On the day of the 70th anniversary of the tests of the first Soviet atomic bomb Izvestia publishes unique photographs and memories of eyewitnesses of the events that took place at the training ground in Semipalatinsk. New materials shed light on the environment in which scientists created a nuclear device - in particular, it became known that Igor Kurchatov used to hold secret meetings on the banks of the river. Also extremely interesting are the details of the construction of the first reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium. It is impossible not to note the role of intelligence in accelerating the Soviet nuclear project.
Young but promising
The need for the speedy creation of Soviet nuclear weapons became apparent when, in 1942, it became clear from intelligence reports that scientists in the United States had made great progress in nuclear research. Indirectly spoke about this and the complete cessation scientific publications on this topic back in 1940. Everything indicated that work on the creation of the most powerful bomb in the world was in full swing.
On September 28, 1942, Stalin signed a secret document "On the organization of work on uranium."
The young and energetic physicist Igor Kurchatov was entrusted with the leadership of the Soviet atomic project., who, as his friend and colleague Academician Anatoly Alexandrov later recalled, "has long been perceived as the organizer and coordinator of all work in the field of nuclear physics." However, the very scale of those works that the scientist mentioned was then still small - at that time in the USSR, in Laboratory No. 2 (now the Kurchatov Institute) specially created in 1943, only 100 people were engaged in the development of nuclear weapons, while in the USA about 50 thousand specialists worked on a similar project.
Therefore, work in Laboratory No. 2 was carried out at an emergency pace, which required both the supply and creation of the latest materials and equipment (and this war time!), and the study of intelligence data, which managed to get some information about American research.
- Exploration helped speed up the work and reduce our efforts for about a year, - said Andrey Gagarinsky, adviser to the director of the NRC "Kurchatov Institute".- In Kurchatov's "reviews" about intelligence materials, Igor Vasilievich essentially gave the intelligence officers tasks about what exactly the scientists would like to know.
Not existing in nature
The scientists of Laboratory No. 2 transported from the newly liberated Leningrad a cyclotron, which had been launched back in 1937, when it became the first in Europe. This installation was necessary for the neutron irradiation of uranium. So it was possible to accumulate the initial amount of plutonium that does not exist in nature, which later became the main material for the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1.
Then the production of this element was established using the first F-1 nuclear reactor in Eurasia on uranium-graphite blocks, which was built in Laboratory No. 2 in the shortest possible time (in just 16 months) and launched on December 25, 1946 under the leadership of Igor Kurchatov.
Physicists achieved industrial production volumes of plutonium after the construction of a reactor under the letter A in the city of Ozersk, Chelyabinsk Region (scientists also called it "Annushka")- the installation reached its design capacity on June 22, 1948, which already brought the project to create a nuclear charge very close.
In the realm of compression
The first Soviet atomic bomb had a charge of plutonium with a capacity of 20 kilotons, which was located in two hemispheres separated from each other. Inside them was the initiator of a chain reaction of beryllium and polonium, when combined, neutrons are released, starting a chain reaction. For powerful compression of all these components, a spherical shock wave was used, which arose after the detonation of a round shell of explosives surrounding the plutonium charge. The outer case of the resulting product had a teardrop shape, and its total mass was 4.7 tons.
They decided to test the bomb at the Semipalatinsk test site, which was specially equipped in order to assess the impact of the explosion on a variety of buildings, equipment, and even animals.
Photo: RFNC-VNIIEF Museum of Nuclear Weapons
–– A high iron tower stood in the center of the polygon, and a variety of buildings and structures grew like mushrooms around it: brick, concrete and wooden houses with different types roofs, cars, tanks, gun turrets of ships, a railway bridge and even a swimming pool, - Nikolai Vlasov, a participant in those events, notes in his manuscript “First Tests”. - So, in terms of the variety of objects, the test site resembled a fair - only without people, who were almost invisible here (with the exception of rare lonely figures who completed the installation of equipment).
Also on the territory there was a biological sector, where there were pens and cages with experimental animals.
Meetings on the beach
Vlasov also had memories of the attitude of the team towards the project manager during the testing period.
“At that time, the nickname Beard was already firmly established for Kurchatov (he changed his appearance in 1942), and his popularity embraced not only the learned fraternity of all specialties, but also officers and soldiers,” writes an eyewitness. –– Group leaders were proud of meeting with him.
Kurchatov conducted some especially secret interviews in an informal setting - for example, on the river bank, inviting right person for bathing.
A photo exhibition dedicated to the history of the Kurchatov Institute, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, has opened in Moscow. A selection of unique archival footage depicting the work of both ordinary employees and the most famous physicist Igor Kurchatov is in the gallery of the portal site
Igor Kurchatov, a physicist, was one of the first in the USSR to start studying the physics of the atomic nucleus, he is also called the father of the atomic bomb. In the photo: a scientist at the Physico-Technical Institute in Leningrad, 1930s
Photo: Archive of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
The Kurchatov Institute was founded in 1943. At first it was called Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences, whose employees were engaged in the creation of nuclear weapons. Later, the laboratory was renamed the Institute of Atomic Energy named after I.V. Kurchatov, and in 1991 - to the National Research Center
Photo: Archive of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
Today the Kurchatov Institute is one of the largest research centers in Russia. Its specialists are engaged in research in the field of safe development of nuclear energy. In the photo: Fakel accelerator
Photo: Archive of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"
End of monopoly
The scientists calculated the exact time of the tests in such a way that the wind carried the radioactive cloud formed as a result of the explosion towards the sparsely populated areas., and exposure to harmful rainfall for humans and livestock was found to be minimal. As a result of such calculations, the historical explosion was scheduled for the morning of August 29, 1949.
