, was its “father.” Although rumors of secrets stolen from Americans occasionally leaked out. And only in 1990, 50 years later, Julius Khariton - one of the main participants in the events of that time - spoke about the large role of intelligence in the creation of the Soviet project. The technical and scientific results of the Americans were obtained by Klaus Fuchs, who arrived in the English group.

Therefore, Oppenheimer can be considered the “father” of bombs that were created on both sides of the ocean. We can say that he was the creator of the first atomic bomb in the USSR. Both projects, American and Russian, were based on his ideas. It is wrong to consider Kurchatov and Oppenheimer only as outstanding organizers. We have already talked about the Soviet scientist, as well as about the contribution made by the creator of the first atomic bomb in the USSR. Oppenheimer's main achievements were scientific. It was thanks to them that he turned out to be the head of the atomic project, just like the creator of the atomic bomb in the USSR.

Brief biography of Robert Oppenheimer

This scientist was born in 1904, April 22, in New York. graduated from Harvard University in 1925. The future creator of the first atomic bomb interned for a year at the Cavendish Laboratory with Rutherford. A year later, the scientist moved to the University of Göttingen. Here, under the guidance of M. Born, he defended his doctoral dissertation. In 1928 the scientist returned to the USA. From 1929 to 1947, the “father” of the American atomic bomb taught at two universities in this country - the California Institute of Technology and the University of California.

On July 16, 1945, the first bomb was successfully tested in the United States, and soon after, Oppenheimer, along with other members of the Provisional Committee created under President Truman, was forced to select targets for future atomic bombing. Many of his colleagues by that time actively opposed the use of dangerous nuclear weapons, which were not necessary, since Japan's surrender was a foregone conclusion. Oppenheimer did not join them.

Explaining his behavior further, he said that he relied on politicians and military men who were better familiar with the real situation. In October 1945, Oppenheimer ceased to be director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. He began work in Priston, heading a local research institute. His fame in the United States, as well as outside this country, reached its culmination. New York newspapers wrote about him more and more often. President Truman presented Oppenheimer with the Medal of Merit, the highest award in America.

In addition to scientific works, he wrote several “Open Mind”, “Science and Everyday Knowledge” and others.

This scientist died in 1967, on February 18. Oppenheimer was a heavy smoker from his youth. In 1965, he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. At the end of 1966, after an operation that did not bring results, he underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, the treatment had no effect, and the scientist died on February 18.

So, Kurchatov is the “father” of the atomic bomb in the USSR, Oppenheimer is in the USA. Now you know the names of those who were the first to work on the development of nuclear weapons. Having answered the question: “Who is called the father of the atomic bomb?”, we told only about the initial stages of the history of this dangerous weapon. It continues to this day. Moreover, today new developments are actively underway in this area. The “father” of the atomic bomb, the American Robert Oppenheimer, as well as the Russian scientist Igor Kurchatov, were only pioneers in this matter.

The development of Soviet nuclear weapons began with the mining of radium samples in the early 1930s. In 1939, Soviet physicists Yuliy Khariton and Yakov Zeldovich calculated the chain reaction of fission of the nuclei of heavy atoms. The following year, scientists from the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology submitted applications for the creation of an atomic bomb, as well as methods for producing uranium-235. For the first time, researchers have proposed using conventional explosives as a means to ignite the charge, which would create a critical mass and start a chain reaction.

However, the invention of the Kharkov physicists had its shortcomings, and therefore their application, having visited a variety of authorities, was ultimately rejected. The final word remained with the director of the Radium Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician Vitaly Khlopin: “... the application has no real basis. Besides this, there is essentially a lot of fantastic stuff in it... Even if it were possible to implement a chain reaction, the energy that will be released would be better used to power engines, for example, airplanes.”

The appeals of scientists on the eve of the Great Patriotic War to the People's Commissar of Defense Sergei Timoshenko were also unsuccessful. As a result, the invention project was buried on a shelf labeled “top secret.”

Vladimir Semyonovich Spinel
Wikimedia Commons

In 1990, journalists asked one of the authors of the bomb project, Vladimir Spinel: “If your proposals in 1939-1940 were appreciated at the government level and you were given support, when would the USSR be able to have atomic weapons?”

“I think that with the capabilities that Igor Kurchatov later had, we would have received it in 1945,” Spinel replied.

However, it was Kurchatov who managed to use in his developments successful American schemes for creating a plutonium bomb, obtained by Soviet intelligence.

Atomic race

With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, nuclear research was temporarily stopped. The main scientific institutes of the two capitals were evacuated to remote regions.

The head of strategic intelligence, Lavrentiy Beria, was aware of the developments of Western physicists in the field of nuclear weapons. For the first time, the Soviet leadership learned about the possibility of creating a superweapon from the “father” of the American atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, who visited the Soviet Union in September 1939. In the early 1940s, both politicians and scientists realized the reality of obtaining a nuclear bomb, and also that its appearance in the enemy's arsenal would jeopardize the security of other powers.

In 1941, the Soviet government received the first intelligence data from the USA and Great Britain, where active work on creating superweapons had already begun. The main informant was the Soviet “atomic spy” Klaus Fuchs, a physicist from Germany involved in work on the nuclear programs of the United States and Great Britain.

Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, physicist Pyotr Kapitsa
RIA News
V. Noskov

Academician Pyotr Kapitsa, speaking on October 12, 1941 at an anti-fascist meeting of scientists, said: “One of the important means of modern warfare is explosives. Science indicates the fundamental possibilities of increasing explosive force by 1.5-2 times... Theoretical calculations show that if a modern powerful bomb can, for example, destroy an entire block, then an atomic bomb of even a small size, if feasible, could easily destroy a large metropolitan city with several million people. My personal opinion is that the technical difficulties standing in the way of using intra-atomic energy are still very great. This matter is still doubtful, but it is very likely that there are great opportunities here.”

In September 1942, the Soviet government adopted a decree “On the organization of work on uranium.” In the spring of the following year, Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created to produce the first Soviet bomb. Finally, on February 11, 1943, Stalin signed the GKO decision on the program of work to create an atomic bomb. At first, the deputy chairman of the State Defense Committee, Vyacheslav Molotov, was entrusted with leading the important task. It was he who had to find a scientific director for the new laboratory.

Molotov himself, in an entry dated July 9, 1971, recalls his decision as follows: “We have been working on this topic since 1943. I was instructed to answer for them, to find a person who could create the atomic bomb. The security officers gave me a list of reliable physicists that I could rely on, and I chose. He called Kapitsa, the academician, to his place. He said that we are not ready for this and that the atomic bomb is not a weapon of this war, but a matter of the future. They asked Joffe - he also had a somewhat unclear attitude towards this. In short, I had the youngest and still unknown Kurchatov, he was not allowed to move. I called him, we talked, he made a good impression on me. But he said he still has a lot of uncertainty. Then I decided to give him our intelligence materials - the intelligence officers had done a very important job. Kurchatov sat in the Kremlin for several days, with me, over these materials.”

Over the next couple of weeks, Kurchatov thoroughly studied the data received by intelligence and drew up an expert opinion: “The materials are of enormous, invaluable importance for our state and science... The totality of information indicates the technical possibility of solving the entire uranium problem in a much shorter time than our scientists think who are not familiar with the progress of work on this problem abroad.”

In mid-March, Igor Kurchatov took over as scientific director of Laboratory No. 2. In April 1946, it was decided to create the KB-11 design bureau for the needs of this laboratory. The top-secret facility was located on the territory of the former Sarov Monastery, several tens of kilometers from Arzamas.

Igor Kurchatov (right) with a group of employees of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology
RIA News

KB-11 specialists were supposed to create an atomic bomb using plutonium as a working substance. At the same time, in the process of creating the first nuclear weapon in the USSR, domestic scientists relied on the designs of the US plutonium bomb, which was successfully tested in 1945. However, since the production of plutonium in the Soviet Union had not yet been carried out, physicists at the initial stage used uranium mined in Czechoslovakian mines, as well as in the territories of East Germany, Kazakhstan and Kolyma.

The first Soviet atomic bomb was named RDS-1 ("Special Jet Engine"). A group of specialists led by Kurchatov managed to load a sufficient amount of uranium into it and start a chain reaction in the reactor on June 10, 1948. The next step was to use plutonium.

“This is atomic lightning”

In the plutonium "Fat Man", dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, American scientists placed 10 kilograms of radioactive metal. The USSR managed to accumulate this amount of substance by June 1949. The head of the experiment, Kurchatov, informed the curator of the atomic project, Lavrenty Beria, about his readiness to test the RDS-1 on August 29.

A part of the Kazakh steppe with an area of about 20 kilometers was chosen as a testing ground. In its central part, specialists built a metal tower almost 40 meters high. It was on it that the RDS-1 was installed, the mass of which was 4.7 tons.

Soviet physicist Igor Golovin describes the situation at the test site a few minutes before the start of the tests: “Everything is fine. And suddenly, amid general silence, ten minutes before the “hour”, Beria’s voice is heard: “But nothing will work out for you, Igor Vasilyevich!” - “What are you talking about, Lavrenty Pavlovich! It will definitely work!” - Kurchatov exclaims and continues to watch, only his neck turned purple and his face became gloomily concentrated.

To a prominent scientist in the field of atomic law, Abram Ioyrysh, Kurchatov’s condition seems similar to a religious experience: “Kurchatov rushed out of the casemate, ran up the earthen rampart and shouting “She!” waved his arms widely, repeating: “She, she!” - and enlightenment spread across his face. The explosion column swirled and went into the stratosphere. A shock wave was approaching the command post, clearly visible on the grass. Kurchatov rushed towards her. Flerov rushed after him, grabbed him by the hand, forcibly dragged him into the casemate and closed the door.” The author of Kurchatov’s biography, Pyotr Astashenkov, gives his hero the following words: “This is atomic lightning. Now she is in our hands..."

Immediately after the explosion, the metal tower collapsed to the ground, and in its place only a crater remained. A powerful shock wave threw highway bridges a couple of tens of meters away, and nearby cars scattered across the open spaces almost 70 meters from the explosion site.

