It is believed that testing is mandatory for the development of new nuclear weapons. necessary condition because no computer simulators and imitators can replace the real test. Therefore, the limitation of tests pursues, first of all, to prevent the development of new nuclear systems for those states that already have them, and to prevent other states from becoming the owners of nuclear weapons.

However, a full-scale nuclear test is not always required. For example, the uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, did not pass any tests.

This thermonuclear aviation bomb was developed in the USSR in 1954-1961. by a group of nuclear physicists under the leadership of Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences I. V. Kurchatov. This is the most powerful explosive device in the history of mankind. The total energy of the explosion, according to various sources, ranged from 57 to 58.6 megatons in TNT equivalent.

Khrushchev personally announced the upcoming tests of the 50-megaton bomb in his report on October 17, 1961 at the XXII Congress of the CPSU. They took place on October 30, 1961 within the Sukhoy Nos nuclear test site ( New earth). The carrier aircraft managed to fly at a distance of 39 km, however, despite this, it was thrown into a dive by the shock wave and lost 800 m of altitude until control was restored.

The main political and propaganda goal of this test was a clear demonstration of the Soviet Union's possession of weapons of mass destruction, unlimited in power - the TNT equivalent of the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in the United States at that time was almost four times less. The goal was fully achieved.

Castle Bravo is an American test of a thermonuclear explosive device at Bikini Atoll. The first of a series of seven Operation Castle challenges. The energy release from the explosion reached 15 megatons, which made the "Castle Bravo" the most powerful of all US nuclear tests.

The explosion led to severe radiation contamination environment, which caused concern throughout the world and led to a serious revision of the existing views on nuclear weapons. According to some American sources, this was the worst case of radioactive contamination in the entire history of American nuclear activity.

On April 28, 1958, during the Grapple Y test over Christmas Island (Kiribati), Great Britain dropped a 3 megaton bomb - the most powerful British thermonuclear device.

After the successful explosion of megaton-class devices, the United States entered into nuclear cooperation with Great Britain, concluding an agreement in 1958 on the joint development of nuclear weapons.

During the tests "Canopus" in August 1968, France blew up ( it was a powerful explosion) a thermonuclear device of the "Teller-Ulam" type with a capacity of about 2.6 megatons. However, little is known about this test and the development of the French nuclear program as a whole.

France became the fourth country to test a nuclear bomb in 1960. Currently, the country has about 300 strategic warheads deployed on four nuclear submarines, as well as 60 tactical airborne warheads, which puts it in third place in the world in terms of the number of nuclear weapons.

On June 17, 1967, the Chinese carried out the first successful test of a thermonuclear bomb. The test was carried out at the Lop Nor test site, the bomb was dropped from the Hong-6 aircraft ( analogue of the Soviet Tu-16 aircraft), by parachute, it was lowered to an altitude of 2960 m, where an explosion was made, the power of which was 3.3 megatons.

After the completion of this test, the PRC became the fourth thermonuclear power in the world after the USSR, the USA and England.

According to American scientists, China's nuclear potential in 2009 had about 240 nuclear warheads, of which 180 were on alert, making it the fourth largest nuclear arsenal among the five major nuclear powers (USA, Russia, France, China, Great Britain).

ON THE PICTURE: The explosion of the first Soviet atomic bomb

On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested an atomic bomb with a capacity of 22 kilotons. Like in Hiroshima. For a long time, American President Truman could not believe that "... these Asians could make such a complex weapon as an atomic bomb," and only on September 23, 1949, he announced to the American people that the USSR had tested an atomic bomb.

And Soviet citizens remained in the dark for a long time. Only on International Women's Day on March 8, 1950, the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov, announced that the Soviet Union had an atomic bomb.

Then I found out about it too. But I didn’t think then why they didn’t say anything to us for six months. Why did all people on earth know that the Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb, except for the Soviet ones. Yes, even if he did, he would have decided that Stalin knew better when to say. Probably, it was necessary not only to test the bomb, but also to make it a weapon, to accumulate supplies, to create means of delivery. And now it's all done for sure. Now we are not defenseless against the warmongers of the war - the imperialists.

