The hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb became the cornerstone of the arms race between the USA and the USSR. The two superpowers argued for several years about who would become the first owner of a new type of destructive weapon.
Thermonuclear weapon project
At first cold war trial hydrogen bomb was the most important argument for the leadership of the USSR in the fight against the United States. Moscow wanted to achieve nuclear parity with Washington and invested huge amounts of money in the arms race. However, work on creating a hydrogen bomb began not thanks to generous funding, but because of reports from secret agents in America. In 1945, the Kremlin learned that the United States was preparing to create a new weapon. It was a superbomb, the project of which was called Super.
The source of valuable information was Klaus Fuchs, an employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the USA. He provided the Soviet Union with specific information regarding the secret American development of a superbomb. By 1950, the Super project was thrown into the trash, as it became clear to Western scientists that such a new weapon scheme could not be implemented. The director of this program was Edward Teller.
In 1946, Klaus Fuchs and John developed the ideas of the Super project and patented their own system. The principle of radioactive implosion was fundamentally new in it. In the USSR, this scheme began to be considered a little later - in 1948. In general, we can say that at the starting stage it was completely based on American information received by intelligence. But by continuing research based on these materials, Soviet scientists were noticeably ahead of their Western colleagues, which allowed the USSR to obtain first the first, and then the most powerful thermonuclear bomb.
On December 17, 1945, at a meeting of a special committee created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, nuclear physicists Yakov Zeldovich, Isaac Pomeranchuk and Julius Hartion made a report “Use of nuclear energy of light elements.” This paper examined the possibility of using a deuterium bomb. This speech marked the beginning of the Soviet nuclear program.
In 1946, theoretical research was carried out at the Institute of Chemical Physics. The first results of this work were discussed at one of the meetings of the Scientific and Technical Council in the First Main Directorate. Two years later, Lavrentiy Beria instructed Kurchatov and Khariton to analyze materials about the von Neumann system that were delivered to Soviet Union thanks to secret agents in the West. Data from these documents gave additional impetus to the research that led to the birth of the RDS-6 project.
"Evie Mike" and "Castle Bravo"
On November 1, 1952, the Americans tested the world's first thermonuclear device. It was not yet a bomb, but already its most important component. The explosion occurred on Enivotek Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean. and Stanislav Ulam (each of them actually the creator of the hydrogen bomb) had recently developed a two-stage design, which the Americans tested. The device could not be used as a weapon, as it was produced using deuterium. In addition, it was distinguished by its enormous weight and dimensions. Such a projectile simply could not be dropped from an airplane.
The first hydrogen bomb was tested by Soviet scientists. After the United States learned about the successful use of the RDS-6s, it became clear that it was necessary to close the gap with the Russians in the arms race as quickly as possible. The American test took place on March 1, 1954. The Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was chosen as the test site. The Pacific archipelagos were not chosen by chance. There was almost no population here (and the few people who lived on the nearby islands were evicted on the eve of the experiment).
The Americans' most destructive hydrogen bomb explosion became known as Castle Bravo. The charge power turned out to be 2.5 times higher than expected. The explosion led to radiation contamination of a large area (many islands and Pacific Ocean), which led to a scandal and a revision of the nuclear program.
Development of RDS-6s
The project of the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb was called RDS-6s. The plan was written by the outstanding physicist Andrei Sakharov. In 1950, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to concentrate work on the creation of new weapons in KB-11. According to this decision, a group of scientists led by Igor Tamm went to the closed Arzamas-16.
The Semipalatinsk test site was prepared especially for this grandiose project. Before the hydrogen bomb test began, numerous measuring, filming and recording instruments were installed there. In addition, on behalf of scientists, almost two thousand indicators appeared there. The area affected by the hydrogen bomb test included 190 structures.
The Semipalatinsk experiment was unique not only because of the new type of weapon. Unique intakes designed for chemical and radioactive samples were used. They could only be opened by a powerful shock wave. Recording and filming instruments were installed in specially prepared fortified structures on the surface and in underground bunkers.
Alarm Clock
Back in 1946, Edward Teller, who worked in the USA, developed a prototype of the RDS-6s. It's called Alarm Clock. The project for this device was originally proposed as an alternative to the Super. In April 1947, a series of experiments began at the Los Alamos laboratory designed to study the nature of thermonuclear principles.
Scientists expected the greatest energy release from Alarm Clock. In the fall, Teller decided to use lithium deuteride as fuel for the device. The researchers had not yet used this substance, but expected that it would improve efficiency. Interestingly, Teller already noted in his memos the dependence of the nuclear program on further development computers. This technique was necessary for scientists to make more accurate and complex calculations.
Alarm Clock and RDS-6s had much in common, but they also differed in many ways. The American version was not as practical as the Soviet one due to its size. It inherited its large size from the Super project. In the end, the Americans had to abandon this development. The last studies took place in 1954, after which it became clear that the project was unprofitable.
