Introduction

Interest in the history of the emergence and significance of nuclear weapons for mankind is determined by the significance of a number of factors, among which, perhaps, the first row is occupied by the problems of ensuring a balance of power in the world arena and the relevance of building a system of nuclear deterrence of a military threat to the state. The presence of nuclear weapons always has a certain influence, direct or indirect, on the socio-economic situation and the political balance of power in the "owner countries" of such weapons. This, among other things, determines the relevance of the research problem we have chosen. The problem of the development and relevance of the use of nuclear weapons in order to ensure national security state has been quite relevant in domestic science for more than a decade, and this topic has not yet exhausted itself.

The object of this study is atomic weapons in modern world, the subject of research is the history of creation atomic bomb and its technological device. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the problem of atomic weapons is covered from the standpoint of a number of areas: nuclear physics, national security, history, foreign policy and intelligence.

The purpose of this work is to study the history of the creation and the role of the atomic (nuclear) bomb in ensuring peace and order on our planet.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were solved in the work:

the concept of "atomic bomb", "nuclear weapon", etc. is characterized;

the prerequisites for the emergence of atomic weapons are considered;

the reasons that prompted mankind to create atomic weapons and use them are revealed.

analyzed the structure and composition of the atomic bomb.

The set goal and objectives determined the structure and logic of the study, which consists of an introduction, two sections, a conclusion and a list of sources used.

ATOMIC BOMB: COMPOSITION, BATTLE CHARACTERISTICS AND PURPOSE OF CREATION

Before starting to study the structure of the atomic bomb, it is necessary to understand the terminology on this issue. So, in scientific circles, there are special terms that reflect the characteristics of atomic weapons. Among them, we highlight the following:

Atomic bomb - the original name of an aviation nuclear bomb, the action of which is based on an explosive nuclear fission chain reaction. With the advent of the so-called hydrogen bomb, based on a thermonuclear fusion reaction, a common term for them was established - a nuclear bomb.

Nuclear bomb- an aerial bomb with a nuclear charge, has great destructive power. The first two nuclear bombs with a TNT equivalent of about 20 kt each were dropped by American aircraft on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, on August 6 and 9, 1945, and caused enormous casualties and destruction. Modern nuclear bombs have a TNT equivalent of tens to millions of tons.

Nuclear or atomic weapons are explosive weapons based on the use of nuclear energy released during a chain nuclear fission reaction of heavy nuclei or a thermonuclear fusion reaction of light nuclei.

Refers to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) along with biological and chemical weapons.

Nuclear weapon- a set of nuclear weapons, means of their delivery to the target and controls. Refers to weapons of mass destruction; has tremendous destructive power. For the above reason, the US and the USSR invested heavily in the development of nuclear weapons. According to the power of the charges and the range of action, nuclear weapons are divided into tactical, operational-tactical and strategic. The use of nuclear weapons in war is disastrous for all mankind.

A nuclear explosion is the process of instantaneous release of a large amount of intranuclear energy in a limited volume.

The action of atomic weapons is based on the fission reaction of heavy nuclei (uranium-235, plutonium-239 and, in some cases, uranium-233).

Uranium-235 is used in nuclear weapons because, unlike the more common isotope uranium-238, it can carry out a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Plutonium-239 is also referred to as "weapon-grade plutonium" because it is intended to create nuclear weapons and the content of the 239Pu isotope must be at least 93.5%.

To reflect the structure and composition of the atomic bomb, as a prototype, we analyze the plutonium bomb "Fat Man" (Fig. 1) dropped on August 9, 1945 on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

atomic nuclear bomb explosion

Figure 1 - Atomic bomb "Fat Man"

The layout of this bomb (typical for plutonium single-phase munitions) is approximately the following:

Neutron initiator - a beryllium ball with a diameter of about 2 cm, covered with a thin layer of yttrium-polonium alloy or polonium-210 metal - the primary source of neutrons for a sharp decrease in the critical mass and acceleration of the onset of the reaction. It fires at the moment of transferring the combat core to a supercritical state (during compression, a mixture of polonium and beryllium occurs with the release of a large number of neutrons). At present, in addition to this type of initiation, thermonuclear initiation (TI) is more common. Thermonuclear initiator (TI). It is located in the center of the charge (similar to NI) where a small amount of thermonuclear material is located, the center of which is heated by a converging shock wave and, in the process of a thermonuclear reaction against the background of the temperatures that have arisen, a significant amount of neutrons is produced, sufficient for the neutron initiation of a chain reaction (Fig. 2).

Plutonium. Use the purest plutonium-239 isotope, although to increase stability physical properties(density) and improve the compressibility of the charge plutonium is doped with a small amount of gallium.

A shell (usually made of uranium) that serves as a neutron reflector.

Compression sheath made of aluminium. Provides greater uniformity of compression by a shock wave, while at the same time protecting the internal parts of the charge from direct contact with explosives and hot products of its decomposition.

Explosive with complex system detonation, ensuring synchronous detonation of the entire explosive. Synchronicity is necessary to create a strictly spherical compressive (directed inside the ball) shock wave. A non-spherical wave leads to the ejection of the material of the ball through inhomogeneity and the impossibility of creating a critical mass. The creation of such a system for the location of explosives and detonation was at one time one of the most difficult tasks. A combined scheme (lens system) of "fast" and "slow" explosives is used.

Body made of duralumin stamped elements - two spherical covers and a belt connected by bolts.

Figure 2 - The principle of operation of the plutonium bomb

The center of a nuclear explosion is the point at which a flash occurs or the center of the fireball is located, and the epicenter is the projection of the explosion center onto the earth or water surface.

Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and dangerous type of weapons of mass destruction, threatening all mankind with unprecedented destruction and destruction of millions of people.

If an explosion occurs on the ground or fairly close to its surface, then part of the energy of the explosion is transferred to the Earth's surface in the form of seismic vibrations. A phenomenon occurs, which in its features resembles an earthquake. As a result of such an explosion, seismic waves are formed, which propagate through the thickness of the earth over very long distances. The destructive effect of the wave is limited to a radius of several hundred meters.

As a result of the extremely high temperature of the explosion, a bright flash of light occurs, the intensity of which is hundreds of times greater than the intensity of the sun's rays falling on Earth. A flash releases a huge amount of heat and light. Light radiation causes spontaneous combustion of flammable materials and burns the skin of people within a radius of many kilometers.

At nuclear explosion radiation occurs. It lasts about a minute and has such a high penetrating power that powerful and reliable shelters are required to protect against it at close distances.

A nuclear explosion is capable of instantly destroying or incapacitating unprotected people, openly standing equipment, structures and various materiel. The main damaging factors of a nuclear explosion (PFYAV) are:

shock wave;

light radiation;

penetrating radiation;

radioactive contamination of the area;

electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

During a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere, the distribution of the released energy between the PNFs is approximately the following: about 50% per shock wave, for the share of light radiation 35%, for radioactive contamination 10% and 5% for penetrating radiation and EMP.

Radioactive contamination of people, military equipment, terrain and various objects during a nuclear explosion is caused by fission fragments of the charge substance (Pu-239, U-235) and the unreacted part of the charge falling out of the explosion cloud, as well as radioactive isotopes formed in the soil and other materials under the influence of neutrons - induced activity. Over time, the activity of fission fragments rapidly decreases, especially in the first hours after the explosion. So, for example, the total activity of fission fragments in the explosion of a nuclear weapon with a power of 20 kT in one day will be several thousand times less than one minute after the explosion.

