Creation and testing of the first atomic bomb in the USSR. Father of the Soviet atomic bomb

On February 7, 1960, the famous Soviet scientist Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov died. An outstanding physicist, in the most difficult times, created a nuclear shield for his homeland. We will tell you how the first atomic bomb was developed in the USSR

Discovery of nuclear reaction.

Since 1918, scientists in the USSR have been conducting research in the field nuclear physics. But it was only before World War II that a positive shift emerged. Kurchatov began to study closely radioactive transformations in 1932. And in 1939, he supervised the launch of the first cyclotron in the Soviet Union, which took place at the Radium Institute in Leningrad.

At that time this cyclotron was the largest in Europe. This was followed by a series of discoveries. Kurchatov discovered the branching of a nuclear reaction when phosphorus is irradiated with neutrons. And a year later, the scientist in his report “Fission of Heavy Nuclei” substantiated the creation of uranium nuclear reactor. Kurchatov was pursuing a previously unattainable goal: he wanted to show how to use nuclear energy in practice.

War is a stumbling block.

Thanks to Soviet scientists, including Igor Kurchatov, our country is developing nuclear development at that time it reached the forefront: there were many scientific developments in this area, personnel were being trained. But the outbreak of war almost ruined everything. All research in nuclear physics was stopped. Moscow and Leningrad institutes were evacuated, and the scientists themselves were forced to help the needs of the front. Kurchatov himself worked on protecting ships from mines and even dismantled mines.

The role of intelligence.

Many historians are of the opinion that without intelligence and spies in the West, the atomic bomb would not have appeared in the USSR in such a short time. Since 1939 information on nuclear issue collected by the GRU of the Red Army and the 1st Directorate of the NKVD. The first report of plans to create an atomic bomb in England, which at the beginning of the war was one of the leaders in nuclear research, came in 1940. Among the scientists was KKE member Fuchs. For some time he transmitted information through spies, but then the connection was interrupted.

The Soviet intelligence officer Semenov worked in the USA. In 1943, he reported that the first chain attack had been carried out in Chicago. nuclear reaction. It is curious that the wife of the famous sculptor Konenkov also worked for intelligence. She was friends with famous physicists Oppenheimer and Einstein. In various ways, the Soviet authorities introduced their agents into American nuclear research centers. And in 1944, the NKVD even created a special department to collect information about Western developments on the nuclear issue. In January 1945, Fuchs transmitted a description of the design of the first atomic bomb.

So intelligence significantly facilitated and accelerated the work of Soviet scientists. Indeed, the first test of an atomic bomb took place in 1949, although American experts assumed that this would happen ten years later

Arms race.

Despite the height of hostilities, in September 1942 Joseph Stalin signed an order to resume work on the nuclear issue. On February 11, Laboratory No. 2 was created, and on March 10, 1943, Igor Kurchatov was appointed scientific director of the project on the use of atomic energy. Kurchatov was given emergency powers and promised all possible support from the government. So in as soon as possible The first nuclear reactor was created and tested. Then Stalin gave two years to create the atomic bomb itself, but in the spring of 1948 this period expired. However, scientists could not demonstrate a bomb; they did not even have the necessary fission materials to produce one. The deadlines were pushed back, but not by much - until March 1, 1949.

Of course, the scientific developments of Kurchatov and the scientists from his laboratory were not published in the open press. They sometimes did not receive proper coverage even in closed reports due to lack of time. Scientists have worked hard to keep up with the competition - Western countries. Especially after the bombs that the US military dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Overcoming difficulties.

The creation of a nuclear explosive device required the construction of an industrial nuclear reactor to produce it. But here difficulties arose, because the necessary materials for the operation of a nuclear reactor - uranium, graphite - still need to be obtained.

Note that even a small reactor required about 36 tons of uranium, 9 tons of uranium dioxide and about 500 tons of pure graphite. The graphite shortage was resolved by mid-1943. Kurchatov participated in the development of the entire technological process. And in May 1944, graphite production was established at the Moscow Electrode Plant. But the required amount of uranium was still not available.

