Nuclear weapons testing in the world. The first atomic bomb test in the Soviet Union

The first Soviet charge for atomic bomb.

This event was preceded by long and difficult work by physicists. The beginning of work on nuclear fission in the USSR can be considered the 1920s. Since the 1930s, nuclear physics has become one of the main directions of domestic physical science, and in October 1940, for the first time in the USSR, a group of Soviet scientists made a proposal to use atomic energy for weapons purposes, submitting an application to the Invention Department of the Red Army "On the use of uranium as a explosive and toxic substances."

The war that began in June 1941 and the evacuation of scientific institutes dealing with problems nuclear physics, interrupted work on the creation of atomic weapons in the country. But already in the autumn of 1941, the USSR began to receive intelligence information about secret intensive research work being carried out in Great Britain and the USA aimed at developing methods for using atomic energy for military purposes and creating explosives of enormous destructive power.

This information forced, despite the war, to resume work on uranium in the USSR. On September 28, 1942, a secret decree was signed State Committee Defense No. 2352ss "On the organization of work on uranium", according to which research on the use of atomic energy was resumed.

In February 1943, Igor Kurchatov was appointed scientific director of work on the atomic problem. In Moscow, headed by Kurchatov, Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created (now the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute), which began to study atomic energy.

Initially, the general management of the atomic problem was carried out by the Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov. But on August 20, 1945 (a few days after the US atomic bombing of Japanese cities), the State Defense Committee decided to create a Special Committee, headed by Lavrentiy Beria. He became the curator of the Soviet nuclear project.

At the same time, the First Main Directorate under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (later the Ministry of Medium Engineering of the USSR, now the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom) was created for the direct management of research, design, engineering organizations and industrial enterprises involved in the Soviet nuclear project. Boris Vannikov, who had previously been the People's Commissar of Ammunition, became the head of the PSU.

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, the chief designer of which was Yuli Khariton. Plant No. 550 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, which produced artillery shell casings, was chosen as the base for the deployment of KB-11.

The top-secret facility 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 mid-1948, work on the uranium option was stopped 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 it to Stalin,” etc. But in the official decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated June 21, 1946, it was encrypted as “ Jet engine special ("S").

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 information was Klaus Fuchs, a German physicist who participated in work on the nuclear programs of the USA and Great Britain.

Intelligence materials on the American plutonium charge for an atomic bomb made it possible to reduce the time needed to create 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 best solutions both the charge as a whole and its individual units. Therefore, the first atomic bomb charge 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 be guaranteed and in short time To show that the USSR also possesses atomic weapons, it was decided to use a charge created according to the American design in the first test.

The charge for the RDS-1 atomic bomb was a multilayer structure in which the active substance, plutonium, was transferred to a supercritical state by compressing it through a converging spherical detonation wave in the explosive.

RDS-1 was an aircraft atomic bomb weighing 4.7 tons, with a diameter of 1.5 meters and a length of 3.3 meters. 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 fissile material in the bomb.

To produce an atomic bomb charge in the city of Chelyabinsk-40 at Southern Urals a plant was built under the conditional number 817 (now the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Mayak Production Association). The plant consisted of the first Soviet industrial reactor for producing plutonium, a radiochemical plant for separating plutonium from uranium irradiated in the reactor, and a plant for producing products from metallic plutonium.

The reactor at Plant 817 was brought to its design capacity in June 1948, and a year later the plant received the required amount of plutonium to make the first charge for an atomic bomb.

The site for the test site where it was planned to test the charge was chosen in the Irtysh steppe, approximately 170 kilometers west of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. A plain with a diameter of approximately 20 kilometers, surrounded from the south, west and north by low mountains, was allocated for the test site. In the east of this space there were small hills.

Construction of the training ground, called training ground No. 2 of the USSR Ministry of Armed Forces (later the USSR Ministry of Defense), began in 1947, and was largely completed by July 1949.

For testing at the test site, an experimental site with a diameter of 10 kilometers was prepared, divided into sectors. It was equipped with special facilities to ensure testing, observation and recording 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 recorded light, neutron and gamma fluxes of a nuclear explosion. To study the impact of a nuclear explosion, sections of metro tunnels, fragments of airfield runways, and samples of aircraft, tanks, and artillery were placed on the experimental field. rocket launchers, ship superstructures various types. To ensure the operation of the physical sector, 44 structures were built at the test site and a road was laid. cable network length 560 kilometers.