The world of the atom is so fantastic that its understanding requires a radical break in the usual concepts of space and time. Atoms are so small that if a drop of water could be enlarged to the size of the Earth, each atom in that drop would be smaller than an orange. In fact, one drop of water is made up of 6000 billion billion (6000000000000000000000) hydrogen and oxygen atoms. And yet, despite its microscopic size, the atom has a structure to some extent similar to the structure of our solar system. In its incomprehensibly small center, the radius of which is less than one trillionth of a centimeter, is a relatively huge "sun" - the nucleus of an atom.

Around this atomic "sun" tiny "planets" - electrons - revolve. The nucleus consists of two main building blocks of the Universe - protons and neutrons (they have a unifying name - nucleons). An electron and a proton are charged particles, and the amount of charge in each of them is exactly the same, but the charges differ in sign: the proton is always positively charged, and the electron is always negative. The neutron does not carry electric charge and therefore has a very high permeability.

In the atomic measurement scale, the mass of the proton and neutron is taken as unity. The atomic weight of any chemical element therefore depends on the number of protons and neutrons contained in its nucleus. For example, a hydrogen atom, whose nucleus consists of only one proton, has atomic mass equal to 1. A helium atom, with a nucleus of two protons and two neutrons, has an atomic mass equal to 4.

The nuclei of atoms of the same element always contain the same number of protons, but the number of neutrons may be different. Atoms that have nuclei with the same number of protons, but differ in the number of neutrons and related to varieties of the same element, are called isotopes. To distinguish them from each other, a number is assigned to the symbol of the element, equal to the sum of all particles in the nucleus of a given isotope.

The question may arise: why does the nucleus of an atom not fall apart? After all, the protons included in it are electrically charged particles with the same charge, which must repel each other with great force. This is explained by the fact that inside the nucleus there are also so-called intranuclear forces that attract the particles of the nucleus to each other. These forces compensate for the repulsive forces of protons and do not allow the nucleus to fly apart spontaneously.

The intranuclear forces are very strong, but they act only at very close range. Therefore, nuclei of heavy elements, consisting of hundreds of nucleons, turn out to be unstable. The particles of the nucleus are in constant motion here (within the volume of the nucleus), and if you add some additional amount of energy to them, they can overcome internal forces - the nucleus will be divided into parts. The amount of this excess energy is called the excitation energy. Among the isotopes of heavy elements, there are those that seem to be on the very verge of self-decay. Only a small "push" is enough, for example, a simple hit in the nucleus of a neutron (and it does not even have to be accelerated to a high speed) for the nuclear fission reaction to start. Some of these "fissile" isotopes were later made artificially. In nature, there is only one such isotope - it is uranium-235.

Uranus was discovered in 1783 by Klaproth, who isolated it from uranium pitch and named it after the recently discovered planet Uranus. As it turned out later, it was, in fact, not uranium itself, but its oxide. Pure uranium, a silvery-white metal, was obtained
only in 1842 Peligot. New element did not possess any remarkable properties and did not attract attention until 1896, when Becquerel discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity of uranium salts. After that, uranium became an object scientific research and experiments, but practical application still didn't have.

When, in the first third of the 20th century, the structure of the atomic nucleus more or less became clear to physicists, they first of all tried to fulfill the old dream of alchemists - they tried to turn one chemical element in another. In 1934, the French researchers, the spouses Frederic and Irene Joliot-Curie, reported to the French Academy of Sciences about the following experiment: when aluminum plates were bombarded with alpha particles (nuclei of the helium atom), aluminum atoms turned into phosphorus atoms, but not ordinary, but radioactive, which, in turn, passed into a stable isotope of silicon. Thus, an aluminum atom, having added one proton and two neutrons, turned into a heavier silicon atom.

This experience led to the idea that if the nuclei of the heaviest element existing in nature, uranium, are “shelled” with neutrons, then one can obtain an element that does not exist in natural conditions. In 1938, the German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann repeated in general terms the experience of the Joliot-Curie spouses, taking uranium instead of aluminum. The results of the experiment were not at all what they expected - instead of a new superheavy element with a mass number greater than that of uranium, Hahn and Strassmann received light elements from the middle part periodic system: barium, krypton, bromine and some others. The experimenters themselves could not explain the observed phenomenon. It was not until the following year that the physicist Lisa Meitner, to whom Hahn reported her difficulties, found a correct explanation for the observed phenomenon, suggesting that when uranium was bombarded with neutrons, its nucleus split (fissioned). In this case, nuclei of lighter elements should have been formed (this is where barium, krypton and other substances were taken from), as well as 2-3 free neutrons should have been released. Further research allowed to clarify in detail the picture of what is happening.

Natural uranium consists of a mixture of three isotopes with masses of 238, 234 and 235. The main amount of uranium falls on the 238 isotope, the nucleus of which includes 92 protons and 146 neutrons. Uranium-235 is only 1/140 of natural uranium (0.7% (it has 92 protons and 143 neutrons in its nucleus), and uranium-234 (92 protons, 142 neutrons) is only 1/17500 of the total mass of uranium (0 006% The least stable of these isotopes is uranium-235.

From time to time, the nuclei of its atoms spontaneously divide into parts, as a result of which lighter elements of the periodic system are formed. The process is accompanied by the release of two or three free neutrons, which rush at a tremendous speed - about 10 thousand km / s (they are called fast neutrons). These neutrons can hit other uranium nuclei, causing nuclear reactions. Each isotope behaves differently in this case. Uranium-238 nuclei in most cases simply capture these neutrons without any further transformations. But in about one case out of five, when a fast neutron collides with the nucleus of the 238 isotope, a curious nuclear reaction occurs: one of the uranium-238 neutrons emits an electron, turning into a proton, that is, the uranium isotope turns into more
the heavy element is neptunium-239 (93 protons + 146 neutrons). But neptunium is unstable - after a few minutes one of its neutrons emits an electron, turning into a proton, after which the neptunium isotope turns into the next element of the periodic system - plutonium-239 (94 protons + 145 neutrons). If a neutron enters the nucleus of unstable uranium-235, then fission immediately occurs - the atoms decay with the emission of two or three neutrons. It is clear that in natural uranium, most of whose atoms belong to the 238 isotope, this reaction has no visible consequences - all free neutrons will eventually be absorbed by this isotope.

But what if we imagine a fairly massive piece of uranium, consisting entirely of the 235 isotope?

Here the process will go differently: the neutrons released during the fission of several nuclei, in turn, falling into neighboring nuclei, cause their fission. As a result, a new portion of neutrons is released, which splits the following nuclei. Under favorable conditions, this reaction proceeds like an avalanche and is called a chain reaction. A few bombarding particles may suffice to start it.

Indeed, let only 100 neutrons bombard uranium-235. They will split 100 uranium nuclei. In this case, 250 new neutrons of the second generation will be released (an average of 2.5 per fission). The neutrons of the second generation will already produce 250 fissions, at which 625 neutrons will be released. In the next generation it will be 1562, then 3906, then 9670, and so on. The number of divisions will increase without limit if the process is not stopped.

However, in reality, only an insignificant part of neutrons gets into the nuclei of atoms. The rest, swiftly rushing between them, are carried away into the surrounding space. A self-sustaining chain reaction can only occur in a sufficiently large array of uranium-235, which is said to have a critical mass. (This mass under normal conditions is 50 kg.) It is important to note that the fission of each nucleus is accompanied by the release of a huge amount of energy, which turns out to be about 300 million times more than the energy spent on fission! (It has been calculated that with the complete fission of 1 kg of uranium-235, the same amount of heat is released as when burning 3 thousand tons of coal.)