I was filled with pride. I was proud of our country. For her successes in science. For major achievements in industry. For the creation of modern weapons.

- Now we are not afraid of any threats from warmongers. We now also have an atomic bomb, and they are afraid to attack, because we will answer them.

How was the song sung?

We will say to the enemy: “Do not touch our Motherland,
Otherwise we'll open a crushing fire! "

Help from the site "Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library": http://www.prlib.ru/history/pages/item.aspx?itemid=653

On August 29, 1949, at 7 am Moscow time, the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk training ground No. 2 of the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

The first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was created at KB-11 (now the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, VNIIEF) under the scientific supervision of Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov and Yuliy Borisovich Khariton. In 1946, Yu. B. Khariton drew up a technical assignment for the development of an atomic bomb, structurally reminiscent of the American "Fat Man" bomb. The RDS-1 bomb was a plutonium aviation atomic bomb of a characteristic "drop-shaped" shape with a mass of 4.7 tons, a diameter of 1.5 m and a length of 3.3 m.

Before the atomic explosion, the operability of the systems and mechanisms of the bomb when dropped from an aircraft was successfully tested without a plutonium charge. On August 21, 1949, 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 military product. Kurchatov, in accordance with the instructions of L.P. Beria, gave the order to test the RDS-1 on August 29 at 8 am local time.

On the night of August 29, the charge was assembled, and the final installation was completed by 3 am. Over the next three hours, the charge was raised to the test tower, loaded with fuses, and connected to the blasting circuit. Members of the special committee L.P. Beria, M.G. Pervukhin and V.A.Makhnev controlled the course of the final operations. However, due to the worsening weather, it was decided to carry out all the work stipulated by the approved regulations with a shift one hour earlier.

At 6 hours 35 minutes. the operators turned on the power supply of the automation system, and at 6 hours 48 minutes. the test field machine was turned on. At exactly 7 a.m. on August 29, the first atomic bomb was successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. Soviet Union... In 20 minutes. after the explosion, two tanks equipped with lead shielding were sent to the center of the field to conduct radiation reconnaissance and survey the center of the field.

On October 28, 1949, LP Beria reported to JV Stalin on the results of testing the first atomic bomb. For the successful development and testing of the atomic bomb, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 29, 1949, orders and medals of the USSR were awarded to a large group of leading researchers, designers, technologists; many were awarded the title of laureates of the Stalin Prize, and the direct developers of the nuclear charge were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

The end of part 6 of Book 1 "You will get older, you will become smarter"
Continuation (part 7 "School on Kirochnaya" Book 1) follows:

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The most terrible weapon created by mankind is the nuclear bomb. Here are some facts from the history of testing this terrible invention.

External wiring of the Trinity nuclear device, the first ever test of a nuclear weapon - an atomic bomb. At the time of this photograph, the device was being prepared for its detonation, which took place on July 16, 1945. We can say that the history of nuclear bomb tests began with this photo.

Silhouette of Los Alamos Director Robert Oppenheimer, who oversees final assembly devices at the Trinity training ground in July 1945.

Jumbo, a 200 ton steel canister designed to recover the plutonium used in the Trinity test, but the explosives originally used were unable to cause a chain reaction. In the end, the Jumbo was not used to recover plutonium, but it was installed near the epicenter to assess the impact of the explosion. It has survived, but its tower has disappeared.

The expanding fireball and shockwave from the Trinity explosion, 0.25 seconds after the July 16, 1945 explosion.

The fireball begins to rise, and the world's first atomic mushroom cloud begins to form, pictured nine seconds after Trinity exploded on July 16, 1945.

The US military oversees the explosion during Operation Crossroads Baker on Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands) on July 25, 1946. It was the fifth nuclear explosion since the previous two were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

First underwater atomic bomb explosion test, a massive column of water rises from the sea, Bikini Atoll, Pacific Ocean, July 25, 1946.