In June-July 1949, two groups of KB-11 workers with auxiliary equipment and household supplies were sent to the test site, and on July 24 a group of specialists arrived there, who were supposed to be directly involved in preparing the atomic bomb for testing.

On August 5, 1949, the government commission for testing the RDS-1 gave a conclusion that the test site was completely ready.

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 warhead.

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, gave the order to test the RDS-1 on August 29 at eight o'clock in the morning local time and to carry out preparatory operations starting at eight o'clock in the morning on August 27.

On the morning of August 27, assembly of the combat product began near the central tower. On the afternoon of August 28, demolition workers carried out a final full inspection of the tower, prepared the automation for detonation and checked the demolition cable line.

At four o'clock in the afternoon on August 28, a plutonium charge and neutron fuses for it 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, installers rolled the product out of the assembly shop along a rail track and installed it in the tower's freight elevator cage, and then lifted the charge to the top of the tower. By six o'clock the charge was equipped with fuses and connected to the blasting circuit. Then the evacuation of all people from the test field began.

Due to the worsening weather, Kurchatov decided to postpone the explosion from 8.00 to 7.00.

At 6.35, the operators turned on the power to 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 machine turned on the power of the product and some of the field instruments, and one second turned on all the other instruments and issued an explosion signal.

At exactly seven o'clock on August 29, 1949, the entire area was illuminated with a blinding light, which signaled that the USSR had successfully completed the development and testing of its first atomic bomb charge.

The charge power was 22 kilotons of TNT.

20 minutes after the explosion, two tanks equipped with lead protection were sent to the center of the field to conduct radiation reconnaissance and inspect the center of the field. Reconnaissance determined that all structures in the center of the field had been demolished. At the site of the tower, a crater gaped; the soil in the center of the field melted, and a continuous crust of slag formed. Civil 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 heat flow and parameters shock wave, characteristics of neutron and gamma radiation, determine the level radioactive contamination areas in the explosion area and along the explosion cloud trail, study the impact damaging factors nuclear explosion on biological objects.

For the successful development and testing of a charge for an atomic bomb, she was awarded orders and medals of the USSR by several closed decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 29, 1949. large group leading researchers, designers, technologists; many were awarded the title of Stalin Prize laureates, and more than 30 people received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

As a result successful test RDS-1 of the USSR eliminated the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons, becoming the second nuclear power peace.

The first Soviet charge for an atomic bomb was successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakhstan).

This event was preceded by long and difficult work by physicists. The beginning of work on nuclear fission in the USSR can be considered the 1920s. Since the 1930s, nuclear physics has become one of the main directions of domestic physical science, and in October 1940, for the first time in the USSR, a group of Soviet scientists made a proposal to use atomic energy for weapons purposes, submitting an application to the Invention Department of the Red Army "On the use of uranium as a explosive and toxic substances."

The war that began in June 1941 and the evacuation of scientific institutes dealing with problems of nuclear physics interrupted work on the creation of atomic weapons in the country. But already in the autumn of 1941, the USSR began to receive intelligence information about secret intensive research work being carried out in Great Britain and the USA aimed at developing methods for using atomic energy for military purposes and creating explosives of enormous destructive power.

This information forced, despite the war, to resume work on uranium in the USSR. On September 28, 1942, the secret decree of the State Defense Committee No. 2352ss “On the organization of work on uranium” was signed, according to which research on the use of atomic energy was resumed.

In February 1943, Igor Kurchatov was appointed scientific director of work on the atomic problem. In Moscow, headed by Kurchatov, Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created (now the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute), which began to study atomic energy.

Initially, the general management of the atomic problem was carried out by the Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov. But on August 20, 1945 (a few days after the US atomic bombing of Japanese cities), the State Defense Committee decided to create a Special Committee, headed by Lavrentiy Beria. He became the curator of the Soviet atomic project.

