Non-existent and dangerous. dirty bomb

It is 100% composed of . During an explosion, this shell is irradiated with a strong neutron flux. Neutron capture converts a stable cobalt-59 nucleus into a radioactive isotope. The half-life of cobalt-60 is 5.2 years, as a result of this nuclide is formed in an excited state, which then passes into the ground state, emitting one or more gamma rays.

Story

The idea of a cobalt bomb was described in February 1950 by a physicist who suggested that an arsenal of cobalt bombs would be capable of destroying all humanity on the planet (the so-called , Doomsday device, DDD). Cobalt was chosen as an element that results in highly active and relatively long-lasting radioactive contamination. When using other elements, you can get contamination with isotopes with a long half-life, but their activity will be insufficient. There are also shorter-lived isotopes than cobalt-60, for example, but due to their rapid decay, part of the population may survive in bunkers.

Szilard's "Doomsday Machine" - a thermonuclear explosive device capable of producing enough cobalt-60 to destroy all of humanity - does not involve any delivery means. State (or terrorist organization) can use it as a tool of blackmail, threatening to blow up the Doomsday Machine on its territory and thereby destroy both its population and the rest of humanity. After the explosion, radioactive cobalt-60 will be carried throughout the planet by atmospheric currents over several months.

In the early 2000s, information appeared in the Russian press with reference to interviews with foreign journalists about what the academician’s group allegedly proposed to do with cobalt plating containing large number deuterium next to a nuclear bomb. When detonated east coast America, radioactive fallout would fall on US territory.

Cobalt bombs in culture

In the novel "" (1969), cobalt bombs are called the cause of cataclysms on the planet.
The second film about the Planet of the Apes - "" (1970) - talks about the worship of a cobalt bomb by the descendants of people - psionic illusionists.
In the novel "" (1998) it is mentioned - shuttles loaded with cobalt and hydrogen bombs on.
The massive use of cobalt bombs is described in the novel “The Huge Black Ship” (2004).
In the fantasy story " Black blood Transylvania" (2007) describes the bombing of Transylvania by NATO forces using cobalt bombs.
Cobalt bomb became the engine of the plot of the 16th and 17th episodes of the third season of the TV series "" (2011).
In the television series "" (2015), the FBI suspected aliens of manipulating children to create a cobalt bomb to begin their invasion.
Cobalt bombs were mentioned in the novel Hiero's Journey.
In the 1954 story "Exhibit Piece" by Philip K. Dick, a cobalt bomb was mentioned at the very end, for a more open ending.
In the game "" in one of the endings in Detroit, a cobalt truck is blown up.
It is mentioned several times in the science fiction series "Star Trek" as a weapon of great destructive power.
In the game" First Strike: Final Hour" among the available weapons there is a cobalt bomb.
In the game "Metro Exodus", one of the characters suggests that Novosibirsk was hit by a cobalt bomb.

Notes

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (unavailable link), Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan (editors), United States Department of Defense and Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
1.6 Cobalt Bombs and other Salted Bombs (undefined) . Nuclearweaponarchive.org. Retrieved February 10, 2011. Archived July 28, 2012.
Ramzaev V. et al. Radiological investigations at the “Taiga” nuclear explosion site: Site description and in situ measurements (English) // Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. - 2011. - Vol. 102. - Iss. 7. - P. 672-680. - :

After the end of World War II, humanity almost immediately fell into a new protracted conflict, in the era of confrontation between two global military-political blocs - the communist one, led by the Soviet Union, and the western one, the leader of which was the United States of America. This period lasted more than forty years and was called the Cold War.

At the end of World War II, the United States managed to create nuclear weapons, and a few years later they appeared in Soviet Union. After this, both countries entered into a mad nuclear arms race, increasing their arsenals and creating increasingly sophisticated means of delivering thermonuclear warheads. Several times, humanity literally stood on the edge, only a few millimeters separated it from atomic Armageddon.

The Cold War gave rise to numerous phobias: the West was afraid of Soviet tank armadas and nuclear submarines, and in the USSR they scared citizens with Pershings and cruise missiles"Tomahawk". One of the main horror stories Cold War became a cobalt bomb - new look nuclear weapons capable of not only incinerating the earth, but also turning it into a radioactive desert for many decades. This term did not disappear without a trace along with the Cold War era; materials about the cobalt bomb can still be easily found on the Internet today. Sometimes it is called a “dirty” bomb, which, in general, is not entirely true.