Explosion of the first thermonuclear bomb
The first test of a hydrogen bomb in human history occurred on August 12, 1953. In the morning, a bright flash appeared on the horizon, which was blinding even through protective glasses. The RDS-6s explosion turned out to be 20 times more powerful than an atomic bomb. The experiment was considered successful. Scientists were able to achieve an important technological breakthrough. For the first time, lithium hydride was used as a fuel. Within a radius of 4 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion, the wave destroyed all buildings.
Subsequent tests of the hydrogen bomb in the USSR were based on the experience gained using the RDS-6s. This destructive weapon was not only the most powerful. An important advantage of the bomb was its compactness. The projectile was placed in a Tu-16 bomber. Success allowed Soviet scientists to get ahead of the Americans. In the United States at that time there was a thermonuclear device the size of a house. It was not transportable.
When Moscow announced that the USSR's hydrogen bomb was ready, Washington disputed this information. The main argument of the Americans was the fact that the thermonuclear bomb should be made according to the Teller-Ulam scheme. It was based on the principle of radiation implosion. This project will be implemented in the USSR two years later, in 1955.
Physicist Andrei Sakharov made the greatest contribution to the creation of RDS-6s. The hydrogen bomb was his brainchild - it was he who proposed the revolutionary technical solutions that made it possible to successfully complete tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. Young Sakharov immediately became an academician at the USSR Academy of Sciences, a Hero of Socialist Labor and a laureate of awards and medals. Other scientists also received awards: Yuli Khariton, Kirill Shchelkin, Yakov Zeldovich, Nikolai Dukhov, etc. In 1953, the test of a hydrogen bomb showed that Soviet science could to overcome what until recently seemed fiction and fantasy. Therefore, immediately after the successful explosion of the RDS-6s, the development of even more powerful projectiles began.
RDS-37
On November 20, 1955, the next tests of a hydrogen bomb took place in the USSR. This time it was two-stage and corresponded to the Teller-Ulam scheme. The RDS-37 bomb was about to be dropped from an airplane. However, when it took off, it became clear that the tests would have to be carried out in an emergency situation. Contrary to weather forecasters, the weather deteriorated noticeably, causing dense clouds to cover the training ground.
For the first time, experts were forced to land a plane with a thermonuclear bomb on board. For some time there was a discussion at the Central Command Post about what to do next. A proposal to drop a bomb in the mountains nearby was considered, but this option was rejected as too risky. Meanwhile, the plane continued to circle near the test site, running out of fuel.
Zeldovich and Sakharov received the final word. A hydrogen bomb that exploded outside of the test site would have led to disaster. The scientists understood the full extent of the risk and their own responsibility, and yet they gave written confirmation that the plane would be safe to land. Finally, the commander of the Tu-16 crew, Fyodor Golovashko, received the command to land. The landing was very smooth. The pilots showed all their skills and did not panic in a critical situation. The maneuver was perfect. The Central Command Post breathed a sigh of relief.
The creator of the hydrogen bomb, Sakharov, and his team survived the tests. The second attempt was scheduled for November 22. On this day everything went without any emergency situations. The bomb was dropped from a height of 12 kilometers. While the shell was falling, the plane managed to move to a safe distance from the epicenter of the explosion. A few minutes later, the nuclear mushroom reached a height of 14 kilometers, and its diameter was 30 kilometers.
The explosion was not without tragic incidents. The shock wave shattered glass at a distance of 200 kilometers, causing several injuries. A girl who lived in a neighboring village also died when the ceiling collapsed on her. Another victim was a soldier who was in a special holding area. The soldier fell asleep in the dugout and died of suffocation before his comrades could pull him out.
Development of the Tsar Bomba
In 1954, the country's best nuclear physicists, under the leadership, began developing the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in the history of mankind. Andrei Sakharov, Viktor Adamsky, Yuri Babaev, Yuri Smirnov, Yuri Trutnev, etc. also took part in this project. Due to its power and size, the bomb became known as the “Tsar Bomba”. Project participants later recalled that this phrase appeared after Khrushchev’s famous statement about “Kuzka’s mother” at the UN. Officially, the project was called AN602.
Over seven years of development, the bomb went through several reincarnations. At first, scientists planned to use components from uranium and the Jekyll-Hyde reaction, but later this idea had to be abandoned due to the danger of radioactive contamination.
Test on Novaya Zemlya
For some time, the Tsar Bomba project was frozen, as Khrushchev was going to the United States, and there was a short pause in the Cold War. In 1961, the conflict between the countries flared up again and in Moscow they again remembered thermonuclear weapons. Khrushchev announced the upcoming tests in October 1961 during the XXII Congress of the CPSU.