- A glow broke out in the south and a red semicircle appeared, similar to the rising sun, - recalls Nikolai Vlasov. –– And three minutes after the glow faded, and the cloud disappeared into the predawn haze, we heard the rolling roar of an explosion, similar to the distant thunder of a mighty thunderstorm.
Arriving at the site of the RDS-1 operation (see reference), scientists could assess all the destruction that followed it. According to them, there were no traces of the central tower, the walls of the nearest houses collapsed, and the water in the pool completely evaporated from the high temperature.
But these destructions, paradoxically, helped to establish a global balance in the world. The creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb ended the US monopoly on nuclear weapons. This made it possible to establish the parity of strategic weapons, which still prevents countries from the military use of weapons capable of destroying the entire civilization.
Alexander Koldobsky, Deputy Director of the Institute of International Relations, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, veteran of nuclear energy and industry:
The abbreviation RDS in relation to prototypes of nuclear weapons first appeared in the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946 as an abbreviation of the wording "Jet engine C". In the future, this designation in official documents was assigned to all pilot designs of nuclear charges at least until the end of 1955. Strictly speaking, the RDS-1 is not exactly a bomb, it is a nuclear explosive device, a nuclear charge. Later, for the RDS-1 charge, a ballistic bomb body (“product 501”) was created, adapted to the Tu-4 bomber. The first serial samples of nuclear weapons based on the RDS-1 were manufactured in 1950. However, these products were not tested in the ballistic corps, they were not accepted into service with the army and were stored in disassembled form. And the first test with the release of an atomic bomb from the Tu-4 took place only on October 18, 1951. Another charge was used in it, much more perfect.
The creation of the Soviet nuclear bomb, in terms of the complexity of scientific, technical and engineering tasks, is a significant, truly unique event that influenced the balance of political forces in the world after World War II. The solution of this problem in our country, which has not yet recovered from the terrible destruction and shocks of four war years, became possible as a result of the heroic efforts of scientists, production organizers, engineers, workers and the whole people. The implementation of the Soviet nuclear project required a real scientific, technological and industrial revolution, which led to the emergence of the domestic nuclear industry. This labor feat paid off. Having mastered the secrets of the production of nuclear weapons, our Motherland for many years ensured the military-defense parity of the two leading states of the world - the USSR and the USA. The nuclear shield, the first link of which was the legendary product RDS-1, still protects Russia today.
I. Kurchatov was appointed head of the Atomic Project. From the end of 1942, he began to gather scientists and specialists needed to solve the problem. Initially, the general leadership of the atomic problem was carried out by V. Molotov. But on August 20, 1945 (a few days after atomic bombing Japanese cities) State Committee Defense decided to create a Special Committee, headed by L. Beria. It was he who began to lead the Soviet atomic project.
The first domestic atomic bomb had the official designation RDS-1. It was deciphered in different ways: “Russia does it itself”, “The Motherland gives Stalin”, etc. But in the official resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946, the RDS received the wording - “Jet engine “C””.
The tactical and technical assignment (TTZ) indicated that the atomic bomb was being developed in two versions: using "heavy fuel" (plutonium) and using "light fuel" (uranium-235). The writing of technical specifications for the RDS-1 and the subsequent development of the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was carried out taking into account the available materials according to the scheme of the US plutonium bomb tested in 1945. These materials were provided by Soviet foreign intelligence. An important source of information was K. Fuchs, a German physicist, a participant in the work on the nuclear programs of the USA and England.
Intelligence materials on the US plutonium bomb made it possible to avoid a number of mistakes in the creation of the RDS-1, significantly reduce the time for its development, and reduce costs. At the same time, it was clear from the very beginning that many of the technical solutions of the American prototype were not the best. Even on early stages Soviet specialists could offer the best solutions for both the charge as a whole and its individual components. But the unconditional demand of the country's leadership was to get a working bomb with a guarantee and with the least risk by the time it was first tested.
Nuclear bomb was to be made in the form of an aerial bomb weighing no more than 5 tons, with a diameter of no more than 1.5 meters and a length of no more than 5 meters. These restrictions were due to the fact that the bomb was developed in relation to the TU-4 aircraft, the bomb bay of which allowed the placement of a "product" with a diameter of no more than 1.5 meters.
As the work progressed, the need for a special research organization for the design and development of the “product” itself became obvious. A number of studies carried out by Laboratory N2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences required their deployment in a "remote and isolated place." This meant: it was necessary to create a special research and production center for the development of the atomic bomb.