Nuclear mushroom of the RDS-1 ground explosion on August 29, 1949
Archive of RFNC-VNIIEF

One day, after another test, Kurchatov was asked: “Aren’t you worried about the moral side of this invention?”

“You asked a legitimate question,” he replied. “But I think it’s addressed incorrectly.” It is better to address it not to us, but to those who unleashed these forces... What is scary is not physics, but the adventurous game, not science, but its use by scoundrels... When science makes a breakthrough and opens up the possibility of actions affecting millions of people, the need arises rethink moral norms to bring these actions under control. But nothing like that happened. Quite the opposite. Just think about it - Churchill's speech in Fulton, military bases, bombers along our borders. The intentions are very clear. Science has been turned into a tool of blackmail and the main decisive factor in politics. Do you really think that morality will stop them? And if this is the case, and this is the case, you have to talk to them in their language. Yes, I know: the weapons we created are instruments of violence, but we were forced to create them in order to avoid more disgusting violence! — the answer of the scientist is described in the book “A-bomb” by Abram Ioyrysh and nuclear physicist Igor Morokhov.

A total of five RDS-1 bombs were manufactured. All of them were stored in the closed city of Arzamas-16. Now you can see a model of the bomb in the nuclear weapons museum in Sarov (formerly Arzamas-16).

Atomic weapons - a device that receives enormous explosive power from the reactions of ATOMIC FISSION and NUCLEAR fusion.

About atomic weapons

Atomic weapons are the most powerful weapons today, in service with five countries: Russia, the USA, Great Britain, France and China. There are also a number of states that are more or less successfully developing atomic weapons, but their research is either not completed, or these countries do not have the necessary means of delivering weapons to the target. India, Pakistan, North Korea, Iraq, Iran have developed nuclear weapons at different levels, Germany, Israel, South Africa and Japan theoretically have the necessary capabilities to create nuclear weapons in a relatively short time.

It is difficult to overestimate the role of nuclear weapons. On the one hand, this is a powerful means of deterrence, on the other hand, it is the most effective tool for strengthening peace and preventing military conflicts between the powers that possess these weapons. 52 years have passed since the first use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The world community has come close to realizing that a nuclear war will inevitably lead to a global environmental catastrophe, which will make the further existence of mankind impossible. Over the years, legal mechanisms have been created to defuse tensions and ease the confrontation between nuclear powers. For example, many agreements were signed to reduce the nuclear potential of powers, the Convention on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed, according to which possessing countries pledged not to transfer the technology for the production of these weapons to other countries, and countries that do not have nuclear weapons pledged not to take steps to development; Finally, quite recently, the superpowers agreed on a complete ban on nuclear testing. It is obvious that nuclear weapons are the most important instrument that has become the regulatory symbol of an entire era in the history of international relations and in the history of mankind.

Atomic weapons

ATOMIC WEAPON, a device that receives enormous explosive power from the reactions of ATOMIC FISSION and NUCLEAR fusion. The first nuclear weapons were used by the United States against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. These atomic bombs consisted of two stable doctritic masses of URANIUM and PLUTONIUM, which upon violent collision caused the CRITICAL MASS to be exceeded, thereby provoking an uncontrolled CHAIN REACTION of fission of atomic nuclei. Such explosions release enormous amounts of energy and harmful radiation: the explosive power can be equal to that of 200,000 tons of trinitrotoluene. The much more powerful hydrogen bomb (fusion bomb), first tested in 1952, consists of an atomic bomb that, when exploded, creates a temperature high enough to cause nuclear fusion in a nearby solid layer, usually lithium deterrite. The explosive power can be equal to that of several million tons (megatons) of trinitrotoluene. The area of destruction caused by such bombs reaches large sizes: a 15 megaton bomb will explode all burning substances within 20 km. The third type of nuclear weapon, the neutron bomb, is a small hydrogen bomb, also called a high radiation weapon. It causes a weak explosion, which, however, is accompanied by an intense emission of high-speed NEUTRONS. The weakness of the explosion means that buildings are not damaged much. Neutrons cause serious radiation sickness in people within a certain radius of the explosion site, and kill everyone affected within a week.

Initially, the explosion of an atomic bomb (A) forms a fireball (1) with a temperature of millions of degrees Celsius and emits radiation (?). After a few minutes (B), the ball increases in volume and creates a shock wave with high pressure (3). The fireball rises (C), sucking up dust and debris, and forms a mushroom cloud (D), As the fireball increases in volume, it creates a powerful convection current (4), releasing hot radiation (5) and forming a cloud (6), When it explodes 15 megaton bomb destruction from the blast wave is complete (7) in a radius of 8 km, severe (8) in a radius of 15 km and noticeable (I) in a radius of 30 km Even at a distance of 20 km (10) all flammable substances explode, within two days after the bomb explodes, fallout continues to fall 300 km from the explosion with a radioactive dose of 300 roentgens. The accompanying photo shows how the explosion of a large nuclear weapon on the ground creates a huge mushroom cloud of radioactive dust and debris that can reach a height of several kilometers. Dangerous dust in the air is then freely transported by prevailing winds in any direction. Devastation covers a vast area.