This colossal surge of energy, released in a matter of moments, manifests itself as an explosion of monstrous force and underlies the operation of nuclear weapons. But in order for this weapon to become a reality, it is necessary that the charge does not consist of natural uranium, but of a rare isotope - 235 (such uranium is called enriched). Later it was found that pure plutonium is also a fissile material and can be used in an atomic charge instead of uranium-235.

All these important discoveries were made on the eve of World War II. Soon secret work began in Germany and other countries on the creation of an atomic bomb. In the United States, this problem was taken up in 1941. The whole complex of works was given the name of the "Manhattan Project".

The administrative leadership of the project was carried out by General Groves, and the scientific direction was carried out by Professor Robert Oppenheimer of the University of California. Both were well aware of the enormous complexity of the task before them. Therefore, Oppenheimer's first concern was the acquisition of a highly intelligent scientific team. There were many physicists in the United States at that time who had emigrated from Nazi Germany. It was not easy to involve them in the creation of weapons directed against their former homeland. Oppenheimer spoke to everyone personally, using the full force of his charm. Soon he managed to gather a small group of theorists, whom he jokingly called "luminaries." And in fact, it included the largest experts of that time in the field of physics and chemistry. (Among them 13 laureates Nobel Prize, including Bohr, Fermi, Frank, Chadwick, Lawrence.) In addition to them, there were many other specialists of various profiles.

The US government did not skimp on spending, and from the very beginning the work assumed a grandiose scope. In 1942, the world's largest research laboratory was founded at Los Alamos. The population of this scientific city soon reached 9 thousand people. According to the composition of scientists, scope scientific experiments, the number of specialists and workers involved in the work of the Los Alamos Laboratory was unparalleled in world history. The Manhattan Project had its own police, counterintelligence, communications system, warehouses, settlements, factories, laboratories, and its own colossal budget.

The main goal of the project was to obtain enough fissile material from which to create several atomic bombs. In addition to uranium-235, as already mentioned, the artificial element plutonium-239 could serve as a charge for the bomb, that is, the bomb could be either uranium or plutonium.

Groves and Oppenheimer agreed that work should be carried out simultaneously in two directions, since it is impossible to decide in advance which of them will be more promising. Both methods were fundamentally different from each other: the accumulation of uranium-235 had to be carried out by separating it from the bulk of natural uranium, and plutonium could only be obtained as a result of a controlled nuclear reaction by irradiating uranium-238 with neutrons. Both paths seemed unusually difficult and did not promise easy solutions.

Indeed, how can two isotopes be separated from each other, which differ only slightly in their weight and chemically behave in exactly the same way? Neither science nor technology has ever faced such a problem. Plutonium production also seemed very problematic at first. Prior to this, the entire experience of nuclear transformations was reduced to several laboratory experiments. Now it was necessary to master the production of kilograms of plutonium on an industrial scale, develop and create a special installation for this - a nuclear reactor, and learn how to control the course of a nuclear reaction.

And here and there a whole complex of complex problems had to be solved. Therefore, the "Manhattan Project" consisted of several subprojects, headed by prominent scientists. Oppenheimer himself was the head of the Los Alamos Science Laboratory. Lawrence was in charge of the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California. Fermi led research at the University of Chicago on the creation of a nuclear reactor.

Initially, the most important problem was obtaining uranium. Before the war, this metal actually had no use. Now that it was needed immediately in huge quantities, it turned out that there was no industrial way to produce it.

The Westinghouse company undertook its development and quickly achieved success. After purification of uranium resin (in this form, uranium occurs in nature) and obtaining uranium oxide, it was converted into tetrafluoride (UF4), from which metallic uranium was isolated by electrolysis. If at the end of 1941, American scientists had only a few grams of metallic uranium at their disposal, then in November 1942 its industrial production at the Westinghouse plants reached 6,000 pounds per month.

At the same time, work was underway on the creation of a nuclear reactor. The plutonium production process was actually reduced to the irradiation of uranium rods with neutrons, as a result of which part of the uranium-238 had to turn into plutonium. Sources of neutrons in this case could be fissile uranium-235 atoms scattered in sufficient quantities among uranium-238 atoms. But in order to maintain a constant reproduction of neutrons, a chain reaction of fission of uranium-235 atoms had to begin. Meanwhile, as already mentioned, for every atom of uranium-235 there were 140 atoms of uranium-238. It is clear that the neutrons flying in all directions were much more likely to meet exactly them on their way. That is, a huge number of released neutrons turned out to be absorbed by the main isotope to no avail. Obviously, under such conditions, the chain reaction could not go. How to be?

At first it seemed that without the separation of two isotopes, the operation of the reactor was generally impossible, but one important circumstance was soon established: it turned out that uranium-235 and uranium-238 were susceptible to neutrons of different energies. It is possible to split the nucleus of an atom of uranium-235 with a neutron of relatively low energy, having a speed of about 22 m/s. Such slow neutrons are not captured by uranium-238 nuclei - for this they must have a speed of the order of hundreds of thousands of meters per second. In other words, uranium-238 is powerless to prevent the start and progress of a chain reaction in uranium-235 caused by neutrons slowed down to extremely low speeds - no more than 22 m/s. This phenomenon was discovered by the Italian physicist Fermi, who lived in the United States since 1938 and supervised the work on the creation of the first reactor here. Fermi decided to use graphite as a neutron moderator. According to his calculations, neutrons emitted from uranium-235, having passed through a layer of graphite of 40 cm, should have reduced their speed to 22 m/s and started a self-sustaining chain reaction in uranium-235.

The so-called "heavy" water could serve as another moderator. Since the hydrogen atoms that make up it are very close in size and mass to neutrons, they could best slow them down. (About the same thing happens with fast neutrons as with balls: if a small ball hits a large one, it rolls back, almost without losing speed, but when it meets a small ball, it transfers a significant part of its energy to it - just like a neutron in an elastic collision bounces off a heavy nucleus only slightly slowing down, and on collision with the nuclei of hydrogen atoms loses all its energy very quickly.) However, ordinary water is not suitable for slowing down, since its hydrogen tends to absorb neutrons. That is why deuterium, which is part of "heavy" water, should be used for this purpose.

In early 1942, under the leadership of Fermi, construction began on the first ever nuclear reactor in the tennis court under the west stands of the Chicago Stadium. All work was carried out by the scientists themselves. The reaction can be controlled in the only way - by adjusting the number of neutrons involved in the chain reaction. Fermi envisioned doing this with rods made from materials such as boron and cadmium, which absorb neutrons strongly. Graphite bricks served as a moderator, from which physicists erected columns 3 m high and 1.2 m wide. Rectangular blocks with uranium oxide were installed between them. About 46 tons of uranium oxide and 385 tons of graphite went into the entire structure. To slow down the reaction, cadmium and boron rods introduced into the reactor served.

If this weren't enough, then for insurance, on a platform located above the reactor, there were two scientists with buckets filled with a solution of cadmium salts - they were supposed to pour them over the reactor if the reaction got out of control. Fortunately, this was not required. On December 2, 1942, Fermi ordered all the control rods to be extended, and the experiment began. Four minutes later, the neutron counters began to click louder and louder. With every minute, the intensity of the neutron flux became greater. This indicated that a chain reaction was taking place in the reactor. It went on for 28 minutes. Then Fermi signaled, and the lowered rods stopped the process. Thus, for the first time, man released the energy of the atomic nucleus and proved that he could control it at will. Now there was no longer any doubt that nuclear weapons were a reality.