Creation of KB-11
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The scientific and production activities of KB-11 were subject to the strictest secrecy. Its nature and goals were a state secret of paramount importance. The issues of object protection from the first days were in the center of attention.
April 9, 1946 A closed resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was adopted on the creation of a Design Bureau (KB-11) at Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences. P. Zernov was appointed head of KB-11, Yu. Khariton was appointed chief designer.
The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946 determined the strict deadlines for the creation of the object: the first stage was to be commissioned on October 1, 1946, the second - on May 1, 1947. The construction of KB-11 (“facility”) was entrusted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. The "object" was supposed to occupy up to 100 sq. kilometers of forests in the zone of the Mordovian Reserve and up to 10 sq. kilometers in the Gorky region.
Construction was carried out without projects and preliminary estimates, the cost of work was taken at actual costs. The team of builders was formed with the involvement of a "special contingent" - this is how prisoners were designated in official documents. The government created special conditions for the provision of construction. Nevertheless, the construction was difficult, the first production buildings were ready only at the beginning of 1947. Some of the laboratories were located in monastic buildings.
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The amount of construction work was great. Plant N 550 was to be reconstructed for the construction of a pilot plant on the existing premises. The power plant needed updating. It was necessary to build a foundry and press shop for working with explosives, as well as a number of buildings for experimental laboratories, test towers, casemates, warehouses. To carry out blasting, it was necessary to clear and equip large areas in the forest.
At the initial stage, there were no special premises for research laboratories - scientists were to occupy twenty rooms in the main design building. The designers, as well as the administrative services of KB-11, were to be accommodated in the reconstructed premises of the former monastery. The need to create conditions for arriving specialists and workers forced to pay more and more attention to the residential village, which gradually acquired the features of a small city. Simultaneously with the construction of housing, a medical campus was erected, a library, a cinema club, a stadium, a park and a theater were built.
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On February 17, 1947, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR signed by Stalin, KB-11 was classified as a special security enterprise with the transformation of its territory into a closed security zone. Sarov was withdrawn from the administrative subordination of the Mordovian ASSR and excluded from all accounting materials. In the summer of 1947, the perimeter of the zone was taken under military guard.
Work in KB-11
The mobilization of specialists to the nuclear center was carried out regardless of their departmental affiliation. The leaders of KB-11 were looking for young and promising scientists, engineers, workers in literally all institutions and organizations of the country. All candidates for work in KB-11 underwent a special check in the state security services.
The creation of atomic weapons was the result of the work of a large team. But it did not consist of faceless "staff units", but of bright personalities, many of whom left a noticeable mark in the history of domestic and world science. A significant potential was concentrated here, both scientific, design, and performing, working.
In 1947, 36 researchers arrived at KB-11. They were seconded from various institutes, mainly from the USSR Academy of Sciences: Institute chemical physics, Laboratories N2, NII-6 and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. In 1947, 86 engineering and technical workers worked in KB-11.
Taking into account the problems that had to be solved in KB-11, the order of formation of its main structural divisions was outlined. The first research laboratories began to work in the spring of 1947 in the following areas:
laboratory N1 (head - M. Ya. Vasiliev) - testing of structural elements of a charge from explosives that provide a spherically converging detonation wave;
laboratory N2 (A. F. Belyaev) - research on explosive detonation;
laboratory N3 (V. A. Tsukerman) - X-ray studies of explosive processes;
laboratory N4 (L.V. Altshuler) - determination of the equations of state;
laboratory N5 (K. I. Shchelkin) - full-scale tests;
laboratory N6 (E.K. Zavoisky) - measurements of compression of the CC;
laboratory N7 (A. Ya. Apin) - development of a neutron fuse;
Laboratory N8 (N. V. Ageev) - study of the properties and characteristics of plutonium and uranium for use in bomb design.
The beginning of full-scale work of the first domestic atomic charge can be attributed to July 1946. During this period, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946, Yu. B. Khariton prepared the "Tactical and technical assignment for the atomic bomb."
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The TTZ indicated that the atomic bomb was being developed in two versions. In the first of them, the working substance should be plutonium (RDS-1), in the second - uranium-235 (RDS-2). In a plutonium bomb, the transition through the critical state must be achieved by symmetrical compression of plutonium, which has the shape of a ball, with a conventional explosive (implosion variant). In the second variant, the transition through the critical state is ensured by the combination of masses of uranium-235 with the help of an explosive (“cannon variant”).
At the beginning of 1947, the formation of design units began. Initially, all design work was concentrated in a single scientific and design sector (NKS) KB-11, which was headed by V. A. Turbiner.
The intensity of work in KB-11 from the very beginning was very high and constantly increased, since the initial plans, very extensive from the very beginning, increased every day in volume and depth of study.
Explosive experiments with large explosive charges began in the spring of 1947 at the KB-11 experimental sites that were still under construction. The greatest volume of research was to be carried out in the gas-dynamic sector. In this regard, there in 1947 was sent big number specialists: K. I. Shchelkin, L. V. Altshuler, V. K. Bobolev, S. N. Matveev, V. M. Nekrutkin, P. I. Roy, N. D. Kazachenko, V. I. Zhuchikhin, A. T. Zavgorodniy, K. K. Krupnikov, B. N. Ledenev, V. M. Malygin, V. M. Bezotosny, D. M. Tarasov, K. I. Panevkin, B. A. Terletskaya and others.