On the 30th, a Tu-95B with a bomb on board took off from Olenya and headed for Novaya Zemlya. The plane took two hours to reach its destination. Another Soviet hydrogen bomb was dropped at an altitude of 10.5 thousand meters above the Sukhoi Nos nuclear test site. The shell exploded while still in the air. A fireball appeared, which reached a diameter of three kilometers and almost touched the ground. According to scientists' calculations, the seismic wave from the explosion crossed the planet three times. The impact was felt a thousand kilometers away, and everything living at a distance of a hundred kilometers could receive third-degree burns (this did not happen, since the area was uninhabited).
At that time, the most powerful US thermonuclear bomb was four times less powerful than the Tsar Bomba. The Soviet leadership was pleased with the result of the experiment. Moscow got what it wanted from the next hydrogen bomb. The test demonstrated that the USSR had weapons much more powerful than the United States. Subsequently, the destructive record of the “Tsar Bomba” was never broken. The most powerful hydrogen bomb explosion was a major milestone in the history of science and the Cold War.
Thermonuclear weapons of other countries
British development of the hydrogen bomb began in 1954. The project manager was William Penney, who had previously been a participant in the Manhattan Project in the USA. The British had crumbs of information about the structure of thermonuclear weapons. American allies did not share this information. In Washington they referred to the law on atomic energy, adopted in 1946. The only exception for the British was permission to observe the tests. They also used aircraft to collect samples left behind by American shell explosions.
At first, London decided to limit itself to creating a very powerful atomic bomb. Thus began the Orange Messenger trials. During them, the most powerful non-thermonuclear bomb in human history was dropped. Its disadvantage was its excessive cost. On November 8, 1957, a hydrogen bomb was tested. The history of the creation of the British two-stage device is an example of successful progress in conditions of lagging behind two superpowers that were arguing among themselves.
The hydrogen bomb appeared in China in 1967, in France in 1968. Thus, today there are five states in the club of countries possessing thermonuclear weapons. Information about the hydrogen bomb in North Korea remains controversial. The head of the DPRK stated that his scientists were able to develop such a projectile. During the tests, seismologists different countries recorded seismic activity caused by a nuclear explosion. But no specific information There is still no news of a hydrogen bomb in the DPRK.
The explosion occurred in 1961. Within a radius of several hundred kilometers from the test site, a hasty evacuation of people took place, as scientists calculated that all houses without exception would be destroyed. But no one expected such an effect. The blast wave circled the planet three times. The landfill remained a “blank slate”; all the hills on it disappeared. Buildings turned to sand in a second. A terrible explosion was heard within a radius of 800 kilometers.
If you think that the atomic warhead is the most terrible weapon of mankind, then you do not yet know about the hydrogen bomb. We decided to correct this oversight and talk about what it is. We have already talked about and.
A little about the terminology and principles of work in pictures
Understanding what a nuclear warhead looks like and why, it is necessary to consider the principle of its operation, based on the fission reaction. First, an atomic bomb detonates. The shell contains isotopes of uranium and plutonium. They disintegrate into particles, capturing neutrons. Next, one atom is destroyed and the fission of the rest is initiated. This is done using a chain process. At the end it begins nuclear reaction. The bomb's parts become one whole. The charge begins to exceed critical mass. With the help of such a structure, energy is released and an explosion occurs.
By the way, a nuclear bomb is also called an atomic bomb. And hydrogen is called thermonuclear. Therefore, the question of how an atomic bomb differs from a nuclear one is inherently incorrect. It is the same. The difference between a nuclear bomb and a thermonuclear bomb is not only in the name.
The thermonuclear reaction is based not on the fission reaction, but on the compression of heavy nuclei. A nuclear warhead is the detonator or fuse for a hydrogen bomb. In other words, imagine a huge barrel of water. An atomic rocket is immersed in it. Water is a heavy liquid. Here the proton with sound is replaced in the hydrogen nucleus by two elements - deuterium and tritium:
- Deuterium is one proton and a neutron. Their mass is twice that of hydrogen;
- Tritium consists of one proton and two neutrons. They are three times heavier than hydrogen.
Thermonuclear bomb tests
, the end of World War II, a race began between America and the USSR and the world community realized that a nuclear or hydrogen bomb was more powerful. The destructive power of atomic weapons began to attract each side. The United States was the first to make and test a nuclear bomb. But it soon became clear that it could not be large. Therefore, it was decided to try to make a thermonuclear warhead. Here again America succeeded. The Soviets decided not to lose the race and tested a compact but powerful missile that could be transported even on a regular Tu-16 aircraft. Then everyone understood the difference between a nuclear bomb and a hydrogen bomb.