Modern atomic bombs and shells

Radius of action

Depending on the power of the atomic charge, atomic bombs and shells are divided into calibers: small, medium and large . To obtain energy equal to the energy of the explosion of a small-caliber atomic bomb, you need to explode several thousand tons of TNT. The TNT equivalent of a medium-caliber atomic bomb is tens of thousands, and that of a large-caliber bomb is hundreds of thousands of tons of TNT. Thermonuclear (hydrogen) weapons can have even greater power; their TNT equivalent can reach millions and even tens of millions of tons. Atomic bombs, the TNT equivalent of which is 1-50 thousand tons, belong to the class of tactical atomic bombs and are intended to solve operational-tactical problems. Tactical weapons also include: artillery shells with an atomic charge with a power of 10–15 thousand tons and atomic charges (with a power of about 5–20 thousand tons) for anti-aircraft guided missiles and shells used to arm fighter aircraft. Atomic and hydrogen bombs with a yield of over 50 thousand tons are classified as strategic weapons.

It should be noted that such a classification of atomic weapons is only conditional, since in reality the consequences of the use of tactical atomic weapons can be no less than those experienced by the population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and even greater. It is now obvious that the explosion of just one hydrogen bomb is capable of causing such severe consequences over vast territories that tens of thousands of shells and bombs used in past world wars did not carry with them. And a few hydrogen bombs are quite enough to turn vast territories into desert zones.

Nuclear weapons are divided into 2 main types: atomic and hydrogen (thermonuclear). In atomic weapons, energy is released due to the fission reaction of the nuclei of atoms of the heavy elements uranium or plutonium. In a hydrogen weapon, energy is released by the formation (or fusion) of helium atom nuclei from hydrogen atoms.

Thermonuclear weapons

Modern thermonuclear weapons are strategic weapons that can be used by aviation to destroy the most important industrial and military facilities, and large cities as centers of civilization behind enemy lines. The most well-known type of thermonuclear weapon is thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs, which can be delivered to the target by aircraft. Warheads of missiles for various purposes, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, can also be filled with thermonuclear charges. For the first time, such a missile was tested in the USSR back in 1957. Currently, the Strategic Missile Forces are armed with several types of missiles based on mobile launchers, silo launchers, and submarines.

Atomic bomb

The operation of thermonuclear weapons is based on the use of a thermonuclear reaction with hydrogen or its compounds. In these reactions, which occur at ultra-high temperatures and pressures, energy is released by the formation of helium nuclei from hydrogen nuclei, or from hydrogen and lithium nuclei. To form helium, mainly heavy hydrogen is used - deuterium, the nuclei of which have an unusual structure - one proton and one neutron. When deuterium is heated to temperatures of several tens of millions of degrees, its atom loses its electron shells during the first collisions with other atoms. As a result, the medium turns out to consist only of protons and electrons moving independently of them. The speed of thermal motion of particles reaches such values that deuterium nuclei can come closer and, thanks to the action of powerful nuclear forces, combine with each other, forming helium nuclei. The result of this process is the release of energy.

The basic diagram of a hydrogen bomb is as follows. Deuterium and tritium in a liquid state are placed in a tank with a heat-proof shell, which serves to preserve deuterium and tritium in a very cool state for a long time (to maintain it from a liquid state of aggregation). The heat-proof shell may contain 3 layers consisting of a hard alloy, solid carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen. An atomic charge is placed near a reservoir of hydrogen isotopes. When an atomic charge is detonated, hydrogen isotopes are heated to high temperatures, creating conditions for a thermonuclear reaction to occur and a hydrogen bomb to explode. However, in the process of creating hydrogen bombs, it was found that it was impractical to use hydrogen isotopes, since in this case the bomb would acquire too much weight (more than 60 tons), which is why it was impossible to even think about using such charges on strategic bombers, and especially in ballistic missiles of any range. The second problem faced by the developers of the hydrogen bomb was the radioactivity of tritium, which made its long-term storage impossible.

Study 2 addressed the above issues. Liquid isotopes of hydrogen were replaced by the solid chemical compound of deuterium with lithium-6. This made it possible to significantly reduce the size and weight of the hydrogen bomb. In addition, lithium hydride was used instead of tritium, which made it possible to place thermonuclear charges on fighter bombers and ballistic missiles.

The creation of the hydrogen bomb did not mark the end of the development of thermonuclear weapons, more and more new samples appeared, the hydrogen-uranium bomb was created, as well as some of its varieties - heavy-duty and, conversely, small-caliber bombs. The last stage in the improvement of thermonuclear weapons was the creation of the so-called “clean” hydrogen bomb.

H-bomb

The first developments of this modification of the thermonuclear bomb appeared back in 1957, in the wake of US propaganda statements about the creation of some kind of “humane” thermonuclear weapon that would not cause as much harm to future generations as a conventional thermonuclear bomb. There was some truth in the claims to “humaneness.” Although the destructive power of the bomb was not less, at the same time it could be detonated so that strontium-90, which in a normal hydrogen explosion poisons the earth's atmosphere for a long time, would not spread. Everything within the range of such a bomb will be destroyed, but the danger to living organisms that are far from the explosion, as well as to future generations, will be reduced. However, these statements were refuted by scientists, who recalled that explosions of atomic or hydrogen bombs produce a large amount of radioactive dust, which rises with a powerful air flow to a height of 30 km, and then gradually settles to the ground over a large area, contaminating it. Research conducted by scientists shows that it will take 4 to 7 years for half of this dust to fall to the ground.