At the same time, the First Main Directorate under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (later the Ministry of Medium Engineering of the USSR, now the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom) was created for the direct management of research, design, engineering organizations and industrial enterprises involved in the Soviet nuclear project. Boris Vannikov, who had previously been the People's Commissar of Ammunition, became the head of the PSU.

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, the chief designer of which was Yuli Khariton. Plant No. 550 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, which produced artillery shell casings, was chosen as the base for the deployment of KB-11.

The top-secret facility 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 mid-1948, work on the uranium option was stopped 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 it to Stalin,” etc. But in the official decree of the USSR Council of Ministers of June 21, 1946, it was encrypted as “Special jet engine (“S”).

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 who participated in work on the nuclear programs of the USA and Great Britain.

Intelligence materials on the American plutonium charge for an atomic bomb made it possible to reduce the time needed to create 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 atomic bomb charge 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 reliably and quickly demonstrate that the USSR also possesses atomic weapons, it was decided to use a charge created according to the American design in the first test.

The charge for the RDS-1 atomic bomb was a multilayer structure in which the active substance, plutonium, was transferred to a supercritical state by compressing it through a converging spherical detonation wave in the explosive.

RDS-1 was an aircraft atomic bomb weighing 4.7 tons, with a diameter of 1.5 meters and a length of 3.3 meters. 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 fissile material in the bomb.

To produce an atomic bomb charge, a plant was built in the city of Chelyabinsk-40 in the Southern Urals under the conditional number 817 (now the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Mayak Production Association). The plant consisted of the first Soviet industrial reactor for producing plutonium, a radiochemical plant for separating plutonium from irradiated a uranium reactor, and a plant for producing products from metallic plutonium.

The reactor at Plant 817 was brought to its design capacity in June 1948, and a year later the plant received the required amount of plutonium to make the first charge for an atomic bomb.

The site for the test site where it was planned to test the charge was chosen in the Irtysh steppe, approximately 170 kilometers west of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. A plain with a diameter of approximately 20 kilometers, surrounded from the south, west and north by low mountains, was allocated for the test site. In the east of this space there were small hills.

Construction of the training ground, called training ground No. 2 of the USSR Ministry of Armed Forces (later the USSR Ministry of Defense), began in 1947, and was largely completed by July 1949.

For testing at the test site, an experimental site with a diameter of 10 kilometers was prepared, divided into sectors. It was equipped with special facilities to ensure testing, observation and recording 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 recorded light, neutron and gamma fluxes of a nuclear explosion. To study the impact of a nuclear explosion, sections of metro tunnels, fragments of airfield runways were built on the experimental field, and samples of aircraft, tanks, artillery rocket launchers, and ship superstructures of various types were placed. To ensure the operation of the physical sector, 44 structures were built at the test site and a cable network with a length of 560 kilometers was laid.

In June-July 1949, two groups of KB-11 workers with auxiliary equipment and household supplies were sent to the test site, and on July 24 a group of specialists arrived there, who were supposed to be directly involved in preparing the atomic bomb for testing.

On August 5, 1949, the government commission for testing the RDS-1 gave a conclusion that the test site was completely ready.

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 warhead.

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, gave the order to test the RDS-1 on August 29 at eight o'clock in the morning local time and to carry out preparatory operations starting at eight o'clock in the morning on August 27.

On the morning of August 27, assembly of the combat product began near the central tower. On the afternoon of August 28, demolition workers carried out a final full inspection of the tower, prepared the automation for detonation and checked the demolition cable line.

At four o'clock in the afternoon on August 28, a plutonium charge and neutron fuses for it 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, installers rolled the product out of the assembly shop along a rail track and installed it in the tower's freight elevator cage, and then lifted the charge to the top of the tower. By six o'clock the charge was equipped with fuses and connected to the blasting circuit. Then the evacuation of all people from the test field began.

Due to the worsening weather, Kurchatov decided to postpone the explosion from 8.00 to 7.00.

At 6.35, the operators turned on the power to 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 machine turned on the power of the product and some of the field instruments, and one second turned on all the other instruments and issued an explosion signal.

At exactly seven o'clock on August 29, 1949, the entire area was illuminated with a blinding light, which signaled that the USSR had successfully completed the development and testing of its first atomic bomb charge.