For example, the first American thermonuclear warhead was as tall as a three-story house. It could not be delivered by small transport. But then, according to developments by the USSR, the dimensions were reduced. If we analyze, we can conclude that these terrible destructions were not that great. In TNT equivalent, the impact force was only a few tens of kilotons. Therefore, buildings were destroyed in only two cities, and the sound of a nuclear bomb was heard in the rest of the country. If it were a hydrogen rocket, all of Japan would be completely destroyed with just one warhead.
A nuclear bomb with too much charge may explode inadvertently. A chain reaction will begin and an explosion will occur. Considering the differences between nuclear atomic and hydrogen bombs, it is worth noting this point. After all, a thermonuclear warhead can be made of any power without fear of spontaneous detonation.
This interested Khrushchev, who ordered the creation of the most powerful hydrogen warhead in the world and thus get closer to winning the race. It seemed to him that 100 megatons was optimal. Soviet scientists pushed themselves hard and managed to invest 50 megatons. Tests began on the island of Novaya Zemlya, where there was a military training ground. To this day, the Tsar Bomba is called the largest bomb exploded on the planet.
The explosion occurred in 1961. Within a radius of several hundred kilometers from the test site, a hasty evacuation of people took place, as scientists calculated that all houses without exception would be destroyed. But no one expected such an effect. The blast wave circled the planet three times. The landfill remained a “blank slate”; all the hills on it disappeared. Buildings turned to sand in a second. A terrible explosion was heard within a radius of 800 kilometers. The fireball from the use of such a warhead as the universal destroyer runic nuclear bomb in Japan was visible only in cities. But from the hydrogen rocket it rose 5 kilometers in diameter. The mushroom of dust, radiation and soot grew 67 kilometers. According to scientists, its cap was a hundred kilometers in diameter. Just imagine what would have happened if the explosion had occurred within the city limits.
Modern dangers of using the hydrogen bomb
We have already examined the difference between an atomic bomb and a thermonuclear one. Now imagine what the consequences of the explosion would have been if the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been a hydrogen bomb with a thematic equivalent. There would be no trace left of Japan.
Based on the test results, scientists concluded the consequences of a thermonuclear bomb. Some people think that a hydrogen warhead is cleaner, meaning it is not actually radioactive. This is due to the fact that people hear the name “water” and underestimate its deplorable impact on the environment.
As we have already figured out, a hydrogen warhead is based on a huge amount of radioactive substances. It is possible to make a rocket without a uranium charge, but so far this has not been used in practice. The process itself will be very complex and costly. Therefore, the fusion reaction is diluted with uranium and a huge explosion power is obtained. The radioactive fallout that inexorably falls on the drop target is increased by 1000%. They will harm the health of even those who are tens of thousands of kilometers from the epicenter. When detonated, a huge fireball is created. Everything that comes within its radius of action is destroyed. The scorched earth may be uninhabitable for decades. Absolutely nothing will grow over a vast area. And knowing the strength of the charge, using a certain formula, you can calculate the theoretically contaminated area.
Also worth mentioning about such an effect as nuclear winter. This concept is even more terrible than destroyed cities and hundreds of thousands of human lives. Not only the dump site will be destroyed, but virtually the entire world. At first, only one territory will lose its habitable status. But a radioactive substance will be released into the atmosphere, which will reduce the brightness of the sun. This will all mix with dust, smoke, soot and create a veil. It will spread throughout the planet. The crops in the fields will be destroyed for several decades to come. This effect will provoke famine on Earth. The population will immediately decrease several times. And nuclear winter looks more than real. Indeed, in the history of mankind, and more specifically, in 1816, a similar case was known after a powerful volcanic eruption. There was a year without summer on the planet at that time.
Skeptics who do not believe in such a coincidence of circumstances can be convinced by the calculations of scientists:
- When on Earth will happen the temperature drops by a degree, no one will notice it. But this will affect the amount of precipitation.
- In autumn there will be a cooling of 4 degrees. Due to the lack of rain, crop failures are possible. Hurricanes will begin even in places where they have never existed.
- When temperatures drop a few more degrees, the planet will experience its first year without summer.
- This will be followed by the Little Ice Age. The temperature drops by 40 degrees. Even in a short time it will be destructive for the planet. On Earth there will be crop failures and the extinction of people living in the northern zones.
- Afterwards the ice age will come. Reflection of the sun's rays will occur without reaching the surface of the earth. Due to this, the air temperature will reach a critical level. Crops and trees will stop growing on the planet, and water will freeze. This will lead to the extinction of most of the population.
- Those who survive will not survive the final period - an irreversible cold snap. This option is completely sad. It will be the real end of humanity. The earth will turn into new planet, unsuitable for human habitation.
Now about another danger. As soon as Russia and the United States emerged from the Cold War stage, a new threat appeared. If you have heard about who Kim Jong Il is, then you understand that he will not stop there. This rocket lover, tyrant and ruler North Korea in one bottle, can easily provoke a nuclear conflict. He talks about the hydrogen bomb constantly and notes that his part of the country already has warheads. Fortunately, no one has seen them live yet. Russia, America, as well as its closest neighbors - South Korea and Japan, are very concerned even about such hypothetical statements. Therefore, we hope that North Korea’s developments and technologies will not be at a sufficient level for a long time to destroy the entire world.