Video

Third Reich Victoria Viktorovna Bulavina

Who invented the nuclear bomb?

The Nazi Party always recognized the great 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 Nazis coming to power, many German physicists who were Jews left the Third Reich. Some of them emigrated to the United States, bringing with them disturbing news: Germany may be working on an atomic bomb. This news prompted the Pentagon to take steps to develop its own atomic program, which was called the Manhattan Project...

An interesting, but more than dubious version of the “secret weapon of the Third Reich” was proposed by Hans Ulrich von Kranz. His book “The Secret Weapons of the Third Reich” puts forward the version 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 the uranium nucleus in 1938, essentially giving rise to work on the creation of nuclear weapons. In 1938, atomic developments were not classified, but in virtually no country except Germany, they were not given due attention. They didn't see much point. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain argued: “This abstract matter has nothing to do with state needs.” Professor Hahn assessed the state of nuclear research in the United States of America as follows: “If we talk about a country in which the least attention is paid to nuclear fission processes, then we should undoubtedly name the United States. Of course, I'm not considering Brazil or the Vatican right now. However, among developed countries, even Italy and communist Russia are significantly 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 provide immediate profit. Hahn's verdict was unequivocal: "I can say with confidence that within the next decade the North Americans will not be able to do anything significant for the development of atomic physics." This statement served as the basis for constructing the von Kranz hypothesis. Let's consider his version.

At the same time, the Alsos group was created, whose activities boiled down to “headhunting” and searching for the secrets of German atomic research. A logical question arises here: why should Americans look for other people’s secrets if their own project is in full swing? Why did they rely so much 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 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 test an atomic bomb, allegedly for the first time in the world. And at the beginning of August two bombs are dropped on Japanese cities. Hans Ulrich von Kranz noticed these coincidences.

The researcher also has doubts because only a month passed between the testing and combat use of the new superweapon, since manufacturing a nuclear bomb is impossible in such a short time! After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the next US bombs did not enter service until 1947, 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 dropped three bombs - and all were successful. The next tests - of 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 another six months later, and it is unknown to what extent the atomic bombs that appeared in American army warehouses corresponded to their terrible purpose. This led the researcher to the idea that “the first three atomic bombs - the same ones from 1945 - were not built by the Americans on their own, but received 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 David Irving’s book.” According to the researcher, the atomic project of the Third Reich was controlled by the Ahnenerbe, which was under the personal subordination of SS leader Heinrich Himmler. According to Hans Ulrich von Kranz, “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 among the leadership of the Third Reich. German propaganda had previously mentioned a “miracle weapon” of gigantic destructive power that the Wehrmacht would soon receive, but now these motives sounded even louder. They are usually considered a bluff, but can we definitely draw such a conclusion? As a rule, Nazi propaganda did not bluff, it only embellished reality. It has not yet been possible to convict her of a major lie on the issue of “miracle weapons.” Let us remember that propaganda promised jet fighters - the fastest in the world. And already at the end of 1944, hundreds of Messerschmitt-262s patrolled the airspace of the Reich. Propaganda promised a rain of missiles for the enemies, and since the autumn of that year, dozens of V-cruise missiles rained down on English cities every day. So why on earth should 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 Kranz gives this answer - there was no carrier, and when the Junkers-390 transport plane appeared, betrayal awaited the Reich, and besides, these bombs could no longer decide the outcome of the war...

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

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

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One of the first practical steps of the Special Committee and the PSU was the decision to create a production base for the nuclear weapons complex. In 1946, a number of important decisions were made in connection with these plans. One of them concerned the creation of a specialized design bureau for the development of nuclear weapons at Laboratory No. 2.

On April 9, 1946, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted closed resolution No. 806-327 on the creation of KB-11. This was the name of the organization designed to create a “product,” that is, an atomic bomb. P.M. was appointed head of KB-11. Zernov, chief designer - Yu.B. Khariton.

By the time the resolution was adopted, the issue of creating KB-11 had been worked out in detail. Its location has already been determined, taking into account the specifics of future work. On the one hand, the particularly high degree of secrecy of the planned work and the need to conduct explosive experiments predetermined the choice of a sparsely populated area hidden from visual observations. On the other hand, one should not move too far away from enterprises and organizations co-executing the nuclear project, a significant part of which were located in the central regions of the country. An important factor was the presence of a production base and transport arteries on the territory of the future design bureau.

KB-11 was tasked with creating two versions of atomic bombs - a plutonium bomb using spherical compression and a uranium bomb with cannon rapprochement. Upon completion of development, it was planned to conduct state tests of the charges at a special testing ground. The ground explosion of the plutonium bomb charge was supposed to be carried out before January 1, 1948, and the uranium bomb – before June 1, 1948.