Does it really exist? this type nuclear weapons? On what principles does a cobalt bomb “work” and why is it dangerous? Are similar weapons being developed today?

Cobalt bomb: what is it?

Conventional nuclear weapons have several factors of destruction: light radiation, shock wave, radioactive contamination, electromagnetic pulse. As the experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as numerous subsequent nuclear weapons tests, showed, the shock wave and light pulse cause the most casualties and destruction. Radioactive contamination is also deadly, but it usually does not act instantly, especially since with the explosion of conventional nuclear or thermonuclear weapons this factor is minimized, and due to natural decay, radioactivity decreases quite quickly.

Initially, they did not pay attention to this threat at all; the Japanese began to rebuild Hiroshima and Nagasaki right on the spot nuclear explosions, and only a few years later they paid attention to the sharply increased number of cancers and genetic abnormalities in children.

Already in the early 50s, development of nuclear weapons began, the main factor in the destruction of which would be radioactive contamination. Later it was called radiological.

The idea of destroying the enemy with radioactive radiation was born before the invention of the first nuclear bomb- back in the early 40s. Moreover, the first person to come up with this idea was not a scientist or a general, but the famous American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein. In 1940, then still a beginner and few people famous writer published the story “Bad Solution,” in which countries anti-Hitler coalition subjected German territory to bombardment with conventional aerial bombs filled with radioactive materials.

The Nazis, having received such an unexpected blow, quickly signed a surrender. Interestingly, in this narrative, the development of weapons based on fission of uranium nuclei ended in failure, which is why the Allies had to use a “dirty” bomb. This point is indicative: the fact is that many did not believe in the reality of creating nuclear weapons, not only the military, but also scientists.

If you can survive the use of conventional nuclear weapons in a shelter, and then begin to restore the affected areas - as the Japanese did with their cities - then this will not work with radiological weapons: the area will remain uninhabitable for many decades. This is the main idea behind the development and use of the cobalt bomb.

The design of the first “dirty” bombs was very similar to what was described by Heinlein: these were ordinary containers with radioactive materials and an explosive charge, which were dropped over enemy territory. At the required height an explosion occurred, which carried isotopes over the attacked area. However, already in 1952, the American scientist Sillard proposed a fundamentally different design for radiological weapons, and for the first time it included the use of cobalt, a material capable of producing very strong radiation over a long period of time.

In the early 60s, the British were studying the properties of cobalt. They used this element as radiochemical tags during tests of thermonuclear charges at a test site in Australia. Information about this was leaked to the English press, which gave rise to rumors that Britain had not only developed a cobalt bomb, but was also testing it. The scandal greatly damaged London's international image.

The USSR was also interested in the creation of cobalt nuclear weapons. In particular, the future “dissident” and “humanist” Academician Sakharov took part in the development of the Soviet “dirty” bomb. He suggested that Khrushchev build a ship with cobalt lining and a nuclear bomb inside and blow it up somewhere near the US coast. In this case, almost the entire territory of this country would be contaminated.

Gradually, however, the excitement around the cobalt bomb faded away. The reason for this was not the voice of reason, which the high-ranking generals finally heard, or considerations of humanism. It was simply concluded that such weapons make no sense. Modern warfare is carried out for the sake of seizing someone else's territory; after the explosion of a nuclear or thermonuclear device, it can soon be used at your discretion. The situation is different with a dirty bomb: high level infection, persistent for decades, makes any territorial seizures meaningless. To deter the enemy, conventional nuclear warheads were quite enough, which the USA and the USSR “stamped” enough to destroy the planet several times.

There is another reason. Any type of nuclear weapon underwent multiple tests - first above ground, and then underground. But how to test radiological weapons? Who wants to turn their own territories into lifeless deserts for decades?

Most of the above applies to nuclear weapons, which contain cobalt in one form or another. However, the term "dirty" bomb has another meaning. It is often referred to as ammunition containing radioactive elements and a conventional explosive. After detonation, the isotopes are distributed over a large area, making it unsuitable for life. Such a “dirty” bomb is much more dangerous than those developed by the superpowers during the Cold War. The reason is very simple: even the poorest and most technically undeveloped states are able to obtain such ammunition. To develop a real nuclear bomb, it is necessary to create a new industry, very high-tech and expensive. A state seeking to join the nuclear club must first build one or more nuclear power plants, obtain special centrifuges, train the necessary specialists. All this requires billions of dollars in costs and many years of hard work. Even more difficult to create effective means delivery of nuclear weapons: ballistic missiles or bombers.