In 1943, the Fermi reactor was dismantled and transported to the Aragonese National Laboratory (50 km from Chicago). Another nuclear reactor was soon built here, in which heavy water was used as a moderator. It consisted of a cylindrical aluminum tank containing 6.5 tons of heavy water, into which 120 rods of uranium metal were vertically loaded, enclosed in an aluminum shell. The seven control rods were made from cadmium. Around the tank was a graphite reflector, then a screen made of lead and cadmium alloys. The entire structure was enclosed in a concrete shell with a wall thickness of about 2.5 m.

Experiments on these experimental reactors confirmed the possibility industrial production plutonium.

The main center of the "Manhattan Project" soon became the town of Oak Ridge in the Tennessee River Valley, whose population in a few months grew to 79 thousand people. Here, in a short time, the first plant for the production of enriched uranium was built. Immediately in 1943, an industrial reactor was launched that produced plutonium. In February 1944, about 300 kg of uranium was extracted from it daily, from the surface of which plutonium was obtained by chemical separation. (To do this, the plutonium was first dissolved and then precipitated.) The purified uranium was then returned to the reactor again. In the same year, in the barren, desolate desert on the south bank of the Columbia River, construction began on the huge Hanford Plant. Three powerful nuclear reactors were located here, giving several hundred grams of plutonium daily.

In parallel, research was in full swing to develop an industrial process for uranium enrichment.

Having considered different variants, Groves and Oppenheimer decided to focus on two methods: gas diffusion and electromagnetic.

The gas diffusion method was based on a principle known as Graham's law (it was first formulated in 1829 by the Scottish chemist Thomas Graham and developed in 1896 by the English physicist Reilly). In accordance with this law, if two gases, one of which is lighter than the other, are passed through a filter with negligible holes, then a little more light gas will pass through it than heavy gas. In November 1942, Urey and Dunning at Columbia University created a gaseous diffusion method for separating uranium isotopes based on the Reilly method.

Since natural uranium is solid, then it was first converted into uranium fluoride (UF6). This gas was then passed through microscopic - on the order of thousandths of a millimeter - holes in the filter septum.

Since the difference in the molar weights of the gases was very small, behind the baffle the content of uranium-235 increased only by a factor of 1.0002.

In order to increase the amount of uranium-235 even more, the resulting mixture is again passed through a partition, and the amount of uranium is again increased by 1.0002 times. Thus, in order to increase the content of uranium-235 to 99%, it was necessary to pass the gas through 4000 filters. This took place in a huge gaseous diffusion plant at Oak Ridge.

In 1940, under the leadership of Ernst Lawrence at the University of California, research began on the separation of uranium isotopes by the electromagnetic method. It was necessary to find such physical processes that would allow isotopes to be separated using the difference in their masses. Lawrence made an attempt to separate isotopes using the principle of a mass spectrograph - an instrument that determines the masses of atoms.

The principle of its operation was as follows: pre-ionized atoms were accelerated electric field, and then passed through a magnetic field in which they described circles located in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the field. Since the radii of these trajectories were proportional to the mass, the light ions ended up on circles of a smaller radius than the heavy ones. If traps were placed in the path of the atoms, then it was possible in this way to separately collect different isotopes.

That was the method. Under laboratory conditions, he gave good results. But the construction of a plant in which isotope separation could be carried out on an industrial scale proved to be extremely difficult. However, Lawrence eventually managed to overcome all difficulties. The result of his efforts was the appearance of the calutron, which was installed in a giant plant in Oak Ridge.

This electromagnetic plant was built in 1943 and turned out to be perhaps the most expensive brainchild of the Manhattan Project. Lawrence's method required a large number of complex, not yet developed devices related to high voltage, high vacuum and strong magnetic fields. The costs were enormous. Calutron had a giant electromagnet, the length of which reached 75 m and weighed about 4000 tons.

Several thousand tons of silver wire went into the windings for this electromagnet.

The entire work (excluding the cost of $300 million worth of silver, which the State Treasury provided only temporarily) cost $400 million. Only for the electricity spent by the calutron, the Ministry of Defense paid 10 million. Much of the equipment at the Oak Ridge factory was superior in scale and precision to anything ever developed in the field.

But all these expenses were not in vain. Having spent a total of about $ 2 billion, US scientists by 1944 created a unique technology for uranium enrichment and plutonium production. Meanwhile, at the Los Alamos Laboratory, they were working on the design of the bomb itself. The principle of its operation was in general terms clear for a long time: the fissile substance (plutonium or uranium-235) should have been transferred to a critical state at the time of the explosion (for a chain reaction to occur, the mass of the charge must be even noticeably larger than the critical one) and irradiated with a neutron beam, which entailed is the start of a chain reaction.

According to calculations, the critical mass of the charge exceeded 50 kilograms, but it could be significantly reduced. In general, the magnitude of the critical mass is strongly influenced by several factors. The larger the surface area of the charge, the more neutrons are emitted uselessly into the surrounding space. smallest area the surface has a sphere. Consequently, spherical charges, other things being equal, have the smallest critical mass. In addition, the value of the critical mass depends on the purity and type of fissile materials. It is inversely proportional to the square of the density of this material, which allows, for example, by doubling the density, to reduce the critical mass by a factor of four. The required degree of subcriticality can be obtained, for example, by compacting the fissile material due to the explosion of a conventional explosive charge made in the form of a spherical shell surrounding the nuclear charge. The critical mass can also be reduced by surrounding the charge with a screen that reflects neutrons well. Lead, beryllium, tungsten, natural uranium, iron, and many others can be used as such a screen.

One of the possible designs of the atomic bomb consists of two pieces of uranium, which, when combined, form a mass greater than the critical one. In order to cause a bomb explosion, you need to bring them together as quickly as possible. The second method is based on the use of an inward-converging explosion. In this case, the flow of gases from a conventional explosive was directed at the fissile material located inside and compressing it until it reached a critical mass. The connection of a charge and its intensive irradiation with neutrons, as already mentioned, causes a chain reaction, as a result of which, in the first second, the temperature rises to 1 million degrees. During this time, only about 5% of the critical mass managed to separate. The rest of the charge in early bomb designs evaporated without
any good.

The first atomic bomb in history (it was given the name "Trinity") was assembled in the summer of 1945. And on June 16, 1945, the first atomic explosion on Earth was carried out at the nuclear test site in the Alamogordo desert (New Mexico). The bomb was placed in the center of the test site on top of a 30-meter steel tower. Recording equipment was placed around it at a great distance. At 9 km there was an observation post, and at 16 km - a command post. The atomic explosion made a tremendous impression on all the witnesses of this event. According to the description of eyewitnesses, there was a feeling that many suns merged into one and lit up the polygon at once. Then a huge ball of fire appeared above the plain, and a round cloud of dust and light began to slowly and ominously rise towards it.

After taking off from the ground, this fireball flew up to a height of more than three kilometers in a few seconds. With every moment it grew in size, soon its diameter reached 1.5 km, and it slowly rose into the stratosphere. The fireball then gave way to a column of swirling smoke, which stretched out to a height of 12 km, taking the form of a giant mushroom. All this was accompanied by a terrible roar, from which the earth trembled. The power of the exploded bomb exceeded all expectations.

As soon as the radiation situation allowed, several Sherman tanks, lined with lead plates from the inside, rushed into the explosion area. On one of them was Fermi, who was eager to see the results of his work. Dead scorched earth appeared before his eyes, on which all life was destroyed within a radius of 1.5 km. The sand sintered into a glassy greenish crust that covered the ground. In a huge crater lay the mutilated remains of a steel support tower. The force of the explosion was estimated at 20,000 tons of TNT.