The official starting point for the beginning of the development of RDS-1 should be the date of issuance of the “Tactical and Technical Specifications for an Atomic Bomb” (TTZ), signed by Chief Designer Yu.B. Khariton on July 1, 1946 and sent to the head of the First Main Directorate under the USSR Council of Ministers B.L. Vannikov. The terms of reference consisted of 9 points and stipulated the type of nuclear fuel, the method of transferring it through a critical state, the overall mass characteristics of the atomic bomb, the timing of the operation of electric detonators, the requirements for a high-altitude fuse and the self-destruction of the product in the event of failure of the equipment that ensures the operation of this fuse.

In accordance with the TTZ, the development of two versions of atomic bombs was envisaged - an implosion type with plutonium and a uranium type with cannon approach. The length of the bomb should not exceed 5 meters, diameter - 1.5 meters, and weight - 5 tons.

At the same time, it was planned to build a test site, an airfield, a pilot plant, as well as organize a medical service, create a library, etc.

The creation of an atomic bomb required the solution of an exceptionally wide range of physical and technical issues related to an extensive program of computational and theoretical research, design and experimental work. First of all, it was necessary to conduct research on the physicochemical properties of fissile materials, develop and test methods for their casting and mechanical processing. It was necessary to create radiochemical methods for extracting various fission products, organize the production of polonium, and develop technology for the manufacture of neutron sources. Methods for determining the critical mass, the development of a theory of efficiency or efficiency, as well as the theory of a nuclear explosion in general, and much more were required.

The given brief enumeration of the directions in which the work unfolded does not exhaust the entire content of the activities that required implementation for the successful completion of the atomic project.

By the February 1948 resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which adjusted the deadlines for completing the main task of the atomic project, Yu.B. Khariton and P.M. Zernov was instructed to ensure the production and presentation of one set of the RDS-1 atomic bomb with full equipment by March 1, 1949 for state testing.

In order to complete the task in a timely manner, the resolution stipulated the scope and timing of the completion of research work and the production of material for flight design tests, as well as the resolution of certain organizational and personnel issues.

The following research works stood out:

completion of testing of a spherical explosive charge by May 1948;
study until July of the same year of the problem of metal compression during the explosion of an explosive charge;
development of a neutron fuse design by January 1949;
determination of critical mass and assembly of plutonium and uranium charges for RDS-1 and RDS-2. Ensuring the assembly of the plutonium charge for RDS-1 before February 1, 1949.

The development of the design of the atomic charge itself - “RD-1” - (later, in the second half of 1946, called “RDS-1”) was started at NII-6 at the end of 1945. Development began with a charge model on a scale of 1/5 full-scale. The work was carried out without technical specifications, but solely according to the oral instructions of Yu.B. Khariton. The first drawings were made by N.A. Terletsky, who worked at NII-6 in a separate room, where only Yu.B. was allowed entry. Khariton and E.M. Adaskin - deputy. director of NII-6, who carried out general coordination of work with other groups that began developing high-speed detonators to ensure synchronous detonation of a group of electric detonators and work on the electrical actuation system. A separate group began to select explosives and technologies for manufacturing unusual shapes of parts from aircraft.

At the beginning of 1946, the model was developed, and by the summer it was produced in 2 copies. The model was tested at the NII-6 test site in Sofrino.

By the end of 1946, the development of documentation for a full-scale charge began, the development of which began to be carried out already in KB-11, where at the beginning of 1947, in Sarov, the initial minimum conditions were created for the manufacture of blocks and carrying out blasting operations (parts from explosives, before launching into operation of plant No. 2 in KB-11, supplied from NII-6).

If at the beginning of the development of atomic charges, domestic physicists were to some extent ready for the topic of creating an atomic bomb (based on their previous work), then for the designers this topic was completely new. They did not know the physical principles of the charge, the new materials used in the design, their physical and mechanical properties, the admissibility of joint storage, etc.

The large dimensions of explosive parts and their complex geometric shapes, tight tolerances required the solution of many technological problems. Thus, specialized enterprises in the country did not undertake the production of large-sized charge housings, and pilot plant No. 1 (KB-11) had to produce a sample housing, after which these housings began to be manufactured at the Kirov plant in Leningrad. Large-sized parts from explosives were also initially manufactured in KB-11.

During the initial organization of the development of charge components, when institutes and enterprises of various ministries were involved in the work, a problem arose due to the fact that the documentation was developed according to various departmental guidelines (instructions, technical specifications, standards, construction of drawing symbols, etc. .). This situation greatly hampered production due to large differences in the requirements for the manufactured charge elements. The situation was corrected in 1948-1949. with the appointment of N.L. as deputy chief designer and head of the research and development sector of KB-11. Dukhova. He brought with him from OKB-700 (from Chelyabinsk) the “Drawing Management System” adopted there and organized the processing of previously developed documentation, bringing it to a unified system. The new system best suited the conditions of our specific development, which provides for multivariate design development (due to the novelty of the designs).

As for the radio and electrical charge elements (“RDS-1”), they are entirely domestically developed. Moreover, they were developed with duplication of the most critical elements (to ensure the necessary reliability) and possible miniaturization.

Strict requirements for the reliability of charge operation, the safety of working with the charge, and the preservation of the quality of the charge during the warranty period of its shelf life determined the thorough development of the design.