A year later, mines in Czechoslovakia and East Germany resumed operations, and uranium deposits were discovered in Kolyma, the Chita region, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the North Caucasus. After this, they began to create atomic cities. The first appeared in the Urals, near the city of Kyshtym. Kurchatov personally supervised the loading of uranium into the reactor. Then three more factories were built - two near Sverdlovsk and one in the Gorky region (Arzamas -16).

Launch of the first nuclear reactor.

Finally, at the beginning of 1948, a group of scientists led by Kurchatov began installing a nuclear reactor. Igor Vasilyevich was almost constantly on site, and he took full responsibility for the decisions made. He personally carried out all stages of the launch of the first industrial reactor. There were several attempts. So, on June 8, he began the experiment. When the reactor reached a power of one hundred kilowatts, Kurchatov interrupted the chain reaction because there was not enough uranium to complete the process. Kurchatov understood the danger of the experiments and on June 17 wrote in the operational journal:

I warn you that if the water supply is stopped, there will be an explosion, so under no circumstances should the water supply be stopped... It is necessary to monitor the water level in emergency tanks and the operation of pumping stations.

Testing an atomic bomb at the test site near Semipalatinsk

Successful test of the atomic bomb.

By 1947, Kurchatov managed to obtain laboratory plutonium-239 - about 20 micrograms. It was separated from uranium using chemical methods. After two years, scientists managed to accumulate a sufficient amount. On August 5, 1949, he was sent by train to KB-11. By this time, the specialists had finished assembling the explosive device. The nuclear charge assembled on the night of August 10-11 received the index 501 for the RDS-1 atomic bomb. As soon as they did not decipher this abbreviation: “special jet engine”, “Stalin’s jet engine”, “Russia makes it itself”.

After the experiments, the device was disassembled and sent to the test site. The test of the first Soviet nuclear charge took place on August 29 at Semipalatinsk training ground. The bomb was installed on a tower 37.5 meters high. When the bomb exploded, the tower was completely destroyed, leaving a crater in its place. The next day we went to the field to check the effect of the bomb. The tanks on which the impact force was tested were overturned, the guns were distorted by the blast wave, and ten Pobeda vehicles burned out. Note that the Soviet atomic bomb was made in 2 years 8 months. It took US scientists a month less to complete this.

The creation of the Soviet nuclear bomb, in terms of the complexity of scientific, technical and engineering problems, is a significant, truly unique event that influenced the balance of political forces in the world after World War II. The solution to this problem in our country, which has not yet recovered from the terrible destruction and upheaval of four war years, became possible as a result of the heroic efforts of scientists, production organizers, engineers, workers and the entire 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 nuclear weapons production, our Motherland for many years ensured military and defense parity between the two leading states of the world - the USSR and the USA. The nuclear shield, the first link of which was the legendary RDS-1 product, still protects Russia today.
I. Kurchatov was appointed head of the Atomic Project. From the end of 1942, he began to gather the scientists and specialists needed to solve the problem. Initially, the general management of the atomic problem was carried out by V. Molotov. But on August 20, 1945 (a few days after the atomic bombing of Japanese cities) State Committee The Defense Department decided to create a Special Committee, which was 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 it to Stalin,” etc. But in the official resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated June 21, 1946, the RDS received the wording: “ Jet engine"WITH"".
The tactical and technical specifications (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 the technical specifications for the RDS-1 and the subsequent development of the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 were carried out taking into account the available materials according to the design of the US plutonium bomb tested in 1945. These materials were provided by Soviet foreign intelligence. An important source information was K. Fuchs, a German physicist, participant in 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 when creating the RDS-1, significantly shorten its development time, 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 at the initial stages, Soviet specialists could offer the best solutions for both the charge as a whole and its individual components. But the unconditional requirement of the country's leadership was to guarantee and with the least risk to obtain a working bomb by its first test.
The nuclear bomb was supposed to be made in the form 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 to design and develop the “product” itself became obvious. A number of studies conducted 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 an atomic bomb.

Creation of KB-11

Since the end of 1945, there has been a search for a place to locate a top-secret facility. Various options were considered. At the end of April 1946, Yu. Khariton and P. Zernov examined Sarov, where the monastery had previously been located, and now plant No. 550 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition was located. As a result, the choice settled on this location, which was remote from large cities and at the same time had an initial production infrastructure.
The scientific and production activities of KB-11 were subject to the strictest secrecy. Her character and goals were a state secret of the utmost importance. Issues of security of the facility were in the center of attention from the first days.