The charge power was 22 kilotons of TNT.

20 minutes after the explosion, two tanks equipped with lead protection were sent to the center of the field to conduct radiation reconnaissance and inspect the center of the field. Reconnaissance determined that all structures in the center of the field had been demolished. At the site of the tower, a crater gaped; the soil in the center of the field melted, and a continuous crust of slag formed. Civil 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 heat flow, shock wave parameters, 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, and study the impact of the damaging factors of a 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 Stalin Prize laureates, 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 abolished the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons, becoming the second nuclear power in the world.

Koh Kambaran. Pakistan decided to conduct its first nuclear tests in the province of Balochistan. The charges were placed in a tunnel dug in Mount Koh Kambaran and detonated in May 1998. Local residents hardly visit this area, with the exception of a few nomads and herbalists.

Maralinga. The site in southern Australia, where atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons took place, was once considered sacred by local residents. As a result, twenty years after the end of the tests, a repeat operation was organized to clean up Maralinga. The first was carried out after the final test in 1963.

Reserved On May 18, 1974, an 8-kiloton bomb was tested in the Indian desert of Rajasthan. In May 1998, charges were exploded at the Pokhran test site - five of them, including a thermonuclear charge of 43 kilotons.

Bikini Atoll. In the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean there is Bikini Atoll, where the United States actively conducted nuclear tests. Other explosions were rarely caught on film, but these were filmed quite often. Of course - 67 tests between 1946 and 1958.

Christmas Island. Christmas Island, also known as Kiritimati, stands out for the fact that tests were carried out on it atomic weapons both Britain and the USA. In 1957, the first British hydrogen bomb was detonated there, and in 1962, as part of Project Dominic, the United States tested 22 charges there.

Lop Nor. In place of the dried salt lake In western China, about 45 warheads were detonated, both in the atmosphere and underground. Testing was stopped in 1996.

Mururoa. Atoll in the south Pacific Ocean survived a lot - or rather, 181 French nuclear weapons tests from 1966 to 1986. The last charge got stuck in an underground mine and when it exploded, it created a crack several kilometers long. After this, the tests were stopped.

New Earth. Archipelago in North Arctic Ocean selected for nuclear testing on September 17, 1954. Since then, 132 nuclear explosions have been carried out there, including a test of the most powerful hydrogen bomb in the world - “Tsar Bombs” of 58 megatons.

Semipalatinsk From 1949 to 1989, at least 468 nuclear tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. So much plutonium accumulated there that from 1996 to 2012, Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States conducted a secret operation to search for and collect and dispose of radioactive materials. It was possible to collect about 200 kg of plutonium.

Nevada. Nevada Proving Ground, in existence since 1951, breaks all records - 928 nuclear explosions, of which 800 are underground. Considering that the test site is located only 100 kilometers from Las Vegas, nuclear mushrooms half a century ago were considered a completely normal part of entertainment for tourists.

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

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

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

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

Physicists' idea of ​​a future atomic bomb

Many physicists in the period from the late 30s to the early 40s already had a rough idea of ​​what it would look like. The idea was to concentrate quickly enough in one place a certain amount (more than a critical mass) of material fissile under the influence of neutrons. After this, an avalanche-like increase in the number of atomic decays should begin in it. That is, it will be a chain reaction, as a result of which a huge charge of energy will be released and a powerful explosion will occur.

Problems encountered in creating the atomic bomb

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

As it soon became clear, an alternative to uranium is plutonium-239. It is almost never found in nature (it is 100 times less abundant than uranium-235). It can be obtained in acceptable concentrations in nuclear reactors by irradiating uranium-238 with neutrons. Building a reactor for this also presented significant difficulties.

The third problem was that it was not easy to collect the required amount of fissile material in one place. In the process of bringing subcritical parts closer together, even very quickly, fission reactions begin to occur in them. The energy released in this case may not allow the bulk of the atoms to participate in the fission process. Without having time to react, they will fly apart.