The next step was to be the combat use of the atomic bomb against Japan, which, after the surrender of fascist Germany, alone continued the war with the United States and its allies. There were no launch vehicles then, so the bombing had to be carried out from an aircraft. The components of the two bombs were transported with great care by the USS Indianapolis to Tinian Island, where the US Air Force 509th Composite Group was based. By type of charge and design, these bombs were somewhat different from each other.

The first atomic bomb - "Baby" - was a large-sized aerial bomb with an atomic charge of highly enriched uranium-235. Its length was about 3 m, diameter - 62 cm, weight - 4.1 tons.

The second atomic bomb - "Fat Man" - with a charge of plutonium-239 had an egg shape with a large-sized stabilizer. Its length
was 3.2 m, diameter 1.5 m, weight - 4.5 tons.

On August 6, Colonel Tibbets' B-29 Enola Gay bomber dropped the "Kid" on the large Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped by parachute and exploded, as it was planned, at an altitude of 600 m from the ground.

The consequences of the explosion were terrible. Even on the pilots themselves, the sight of the peaceful city destroyed by them in an instant made a depressing impression. Later, one of them admitted that they saw at that moment the worst thing that a person can see.

For those who were on earth, what was happening looked like a real hell. First of all, a heat wave passed over Hiroshima. Its action lasted only a few moments, but it was so powerful that it melted even tiles and quartz crystals in granite slabs, turned telephone poles into coal at a distance of 4 km and, finally, so incinerated human bodies that only shadows remained of them on the pavement asphalt. or on the walls of houses. Then a monstrous gust of wind escaped from under the fireball and rushed over the city at a speed of 800 km / h, sweeping away everything in its path. The houses that could not withstand his furious onslaught collapsed as if they had been cut down. In a giant circle with a diameter of 4 km, not a single building remained intact. A few minutes after the explosion, a black radioactive rain fell over the city - this moisture turned into steam condensed in the high layers of the atmosphere and fell to the ground in the form of large drops mixed with radioactive dust.

After the rain, a new gust of wind hit the city, this time blowing in the direction of the epicenter. He was weaker than the first, but still strong enough to uproot trees. The wind fanned a gigantic fire in which everything that could burn was burning. Of the 76,000 buildings, 55,000 were completely destroyed and burned down. Witnesses of this terrible catastrophe recalled people-torches from which burnt clothes fell to the ground along with tatters of skin, and crowds of distraught people, covered with terrible burns, who rushed screaming through the streets. There was a suffocating stench of burnt human flesh in the air. People lay everywhere, dead and dying. There were many who were blind and deaf and, poking in all directions, could not make out anything in the chaos that reigned around.

The unfortunate, who were from the epicenter at a distance of up to 800 m, burned out in a split second in the literal sense of the word - their insides evaporated, and their bodies turned into lumps of smoking coals. Located at a distance of 1 km from the epicenter, they were struck by radiation sickness in an extremely severe form. Within a few hours, they began to vomit severely, the temperature jumped to 39-40 degrees, shortness of breath and bleeding appeared. Then, non-healing ulcers appeared on the skin, the composition of the blood changed dramatically, and the hair fell out. After terrible suffering, usually on the second or third day, death occurred.

In total, about 240 thousand people died from the explosion and radiation sickness. About 160 thousand received radiation sickness in a milder form - their painful death was delayed for several months or years. When the news of the catastrophe spread throughout the country, all of Japan was paralyzed with fear. It increased even more after Major Sweeney's Box Car aircraft dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki on August 9th. Several hundred thousand inhabitants were also killed and wounded here. Unable to resist the new weapons, the Japanese government capitulated - the atomic bomb put an end to World War II.

War is over. It lasted only six years, but managed to change the world and people almost beyond recognition.

Human civilization before 1939 and human civilization after 1945 are strikingly different from each other. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important is the emergence of nuclear weapons. It can be said without exaggeration that the shadow of Hiroshima lies over the entire second half of the 20th century. It became a deep moral burn for many millions of people, both those who were contemporaries of this catastrophe and those born decades after it. Modern man he can no longer think about the world as they thought about it before August 6, 1945 - he understands too clearly that this world can turn into nothing in a few moments.

A modern person cannot look at the war, as his grandfathers and great-grandfathers watched - he knows for sure that this war will be the last, and there will be neither winners nor losers in it. Nuclear weapons have left their mark on all spheres public life, and modern civilization cannot live by the same laws as sixty or eighty years ago. No one understood this better than the creators of the atomic bomb themselves.

"People of our planet Robert Oppenheimer wrote, should unite. Horror and destruction sown last war, dictate this thought to us. Explosions of atomic bombs proved it with all cruelty. Other people at other times have said similar words - only about other weapons and other wars. They didn't succeed. But whoever says today that these words are useless is deceived by the vicissitudes of history. We cannot be convinced of this. The results of our labor leave no other choice for humanity but to create a unified world. A world based on law and humanism."

After the end of World War II, the country anti-Hitler coalition rapidly tried to get ahead of each other in the development of a more powerful nuclear bomb.

The first test, conducted by the Americans on real objects in Japan, heated up the situation between the USSR and the USA to the limit. The powerful explosions that thundered in Japanese cities and practically destroyed all life in them forced Stalin to abandon many claims on the world stage. Most of the Soviet physicists were urgently "thrown" to the development of nuclear weapons.

When and how did nuclear weapons appear

1896 can be considered the year of birth of the atomic bomb. It was then that French chemist A. Becquerel discovered that uranium is radioactive. The chain reaction of uranium forms a powerful energy that serves as the basis for a terrible explosion. It is unlikely that Becquerel imagined that his discovery would lead to the creation of nuclear weapons - the most terrible weapon in the whole world.

The end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century was a turning point in the history of the invention of nuclear weapons. It was in this time period that scientists from various countries of the world were able to discover the following laws, rays and elements:

Alpha, gamma and beta rays;
Many isotopes of chemical elements with radioactive properties have been discovered;
The law of radioactive decay was discovered, which determines the time and quantitative dependence of the intensity of radioactive decay, depending on the number of radioactive atoms in the test sample;
Nuclear isometry was born.

In the 1930s, for the first time, they were able to split the atomic nucleus of uranium by absorbing neutrons. At the same time, positrons and neurons were discovered. All this gave a powerful impetus to the development of weapons that used atomic energy. In 1939, the world's first atomic bomb design was patented. This was done by French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie.

As a result of further research and development in this area, a nuclear bomb was born. The power and range of destruction of modern atomic bombs is so great that a country that has a nuclear potential practically does not need powerful army, since one atomic bomb is capable of destroying an entire state.

How an atomic bomb works

An atomic bomb consists of many elements, the main of which are:

Atomic Bomb Corps;
Automation system that controls the explosion process;
Nuclear charge or warhead.

The automation system is located in the body of an atomic bomb, along with a nuclear charge. The hull design must be sufficiently reliable to protect the warhead from various external factors and influences. For example, various mechanical, thermal or similar influences, which can lead to an unplanned explosion of great power, capable of destroying everything around.

The task of automation includes complete control over the explosion at the right time, so the system consists of the following elements:

Device responsible for emergency detonation;
Power supply of the automation system;
Undermining sensor system;
cocking device;
Safety device.

When the first tests were carried out, nuclear bombs were delivered by planes that had time to leave the affected area. Modern atomic bombs are so powerful that they can only be delivered using cruise, ballistic, or even anti-aircraft missiles.

Atomic bombs use a variety of detonation systems. The simplest of them is a conventional device that is triggered when a projectile hits a target.