A huge mushroom cloud rises over Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on July 25, 1946. Dark spots in the foreground are ships that have been positioned near the site of the explosion to test what the atomic bomb can do to a fleet of warships.

On November 16, 1952, a B-36H bomber dropped an atomic bomb over the northern tip of Runit Island in Enewetak Atoll, causing a 500 kiloton explosion, part of a test codenamed Ivy.

Operation Greenhouse took place in the spring of 1951, consisting of four explosions at the Pacific Ocean proving grounds. This photograph of the third test, George, May 9, 1951, the first thermonuclear bomb, has a yield of 225 kilotons.

In the photo there is a nuclear ball (one millisecond after the explosion). During the Tumbler-Snapper tests in 1952, a nuclear bomb was planted 90 meters above the Nevada desert.

Complete destruction of house number 1, located at a distance of 1070 meters from the epicenter, destroyed by a nuclear explosion, March 17, 1953, Yucca Flat at the Nevada test site. The time from the first to the last image is 2.3 seconds. The camera was in a 5 cm lead sheath, which protected it from radiation. The only source of light was the explosion itself from the nuclear bomb.

1 photo. During the Doorstep test during the major Operation Upshot-Knothole, dummies sit at a dining room table at number two, March 15, 1953.

2 photos. After the explosion, mannequins lie scattered around the room, their "meal" was interrupted by an atomic explosion on March 17, 1953.

1 photo. A mannequin lying on the bed, on the second floor of house number 2, is ready to experience the effects of an atomic explosion, at a test site near Las Vegas, Nevada, March 15, 1953, at a distance of 1.5 miles, there is a steel tower 90 meters high on which a bomb will detonate ... The purpose of the tests is to show civil defense officials what will happen in an American city if it is subjected to an atomic attack.

1 photo. The mannequins, a typical American family, gathered in the living room of No. 2 on March 15, 1953.

Operation Upshot-Knothole, BADGER Event, 23 kilotons, April 18, 1953, Nevada Proving Ground.

US nuclear artillery test, conducted by the US military in Nevada on May 25, 1953. A 280mm nuclear projectile was fired 10 km into the desert from an M65 Atomic Cannon, detonating in the air, about 152 meters above the ground, with a yield of 15 kilotons.

A hydrogen bomb test explosion during Operation Redwing over Bikini Atoll, May 20, 1956.

The flash of an exploded nuclear warhead by an air-to-air missile is shown as bright sun in the eastern sky at 7:30 am on July 19, 1957 at Indian Air Force Springs, about 30 miles from the point of detonation.

The photo shows the tail section of the airship navy USA, shown below is the Stokes cloud at the Nevada Proving Grounds on August 7, 1957. The airship was in free flight over five miles from epicenter. The airship was unmanned and was used as a dummy.

Observers view atmospheric phenomena during the Hardtack I thermonuclear bomb test, Pacific Ocean, 1958.

2 photos from a series of over 100 nuclear test explosions in Nevada and the Pacific in 1962

The Fishbowl Bluegill bomb explodes in the atmosphere, 30 miles above the Pacific Ocean (photo above), October 1962.

Another photo from a series of over 100 nuclear test explosions in Nevada and the Pacific in 1962.

The Sedan crater was formed with a 100 kiloton bomb buried under 193 meters of earth, displacing 12 million tonnes of earth. Crater 97 meters deep and 390 meters in diameter, July 6, 1962

(3 photos) The explosion of the French atomic bomb on the Mururoa Atoll, French Polynesia. 1971 year.

The history of nuclear bomb tests in the photo

Now the nuclear potential of some countries is simply amazing. In this area, the laurels of the championship belong to the United States. This power has a nuclear arsenal of more than 5,000 units. The nuclear age began more than 70 years ago, after the first atomic bomb test took place in New Mexico at the Alamogordo test site. This event marked the beginning of the era of atomic weapons.
Since then, another 2,062 nuclear bombs have been tested in the world. Of these, 1032 tests were carried out by the USA (1945-1992), 715 by the USSR (1949-1990), 210 by France (1960-1996), 45 each by Great Britain (1952-1991) and China (1964-1996), by 6 - India (1974-1998) and Pakistan (1998), and 3 - DPRK (2006, 2009, 2013).