Experimental studies of charge gas dynamics were carried out under the direction of K. I. Shchelkin, and theoretical questions were developed by a group in Moscow headed by Ya. B. Zeldovich. The work was carried out in close cooperation with designers and technologists.
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A.Ya. Apin, V.A. Aleksandrovich and designer A.I. Abramov. To achieve the desired result, it was necessary to master new technology the use of polonium, which has a sufficiently high radioactivity. At the same time, it was necessary to develop complex system protection of materials in contact with polonium from its alpha radiation.
In KB-11, for a long time, research and design work were carried out on the most precise element of the charge-detonator cap. This important direction was led by A.Ya. Apin, I.P. Sukhov, M.I. Puzyrev, I.P. Kolesov and others. The development of research required a territorial approach of theoretical physicists to the research, design and production base of KB-11. Since March 1948, a theoretical department began to form in KB-11 under the leadership of Ya.B. Zeldovich.
Due to the great urgency and high complexity of work in KB-11, new laboratories and production sites began to be created, and the best specialists of the Soviet Union seconded to them mastered new high standards and tough conditions production.
The plans drawn up in 1946 could not take into account many of the difficulties that opened up to the participants in the atomic project as they moved forward. Decree CM N 234-98 ss / op dated 02/08/1948. The production time for the RDS-1 charge was postponed to a later date - by the time the plutonium charge parts were ready at Plant N 817.
With regard to the RDS-2 variant, by that time it became clear that it was not advisable to bring it to the testing stage due to the relatively low efficiency of this variant compared to the cost of nuclear materials. Work on the RDS-2 was terminated in mid-1948.
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According to the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 10, 1948, they were appointed: the first deputy chief designer of the "object" - Schelkin Kirill Ivanovich; deputies of the chief designer of the facility - Alferov Vladimir Ivanovich, Dukhov Nikolay Leonidovich.
In February 1948, 11 scientific laboratories were working hard at KB-11, including theoreticians led by Ya.B. Zeldovich, who moved to the facility from Moscow. His group included D. D. Frank-Kamenetsky, N. D. Dmitriev, V. Yu. Gavrilov. The experimenters did not lag behind the theorists. The most important work was carried out in the departments of KB-11, which were responsible for detonating a nuclear charge. Its design was clear, the detonation mechanism too. In theory. In practice, it was necessary to carry out checks again and again, to carry out complex experiments.
The production workers also worked very actively - those who had to translate the ideas of scientists and designers into reality. In July 1947, A.K. Bessarabenko was appointed head of the plant, N.A. Petrov became the chief engineer, P.D. Panasyuk, V.D. Shcheglov, A.I. Novitsky, G.A. Savosin, A.Ya. Ignatiev, V. S. Lyubertsev.
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In 1947, a second experimental plant appeared in the structure of KB-11 - for the production of parts from explosives, the assembly of experimental units of the product and the solution of many other important tasks. The results of calculations and design studies were quickly embodied in specific parts, assemblies, blocks. This, by the highest standards, responsible work was carried out by two plants at KB-11. Plant N 1 carried out the manufacture of many parts and assemblies of the RDS-1 and then their assembly. Plant No. 2 (A. Ya. Malsky became its director) was engaged in the practical solution of various problems related to the production and processing of parts from explosives. The assembly of the charge from explosives was carried out in the workshop, which was led by M. A. Kvasov.
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Each passed stage set new tasks for researchers, designers, engineers, workers. People worked for 14-16 hours a day, completely surrendering to the cause. On August 5, 1949, a plutonium charge manufactured at Combine No. 817 was accepted by a commission headed by Khariton and then sent by letter train to KB-11. Here, on the night of August 10-11, a control assembly of a nuclear charge was carried out. She showed: RDS-1 meets the technical requirements, the product is suitable for testing at the site.
The one who invented the atomic bomb could not even imagine what tragic consequences this miracle invention of the 20th century could lead to. Before this superweapon was experienced by the inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a very long way had been done.
A start
In April 1903, Paul Langevin's friends gathered in the Parisian Garden of France. The reason was the defense of the dissertation of the young and talented scientist Marie Curie. Among the distinguished guests was the famous English physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford. In the midst of the fun, the lights were put out. announced to everyone that now there will be a surprise. With a solemn air, Pierre Curie brought in a small tube of radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing extraordinary delight among those present. In the future, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that thanks to radium, the acute problem of lack of energy would be solved. This inspired everyone to new research and further perspectives. If they had been told then that laboratory work with radioactive elements would lay the foundation for a terrible weapon of the 20th century, it is not known what their reaction would have been. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.
Game ahead of the curve
On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. In fact, he managed to split the atom. AT scientific world it was regarded as a new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gunn did not share the political views of the Third Reich. Therefore, in the same year, 1938, the scientist was forced to move to Stockholm, where, together with Friedrich Strassmann, he continued his scientific research. Fearing that fascist Germany will be the first to receive a terrible weapon, he writes a letter with a warning about this. The news of a possible lead greatly alarmed the US government. The Americans began to act quickly and decisively.