For reference. At the bottom of the world's oceans lie dozens of bombs that were lost during transportation. And in Chernobyl, which is not so far from us, huge reserves of uranium are still stored.
It is worth considering whether such consequences can be allowed for the sake of testing a hydrogen bomb. And, if between the countries possessing these weapons happens global conflict, there will be no states, no people, or anything at all left on the planet, the Earth will turn into a blank slate. And if we consider how a nuclear bomb differs from a thermonuclear bomb, the main point is the amount of destruction, as well as the subsequent effect.
Now a small conclusion. We figured out that a nuclear bomb and an atomic bomb are one and the same. It is also the basis for a thermonuclear warhead. But using neither one nor the other is not recommended, even for testing. The sound of the explosion and what the aftermath looks like is not the worst thing. This threatens a nuclear winter, the death of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants at once and numerous consequences for humanity. Although there are differences between charges such as an atomic bomb and a nuclear bomb, the effect of both is destructive for all living things.
At the end of the 30s of the last century, the laws of fission and decay were already discovered in Europe, and the hydrogen bomb moved from the category of fiction into reality. The history of the development of nuclear energy is interesting and still represents an exciting competition between the scientific potential of the countries: Nazi Germany, the USSR and the USA. The most powerful bomb, which any state dreamed of owning, was not only a weapon, but also a powerful political tool. The country that had it in its arsenal actually became omnipotent and could dictate its own rules.
The hydrogen bomb has its own history of creation, which is based on physical laws, namely the thermonuclear process. Initially, it was incorrectly called atomic, and illiteracy was to blame. The scientist Bethe, who later became a laureate Nobel Prize, worked on an artificial source of energy - the fission of uranium. This was the peak time scientific activity many physicists, and among them there was an opinion that scientific secrets should not exist at all, since initially the laws of science are international.
Theoretically, the hydrogen bomb had been invented, but now, with the help of designers, it had to acquire technical forms. All that remained was to pack it in a specific shell and test it for power. There are two scientists whose names will forever be associated with the creation of this powerful weapon: in the USA it is Edward Teller, and in the USSR it is Andrei Sakharov.
In the United States, a physicist began to study the thermonuclear problem back in 1942. By order of Harry Truman, then President of the United States, the best scientists in the country worked on this problem, they created a fundamentally new weapon of destruction. Moreover, the government’s order was for a bomb with a capacity of at least a million tons of TNT. The hydrogen bomb was created by Teller and showed humanity in Hiroshima and Nagasaki its limitless but destructive capabilities.
A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that weighed 4.5 tons and contained 100 kg of uranium. This explosion corresponded to almost 12,500 tons of TNT. The Japanese city of Nagasaki was destroyed by a plutonium bomb of the same mass, but equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT.
The future Soviet academician A. Sakharov in 1948, based on his research, presented the design of a hydrogen bomb under the name RDS-6. His research followed two branches: the first was called “puff” (RDS-6s), and its feature was an atomic charge, which was surrounded by layers of heavy and light elements. The second branch is the “pipe” or (RDS-6t), in which the plutonium bomb was contained in liquid deuterium. Subsequently, a very important discovery was made, which proved that the “pipe” direction is a dead end.
The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb is as follows: first, an HB charge explodes inside the shell, which is the initiator of a thermonuclear reaction, resulting in a neutron flash. In this case, the process is accompanied by the release of high temperature, which is needed for further neutrons begin to bombard the lithium deuteride insert, and it, in turn, under the direct action of neutrons, splits into two elements: tritium and helium. The atomic fuse used forms the components necessary for fusion to occur in the already detonated bomb. This is the complicated operating principle of a hydrogen bomb. After this preliminary action, the thermonuclear reaction begins directly in a mixture of deuterium and tritium. At this time, the temperature in the bomb increases more and more, and an increasing amount of hydrogen participates in the synthesis. If you monitor the time of these reactions, then the speed of their action can be characterized as instantaneous.
Subsequently, scientists began to use not the synthesis of nuclei, but their fission. The fission of one ton of uranium creates energy equivalent to 18 Mt. This bomb has enormous power. The most powerful bomb created by mankind belonged to the USSR. She even got into the Guinness Book of Records. Its blast wave was equivalent to 57 (approximately) megatons of TNT. It was blown up in 1961 in the area of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
On January 16, 1963, Nikita Khrushchev announced the creation of a hydrogen bomb in the USSR. And this is another reason to remember the scale of its destructive consequences and the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.