Reasons for creating a nuclear bomb

The first steps towards the creation of nuclear weapons were taken in 1939. The main reason for this was the activities of Nazi Germany, which was preparing for war. Several people have considered the idea of ​​creating weapons of mass destruction. This fact led to the anxiety of opponents of the Hitler regime and was the reason for the appeal to US President Franklin Roosevelt.

History of the project

In 1939, several scholars approached Roosevelt. They were Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner. In their letter, they expressed concern about the development in Germany of a powerful new type of bomb. Scientists feared that Germany would create a bomb earlier, which could bring enormous destruction. Also in the message it was said that thanks to research in the field of atomic physics, it became possible to use the effect of the decay of the atom to create atomic weapons.
The President of the United States treated the message with due attention and, on his order, a uranium committee was created. On October 21, 1939, at the meeting, it was decided to use uranium and plutonium as raw materials for the bomb. The project developed very slowly and at first was only research in nature. This continued almost until 1941.
Scientists did not like this slow progress, and on March 7, 1940, another letter was sent to Franklin Roosevelt on behalf of Albert Einstein. There are reports that Germany is showing a strong interest in creating a powerful new weapon. Thanks to this, the process of creating a bomb by the Americans accelerated, because in this case there was already a more serious question - it was a question of survival. Who knows what could have happened if German scientists, during World War II, had created the bomb first.
The atomic program was approved by the President of the United States on October 9, 1941 and was named the "Manhattan Project". The project was carried out by the United States in collaboration with Canada and the United Kingdom.
The work was carried out in perfect secrecy. In this regard, he was given such a name. Initially, they wanted to call it "Development of Substitute Materials", which literally translates as "Development alternative materials". It was clear that such a name could attract unwanted interest from the outside, and therefore it received the optimal name. For the construction of the complex for the implementation of the program, the Manhattan Engineering District was created, from where the name of the project comes.
There is another version of the origin of the name. It is believed to have originated in Manhattan, New York, where Columbia University is located. In its early days, it did most of the research.
The work on the project was carried out with the participation of more than 125 thousand people. Gone great amount material, industrial and financial resources. In total, $ 2 billion was spent on the creation and testing of the bomb. The best minds of the country worked on the creation of weapons.
Practical work on the creation of the first nuclear bomb started in 1943. In Los Alamos (New Mexico), Hartford (Washington) and Oak Ridge (Tennessee), research institutes in the field of nuclear physics, chemistry, and biology were established.
The first three atomic bombs were created in mid-1945. They differed in the type of action (cannon, gun and implosive type) and in the type of substance (uranium and plutonium).

Preparing to test the bomb

To carry out the first test of the atomic bomb, the place was selected in advance. For this, a sparsely populated area of ​​the country was selected. An important condition there was an absence of Indians in the area. This was due to the difficult relationship between the Bureau of Indian Affairs leadership and the Manhattan Project leadership. As a result, at the end of 1944, the Alamogordo area, which is located in the state of New Mexico, was chosen.
Planning for the operation began in 1944. She was given the code name "Trinity" (Trinity). In preparation for the test, the option of bomb failure was considered. In this case, a steel container was ordered, which is capable of withstanding the explosion of a conventional bomb. This was done so that, in case of a negative result, at least part of the plutonium would be preserved, as well as to prevent its pollution of the environment.
The bomb was codenamed "Gadget". It was installed on a 30-meter high steel tower. Two plutonium hemispheres were installed in the bomb at the last moment.