Invention of V. Maslov and V. Spinel

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

American cannon scheme

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

Construction of a cyclotron in Moscow

In 1941, on April 15, the Council of People's Commissars decided to begin construction of a powerful cyclotron in Moscow. However, after the Great Patriotic War, almost all work in the field of nuclear physics, designed to bring closer the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR, was stopped. Many nuclear physicists found themselves at the front. Others were reoriented to more pressing areas, as it seemed then.

Gathering information about the nuclear issue

Collecting information regarding nuclear problem Since 1939, the 1st Directorate of the NKVD and the GRU of the Red Army were involved. In 1940, in October, the first message was received from D. Cairncross, which spoke of plans to create an atomic bomb. This question was reviewed by the British Science Committee, on which Cairncross worked. In the summer of 1941, a bomb project called “Tube Alloys” was approved. England at the beginning of the war was one of the world leaders in nuclear development. This situation arose largely thanks to the help of German scientists who fled to this country when Hitler came to power.

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

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

The wife of Konenkov (pictured below), a famous sculptor, worked with others on reconnaissance. She became close to Einstein and Oppenheimer, the greatest physicists, and provided for a long time influence on them. L. Zarubina, another resident in the USA, was part of the circle of people of Oppenheimer and L. Szilard. With the help of these women, the USSR managed to introduce agents into Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and also the Chicago laboratory - largest centers nuclear research in America. Information on the atomic bomb was transmitted to the USA Soviet intelligence in 1944, the Rosenbergs, D. Greenglass, B. Pontecorvo, S. Sake, T. Hall, K. Fuchs.

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

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

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

New stages in the creation of the atomic bomb

In 1942, in April, M. Pervukhin, People's Commissar chemical industry, was acquainted, by order of Stalin, with materials relating to the work on the atomic bomb carried out abroad. To evaluate the information presented in the report, Pervukhin proposed creating a group of specialists. It included, on the recommendation of Ioffe, young scientists Kikoin, Alikhanov and Kurchatov.

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

The previously mobilized scientists were recalled from the front at this time. In the same year, 1943, on February 11, Laboratory No. 2 of the Academy of Sciences was organized. Kurchatov was appointed its head. She was supposed to coordinate the work on creating an atomic bomb.

In 1944, Soviet intelligence received a reference book that contained valuable information about the availability of uranium-graphite reactors and the determination of reactor parameters. However, the uranium needed to load even a small experimental nuclear reactor was not yet available in our country. In 1944, on September 28, the USSR government obliged NKCM to hand over uranium salts and uranium to the state fund. Laboratory No. 2 was entrusted with the task of storing them.

Works carried out in Bulgaria

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

Construction of a diffusion plant

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

Involving German scientists in research

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

The creation of the atomic bomb is delayed

To produce plutonium-239 it was necessary to build nuclear reactor. Even for the experimental one, about 36 tons of uranium metal, 500 tons of graphite and 9 tons of uranium dioxide were needed. By August 1943, the graphite problem was solved. Its production began in May 1944 at the Moscow Electrode Plant. However, the country did not have the required amount of uranium by the end of 1945.

Stalin wanted the first atomic bomb to be tested in the USSR as soon as possible. The year by which it was supposed to be realized was initially 1948 (until spring). However, by this time there were not even materials for its production. A new deadline was set on February 8, 1945 by government decree. The creation of the atomic bomb was postponed until March 1, 1949.

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

The event, which had been sought for so long, occurred somewhat later than the re-scheduled date. The first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place in 1949, as planned, but not in March, but in August.

In 1948, on June 19, the first industrial reactor ("A") was launched. To select from nuclear fuel Plant "B" was built to produce plutonium. Irradiated uranium blocks were dissolved and plutonium was separated from uranium by chemical methods. Then the solution was further purified from fission products in order to reduce its radiation activity. In April 1949, Plant B began producing bomb parts from plutonium using NII-9 technology. The first research reactor operating on heavy water was launched at the same time. The development of production proceeded with numerous accidents. When eliminating their consequences, cases of overexposure of personnel were observed. However, at that time they did not pay attention to such trifles. The most important thing was to carry out the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR (its date was 1949, August 29).