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, and Yu. Khariton was appointed chief designer.

The resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated June 21, 1946 determined strict deadlines for the creation of the facility: the first stage was to go into operation on October 1, 1946, the second - on May 1, 1947. The construction of KB-11 (“facility”) was entrusted to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The “object” was supposed to occupy up to 100 square meters. kilometers of forests in the zone Mordovian Nature 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 they were designated in official documents prisoners. The government created special conditions to ensure construction. However, construction was difficult; the first production buildings were ready only at the beginning of 1947. Some of the laboratories were located in monastery buildings.

The volume of construction work was great. There was a need to reconstruct plant No. 550 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, testing towers, casemates, and warehouses. To carry out blasting operations, 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 had to occupy twenty rooms in the main design building. The designers, as well as the administrative services of KB-11, were to be housed in the reconstructed premises of the former monastery. The need to create conditions for arriving specialists and workers forced us to pay more and more attention to the residential village, which gradually acquired the features of a small town. Simultaneously with the construction of housing, a medical town was erected, a library, a cinema club, a stadium, a park and a theater were built.

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 removed from the administrative subordination of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and excluded from all accounting materials. In the summer of 1947, the perimeter of the zone was taken under military protection.

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 searched for young and promising scientists, engineers, and workers in literally all institutions and organizations of the country. All candidates for work in KB-11 underwent a special check by the state security services.
Creation atomic weapons was the result of the work of a large team. But it did not consist of faceless “staff members”, but of bright personalities, many of whom left a noticeable mark in the history of domestic and world science. Significant potential was concentrated here, both scientific, design, and performing, working.

In 1947, 36 researchers arrived to work at KB-11. They were seconded from various institutes, mainly from the USSR Academy of Sciences: Institute of Chemical Physics, Laboratory N2, NII-6 and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. In 1947, KB-11 employed 86 engineering and technical workers.
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 working in the spring of 1947 in the following areas:
laboratory N1 (headed by M. Ya. Vasiliev) – development of structural elements of an explosive charge that provide a spherically converging detonation wave;
laboratory N2 (A.F. Belyaev) - research on explosive detonation;
laboratory N3 (V.A. Tsukerman) – radiographic studies of explosive processes;
laboratory N4 (L.V. Altshuler) – determination of equations of state;
laboratory N5 (K.I. Shchelkin) - full-scale tests;
laboratory N6 (E.K. Zavoisky) - measurements of central frequency compression;
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 construction.
The start of full-scale work on the first domestic atomic charge can be dated back to July 1946. During this period, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated June 21, 1946, Yu. B. Khariton prepared the “Tactical and technical specifications for the atomic bomb.”

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 symmetrically compressing spherical plutonium with a conventional explosive (implosive version). In the second option, the transition through the critical state is ensured by combining masses of uranium-235 with the help of an explosive (“gun version”).
At the beginning of 1947, the formation of design units began. Initially, all design work was concentrated in a single research and development sector (RDS) KB-11, which was headed by V. A. Turbiner.
The intensity of work in KB-11 was very high from the very beginning and was constantly increasing, since the initial plans, very extensive from the very beginning, increased in volume and depth of elaboration every day.
Conducting explosive experiments with large explosive charges began in the spring of 1947 at the KB-11 experimental sites still under construction. The largest volume of research had to be carried out in the gas-dynamic sector. In connection with this, in 1947 it was sent there large 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. Zavgorodny, 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 leadership of K. I. Shchelkin, and theoretical questions were developed by a group located in Moscow, headed by Ya. B. Zeldovich. The work was carried out in close cooperation with designers and technologists.

The development of “NZ” (neutron fuse) was undertaken by A.Ya. Apin, V.A. Alexandrovich and designer A.I. Abramov. To achieve the desired result, it was necessary to master a new technology for using polonium, which has a fairly high radioactivity. At the same time, it was necessary to develop a complex system for protecting materials in contact with polonium from its alpha radiation.
In KB-11 long time Research and design work was carried out on the most precise element of the charge-capsule-detonator. 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 the territorial approach of theoretical physicists to the research, design and production base of KB-11. Since March 1948, a theoretical department began to be formed 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 strict production conditions.