Who created the atomic bomb? American project
Even before the group, many of whom were refugees from the Nazi regime in Europe, was tasked with developing nuclear weapons. The initial research, it is worth noting, was carried out in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the government of the United States of America began funding own program for the development of atomic weapons. An incredible amount of two and a half billion dollars was allocated for the implementation of the project. Outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited to carry out this secret project, including more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only the military, but also civilians. The development team was led by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, with Robert Oppenheimer as supervisor. He is the man who invented the atomic bomb. A special secret engineering building was built in the Manhattan area, which is known to us under the code name "Manhattan Project". Over the next few years, the scientists of the secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.
Non-peaceful atom by Igor Kurchatov
Today, every schoolchild will be able to answer the question of who invented the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And then, in the early 30s of the last century, no one knew this.
In 1932, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was one of the first in the world to start studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilievich in 1937 created the first cyclotron in Europe. In the same year, he and his like-minded people create the first artificial nuclei.
In 1939, I. V. Kurchatov began to study a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in studying this phenomenon, the scientist gets at his disposal a secret research center, which was named "Laboratory No. 2". Today, this secret object is called "Arzamas-16".
The target direction of this center was a serious research and development of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. There were only ten people on his team then.
atomic bomb to be
By the end of 1945, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov managed to assemble a serious team of scientists numbering more than a hundred people. The best minds of various scientific specializations came to the laboratory from all over the country to create atomic weapons. After the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists realized that this could also be done with the Soviet Union. "Laboratory No. 2" receives a sharp increase in funding from the country's leadership and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The enormous labors of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.
Semipalatinsk test site
The atomic bomb in the USSR was first tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). On August 29, 1949, a 22 kiloton nuclear device shook the Kazakh land. Nobel laureate physicist Otto Hanz said: “This is good news. If Russia has atomic weapons, then there will be no war.” It was this atomic bomb in the USSR, encrypted as product number 501, or RDS-1, that eliminated the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.
Atomic bomb. Year 1945
In the early morning of July 16, the Manhattan Project conducted its first successful test of an atomic device - a plutonium bomb - at the Alamogordo test site in New Mexico, USA.
The money invested in the project was well spent. The first in the history of mankind was produced at 5:30 in the morning.
"We have done the work of the devil," the one who invented the atomic bomb in the United States, later called the "father of the atomic bomb," will say later.
Japan does not capitulate
By the time of the final and successful testing of the atomic bomb Soviet troops and the allies finally defeated Nazi Germany. However, there remained one state that promised to fight to the end for dominance in pacific ocean. From mid-April to mid-July 1945, the Japanese army repeatedly carried out air strikes against allied forces, thereby inflicting heavy losses on the US army. At the end of July 1945, the militarist government of Japan rejected the Allied demand for surrender in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration. In it, in particular, it was said that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army would face rapid and complete destruction.
President agrees
The American government kept its word and began targeted bombing of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides on the invasion of American troops into Japan. However, the military command dissuades its president from such a decision, citing the fact that the American invasion would entail a large number of victims.
At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use more effective method end of the war. A big supporter of the atomic bomb, US Presidential Secretary James Francis Byrnes, believed that the bombing of Japanese territories would finally end the war and put the US in a dominant position, which would positively affect the future course of events in the post-war world. Thus, US President Harry Truman was convinced that this was the only correct option.
Atomic bomb. Hiroshima
The small Japanese city of Hiroshima, with a population of just over 350,000, was chosen as the first target, located five hundred miles from the capital of Japan, Tokyo. After the modified Enola Gay B-29 bomber arrived at the US naval base on Tinian Island, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was supposed to experience the effects of 9,000 pounds of uranium-235.
This hitherto unseen weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. The US atomic bomb bore the cynical name "Baby". On the morning of August 6, 1945, at about 8:15 am, the American "Baby" was dropped on the Japanese Hiroshima. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred and forty thousand inhabitants of the city died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese died a painful death from radiation sickness.
They were destroyed by the American atomic "Kid". However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided to another bombardment of Japanese territory.
Nagasaki. Sky on fire
The American atomic bomb "Fat Man" was installed on board the B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, all in the same place, at the US naval base in Tinian. This time the aircraft commander was Major Charles Sweeney. Initially, the strategic target was the city of Kokura.
However weather not allowed to carry out the plan, hindered by a large cloud cover. Charles Sweeney went into the second round. At 11:02 am, the American nuclear-powered Fat Man swallowed up Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which, in its strength, was several times higher than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10,000 pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.
The geographical location of the Japanese city reduced the expected effect. The thing is that the city is located in a narrow valley between the mountains. Therefore, the destruction of 2.6 square miles did not reveal the full potential of American weapons. The Nagasaki atomic bomb test is considered the failed "Manhattan Project".
Japan surrendered
On the afternoon of August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender in a radio address to the people of Japan. This news quickly spread around the world. In the United States of America, celebrations began on the occasion of the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.