On January 16, 1963, Nikita Khrushchev announced that the USSR had created a hydrogen bomb, after which nuclear tests were discontinued. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 showed how fragile and defenseless the world could be against the background nuclear threat, therefore, in a senseless race to destroy each other, the USSR and the USA were able to come to a compromise and sign the first treaty regulating the development of nuclear weapons - the Treaty Banning Tests of Nuclear Weapons in the Atmosphere, Space and Underwater, to which many countries of the world subsequently joined.
In the USSR and the USA, nuclear weapons tests have been carried out since the mid-1940s. The theoretical possibility of obtaining energy by thermonuclear fusion was known even before World War II. It is also known that in Germany in 1944, work was carried out to initiate thermonuclear fusion by compressing nuclear fuel using conventional explosive charges, but they were not successful because the required temperatures and pressures could not be obtained.
Over the 15 years of nuclear weapons testing in the USSR and the USA, many discoveries were made in the field of chemistry and physics, which led to the production of two types of bombs - atomic and hydrogen. The principle of their operation is slightly different: if the explosion of an atomic bomb is caused by the decay of the nucleus, then a hydrogen bomb explodes due to the synthesis of elements with the release of a colossal amount of energy. It is this reaction that takes place in the depths of stars, where, under the influence of ultra-high temperatures and enormous pressure, hydrogen nuclei collide and merge into heavier helium nuclei. The resulting amount of energy is enough to start a chain reaction, involving all possible hydrogen. This is why the stars do not go out, and the explosion of a hydrogen bomb has such destructive power.
How it works?
Scientists copied this reaction using liquid isotopes of hydrogen - deuterium and tritium, which gave it the name "hydrogen bomb". Subsequently, lithium-6 deuteride began to be used, solid, a compound of deuterium and an isotope of lithium, which in its own way chemical properties is an analogue of hydrogen. Thus, lithium-6 deuteride is bomb fuel and, in fact, turns out to be more “clean” than uranium-235 or plutonium used in atomic bombs oh and causing powerful radiation. However, in order for the hydrogen reaction itself to start, something must very strongly and sharply increase the temperature inside the projectile, for which a conventional nuclear charge is used. But the container for thermonuclear fuel is made from radioactive uranium-238, alternating it with layers of deuterium, which is why the first Soviet bombs of this type were called “puffs”. It is because of them that all living things, even at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the explosion and surviving the explosion, can receive a dose of radiation that will lead to severe illness and death.
Why does a “mushroom” form during an explosion?
In fact, a mushroom-shaped cloud is an ordinary one. physical phenomenon. Such clouds are formed during ordinary explosions of sufficient power, during volcanic eruptions, strong fires and meteorite falls. Hot air always rises higher than cold air, but here its heating occurs so quickly and so powerfully that it rises upward in a visible column, twists into a ring-shaped vortex and pulls a “leg” with it - a column of dust and smoke from the surface of the earth. As the air rises, it gradually cools, becoming similar to an ordinary cloud due to the condensation of water vapor. However, that's not all. Much more dangerous for humans shock blast wave, diverging across the surface of the earth from the epicenter of the explosion in a circle with a radius reaching 700 km, and radioactive fallout falling from that same mushroom cloud.
60 USSR hydrogen bombs
Until 1963, more than 200 nuclear test explosions were carried out in the USSR, 60 of which were thermonuclear, that is, in this case it was not an atomic bomb that exploded, but a hydrogen one. Three or four experiments could be carried out at the test sites per day, during which the dynamics of the explosion, lethality, and potential damage to the enemy were studied.
The first prototype was detonated on August 27, 1949, and the last test of nuclear weapons in the USSR was carried out on December 25, 1962. All tests took place mainly at two test sites - at the Semipalatinsk test site or "Siyapa", located on the territory of Kazakhstan, and on Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.
August 12, 1953: the first tests of a hydrogen bomb in the USSR
The first hydrogen explosion was carried out in the United States in 1952 at Eniwetak Atoll. There they exploded a charge with a power of 10.4 megatons, which was 450 times greater than the power of the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki. However, calling this device a bomb literally words are not allowed. It was a structure the size of a three-story house, filled with liquid deuterium.
But the first thermonuclear weapon in the USSR was tested in August 1953 at the Semipalatinsk test site. It was already a real bomb dropped from an airplane. The project was developed in 1949 (even before the testing of the first Soviet nuclear bomb) by Andrei Sakharov and Yuli Khariton. The power of the explosion was equivalent to 400 kilotons, but studies showed that the power could be increased to 750 kilotons, since only 20% of the fuel was consumed in the thermonuclear reaction.
The most powerful bomb in the world
The most powerful explosion in history was initiated by a group of nuclear physicists led by Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences I.V. Kurchatov on October 30, 1961 at the Sukhoi Nos training ground on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The measured power of the explosion was 58.6 megatons, which was many times higher than all experimental explosions carried out on the territory of the USSR or the USA. It was originally planned that the bomb would be even larger and more powerful, but there was no aircraft that could lift more weight into the air.