Information supplied by intelligence about the contours of the bombs and their sizes was sparse and often contradictory. So, about the caliber of a uranium bomb, i.e. “Baby”, it was reported that it was either 3" (inches) or 51/2" (in fact, the caliber turned out to be noticeably larger). About the plutonium bomb, i.e. “Fat man” - that it looks “like a pear-shaped body”, and about the diameter - it is either 1.27 m or 1.5 m. So the bomb developers had to start everything almost from scratch.

TsAGI was involved in developing the body contours of the KB-11 aerial bomb. Blowing through his wind tunnels an unprecedented number of contour options (more than 100, under the leadership of Academician S.A. Khristianovich) began to bring success.

The need to use a complex automation system is another fundamental difference from the development of conventional aerial bombs. The automation system consisted of safety stages and long-range cocking sensors; starting, “critical” and contact sensors; energy sources (batteries) and an initiation system (including a set of detonator capsules), ensuring synchronous operation of the latter, with different timings in the microsecond range.

Thus, at the first stage of the project:

the carrier aircraft was determined: TU-4 (by order of I.V. Stalin, the American “flying fortress” B-29 was reproduced);
Several design options for aerial bombs have been developed; their flight tests were carried out and contours and structures that meet the requirements of atomic weapons were selected;
an automatic system for the bomb and the aircraft instrument panel was developed, which guaranteed the safety of the suspension, flight and battery release, the implementation of an air explosion at a given altitude and, at the same time, the safety of the aircraft after an atomic explosion.

Structurally, the first atomic bomb consisted of the following fundamental components:

nuclear charge;
explosive device and automatic charge detonation system with safety systems;
the ballistic body of the aerial bomb, which housed the nuclear charge and automatic detonation.

The atomic charge of the RDS-1 bomb was a multilayer structure in which the active substance, plutonium, was transferred to a supercritical state by compressing it through a converging spherical detonation wave in the explosive.

Great successes have been achieved not only by technologists, but also by metallurgists and radiochemists. Thanks to their efforts, already the first plutonium parts contained small amounts of impurities and highly active isotopes. The last point was especially significant, since short-lived isotopes, being the main source of neutrons, could have a negative impact on the likelihood of a premature explosion.

A neutron fuse (NF) was installed in the cavity of the plutonium core in a composite shell of natural uranium. During 1947-1948, about 20 different proposals were considered regarding the principles of operation, design and improvement of the NZ.

One of the most complex components of the first atomic bomb RDS-1 was an explosive charge made from an alloy of TNT and hexogen.

The choice of the outer radius of the explosive was determined, on the one hand, by the need to obtain satisfactory energy release, and, on the other, by the permissible external dimensions of the product and technological production capabilities.

The first atomic bomb was developed in relation to its suspension in the TU-4 aircraft, the bomb bay of which provided the ability to accommodate a product with a diameter of up to 1500 mm. Based on this dimension, the midsection of the ballistic body of the RDS-1 bomb was determined. The explosive charge was structurally a hollow ball and consisted of two layers.

The inner layer was formed from two hemispherical bases made from a domestic alloy of TNT and hexogen.

The outer layer of the RDS-1 explosive charge was assembled from individual elements. This layer, intended to form a spherical converging detonation wave at the base of the explosive and called the focusing system, was one of the main functional units of the charge, which largely determined its tactical and technical performance.

Already at the very initial stage of the development of nuclear weapons, it became obvious that the study of the processes occurring in the charge should follow the computational and experimental path, which made it possible to correct the theoretical analysis based on the results of experiments and experimental data on the gas-dynamic characteristics of nuclear charges.

It is worth especially noting that the chief designer of RDS-1, Yu.B. Khariton and the main developers, theoretical physicists, knew about the high probability of a 2.5% incomplete explosion (a reduction in explosion power of ~ 10%) and about the consequences that awaited them if it were realized. They knew and... worked.

The location for the test site was chosen near the city of Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, in a waterless steppe with rare abandoned and dry wells, salt lakes, and partially covered with low mountains. The site intended for the construction of the test complex was a plain with a diameter of approximately 20 km, surrounded on the south, west and north by low mountains.

Construction of the test site began in 1947 and was completed by July 1949. In just two years, a colossal volume of work was completed, with excellent quality and at a high technical level. All materials were delivered to construction sites by road along dirt roads 100-200 km away. Traffic was around the clock both in winter and summer.

The experimental field contained numerous structures with measuring equipment, military, civil and industrial facilities to study the effects of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. In the center of the experimental field there was a metal tower 37.5 m high for the installation of RDS-1.

The experimental field was divided into 14 test sectors: two fortification sectors; civil engineering sector; physical sector; military sectors for the placement of samples of military equipment; biological sector. Instrument buildings were built along radii in the north-eastern and south-eastern directions at various distances from the center to accommodate photochronographic, film and oscillographic equipment recording the processes of a nuclear explosion.

At a distance of 1000 m from the center, an underground building was built for equipment that recorded light, neutron and gamma fluxes of a nuclear explosion. Optical and oscillographic equipment was controlled via cables from a software machine.