The first explosion of an atomic bomb in the history of mankind

The explosion was planned to take place on July 16, 1945 at 4:00 am local time. But it had to be moved through the weather conditions. The rain stopped and at 5:30 the explosion occurred.
As a result of the explosion, the steel tower evaporated, and a crater with a diameter of about 76 meters formed in its place. The light from the explosion could be seen at a distance of about 290 kilometers. The sound spread over a distance of about 160 kilometers. In this regard, it was necessary to spread misinformation about the explosion of ammunition. The mushroom cloud rose to a height of 12 kilometers in five minutes. It consisted of radioactive substances, iron vapor and several tons of dust. After the operation, pollution of the environment with radiation was observed at a distance of 160 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. An iron five-meter pipe with a diameter of 10 centimeters, which was concreted and reinforced with guy wires, also evaporated at a distance of 150 meters.
The results of the Manhattan Project could be considered successful. The main participants were well rewarded. Scientists from Canada, Great Britain and the USA, emigrants from Germany and Denmark took part in it. It was this project that marked the beginning of the atomic era.
Today, many powers have an impressive atomic arsenal, but, fortunately, history remembers only two cases of the use of nuclear bombs against humanity - the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945.

In the Soviet Union, research in nuclear physics has been carried out since 1918, preparing the test of the first atomic bomb in the USSR. In Leningrad, at the Radium Institute, in 1937, a cyclotron was launched, the first in Europe. "In what year was the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR?" - you ask. You will find out the answer very soon.

In 1938, on November 25, by the decree of the Academy of Sciences, a commission was created for atomic nucleus... It included Sergei Vavilov, Abram Alikhanov, Abram Iofe, and others. They were joined two years later by Isai Gurevich and Vitaly Khlopin. By that time, nuclear research was already being carried out in more than 10 scientific institutes. In the same year, under the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, a Commission on Heavy Water was organized, which later became known as the Commission on Isotopes. After reading this article, you will learn how further preparation and the test of the first atomic bomb in the USSR.

Construction of a cyclotron in Leningrad, discovery of new uranium ores

In 1939, in September, construction of a cyclotron began in Leningrad. In 1940, in April, it was decided to create a pilot plant that would produce 15 kg of heavy water per year. However, due to the outbreak of the war at that time, these plans were not implemented. In May of the same year, Yu. Khariton, Ya. Zeldovich, N. Semenov proposed their theory of the development of a nuclear chain reaction in uranium. At the same time, work began on the discovery of new uranium ores. These were the first steps that ensured, a few years later, the creation and testing of the atomic bomb in the USSR.

Physicists' view of the future atomic bomb

Many physicists in the period from the late 1930s to the early 1940s already had a rough idea of ​​what it would look like. The idea was to concentrate rather quickly in one place a certain amount (more critical mass) of the material fissile under the influence of neutrons. After this, an avalanche-like increase in the number of decays of atoms should begin in it. That is, it will be a chain reaction, as a result of which a huge charge of energy will be released and a powerful explosion will occur.

Problems faced when creating the atomic bomb

The first problem was to get enough fissile material. In nature, the only substance of this kind that could be found is the isotope of uranium with a mass number of 235 (that is, the total number of neutrons and protons in the nucleus), otherwise it is uranium-235. The content of this isotope in natural uranium is no more than 0.71% (uranium-238 - 99.2%). Moreover, the content of natural matter in the ore is at best 1%. Therefore, the separation of uranium-235 was a rather difficult task.

It soon became clear that the alternative to uranium is plutonium-239. It almost never occurs in nature (it is less than 100 times that of uranium-235). It can be obtained in an acceptable concentration in nuclear reactors if uranium-238 is irradiated with neutrons. The construction of the reactor for this also presented significant difficulties.

The third problem was what to collect required amount fissile matter in one place was not easy. In the process of convergence of subcritical parts, even very fast ones, fission reactions begin to occur in them. The energy released in this case may not allow the main part of the atoms to participate in the fission process. Without having time to react, they scatter.