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

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

Testing of the first atomic bomb

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

Some features of the first atomic bomb

5 kg of plutonium was placed in the center of the charge. The substance was established in the form of two hemispheres surrounded by a shell of uranium-238. It served to contain the core, which inflated during the chain reaction, so that as much of the plutonium as possible could react. In addition, it was used as a reflector and also a neutron moderator. The tamper was surrounded by a shell made of aluminum. It served to uniformly compress the nuclear charge by the shock wave.

For safety reasons, the installation of the unit that contained fissile material was carried out immediately before using the charge. For this purpose, there was a special through conical hole, closed with an explosive plug. And in the inner and outer cases there were holes that were closed with lids. The fission of approximately 1 kg of plutonium nuclei was responsible for the power of the explosion. The remaining 4 kg did not have time to react and were sprayed uselessly when the first test of an atomic bomb was carried out in the USSR, the date of which you now know. Many new ideas for improving charges arose during the implementation of this program. They concerned, in particular, increasing the material utilization rate, as well as reducing weight and dimensions. Compared to the first ones, the new models have become more compact, more powerful and more elegant.

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

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

On September 14, 1954, the first military exercises, during which the atomic bomb was used. They were called "Operation Snowball". The testing of an atomic bomb in 1954 in the USSR, according to information declassified in 1993, was carried out, among other things, with the aim of finding out how radiation affects humans. The participants in this experiment signed an agreement that they would not disclose information about the exposure for 25 years.

In December 1946, the first experimental atomic reactor, which required 45 tons of uranium to operate. To launch the industrial reactor required to produce plutonium, another 150 tons of uranium were needed, which were accumulated only by the beginning of 1948.

Test launches of the reactor began on June 8, 1948 near Chelyabinsk, but at the end of the year a serious accident occurred, due to which the reactor was shut down for 2 months. At the same time, the reactor was manually disassembled and reassembled, during which thousands of people were irradiated, including members of the management of the Soviet nuclear project Igor Kurchatov and Abraham Zavenyagin who participated in the liquidation of the accident. The 10 kilograms of plutonium needed to make an atomic bomb were obtained in the USSR by mid-1949.

The test of the first domestic atomic bomb RDS-1 was carried out on August 29, 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site. In place of the bomb tower, a crater with a diameter of 3 meters and a depth of 1.5 meters, covered with melted sand, was formed. After the explosion, it was allowed to stay 2 kilometers from the epicenter and for no more than 15 minutes due to high level radiation.

25 meters from the tower there was a building made of reinforced concrete structures, with an overhead crane in the hall for installing a plutonium charge. The structure partially collapsed, but the structure itself survived. Of the 1,538 experimental animals, 345 died in the explosion; some of the animals imitated soldiers in the trenches.

The T-34 tank and field artillery were slightly damaged within a radius of 500-550 meters from the epicenter, and at a range of up to 1,500 meters all types of aircraft received significant damage. At a distance of a kilometer from the epicenter and then every 500 meters, 10 Pobeda passenger cars were installed, and all 10 cars burned down.

At a distance of 800 meters, two residential 3-storey buildings, built 20 meters from each other, so that the first shielded the second, were completely destroyed, residential panel and log houses of urban type were completely destroyed within a radius of 5 kilometers. Most of the damage was caused by the shock wave. The railway and highway bridges, located 1,000 and 1,500 meters respectively, were twisted and thrown 20-30 meters from their place.

The carriages and vehicles located on the bridges, half-burnt, were scattered across the steppe at a distance of 50-80 meters from the installation site. Tanks and guns were overturned and mangled, and animals were carried away. The tests were considered successful.

The leaders of the work, Lavrentiy Beria and Igor Kurchatov, were awarded the titles of Honorary Citizen of the USSR. A number of scientists who participated in the project - Kurchatov, Flerov, Khariton, Khlopin, Shchelkin, Zeldovich, Bochvar, as well as Nikolaus Riehl, became Heroes of Socialist Labor.

All of them were awarded Stalin Prizes, and also received dachas near Moscow and Pobeda cars, and Kurchatov received a ZIS car. The title of Hero of Socialist Labor was also given to one of the leaders of the Soviet defense industry, Boris Vannikov, his deputy Pervukhin, Deputy Minister Zavenyagin, as well as 7 more generals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who led nuclear facilities. The project leader, Beria, was awarded the Order of Lenin.