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. By Decree CM N 234-98 ss/op dated 02/08/1948, the production time for the RDS-1 charge was extended to a later date - until the plutonium charge parts were ready at Plant No. 817.
With regard to the RDS-2 option, by this time it became clear that it was not practical to bring it to the testing stage due to the relatively low efficiency of this option compared to the costs of nuclear materials. Work on RDS-2 was stopped in mid-1948.

By decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated June 10, 1948, the following were appointed: first deputy chief designer of the “object” - Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin; deputy chief designer of the facility - Alferov Vladimir Ivanovich, Dukhov Nikolay Leonidovich.
In February 1948, 11 scientific laboratories were hard at work in KB-11, including theorists under the leadership of Ya.B. Zeldovich, who moved to the site 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 the nuclear charge. Its design was clear, and so was the detonation mechanism. In theory. In practice, it was necessary to carry out checks and carry out complex experiments again and again.
Production workers also worked very actively - those who had to translate the plans of scientists and designers into reality. A.K. Bessarabenko was appointed head of the plant in July 1947, 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.

In 1947, a second one appeared in the structure of KB-11 pilot plant- for the production of parts from explosives, assembly of experimental product units and solving many other important problems. The results of calculations and design studies were quickly translated into specific parts, assemblies, and blocks. This, by the highest standards, responsible work was carried out by two factories under KB-11. Plant No. 1 manufactured many parts and assemblies of the RDS-1 and then assembled them. Plant No. 2 (its director was A. Ya. Malsky) was engaged in the practical solution of various problems associated with the production and processing of parts from explosives. The assembly of the explosive charge was carried out in a workshop led by M. A. Kvasov.

Each stage passed posed new tasks for researchers, designers, engineers, and workers. People worked 14-16 hours a day, completely dedicating themselves to their work. 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 corresponds technical requirements, the product is suitable for testing at the test 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. It was a very long journey before the residents of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced this superweapon.

A start has been made

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 turned off. announced to everyone that there would be a surprise. With a solemn look, Pierre Curie brought in a small tube with radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing extraordinary delight among those present. Subsequently, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that radium would solve the acute problem of energy shortages. This inspired everyone for new research and further prospects. If they had been told then that laboratory work with radioactive elements will lay the foundation for the terrible weapons of the 20th century, it is unknown what their reaction would have been. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.

Playing ahead

On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. Essentially, he managed to split the atom. In the scientific world this was regarded as new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gann did not share Political Views 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 Nazi Germany would be the first to receive terrible weapon, he writes a letter warning about this. The news of a possible advance 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 the development of nuclear weapons. Initial research, it is worth noting, was carried out in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the government of the United States of America began funding its own program to develop atomic weapons. An incredible sum of two and a half billion dollars was allocated to implement the project. Outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited to implement this secret project, among whom were more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only military personnel, but also civilians. The development team was headed by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, and Robert Oppenheimer became the scientific director. He is the man who invented the atomic bomb. A special secret engineering building was built in the Manhattan area, which we know under the code name “Manhattan Project”. Over the next few years, scientists from the secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.

The non-peaceful atom of 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 begin studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilyevich created the first cyclotron in Europe in 1937. In the same year, he and his like-minded people created the first artificial nuclei.

In 1939, I.V. Kurchatov began studying a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in studying this phenomenon, the scientist receives at his disposal a secret research center, which was called “Laboratory No. 2”. Nowadays this classified object is called "Arzamas-16".

The target direction of this center was the serious research and creation of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. His team then consisted of only ten people.

There will be an atomic bomb

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 an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists realized that this could be done with the Soviet Union. "Laboratory No. 2" receives from the country's leadership a sharp increase in funding and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The enormous efforts of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.

Semipalatinsk test site

Atomic bomb in the USSR it was first tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). August 29, 1949 nuclear device with a power of 22 kilotons 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 No. 501, or RDS-1, that eliminated the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.

Atomic bomb. Year 1945

Early on the morning of July 16, the Manhattan Project held its first successful test atomic device- plutonium bomb - at the Alamogordo test site, New Mexico, USA.

The money invested in the project was well spent. The first in the history of mankind was carried out at 5:30 am.