On September 2, 1945, a formal agreement to end the war was signed aboard the USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in the history of mankind.
For six long years, the world community has been moving towards this significant date- since September 1, 1939, when the first shots of Nazi Germany were fired on the territory of Poland.
Peaceful atom
A total of 124 nuclear explosions were carried out in the Soviet Union. It is characteristic that all of them were carried out for the benefit of the national economy. Only three of them were leak accidents. radioactive elements. Programs for the use of peaceful atom were implemented only in two countries - the United States and the Soviet Union. The peaceful nuclear power industry also knows an example of a global catastrophe, when a reactor exploded at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Within two years, the Heisenberg group carried out the research needed to create an atomic reactor using uranium and heavy water. It was confirmed that only one of the isotopes, namely, uranium-235, contained in very small concentrations in ordinary uranium ore, can serve as an explosive. The first problem was how to isolate it from there. The starting point of the bombing program was an atomic reactor, which required either graphite or heavy water as a reaction moderator. German physicists chose water, thereby creating for themselves serious problem. After the occupation of Norway, the only heavy water plant in the world at that time passed into the hands of the Nazis. But there, the stock of the product needed by physicists by the beginning of the war was only tens of kilograms, and the Germans did not get them either - the French stole valuable products literally from under the noses of the Nazis. And in February 1943, the British commandos abandoned in Norway, with the help of local resistance fighters, disabled the plant. The implementation of Germany's nuclear program was in jeopardy. The misadventures of the Germans did not end there: an experimental nuclear reactor exploded in Leipzig. The uranium project was supported by Hitler only as long as there was hope of obtaining a super-powerful weapon before the end of the war unleashed by him. Heisenberg was invited by Speer and asked bluntly: "When can we expect the creation of a bomb capable of being suspended from a bomber?" The scientist was honest: "I think it will take several years of hard work, in any case, the bomb will not be able to affect the outcome of the current war." The German leadership rationally considered that there was no point in forcing events. Let scientists work quietly - by the next war, you see, they will have time. As a result, Hitler decided to concentrate scientific, industrial and financial resources only on projects that would give the fastest return in the creation of new types of weapons. State funding for the uranium project was curtailed. Nevertheless, the work of scientists continued.
Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gas diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.
In 1944, Heisenberg received cast uranium plates for a large reactor plant, under which a special bunker was already being built in Berlin. The last experiment to achieve a chain reaction was scheduled for January 1945, but on January 31, all equipment was hastily dismantled and sent from Berlin to the village of Haigerloch near the Swiss border, where it was deployed only at the end of February. The reactor contained 664 cubes of uranium with a total weight of 1525 kg, surrounded by a graphite neutron moderator-reflector weighing 10 tons. In March 1945, an additional 1.5 tons of heavy water was poured into the core. On March 23, it was reported to Berlin that the reactor had started working. But the joy was premature - the reactor did not reach a critical point, the chain reaction did not start. After recalculations, it turned out that the amount of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally increasing the mass of heavy water. But there were no reserves left. The end of the Third Reich was inexorably approaching. On April 23, American troops entered Haigerloch. The reactor was dismantled and taken to the USA.
Meanwhile across the ocean
In parallel with the Germans (with only a slight lag), the development of atomic weapons was taken up in England and the USA. They began with a letter sent in September 1939 by Albert Einstein to US President Franklin Roosevelt. The initiators of the letter and the authors of most of the text were émigré physicists from Hungary Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller. The letter drew the president's attention to the fact that Nazi Germany was conducting active research, as a result of which it could soon acquire an atomic bomb.
In 1933, the German communist Klaus Fuchs fled to England. After receiving a degree in physics from the University of Bristol, he continued to work. In 1941, Fuchs reported his involvement in atomic research to Soviet intelligence agent Jurgen Kuchinsky, who informed Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky. He instructed the military attache to urgently establish contact with Fuchs, who, as part of a group of scientists, was going to be transported to the United States. Fuchs agreed to work for Soviet intelligence. Many illegal Soviet spies were involved in working with him: the Zarubins, Eitingon, Vasilevsky, Semyonov and others. As a result of their active work, already in January 1945, the USSR had a description of the design of the first atomic bomb. At the same time, the Soviet residency in the United States reported that it would take the Americans at least one year, but no more than five years, to create a significant arsenal of atomic weapons. The report also said that the explosion of the first two bombs might be carried out in a few months. Pictured is Operation Crossroads, a series of atomic bomb tests conducted by the United States on Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946. The goal was to test the effect of atomic weapons on ships.
In the USSR, the first information about the work carried out by both the allies and the enemy was reported to Stalin by intelligence as early as 1943. It was immediately decided to deploy similar work in the Union. Thus began the Soviet atomic project. Tasks were received not only by scientists, but also by intelligence officers, for whom the extraction of nuclear secrets has become a super task.
The most valuable information about the work on the atomic bomb in the United States, obtained by intelligence, greatly helped the promotion of the Soviet nuclear project. The scientists participating in it managed to avoid dead-end search paths, thereby significantly accelerating the achievement of the final goal.