The fireball of the explosion reached a radius of approximately 4.6 kilometers. Theoretically, it could have grown to the surface of the earth, but this was prevented by the reflected shock wave, which lifted the bottom of the ball and threw it away from the surface. nuclear mushroom explosion rose to a height of 67 kilometers (for comparison: modern passenger planes fly at an altitude of 8-11 kilometers). A tangible wave atmospheric pressure, resulting from the explosion, circled the globe three times, spreading in just a few seconds, and sound wave reached Dikson Island at a distance of about 800 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion (the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg). Everything within a distance of two or three kilometers was contaminated with radiation.
HYDROGEN BOMB, a weapon of great destructive power (on the order of megatons in TNT equivalent), the operating principle of which is based on the reaction of thermonuclear fusion of light nuclei. The source of explosion energy is processes similar to those occurring on the Sun and other stars.
In 1961, the most powerful hydrogen bomb explosion ever occurred.
On the morning of October 30 at 11:32 a.m. over Novaya Zemlya in the area of Mityushi Bay at an altitude of 4000 m above the land surface, a hydrogen bomb with a capacity of 50 million tons of TNT was exploded.
The Soviet Union tested the most powerful thermonuclear device in history. Even in the “half” version (and the maximum power of such a bomb is 100 megatons), the explosion energy was ten times higher than the total power of all explosives used by all the warring parties during the Second World War (including the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The shock wave from the explosion circled the globe three times, the first time in 36 hours and 27 minutes.
The light flash was so bright that, despite the continuous cloud cover, it was visible even from the command post in the village of Belushya Guba (almost 200 km away from the epicenter of the explosion). The mushroom cloud grew to a height of 67 km. By the time of the explosion, while the bomb was slowly falling on a huge parachute from a height of 10,500 to the calculated detonation point, the Tu-95 carrier aircraft with the crew and its commander, Major Andrei Egorovich Durnovtsev, was already in the safe zone. The commander was returning to his airfield as a lieutenant colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union. In an abandoned village - 400 km from the epicenter - wooden houses were destroyed, and stone ones lost their roofs, windows and doors. Many hundreds of kilometers from the test site, as a result of the explosion, the conditions for the passage of radio waves changed for almost an hour, and radio communications stopped.
The bomb was developed by V.B. Adamskiy, Yu.N. Smirnov, A.D. Sakharov, Yu.N. Babaev and Yu.A. Trutnev (for which Sakharov was awarded the third medal of the Hero of Socialist Labor). The mass of the “device” was 26 tons; a specially modified Tu-95 strategic bomber was used to transport and drop it.
The “super bomb,” as A. Sakharov called it, did not fit in the bomb bay of the aircraft (its length was 8 meters and its diameter was about 2 meters), so the non-power part of the fuselage was cut out and a special lifting mechanism and device for attaching the bomb were installed; at the same time, during the flight it still stuck out more than half of it. The entire body of the aircraft, even the blades of its propellers, was covered with a special white paint that protected it from the flash of light during an explosion. The body of the accompanying laboratory aircraft was covered with the same paint.
The results of the explosion of the charge, which received the name “Tsar Bomba” in the West, were impressive:
* The nuclear “mushroom” of the explosion rose to a height of 64 km; the diameter of its cap reached 40 kilometers.
The fireball of the explosion reached the ground and almost reached the height of the bomb release (that is, the radius of the fireball of the explosion was approximately 4.5 kilometers).
* The radiation caused third-degree burns at a distance of up to one hundred kilometers.
* At the peak of radiation, the explosion reached 1% solar power.
* The shock wave resulting from the explosion circled the globe three times.
* Ionization of the atmosphere caused radio interference even hundreds of kilometers from the test site for one hour.
* Witnesses felt the impact and were able to describe the explosion at a distance of thousands of kilometers from the epicenter. Also, the shock wave to some extent preserved destructive force thousands of kilometers from the epicenter.
* Acoustic wave reached Dikson Island, where the blast wave broke out windows in houses.
The political result of this test was the Soviet Union's demonstration of its possession of unlimited weapons of mass destruction - the maximum megatonnage of a bomb tested by the United States at that time was four times less than that of the Tsar Bomba. In fact, increasing the power of a hydrogen bomb is achieved by simply increasing the mass of the working material, so, in principle, there are no factors preventing the creation of a 100-megaton or 500-megaton hydrogen bomb. (In fact, the Tsar Bomba was designed for a 100-megaton equivalent; the planned explosion power was cut in half, according to Khrushchev, “So as not to break all the glass in Moscow”). With this test, the Soviet Union demonstrated the ability to create a hydrogen bomb of any power and a means of delivering the bomb to the detonation point.