V. Maslov and V. Spinel's invention

V. Maslov and V. Shpinel from the Kharkov Physics and Technology Institute in 1940 applied for the invention of an ammunition based on the use of a chain reaction that triggers the spontaneous fission of uranium-235, its supercritical mass, which is created from several subcritical, separated by an explosive, impenetrable for neutrons and destroyed by detonation. The performance of such a charge raises great doubts, but nevertheless, a certificate for this invention was nevertheless obtained. However, this happened only in 1946.

Cannon scheme of the Americans

For the first bombs, the Americans intended to use a cannon scheme, which used a real cannon barrel. With its help, one part of the fissile material (subcritical) was fired into another. But it was soon discovered that such a scheme was not suitable for plutonium due to the fact that the rendezvous speed was insufficient.

Construction of a cyclotron in Moscow

In 1941, on April 15, the Council of People's Commissars decided to start construction of a powerful cyclotron in Moscow. However, after the Great Patriotic War, were stopped almost all work in the field of nuclear physics, designed to bring closer 1 test of the atomic bomb in the USSR. Many nuclear physicists were at the front. Others were reoriented to what seemed to be more pressing at the time.

Collecting information about the nuclear issue

Since 1939, the 1st Directorate of the NKVD and the GRU of the Red Army have been collecting information on the nuclear problem. In 1940, in October, the first message came from D. Cairncross, which spoke of plans to create an atomic bomb. This question was reviewed by the British Science Committee, where Cairncross worked. In 1941, in the summer, a bomb project was approved, which was called "Tube Elois". By the beginning of the war England was one of the world leaders in nuclear research. This situation has developed largely thanks to the help of German scientists who fled to this country with the coming of Hitler to power.

K. Fuchs, a member of the KKE, was one of them. He went to the Soviet embassy in the fall of 1941, where he reported that he possessed important information about a powerful weapon made in England. S. Kramer and R. Kuchinskaya (radio operator Sonya) were assigned to communicate with him. The first radiograms sent to Moscow contained information about a special method for separating uranium isotopes, a gaseous diffusion method, as well as a plant under construction in Wales for this purpose. After six transmissions, the connection with Fuchs was interrupted.

The test of the atomic bomb in the USSR, the date of which is widely known today, was also prepared by other intelligence officers. Thus, in the United States, Semenov (Twain) at the end of 1943 reported that E. Fermi in Chicago had succeeded in carrying out the first chain reaction. The source of this information was the physicist Pontecorvo. At the same time, through foreign intelligence, closed works of Western scientists concerning atomic energy, dated 1940-1942, came from England from England. The information contained in them confirmed that great progress had been made in the creation of the atomic bomb.

The wife of Konenkov (pictured below), a famous sculptor, worked with others on exploration. She became close to Einstein and Oppenheimer, the greatest physicists, and influenced them for a long time. L. Zarubina, another resident in the United States, was a member of the circle of people of Oppenheimer and L. Szilard. With the help of these women, the USSR managed to infiltrate agents in Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, as well as the Chicago laboratory - largest centers nuclear research in America. Information on the atomic bomb in the United States was passed on to Soviet intelligence in 1944 by the spouses Rosenbergs, D. Greenglass, B. Pontecorvo, S. Sake, T. Hall, K. Fuchs.

In 1944, at the beginning of February, L. Beria, People's Commissar of the NKVD, held a meeting of intelligence leaders. At it, a decision was made to coordinate the collection of information regarding the atomic problem, which was received through the GRU Red Army and the NKVD. For this, department "C" was created. In 1945, on September 27, it was organized. P. Sudoplatov, Commissioner of the State Security Service, headed this department.

Fuchs transmitted in January 1945 a description of the design of the atomic bomb. Intelligence also obtained materials on the separation of uranium isotopes by the electromagnetic method, data on the operation of the first reactors, instructions for the production of plutonium and uranium bombs, data on the size of the critical mass of plutonium and uranium, on the design of explosive lenses, on plutonium-240, on the sequence and the timing of the bomb assembly and production operations. The information also concerned the method of putting the bomb initiator into action, the construction of special factories for the separation of isotopes. Diary entries were also obtained, which contained information about the first test bomb explosion in the United States in July 1945.