Experience of Recent Enemies and Allies
Naturally, the Soviet leadership could not remain indifferent to German nuclear developments. At the end of the war, a group was sent to Germany Soviet physicists, among whom were the future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin. All were camouflaged in the uniform of colonels of the Red Army. The operation was led by First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov, which opened any door. In addition to the necessary German scientists, the “colonels” found tons of metallic uranium, which, according to Kurchatov, reduced work on the Soviet bomb by at least a year. The Americans also took out a lot of uranium from Germany, taking the specialists who worked on the project with them. And in the USSR, in addition to physicists and chemists, they sent mechanics, electrical engineers, glassblowers. Some were found in POW camps. For example, Max Steinbeck, the future Soviet academician and the vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, were taken away when, at the whim of the head of the camp, he made a sundial. In total, at least 1000 German specialists worked on the atomic project in the USSR. From Berlin, the von Ardenne laboratory with a uranium centrifuge, equipment of the Kaiser Institute of Physics, documentation, reagents were completely taken out. As part of the nuclear project, laboratories "A", "B", "C" and "G" were created, supervisors which were scientists who arrived from Germany.
K.A. Petrzhak and G. N. Flerov In 1940, in the laboratory of Igor Kurchatov, two young physicists discovered a new, very peculiar species radioactive decay atomic nuclei- spontaneous division.
Laboratory "A" was headed by Baron Manfred von Ardenne, a talented physicist who developed a method for gaseous diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge. At first, his laboratory was located on the Oktyabrsky field in Moscow. Five or six Soviet engineers were assigned to each German specialist. Later, the laboratory moved to Sukhumi, and over time, the famous Kurchatov Institute grew up on the Oktyabrsky field. In Sukhumi, on the basis of the von Ardenne laboratory, the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology. In 1947, Ardenne was awarded the Stalin Prize for the creation of a centrifuge for the purification of uranium isotopes on an industrial scale. Six years later, the Ardenne became twice Stalin laureate. He lived with his wife in a comfortable mansion, his wife played music on a piano brought from Germany. Other German specialists were not offended either: they came with their families, brought with them furniture, books, paintings, were provided with good salaries and food. Were they prisoners? Academician A.P. Alexandrov, himself an active participant in the atomic project, remarked: "Of course, the German specialists were prisoners, but we ourselves were prisoners."
Nikolaus Riehl, a native of St. Petersburg who moved to Germany in the 1920s, became the head of Laboratory B, which conducted research in the field of radiation chemistry and biology in the Urals (now the city of Snezhinsk). Here Riehl worked with his old acquaintance from Germany, the outstanding Russian biologist-geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky (“Zubr” based on the novel by D. Granin).
In December 1938, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann for the first time in the world carried out artificial fission of the uranium atom nucleus.
Recognized in the USSR as a researcher and talented organizer, able to find effective solutions to the most complex problems, Dr. Riehl became one of the key figures Soviet atomic project. After a successful test Soviet bomb he became a hero Socialist Labor and laureate of the Stalin Prize.
The work of laboratory "B", organized in Obninsk, was headed by Professor Rudolf Pose, one of the pioneers in the field of nuclear research. Under his leadership, fast neutron reactors were created, the first nuclear power plant in the Union, and the design of reactors for submarines began. The object in Obninsk became the basis for the organization of the A.I. Leipunsky. Pose worked until 1957 in Sukhumi, then at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna.
In April 1946, the design bureau KB-11 (now the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - VNIIEF) was created at Laboratory No. 2 - one of the most secret enterprises for the development of domestic nuclear weapons, whose chief designer was Yuli Khariton. Plant N 550 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, which produced artillery shells, was chosen as the base for the deployment of KB-11.
The top-secret object was located 75 kilometers from the city of Arzamas (Gorky region, now Nizhny Novgorod region) on the territory of the former Sarov monastery.
KB-11 was tasked with creating an atomic bomb in two versions. In the first of them, the working substance should be plutonium, in the second - uranium-235. In the middle of 1948, work on the uranium version was discontinued due to its relatively low efficiency compared to the cost of nuclear materials.
The first domestic atomic bomb had the official designation RDS-1. It was deciphered in different ways: “Russia does it itself”, “The Motherland gives Stalin”, etc. But in the official decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946, it was encrypted as “Special Jet Engine (“C”).
The creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was carried out taking into account the available materials according to the scheme of the US plutonium bomb tested in 1945. These materials were provided by Soviet foreign intelligence. An important source of information was Klaus Fuchs, a German physicist, a participant in the work on the US and UK nuclear programs.
Intelligence materials on the American plutonium charge for the atomic bomb made it possible to shorten the time for the creation of the first Soviet charge, although many of the technical solutions of the American prototype were not the best. Even at the initial stages, Soviet specialists could offer the best solutions for both the charge as a whole and its individual components. Therefore, the first charge for an atomic bomb tested by the USSR was more primitive and less effective than the original version of the charge proposed by Soviet scientists in early 1949. But in order to guarantee and in a short time to show that the USSR also possesses atomic weapons, it was decided to use a charge created according to the American scheme at the first test.