Thermonuclear reactions. The interior of the Sun contains a gigantic amount of hydrogen, which is in a state of ultra-high compression at a temperature of approx. 15,000,000 K. At such high temperatures and plasma densities, hydrogen nuclei experience constant collisions with each other, some of which result in their fusion and ultimately the formation of heavier helium nuclei. Such reactions, called thermonuclear fusion, are accompanied by the release of enormous amounts of energy. According to the laws of physics, the energy release during thermonuclear fusion is due to the fact that during the formation of a heavier nucleus, part of the mass of the light nuclei included in its composition is converted into a colossal amount of energy. That is why the Sun, having a gigantic mass, loses approx. every day in the process of thermonuclear fusion. 100 billion tons of matter and releases energy, thanks to which it became possible life on the ground.
Isotopes of hydrogen. The hydrogen atom is the simplest of all existing atoms. It consists of one proton, which is its nucleus, around which a single electron rotates. Careful studies of water (H 2 O) have shown that it contains negligible quantities of “heavy” water containing the “heavy isotope” of hydrogen - deuterium (2 H). The deuterium nucleus consists of a proton and a neutron - a neutral particle with a mass close to a proton.
There is a third isotope of hydrogen - tritium, whose nucleus contains one proton and two neutrons. Tritium is unstable and undergoes spontaneous radioactive decay, turning into an isotope of helium. Traces of tritium have been found in the Earth's atmosphere, where it is formed as a result of the interaction of cosmic rays with gas molecules that make up the air. Tritium is produced artificially in a nuclear reactor by irradiating the lithium-6 isotope with a stream of neutrons.
Development of the hydrogen bomb. Preliminary theoretical analysis showed that thermonuclear fusion is most easily accomplished in a mixture of deuterium and tritium. Taking this as a basis, US scientists at the beginning of 1950 began implementing a project to create a hydrogen bomb (HB). The first tests of a model nuclear device were carried out at the Enewetak test site in the spring of 1951; thermonuclear fusion was only partial. Significant success was achieved on November 1, 1951 when testing a massive nuclear device, the explosion power of which was 4? 8 Mt TNT equivalent.
The first hydrogen aerial bomb was detonated in the USSR on August 12, 1953, and on March 1, 1954, the Americans detonated a more powerful (approximately 15 Mt) aerial bomb on Bikini Atoll. Since then, both powers have carried out explosions of advanced megaton weapons.
The explosion at Bikini Atoll was accompanied by the release of large quantity radioactive substances. Some of them fell hundreds of kilometers from the explosion site on the Japanese fishing vessel "Lucky Dragon", while others covered the island of Rongelap. Since thermonuclear fusion produces stable helium, the radioactivity from the explosion of a pure hydrogen bomb should be no more than that of an atomic detonator of a thermonuclear reaction. However, in the case under consideration, the predicted and actual radioactive fallout differed significantly in quantity and composition.
The mechanism of action of the hydrogen bomb. The sequence of processes occurring during the explosion of a hydrogen bomb can be represented as follows. First, the thermonuclear reaction initiator charge (a small atomic bomb) located inside the HB shell explodes, resulting in a neutron flash and creating the high temperature necessary to initiate thermonuclear fusion. Neutrons bombard an insert made of lithium deuteride - a compound of deuterium with lithium (a lithium isotope with mass number 6 is used). Lithium-6 is split into helium and tritium under the influence of neutrons. Thus, the atomic fuse creates the materials necessary for synthesis directly in the actual bomb itself.
Then a thermonuclear reaction begins in a mixture of deuterium and tritium, the temperature inside the bomb rapidly increases, involving more and more hydrogen in the synthesis. With a further increase in temperature, a reaction between deuterium nuclei, characteristic of a pure hydrogen bomb, could begin. All reactions, of course, occur so quickly that they are perceived as instantaneous.
Fission, fusion, fission (superbomb). In fact, in a bomb, the sequence of processes described above ends at the stage of the reaction of deuterium with tritium. Further, the bomb designers chose not to use nuclear fusion, but nuclear fission. The fusion of deuterium and tritium nuclei produces helium and fast neutrons, the energy of which is high enough to cause nuclear fission of uranium-238 (the main isotope of uranium, much cheaper than the uranium-235 used in conventional atomic bombs). Fast neutrons split the atoms of the uranium shell of the superbomb. The fission of one ton of uranium creates energy equivalent to 18 Mt. Energy goes not only to explosion and heat generation. Each uranium nucleus splits into two highly radioactive “fragments.” The fission products include 36 different chemical elements and almost 200 radioactive isotopes. All this constitutes the radioactive fallout that accompanies superbomb explosions.
Thanks to the unique design and the described mechanism of action, weapons of this type can be made as powerful as desired. It is much cheaper than atomic bombs of the same power.