On the other hand, it is quite easy to obtain radioactive materials - today they are widely used in various industries, including scientific research and in medicine. For example, the isotope americium-241 is used in conventional smoke detectors, and radioactive materials are used in significant quantities in medicine. Of course, to make a dirty bomb you would have to gut several million sensors, but there are processes that use isotopes in much larger quantities.

Theoretically, not only a rogue state, but also a terrorist organization can assemble such ammunition. It’s not for nothing that “dirty” bombs are often called “the poor man’s nuclear weapons.” The consequences of its use can be seen in the exclusion zone Chernobyl nuclear power plant. There was a thermal explosion (albeit a very powerful one), as a result of which a large number of radioactive isotopes were released into the environment. The area around the station is still deserted today (more than thirty years have passed), and the city of Pripyat is a clear illustration of what our planet would look like without humanity.

If the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 in New York had been carried out using a dirty bomb, the city would have become a ghost, and the number of victims would have been in the tens of thousands.

Until now, the “dirty” bomb is rather a fictitious weapon that could hypothetically pose a danger to anyone. modern state. However special services take the likelihood of such terrorist attacks very seriously, so turnover radioactive substances is under strict control.

Cobalt bomb device

During a conventional nuclear explosion, it produces a huge amount of a wide variety of radioactive isotopes. However, most of them have a very short half-life, so that radiation levels drop significantly within a few hours after the explosion. It is quite possible to sit out the most dangerous time in a bomb shelter, and after a few years the territories become completely suitable for economic activity.

The most dangerous isotopes for humans are those whose half-life occurs over years and decades: cesium-137, strontium-90 and 89, zinc-64, tantalum-181. Such a period cannot be spent in a bomb shelter; the area affected by these elements remains uninhabitable for several generations.

A cobalt bomb has a final shell made not of uranium, but of cobalt. It is 100% composed of the cobalt-59 isotope. Under the influence of a strong neutron flux during an explosion, it turns into the unstable isotope cobalt-60, which has a half-life of 5.2 years. The result is a still unstable element - nickel-60, which is also radioactive and emits beta radiation.

Scientists have even calculated how much cobalt is needed to completely sterilize our planet. For this, 510 tons of the cobalt-60 isotope turned out to be sufficient. In this case, a person is guaranteed to receive lethal dose radiation.

Summarizing all of the above, we can say the following. Currently, the cobalt bomb is more of a fiction and a horror story from the Cold War. It is relatively easy to make, but it is not clear what it should be used for. Potentially much more dangerous are conventional “dirty” bombs, which are not nuclear weapons. The main problem is the possibility of such ammunition falling into the hands of terrorist organizations.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them

The Kremlin called it an “accident” that information about secret program creating a new Russian weapons- a tablet with a presentation of the Status-6 complex appeared in the frame during a meeting on military issues at the Sochi residence of Vladimir Putin.

Indeed, some secret data there was captured by the camera lens, so they were subsequently deleted, TASS quotes presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. He added that measures will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

While conspiracy theorists are arguing on blogs whether the “drain” was truly accidental or intentional, weapons forums are discussing the purpose and performance characteristics"Status-6", based on several television footage and historical calculations. From the information on the tablet caught in the camera lens, it is clear that we're talking about about the sea - more precisely, ocean system, which will be carried by submarines.

On the left is a nuclear submarine under construction. special purpose"Belgorod" of project 09852 "Antey", on the right is the special-purpose nuclear submarine "Khabarovsk" of project 09851, which is under construction, the military blog reported. Both submarines are carriers of deep-sea vehicles and have a docking station in the bottom, which is why their cargo cannot be detected either from land or from a satellite.

Of particular interest to the public was the object in the center of the tablet - presumably, the actuator of the “Status”. Giant torpedo- essentially a robotic submarine, - with a range of 10 thousand kilometers, a diving depth of a kilometer and a speed of 100 knots, it will calmly bypass all hydroacoustic tracking stations and other traps and deliver its cargo where it should go.