The charge for the RDS-1 atomic bomb was a multilayer structure in which the transition of the active substance - plutonium to the supercritical state was carried out by compressing it by means of a converging spherical detonation wave in the explosive.
RDS-1 was an aviation atomic bomb weighing 4.7 tons, 1.5 meters in diameter and 3.3 meters long. It was developed in relation to the Tu-4 aircraft, the bomb bay of which allowed the placement of a "product" with a diameter of no more than 1.5 meters. Plutonium was used as the fissile material in the bomb.
For the production of an atomic bomb charge in the city of Chelyabinsk-40 in the South Urals, a plant was built under the conditional number 817 (now the Mayak Production Association). uranium reactor, and a plant for the production of products from plutonium metal.
The plant's reactor 817 was brought to its design capacity in June 1948, and a year later the enterprise received required amount plutonium to make the first charge for the atomic bomb.
The site for the test site, where it was planned to test the charge, was chosen in the Irtysh steppe, about 170 kilometers west of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. A plain with a diameter of about 20 kilometers was allotted for the test site, surrounded from the south, west and north by low mountains. To the east of this space were small hills.
The construction of the training ground, which was called training ground No. 2 of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR (later the Ministry of Defense of the USSR), was started in 1947, and by July 1949 it was basically completed.
For testing at the test site, an experimental site with a diameter of 10 kilometers, divided into sectors, was prepared. It was equipped with special facilities to ensure testing, observation and registration of physical research. In the center of the experimental field, a metal lattice tower 37.5 meters high was mounted, designed to install the RDS-1 charge. At a distance of one kilometer from the center, an underground building was built for equipment that registers light, neutron and gamma fluxes. nuclear explosion. To study the impact of a nuclear explosion on the experimental field, sections of metro tunnels, fragments of airfield runways were built, samples of aircraft, tanks, artillery rocket launchers, ship superstructures were placed various types. To ensure the operation of the physical sector, 44 structures were built at the site and a cable network was laid with a length of 560 kilometers.
In June-July 1949, two groups of KB-11 workers with auxiliary equipment and household equipment were sent to the test site, and on July 24 a group of specialists arrived there, which was to be directly involved in preparing the atomic bomb for testing.
On August 5, 1949, the government commission for testing the RDS-1 issued a conclusion on the complete readiness of the test site.
On August 21, a plutonium charge and four neutron fuses were delivered to the test site by a special train, one of which was to be used to detonate a military product.
On August 24, 1949, Kurchatov arrived at the training ground. By August 26, all preparatory work at the site was completed. The head of the experiment, Kurchatov, ordered the testing of the RDS-1 on August 29 at eight o'clock in the morning local time and the conduct of preparatory operations starting at eight o'clock in the morning on August 27.
On the morning of August 27, the assembly of a combat product began near the central tower. On the afternoon of August 28, the bombers carried out the last full inspection of the tower, prepared the automation for the explosion and checked the demolition cable line.
At four o'clock in the afternoon on August 28, a plutonium charge and neutron fuses were delivered to the workshop near the tower. The final installation of the charge was completed by three o'clock in the morning on August 29. At four o'clock in the morning, the fitters rolled the product out of the assembly shop along the rail track and installed it in the tower's cargo lift cage, and then raised the charge to the top of the tower. By six o'clock, the equipment of the charge with fuses and its connection to the subversive circuit was completed. Then the evacuation of all people from the test field began.
In connection with the worsening weather, Kurchatov decided to postpone the explosion from 8.00 to 7.00.
At 6.35 the operators turned on the power of the automation system. 12 minutes before the explosion, the field machine was turned on. 20 seconds before the explosion, the operator turned on the main connector (switch) connecting the product to the automatic control system. From that moment on, all operations were performed by an automatic device. Six seconds before the explosion, the main mechanism of the automaton turned on the power supply of the product and part of the field devices, and one second turned on all the other devices, gave a detonation signal.
Exactly at seven o'clock on August 29, 1949, the whole area was lit up with a blinding light, which marked that the USSR had successfully completed the development and testing of its first charge for an atomic bomb.
The charge power was 22 kilotons of TNT.
20 minutes after the explosion, two tanks equipped with lead shielding were sent to the center of the field to conduct radiation reconnaissance and inspect the center of the field. The reconnaissance found that all structures in the center of the field had been demolished. A funnel gaped in place of the tower, the soil in the center of the field melted, and a continuous crust of slag formed. Civilian buildings and industrial structures were completely or partially destroyed.
The equipment used in the experiment made it possible to carry out optical observations and measurements of the heat flux, parameters shock wave, characteristics of neutron and gamma radiation, determine the level of radioactive contamination of the area in the area of the explosion and along the trail of the explosion cloud, study the impact damaging factors nuclear explosion on biological objects.
For the successful development and testing of a charge for an atomic bomb, several closed decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 29, 1949 awarded orders and medals of the USSR to a large group of leading researchers, designers, and technologists; many were awarded the title of laureates of the Stalin Prize, and more than 30 people received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
As a result of the successful test of the RDS-1, the USSR eliminated the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons, becoming the second nuclear power in the world.