The information received through these channels accelerated and facilitated the task assigned to Soviet scientists. Western experts believed that a bomb could be created in the USSR only in 1954-1955. However, they were wrong. The first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place in 1949, in August.

New stages in the creation of the atomic bomb

In 1942, in April, M. Pervukhin, People's Commissar of the Chemical Industry, was familiarized by Stalin's order with materials related to the work on the atomic bomb carried out abroad. To assess the information presented in the report, Pervukhin suggested creating a group of specialists. It included, on the recommendation of Ioffe, young scientists Kikoin, Alikhanov and Kurchatov.

In 1942, on November 27, the GKO decree "On Uranium Mining" was issued. It provided for the creation of a special institute, as well as the beginning of work on the processing and extraction of raw materials, and geological exploration. All this was supposed to be done in order to test the first atomic bomb in the USSR as soon as possible. The year 1943 was marked by the fact that NKTsM began mining and processing of uranium ore in Tajikistan, at the Tabarsh mine. The plan was 4 tons per year of uranium salts.

Scientists mobilized earlier at this time were recalled from the front. In the same 1943, on February 11, laboratory No. 2 of the Academy of Sciences was organized. Kurchatov was appointed its chief. She was supposed to coordinate the work on the creation of the atomic bomb.

In 1944, Soviet intelligence obtained a handbook containing valuable information about the presence of uranium-graphite reactors and determining the parameters of the reactor. However, the uranium needed to load even a small experimental nuclear reactor was not yet available in our country. In 1944, on September 28, the government of the USSR obliged NKTsM to donate uranium salts and uranium to the state fund. Laboratory No. 2 was entrusted with the task of storing them.

Works carried out in Bulgaria

A large group of specialists, led by V. Kravchenko, head of the 4th special department of the NKVD, left in November 1944 to study the results of geological exploration in liberated Bulgaria. In the same year, on December 8, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer the processing and production of uranium ores from the NKMTs to the 9th Directorate of the Main Directorate of the GMP NKVD. In 1945, in March, S. Egorov was appointed head of the mining and metallurgical department of the 9th Directorate. At the same time, in January, NII-9 was organized to study uranium deposits, solve problems of obtaining plutonium and metallic uranium, and process raw materials. By that time, about one and a half tons of uranium ore were supplied from Bulgaria per week.

Construction of a diffusion plant

Since 1945, in March, after the receipt from the United States through the NKGB channels of information about a bomb scheme built on the principle of implosion (that is, the compression of fissile material by the explosion of a conventional explosive), work began on a scheme that had significant advantages over a cannon one. In April 1945 V. Makhanev wrote a note to Beria. It said that in 1947 it was planned to start up a diffusion plant, located at laboratory No. 2, to obtain uranium-235. The productivity of this plant was supposed to be about 25 kg of uranium per year. This should have been enough for two bombs. The American actually needed 65 kg of uranium-235.

Involvement of German scientists in research

On May 5, 1945, during the battles for Berlin, property belonging to the Physics Institute of the Society was discovered. On May 9, a special commission headed by A. Zavenyagin was sent to Germany. Her task was to find scientists who worked there on the atomic bomb, to collect materials on the uranium problem. Together with their families, a significant group of German scientists was taken to the USSR. These included Nobel laureates N. Riel and G. Hertz, professors Guyb, M. von Ardene, P. Thyssen, G. Pose, M. Volmer, R. Deppel and others.

The creation of the atomic bomb is delayed

To produce plutonium-239, it was necessary to build a nuclear reactor. Even for the experimental one, about 36 tons of metallic uranium, 500 tons of graphite and 9 tons of uranium dioxide were needed. By August 1943, the graphite problem had been resolved. Its production was launched in May 1944 at the Moscow Electrode Plant. but the right amount there was no uranium in the country by the end of 1945.