The load is also not easy - as follows from the description of the project, we are talking about causing guaranteed unacceptable damage to the enemy by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination on the coast, unsuitable for human life for a long time. IN open sources There is only one ammunition with characteristics suitable for this task. This is a cobalt bomb - a weapon described by one of the creators of the American atomic weapons Leo Szilard. The bomb is a thermonuclear weapon, the last shell of which contains not uranium-238, but cobalt-59. During a nuclear explosion, the shell is irradiated by a strong neutron flux and turns into the cobalt-60 isotope with the highest radioactivity and a half-life of more than five years.

The explosion of a cobalt bomb guarantees the destruction of all living things - unlike, say, isotopes of gold, zinc and sodium with a shorter half-life, when used, part of the population can sit out in bunkers. At the same time, practical tests of the ammunition were never carried out - due to the same severe radioactive contamination.

According to experts, a cobalt bomb cannot be used as an impact weapon due to the unsuitability of the affected areas for development and the risk of completely destroying the Earth's biosphere if used on a massive scale (according to calculations, this will require only 510 tons of cobalt). But it can be considered as a means of deterrence - together with a system on alert that guarantees a retaliatory strike with the full power of Russia’s nuclear forces even if destroyed command posts and the country's leadership.

One type of radiological weapon is the cobalt bomb. Almost all nuclear physicists, as well as the military of all states, know what it is.

Type of radiological weapon

This type of bomb is considered a modification of the nuclear bomb in a theoretical sense. The consequences of its explosion are very sad. There is a significant and very deep contamination of the territory not only at the epicenter itself, but also in nearby areas. Moreover, the significance of this infection does not depend on the force of the explosion; there are very strong consequences for environment can cause a relatively small nuclear explosion.

What does a bomb consist of?

The thorium-cobalt bomb, in its theoretical understanding, consists of a thermonuclear warhead. Unlike a simple nuclear weapon, the final shell of this thermonuclear charge is not made of uranium-238. It contains the chemical element cobalt. Cobalt existing in nature is classified as a monoisotope; one hundred percent of this chemical element consists of cobalt-59.

Chemical reactions during explosion

During the explosion, this cobalt shell is extensively irradiated by a neutron flux. After this, the next chemical reaction occurs. Neutron capture is accompanied by the fact that the stable nucleus of a natural chemical element is transformed into cobalt-60, which is a radioactive isotope.

It should be noted that the time required for the half-life of the resulting isotope is estimated at five years and several months. After beta decay of the resulting nuclide, nickel-60 appears. The latter is in an excited state, and after a certain period of time it is replaced by the ground state, accompanied by the release of one or more gamma rays.

According to its characteristics, one gram of cobalt-60 is equivalent to 41.8 TBq or 1130 Ci. In order to contaminate the entire surface of the planet, only 510 thousand tons of this substance are enough. Moreover, this calculation was made taking into account the fact that one gram would be required to infect one square kilometer.

Cobalt-60 discovered at landfills

As of today, there is no reliable information or verified information that any country has created and has a cobalt fragmentation bomb. According to official information, such a fact has not been registered. However, during various nuclear tests cobalt-60 was still used in different countries. So, on September 14, 1957, small quantities of this element were used by the British military during their tests. It has been used as radiochemical tracers. It should be noted that the chemical element in question is an ordinary consequence of nuclear explosions, and the form of their implementation does not matter; it is formed both during open and closed test explosions. Cobalt-60 appears in such explosions as a result of neutron activation of iron. But this process involves not only iron, but also natural cobalt and nickel. The interaction occurs with the iron contained both in the bomb itself (steel shell) and with the iron located in the ground (any soil contains a certain percentage of this element).

For example, the radioactive isotope in question was identified in areas where above-ground and underground nuclear tests, namely industrial military explosions. These include those produced Soviet tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, located in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the explosions of “Taiga”, “Chagan”, “Crystal”, “Kraton-3”. Of the foreign test sites, we should note the North American test site Alamogordo, where the first explosion of this classification, called “Trinity,” was carried out. Cobalt-60 was also detected at the French test site, which was located in Algeria.

Author of the idea of creating a dirty bomb

The cobalt bomb, or rather, the idea of its creation belongs to physicist Leo Szilard. Back in 1950, this scientist said that any country’s arsenal, consisting of weapons of this type, would be capable of devastating the entire Earth. Cobalt as an element causing radioactive contamination as a result of certain chemical reactions, was not chosen by chance. It is with its help that it would be possible to achieve highly active and at the same time quite long radioactive exposure and infection.