One of the main characteristics of nuclear bombs and missiles is their division into calibers, which are of three types:

Small, the power of atomic bombs of this caliber is equivalent to several thousand tons of TNT;
Medium (explosion power - several tens of thousands of tons of TNT);
Large, the charge power of which is measured in millions of tons of TNT.

It is interesting that most often the power of all nuclear bombs is measured precisely in TNT equivalent, since there is no scale for measuring the power of an explosion for atomic weapons.

Algorithms for the operation of nuclear bombs

Any atomic bomb operates on the principle of using nuclear energy, which is released during a nuclear reaction. This procedure is based on either the fission of heavy nuclei or the synthesis of lungs. Since this reaction releases a huge amount of energy, and in the shortest possible time, the radius of destruction of a nuclear bomb is very impressive. Because of this feature, nuclear weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction.

There are two main points in the process that starts with the explosion of an atomic bomb:

This is the immediate center of the explosion, where the nuclear reaction takes place;
The epicenter of the explosion, which is located at the site where the bomb exploded.

The nuclear energy released during the explosion of an atomic bomb is so strong that seismic tremors begin on the earth. At the same time, these shocks bring direct destruction only at a distance of several hundred meters (although, given the force of the explosion of the bomb itself, these shocks no longer affect anything).

Damage factors in a nuclear explosion

The explosion of a nuclear bomb brings not only terrible instantaneous destruction. The consequences of this explosion will be felt not only by people who fell into the affected area, but also by their children, who were born after the atomic explosion. Types of destruction by atomic weapons are divided into the following groups:

Light radiation that occurs directly during the explosion;
The shock wave propagated by a bomb immediately after the explosion;
Electromagnetic pulse;
penetrating radiation;
A radioactive contamination that can last for decades.

Although at first glance, a flash of light poses the least threat, in fact, it is formed as a result of the release of a huge amount of thermal and light energy. Its power and strength far exceeds the power of the rays of the sun, so the defeat of light and heat can be fatal at a distance of several kilometers.

The radiation that is released during the explosion is also very dangerous. Although it does not last long, it manages to infect everything around, since its penetrating ability is incredibly high.

shock wave at atomic explosion acts like the same wave in conventional explosions, only its power and radius of destruction are much larger. In a few seconds, it causes irreparable damage not only to people, but also to equipment, buildings and the surrounding nature.

Penetrating radiation provokes the development of radiation sickness, and an electromagnetic pulse is dangerous only for equipment. The combination of all these factors, plus the power of the explosion, makes the atomic bomb the most dangerous weapon in the world.

The world's first nuclear weapons test

The first country to develop and test nuclear weapons was the United States of America. It was the US government that allocated huge cash subsidies for the development of promising new weapons. By the end of 1941, many prominent scientists in the field of atomic development were invited to the United States, who by 1945 were able to present a prototype atomic bomb suitable for testing.

The world's first test of an atomic bomb equipped with an explosive device was carried out in the desert in the state of New Mexico. A bomb called "Gadget" was detonated on July 16, 1945. The test result was positive, although the military demanded to test a nuclear bomb in real combat conditions.

Seeing that there was only one step left before victory in the Nazi coalition, and there might not be more such an opportunity, the Pentagon decided to inflict nuclear strike by the last ally Nazi Germany- Japan. In addition, the use of a nuclear bomb was supposed to solve several problems at once:

To avoid the unnecessary bloodshed that would inevitably occur if US troops set foot on Imperial Japanese territory;
To bring the uncompromising Japanese to their knees in one blow, forcing them to agree to conditions favorable to the United States;
Show the USSR (as a possible rival in the future) that the US Army has a unique weapon that can wipe out any city from the face of the earth;
And, of course, to see in practice what nuclear weapons are capable of in real combat conditions.

On August 6, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which was used in military operations. This bomb was called "Baby", as its weight was 4 tons. The bomb drop was carefully planned, and it hit exactly where it was planned. Those houses that were not destroyed by the blast burned down, as the stoves that fell in the houses provoked fires, and the whole city was engulfed in flames.

After a bright flash, a heat wave followed, which burned all life within a radius of 4 kilometers, and the shock wave that followed it destroyed most of the buildings.

Those who were hit by heatstroke within a radius of 800 meters were burned alive. The blast wave tore off the burnt skin of many. A couple of minutes later, a strange black rain fell, which consisted of steam and ash. Those who fell under the black rain, the skin received incurable burns.

Those few who were lucky enough to survive fell ill with radiation sickness, which at that time was not only not studied, but also completely unknown. People began to develop fever, vomiting, nausea and bouts of weakness.

On August 9, 1945, the second American bomb, called "Fat Man", was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. This bomb had about the same power as the first, and the consequences of its explosion were just as devastating, although people died half as much.

Two atomic bombs dropped on Japanese cities turned out to be the first and only case in the world of the use of atomic weapons. More than 300,000 people died in the first days after the bombing. About 150 thousand more died from radiation sickness.

After the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities, Stalin received a real shock. It became clear to him that the issue of developing nuclear weapons in Soviet Russia was a security issue for the entire country. Already on August 20, 1945, a special committee on atomic energy began to work, which was urgently created by I. Stalin.

Although research in nuclear physics was carried out by a group of enthusiasts back in Tsarist Russia, in Soviet time she wasn't getting enough attention. In 1938, all research in this area was completely stopped, and many nuclear scientists were repressed as enemies of the people. After the nuclear explosions in Japan, the Soviet government abruptly began to restore the nuclear industry in the country.

There is evidence that the development of nuclear weapons was carried out in Nazi Germany, and it was German scientists who finalized the “raw” American atomic bomb, so the US government removed all nuclear specialists and all documents related to the development of nuclear weapons from Germany.

The Soviet intelligence school, which during the war was able to bypass all foreign intelligence services, back in 1943 transferred secret documents related to the development of nuclear weapons to the USSR. At the same time, Soviet agents were introduced into all major American nuclear research centers.

As a result of all these measures, already in 1946, the terms of reference for the manufacture of two Soviet-made nuclear bombs were ready:

RDS-1 (with plutonium charge);
RDS-2 (with two parts of the uranium charge).

The abbreviation "RDS" was deciphered as "Russia does itself", which almost completely corresponded to reality.

The news that the USSR was ready to release its nuclear weapons forced the US government to take drastic measures. In 1949, the Troyan plan was developed, according to which it was planned to drop atomic bombs on 70 largest cities in the USSR. Only the fear of a retaliatory strike prevented this plan from being realized.

This alarming information coming from Soviet intelligence officers forced scientists to work in an emergency mode. Already in August 1949, the first atomic bomb produced in the USSR was tested. When the US found out about these tests, the Trojan plan was postponed indefinitely. The era of confrontation between the two superpowers, known in history as the Cold War, began.

The most powerful nuclear bomb in the world, known as the "Tsar bomb" belongs precisely to the period " cold war". Soviet scientists have created the most powerful bomb in the history of mankind. Its capacity was 60 megatons, although it was planned to create a bomb with a capacity of 100 kilotons. This bomb was tested in October 1961. The diameter of the fireball during the explosion was 10 kilometers, and the blast wave circled the globe three times. It was this test that forced most countries of the world to sign an agreement to end nuclear tests not only in the earth's atmosphere, but even in space.

Although atomic weapons are an excellent means of intimidating aggressive countries, on the other hand, they are capable of extinguishing any military conflicts in the bud, since all parties to the conflict can be destroyed in an atomic explosion.