To study the impact of a nuclear explosion, sections of metro tunnels, fragments of airfield runways were built on the experimental field, and samples of aircraft, tanks, artillery rocket launchers, and ship superstructures of various types were placed. To transport this military equipment, 90 railway cars were needed.

The government commission for testing RDS-1, chaired by M.G. Pervukhina began work on July 27, 1949. On August 5, the commission concluded that the test site was completely ready and proposed to carry out a detailed testing of the assembly and detonation operations within 15 days. The test time was determined - the last days of August.

I.V. was appointed scientific supervisor of the trial. Kurchatov, from the Ministry of Defense, the preparation of the test site for testing was led by Major General V.A. Bolyatko, the scientific management of the test site was carried out by M.A. Sadovsky.

In the period from August 10 to August 26, 10 rehearsals were held to control the test field and the charge detonation equipment, as well as three training exercises with the launch of all equipment and 4 detonations of full-scale explosives with an aluminum ball from automatic detonation.

On August 21, a plutonium charge and four neutron fuses were delivered to the test site by a special train, one of which was to be used to detonate a warhead.

Scientific supervisor of the experiment I.V. Kurchatov, in accordance with the instructions of L.P. Beria, gave the order to test the RDS-1 on August 29 at 8 a.m. local time.

On the night of August 29, 1949, the final charge assembly was carried out. The assembly of the central part with the installation of parts made of plutonium and a neutron fuse was carried out by a group consisting of N.L. Dukhova, N.A. Terletsky, D.A. Fishman and V.A. Davidenko (installation “NZ”). The final installation of the charge was completed by 3 a.m. on August 29 under the leadership of A.Ya. Malsky and V.I. Alferova. Members of the special committee L.P. Beria, M.G. Pervukhin and V.A. The Makhnev controlled the progress of the final operations.

On the day of the test, the majority of the top test management gathered at the test site command post, located 10 km from the center of the test field: L.P. Beria, M.G. Pervukhin, I.V. Kurchatov, Yu.B. Khariton, K.I. Shchelkin, KB-11 employees who participated in the final installation of the charge on the tower.

By 6 o'clock in the morning the charge was lifted onto the test tower, it was equipped with fuses and connected to the blasting circuit.

Due to worsening weather, all work required by the approved regulations began to be carried out with a one-hour shift earlier (from 7.00 instead of 8.00 as planned).

At 6:35 a.m., the operators turned on the power to the automation system, and at 6:48 a.m. the test field machine was turned on.

At exactly 7 a.m. on August 29, 1949, the entire area was illuminated with a dazzling light, which signaled that the USSR had successfully completed the development and testing of the first atomic bomb.

According to the recollections of test participant D.A. Fishman, the events in the control room unfolded as follows:

In the last seconds before the explosion, the doors located on the back side of the command post building (from the center of the field) were slightly opened so that the moment of the explosion could be observed by a burst of lighting in the area. At the zero moments, everyone saw a very bright illumination of the earth and clouds. The brightness was several times higher than that of the sun. It was clear that the explosion was successful!

Everyone ran out of the room and ran up onto the parapet protecting the command post from the direct impact of the explosion. Before them opened a picture, enchanting in its scale, of the formation of a huge cloud of dust and smoke, in the center of which a flame was blazing!

But Malsky’s words were heard from the loudspeaker: “Everyone immediately enter the command post building! A shock wave is approaching” (according to calculations, it should have arrived at the command post in 30 seconds).

Upon entering the room, L.P. Beria warmly congratulated everyone on the successful test, and I.V. Kurchatova and Yu.B. He kissed Khariton. But inside, apparently, he still had some doubts about the completeness of the explosion, since he did not immediately call and report to I.V. Stalin about the successful test, and went to the second observation point, where nuclear physicist M.G. Meshcheryakov, who in 1946 attended demonstration tests of US atomic charges on Bikini Atoll.

At the second observation point, Beria also warmly congratulated M.G. Meshcheryakova, Ya.B. Zeldovich, N.L. Dukhov and other comrades. After this, he meticulously questioned Meshcheryakov about the external effect of the American explosions. Meshcheryakov assured that our explosion was superior in appearance to the American one.

Having received confirmation from an eyewitness, Beria went to the test site headquarters in order to inform Stalin about the successful test.

Stalin, having learned about the successful test, immediately called B.L. Vannikova (who was at home and could not attend the test due to illness) and congratulated him on the successful test.

According to the memoirs of Boris Lvovich, in response to congratulations, he began to say that this was the merit of the party and the government... Then Stalin interrupted him, saying: “Come on, Comrade Vannikov, these formalities. You better think about how we can start producing these products in the shortest possible time.”

20 minutes after the explosion, two tanks equipped with lead protection were sent to the center of the field to conduct radiation reconnaissance and inspect the center of the field.

Reconnaissance determined that all structures in the center of the field had been demolished. A crater formed at the site of the tower, the soil in the center of the field melted and a continuous crust of slag formed. Civil buildings and industrial structures were completely or partially destroyed. Eyewitnesses were presented with a terrible picture of the great massacre.

The energy release of the first Soviet atomic bomb was 22 kilotons of TNT equivalent.