When choosing between cobalt-60 and other isotopes, if the goal is to eradicate humanity, of course, the first deserves more attention. Thus, although other isotopes have a longer half-life, their activity is more than insufficient to obtain the desired result. But cobalt-60 fits perfectly. This scientist also considered other isotopes, the life of which is even shorter than that of cobalt-60. These are sodium-24 and gold-198. However, the very short half-life of these chemical elements could have contributed to the fact that some part of the population could survive a nuclear attack by hiding in bunkers.

Method of using a bomb

The Doomsday Machine is the name given by the physicist to the cobalt bomb he invented. Who created it at the present time, and whether it was created at all, is unknown. But it is desirable that such weapons do not exist in the world, since they can lead to irreversible tragic consequences for humanity. The thermonuclear device invented by Szilard does not require any special means of delivery to its destination.

Any terrorist organization or country that threatens the entire world will be able to blackmail all of humanity by threatening to detonate this bomb on its territory. Of course, this country will perish, but along with it all the inhabitants of the Earth will be destroyed. This will be achieved due to the fact that the radioactive isotope will be distributed throughout the world with the help of winds and atmospheric currents. It is clear that this will not happen in an instant, but after several months, but it will be inevitable.

Additional information

There is information that during the existence of the Soviet Union, a group led by the famous academician and scientist A.D. Sakharov. spoke to general secretary Communist Party N.S. Khrushchev with the initiative to create a rocket with a cobalt shell. Such a cobalt bomb, a photo of which can hardly be found in open sources, would contain a huge amount of deuterium, and if it exploded off the coast of the United States, the entire population of this country would die.

The source of such information was E.A. Negin, who had the rank of colonel general and served during the reign of Khrushchev.

The Cobalt Bomb is a theoretical weapon modification mass destruction, which leads to high degrees of radioactive contamination and contamination of the area at relatively small force explosion. Cobalt bomb refers to which in the role damaging factor At the same time, due to the relative weakness of the explosion, almost all infrastructure, buildings, structures and buildings remain undamaged.

A cobalt bomb is a nuclear weapon whose shell is made not of uranium-238, but of cobalt-59. During detonation, the shell is irradiated with a powerful neutron flux, which leads to the transmutation of cobalt-59 into the cobalt-60 isotope. It is a little over 5 years. As a result of the beta decay of this nuclide, nickel-60 is formed in the active state, which after some time passes into the ground state.

The activity of one gram of cobalt-60 is estimated to be 1130 Ci. To completely contaminate the entire surface of the planet with radiation at the level of grams/square kilometer of cobalt-60, about 510 tons are needed. In general, the explosion of such a bomb could contaminate the area for almost 50 years. Such long periods leave little chance for the population to survive the infection even in bunkers.

It is believed that the cobalt bomb was never created, so it is not in service with any country. Small quantity This element was used in one of the British tests for radiochemical tracers.

There are no big obstacles to creating such ammunition, but the high degree of contamination of the area and its duration do not allow it to be safely tested. Such ammunition has never been manufactured or tested due to the enormous danger it poses to the attackers themselves.

The most terrible way to use a cobalt bomb is to explode it at a high altitude, somewhat away from enemy territory, depending on weather conditions. In this case, the goal is for radioactive fallout to pass over enemy territory, which theoretically could destroy all life on it.

The very idea of this bomb was invented by physicist Leo Szilard, who suggested that an arsenal of cobalt bombs could destroy the entire population of the planet. Cobalt was chosen due to the fact that when activated by neutrons it gives a very strong and long-lasting radioactive contamination. It is possible to use other elements that form isotopes with even longer half-lives when creating such ammunition, but their activity is clearly insufficient. There are also short-lived isotopes compared to cobalt-60, such as sodium-24, zinc-65 and gold-198, but due to their fairly rapid decay, part of the population can survive the contamination of the area in bunkers.

Academician Sakharov, who created the first one, also took part in the theoretical development of the thorium-cobalt bomb and called it “a stinking toadstool.” Even creation hydrogen bomb and her test did not evoke such “flattering” epithets from the scientist. A cobalt bomb can be considered both a neutron and a radiological weapon, a so-called “dirty” weapon.