North Korea threatens US with super-powerful hydrogen bomb tests pacific ocean. Japan, which could suffer from the tests, called North Korea's plans absolutely unacceptable. Presidents Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un swear in interviews and talk about open military conflict. For those who do not understand nuclear weapons, but want to be in the subject, "Futurist" has compiled a guide.

How do nuclear weapons work?

Like a regular stick of dynamite, a nuclear bomb uses energy. Only it is released not in the course of a primitive chemical reaction, but in complex nuclear processes. There are two main ways to extract nuclear energy from an atom. AT nuclear fission the nucleus of an atom splits into two smaller fragments with a neutron. Nuclear fusion - the process by which the Sun generates energy - involves combining two smaller atoms to form a larger one. In any process, fission or fusion, large amounts of thermal energy and radiation are released. Depending on whether nuclear fission or fusion is used, bombs are divided into nuclear (atomic) and thermonuclear .

Can you elaborate on nuclear fission?

Atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima (1945)

As you remember, an atom is made up of three types of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. The center of the atom is called core , is made up of protons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged, and neutrons have no charge at all. The proton-electron ratio is always one to one, so the atom as a whole has a neutral charge. For example, a carbon atom has six protons and six electrons. Particles are held together by a fundamental force - strong nuclear force .

The properties of an atom can vary greatly depending on how many different particles it contains. If you change the number of protons, you will have a different chemical element. If you change the number of neutrons, you get isotope the same element that you have in your hands. For example, carbon has three isotopes: 1) carbon-12 (six protons + six neutrons), a stable and frequently occurring form of the element, 2) carbon-13 (six protons + seven neutrons), which is stable but rare, and 3) carbon -14 (six protons + eight neutrons), which is rare and unstable (or radioactive).

Most atomic nuclei are stable, but some are unstable (radioactive). These nuclei spontaneously emit particles that scientists call radiation. This process is called radioactive decay . There are three types of decay:

Alpha decay : The nucleus ejects an alpha particle - two protons and two neutrons bound together. beta decay : the neutron turns into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino. The ejected electron is a beta particle. Spontaneous division: the nucleus breaks up into several parts and emits neutrons, and also emits a pulse of electromagnetic energy - a gamma ray. It is the latter type of decay that is used in the nuclear bomb. Free neutrons emitted by fission begin chain reaction which releases an enormous amount of energy.

What are nuclear bombs made of?

They can be made from uranium-235 and plutonium-239. Uranium occurs in nature as a mixture of three isotopes: 238U (99.2745% of natural uranium), 235U (0.72%) and 234U (0.0055%). The most common 238 U does not support a chain reaction: only 235 U is capable of this. To achieve the maximum explosion power, it is necessary that the content of 235 U in the "stuffing" of the bomb is at least 80%. Therefore, uranium falls artificially enrich . To do this, the mixture of uranium isotopes is divided into two parts so that one of them contains more than 235 U.

Usually, when isotopes are separated, there is a lot of depleted uranium that cannot start a chain reaction - but there is a way to make it do this. The fact is that plutonium-239 does not occur in nature. But it can be obtained by bombarding 238 U with neutrons.

How is their power measured?

The power of a nuclear and thermonuclear charge is measured in TNT equivalent - the amount of trinitrotoluene that must be detonated to obtain a similar result. It is measured in kilotons (kt) and megatons (Mt). The power of ultra-small nuclear weapons is less than 1 kt, while super-powerful bombs give more than 1 Mt.

The power of the Soviet Tsar Bomba, according to various sources, ranged from 57 to 58.6 megatons of TNT, the power of the thermonuclear bomb that the DPRK tested in early September was about 100 kilotons.

Who created nuclear weapons?

American physicist Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves

In the 1930s, an Italian physicist Enrico Fermi demonstrated that elements bombarded with neutrons could be converted into new elements. The result of this work was the discovery slow neutrons , as well as the discovery of new elements that are not presented on periodic table. Shortly after Fermi's discovery, German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann bombarded uranium with neutrons, resulting in the formation of a radioactive isotope of barium. They concluded that low-speed neutrons cause the uranium nucleus to break into two smaller pieces.

This work excited the minds of the whole world. At Princeton University Niels Bohr worked with John Wheeler to develop a hypothetical model of the fission process. They suggested that uranium-235 undergoes fission. Around the same time, other scientists discovered that the fission process produced even more neutrons. This prompted Bohr and Wheeler to ask an important question: could the free neutrons created by fission set off a chain reaction that would release an enormous amount of energy? If so, then weapons of unimaginable power could be created. Their assumptions were confirmed by the French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie . His conclusion was the impetus for the development of nuclear weapons.

The physicists of Germany, England, the USA, and Japan worked on the creation of atomic weapons. Before the outbreak of World War II Albert Einstein wrote to the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt that Nazi Germany plans to purify uranium-235 and create an atomic bomb. Now it turned out that Germany was far from conducting a chain reaction: they were working on a "dirty", highly radioactive bomb. Be that as it may, the US government threw all its efforts into creating an atomic bomb in the shortest possible time. The Manhattan Project was launched, led by an American physicist Robert Oppenheimer and general Leslie Groves . It was attended by prominent scientists who emigrated from Europe. By the summer of 1945, an atomic weapon was created based on two types of fissile material - uranium-235 and plutonium-239. One bomb, the plutonium "Thing", was detonated during tests, and two more, the uranium "Kid" and the plutonium "Fat Man", were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

How does a thermonuclear bomb work and who invented it?

The thermonuclear bomb is based on the reaction nuclear fusion . Unlike nuclear fission, which can take place both spontaneously and forcedly, nuclear fusion is impossible without the supply of external energy. Atomic nuclei are positively charged, so they repel each other. This situation is called the Coulomb barrier. To overcome repulsion, it is necessary to disperse these particles to crazy speeds. This can be done at very high temperatures - on the order of several million kelvins (hence the name). There are three types of thermonuclear reactions: self-sustaining (take place in the interior of stars), controlled and uncontrolled or explosive - they are used in hydrogen bombs.

The idea of a thermonuclear fusion bomb initiated by an atomic charge was proposed by Enrico Fermi to his colleague Edward Teller back in 1941, at the very beginning of the Manhattan Project. However, at that time this idea was not in demand. Teller's developments improved Stanislav Ulam , making the idea of a thermonuclear bomb feasible in practice. In 1952, the first thermonuclear explosive device was tested on Enewetok Atoll during Operation Ivy Mike. However, it was a laboratory sample, unsuitable for combat. A year later, the Soviet Union exploded the world's first thermonuclear bomb, assembled according to the design of physicists. Andrey Sakharov and Julia Khariton . The device resembled a layer cake, so the formidable weapon was nicknamed "Sloika". In the course of further development, the most powerful bomb on Earth, the "Tsar Bomba" or "Kuzkin's Mother", was born. In October 1961, it was tested on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.

What are thermonuclear bombs made of?

If you thought that hydrogen and thermonuclear bombs are different things, you were wrong. These words are synonymous. It is hydrogen (or rather, its isotopes - deuterium and tritium) that is required to carry out a thermonuclear reaction. However, there is a difficulty: in order to detonate a hydrogen bomb, it is first necessary to obtain a high temperature during a conventional nuclear explosion - only then the atomic nuclei will begin to react. Therefore, in the case of a thermonuclear bomb, design plays an important role.