Stalin wanted the test of the first atomic bomb in the USSR to take place as soon as possible. The year by which it was to be realized was originally 1948 (until spring). However, by this time there were not even materials for its production. New term was appointed on February 8, 1945 by a government decree. The creation of the atomic bomb was postponed until March 1, 1949.

The final stages that prepared the test of the first atomic bomb in the USSR

The event, which has been striving for so long, happened a little later than the re-scheduled date. The first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR took place in the year 1949, as planned, but not in March, but in August.

In 1948, on June 19, the first industrial reactor ("A") was launched. Plant "B" was built to separate the spent plutonium from nuclear fuel. The irradiated uranium blocks were dissolved and chemically separated from plutonium from uranium. Then the solution was additionally purified from fission products in order to reduce its radiation activity. In April 1949, plant "B" began to manufacture parts of a plutonium bomb using the NII-9 technology. The first heavy water research reactor was launched at the same time. With numerous accidents, the development of production proceeded. When eliminating their consequences, there were cases of overexposure of personnel. However, at that time they did not pay attention to such trifles. The most important thing was to carry out the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR (its date is 1949, August 29).

In July, a set of charge parts was ready. A group of physicists headed by Flerov went to the plant to carry out physical measurements. A group of theoreticians, led by Zeldovich, was sent to process the measurement results, as well as calculate the probability of incomplete rupture and efficiency values.

Thus, the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR was carried out in the year 1949. On August 5, the commission accepted the plutonium charge and sent it to KB-11 by letter train. The necessary work was almost completed here by this time. The control assembly of the charge was carried out at KB-11 on the night of August 10-11. The device was then dismantled, and its parts were packed for sending to the landfill. As already mentioned, the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place on August 29. Soviet bomb, thus, was created in 2 years and 8 months.

Test of the first atomic bomb

In the USSR in 1949, on August 29, a nuclear charge was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. There was a device on the tower. The explosion power was 22 kt. The design of the charge used was the same as the "Fat Man" from the USA, and the electronic filling was developed by Soviet scientists. The multilayer structure was an atomic charge. In it, plutonium was transferred to the critical state with the help of compression by a converging spherical detonation wave.

Some features of the first atomic bomb

5 kg of plutonium was placed in the center of the charge. The substance was found in the form of two hemispheres surrounded by a shell of uranium-238. It served to contain the nucleus, which swelled during the chain reaction, in order to have time to react as much of the plutonium as possible. In addition, it was used as a reflector as well as a neutron moderator. The tamper was surrounded by a shell made of aluminum. It served for uniform compression of a nuclear charge by a shock wave.

The installation of the assembly, which contained fissile material, for safety reasons was carried out immediately before the use of the charge. For this, there was a special end-to-end tapered bore, closed with an explosive plug. And in the inner and outer cases there were holes that were closed with lids. The fission of the nuclei of approximately 1 kg of plutonium resulted in the power of the explosion. The remaining 4 kg did not have time to react and was sprayed uselessly when the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR was carried out, the date of which is now known to you. A lot of new ideas for improving the charges arose during the implementation of this program. They concerned, in particular, increasing the utilization rate of the material, as well as reducing weight and dimensions. Compared to the first, the new designs have become more compact, more powerful and sleeker.

So, the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place in 1949, on August 29. It served as the beginning of further developments in this area, which are ongoing to this day. The test of the atomic bomb in the USSR (1949) became important event in the history of our country, laying the foundation for its status as a nuclear power.

In 1953, at the same Semipalatinsk test site, the first test in the history of Russia took place. Its power was already 400 kt. Compare the first tests in the USSR of an atomic bomb and a hydrogen bomb: power of 22 kt and 400 kt. However, this was only the beginning.

On September 14, 1954, the first military exercises were carried out, during which an atomic bomb was used. They were called Operation Snowball. The test of the atomic bomb in 1954 in the USSR, according to information declassified in 1993, was carried out, among other things, in order to find out how radiation affects a person. Participants in this experiment signed up that they would not disclose information about exposure for 25 years.