Two schemes are widely known. The first is the Sakharov "puff". In the center was a nuclear detonator, which was surrounded by layers of lithium deuteride mixed with tritium, which were interspersed with layers of enriched uranium. This design made it possible to achieve a power within 1 Mt. The second is the American Teller-Ulam scheme, where the nuclear bomb and hydrogen isotopes were located separately. It looked like this: from below - a container with a mixture of liquid deuterium and tritium, in the center of which there was a "spark plug" - a plutonium rod, and from above - a conventional nuclear charge, and all this in a shell of heavy metal(for example, depleted uranium). Fast neutrons produced during the explosion cause atomic fission reactions in the uranium shell and add energy to the total energy of the explosion. Adding additional layers of lithium uranium-238 deuteride allows you to create projectiles of unlimited power. In 1953 the Soviet physicist Viktor Davidenko accidentally repeated the Teller-Ulam idea, and on its basis Sakharov came up with a multi-stage scheme that made it possible to create weapons of unprecedented power. It was according to this scheme that Kuzkina's mother worked.

What other bombs are there?

There are also neutron ones, but this is generally scary. In fact, a neutron bomb is a low-yield thermonuclear bomb, 80% of the explosion energy of which is radiation (neutron radiation). It looks like an ordinary low-yield nuclear charge, to which a block with a beryllium isotope is added - a source of neutrons. When a nuclear weapon explodes, a thermonuclear reaction starts. This type of weapon was developed by an American physicist Samuel Cohen . It was believed that neutron weapons destroy all life even in shelters, however, the range of destruction of such weapons is small, since the atmosphere scatters fast neutron fluxes, and the shock wave is stronger at large distances.

But what about the cobalt bomb?

No, son, it's fantastic. No country officially has cobalt bombs. Theoretically, this is a thermonuclear bomb with a cobalt shell, which provides a strong radioactive contamination of the area even with a relatively weak nuclear explosion. 510 tons of cobalt can infect the entire surface of the Earth and destroy all life on the planet. Physicist Leo Szilard , who described this hypothetical design in 1950, called it the "Doomsday Machine".

Which is cooler: a nuclear bomb or a thermonuclear one?

Full-scale model of "Tsar-bomba"

The hydrogen bomb is much more advanced and technologically advanced than the atomic bomb. Its explosive power far exceeds that of an atomic one and is limited only by the number of components available. In a thermonuclear reaction, for each nucleon (the so-called constituent nuclei, protons and neutrons), much more energy is released than in a nuclear reaction. For example, during the fission of a uranium nucleus, one nucleon accounts for 0.9 MeV (megaelectronvolt), and during the synthesis of a helium nucleus from hydrogen nuclei, an energy equal to 6 MeV is released.

Like bombs deliverto the target?

At first, they were dropped from aircraft, but air defenses were constantly improved, and delivering nuclear weapons in this way proved unwise. With the growth in the production of rocket technology, all rights to deliver nuclear weapons were transferred to ballistic and cruise missiles of various bases. Therefore, a bomb is no longer a bomb, but a warhead.

There is an opinion that the North Korean hydrogen bomb is too big to be installed on a rocket - so if the DPRK decides to bring the threat to life, it will be taken by ship to the site of the explosion.

What are the consequences of a nuclear war?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are only a small part of the possible apocalypse. For example, the well-known hypothesis nuclear winter", which was put forward by the American astrophysicist Carl Sagan and the Soviet geophysicist Georgy Golitsyn. It is assumed that during the explosion of several nuclear warheads (not in the desert or water, but in settlements) there will be many fires, and a large amount of smoke and soot will be thrown into the atmosphere, which will lead to global cooling. The hypothesis is criticized by comparing the effect with volcanic activity, which has little effect on the climate. In addition, some scientists note that global warming is more likely to occur than cooling - however, both sides hope that we will never know.

Are nuclear weapons allowed?

After the arms race in the 20th century, countries changed their minds and decided to limit the use of nuclear weapons. The UN adopted treaties on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the prohibition of nuclear tests (the latter was not signed by the young nuclear powers India, Pakistan, and the DPRK). In July 2017, a new treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted.

"Each State Party undertakes never, under any circumstances, to develop, test, manufacture, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess, or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," reads the first article of the treaty. .

However, the document will not enter into force until 50 states have ratified it.

1. ATOMIC BOMB: COMPOSITION, BATTLE CHARACTERISTICS AND PURPOSE OF CREATION

A nuclear bomb is an aerial bomb with a nuclear charge that has great destructive power. The first two nuclear bombs with a TNT equivalent of about 20 kt each were dropped by American aircraft on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, on August 6 and 9, 1945, and caused enormous casualties and destruction. Modern nuclear bombs have a TNT equivalent of tens to millions of tons.

Nuclear or atomic weapons are explosive weapons based on the use of nuclear energy released during a chain nuclear fission reaction of heavy nuclei or a thermonuclear fusion reaction of light nuclei.

Refers to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) along with biological and chemical weapons.

Nuclear weapons - a set of nuclear weapons, means of their delivery to the target and controls. Refers to weapons of mass destruction; has tremendous destructive power. For the above reason, the US and the USSR invested heavily in the development of nuclear weapons. According to the power of the charges and the range of action, nuclear weapons are divided into tactical, operational-tactical and strategic. The use of nuclear weapons in war is disastrous for all mankind.

A nuclear explosion is the process of instantaneous release of a large amount of intranuclear energy in a limited volume.

The action of atomic weapons is based on the fission reaction of heavy nuclei (uranium-235, plutonium-239 and, in some cases, uranium-233).

Uranium-235 is used in nuclear weapons because, unlike the more common isotope uranium-238, it can carry out a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Plutonium-239 is also referred to as "weapon-grade plutonium" because it is intended to create nuclear weapons and the content of the 239Pu isotope must be at least 93.5%.

To reflect the structure and composition of the atomic bomb, as a prototype, we analyze the plutonium bomb "Fat Man" (Fig. 1) dropped on August 9, 1945 on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

atomic nuclear bomb explosion

Figure 1 - Atomic bomb "Fat Man"

The layout of this bomb (typical for plutonium single-phase munitions) is approximately the following:

Plutonium. The purest plutonium-239 isotope is used, although to increase the stability of physical properties (density) and improve the compressibility of the charge, plutonium is doped with a small amount of gallium.

A shell (usually made of uranium) that serves as a neutron reflector.

Explosive with a complex detonation system that ensures the simultaneous detonation of the entire explosive. Synchronicity is necessary to create a strictly spherical compressive (directed inside the ball) shock wave. A non-spherical wave leads to the ejection of the material of the ball through inhomogeneity and the impossibility of creating a critical mass. The creation of such a system for the location of explosives and detonation was at one time one of the most difficult tasks. A combined scheme (lens system) of "fast" and "slow" explosives is used.

Body made of duralumin stamped elements - two spherical covers and a belt connected by bolts.

Figure 2 - The principle of operation of the plutonium bomb

Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and dangerous type of weapons of mass destruction, threatening all mankind with unprecedented destruction and destruction of millions of people.

A nuclear explosion produces radiation. It lasts about a minute and has such a high penetrating power that powerful and reliable shelters are required to protect against it at close distances.

shock wave;

light radiation;

penetrating radiation;

radioactive contamination of the area;

electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

During a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere, the distribution of the released energy between the PNFs is approximately the following: about 50% for the shock wave, 35% for the share of light radiation, 10% for radioactive contamination, and 5% for penetrating radiation and EMP.

Analysis of the effectiveness of the integrated application of anti-jamming measures to improve the stability of the functioning of communication facilities in the conditions of enemy radio countermeasures

Considering the level of technical equipment, an analysis of the forces and means of electronic warfare will be carried out for the reconnaissance and electronic warfare battalion (R and EW) of the mechanized division (MD) of the SV. Reconnaissance and electronic warfare battalion of the US Ministry of Defense includes)