“We have done the devil’s work,” the one who invented the atomic bomb in the USA, later called “the father of the atomic bomb,” will say later.

Japan will 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 was one state that promised to fight to the end for dominance in the Pacific Ocean. From mid-April to mid-July 1945, the Japanese army repeatedly carried out air strikes against allied forces, thereby causing big losses US Army. At the end of July 1945, the militaristic Japanese government rejected the Allied demand for surrender under the Potsdam Declaration. It stated, in particular, that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army would face rapid and complete destruction.

The President agrees

The American government kept its word and began a targeted bombing of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides to invade American troops to the territory of Japan. However, the military command dissuades its president from such a decision, citing the fact that an American invasion would entail a large number of casualties.

At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use a more effective way to end 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 United States in a dominant position, which would have a positive impact on the further 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 thousand people, located five hundred miles from the Japanese capital Tokyo, was chosen as the first target. After the modified B-29 Enola Gay bomber arrived at the US naval base on Tinian Island, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was to experience the effects of 9 thousand pounds of uranium-235.

This never-before-seen weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber's commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbetts Jr. The US atomic bomb bore the cynical name “Baby”. On the morning of August 6, 1945, at approximately 8:15 a.m., the American “Little” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred and forty thousand city residents died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese died a painful death from radiation sickness.

They were destroyed by the American atomic “Baby”. However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided to carry out another bombing of Japanese territory.

Nagasaki. The sky is on fire

The American atomic bomb “Fat Man” was installed on board a B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, still there, at the US naval base in Tinian. This time the commander of the aircraft was Major Charles Sweeney. Initially, the strategic target was the city of Kokura.

However, weather conditions did not allow the plan to be carried out; heavy clouds interfered. Charles Sweeney went into the second round. At 11:02 a.m., the American nuclear “Fat Man” engulfed Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which was several times stronger than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10 thousand pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.

The geographic 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

At noon on 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. Celebrations began in the United States of America to mark the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.

On September 2, 1945, a formal agreement to end the war was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in human history.

Six long years world community has been leading up to this significant date - since September 1, 1939, when the first shots of Nazi Germany were fired on the territory of Poland.

Peaceful atom

In total, 124 nuclear explosions were carried out in the Soviet Union. What is characteristic is that all of them were carried out for the benefit of the national economy. Only three of them were accidents that resulted in the leakage of radioactive elements. Programs for the use of peaceful atoms were implemented in only two countries - the USA and the Soviet Union. Nuclear peaceful energy also knows an example of a global catastrophe, when the fourth power unit Chernobyl nuclear power plant the reactor exploded.

If you try to look at the events of the second half of the 40s through the eyes of Soviet leaders, then for them the situation in the world looked like this: the United States has weapons unprecedented before destructive force, but the USSR - not yet; The United States emerged from the war with enormous military-economic potential, and the USSR is forced to heal its wounds; the US refusal to continue economic assistance to the USSR, obstacles to the spread of Soviet influence, political demarches of Western leaders - is nothing more than an undeclared war, the purpose of which is to weaken the Soviet Union and minimize its role in Europe and the world (including through race weapons, and in the future perhaps by open military means).

Today, when documents from the first period are published in the United States cold war, the thesis about the desire of the American leadership to exhaust the USSR in the arms race, weaken it and even destroy it with an atomic bomb finds new confirmation. Thus, documents on the possible application of nuclear strikes for the USSR (plans “Pincers”, “Dropshot”, etc.); The position of one of the ministers in the administration of Truman W. Foster is known, who justified the doubling of US military spending by the fact that this “will deprive the Russian people of a third of their already very meager consumer goods.” The opinion of G. Truman himself, who declared after the test of the American atomic bomb that he now had a “good club” for the Russian guys, is no secret either.

Priority value in post-war economy The USSR played the military-industrial complex. did not rule out the idea that the country might again, as in 1941, find itself unprepared for a major war - this time with the United States and its allies. Along with the modernization of the ground forces (the creation of new tanks, artillery pieces, the release in 1947 of an assault rifle invented by the designer Kalashnikov - the world-famous AK-47), new MIG jet fighters were mastered, and new warships were laid down. However, the main emphasis was placed on the speedy elimination of the US nuclear monopoly - the creation of its own atomic bomb and means of delivering nuclear weapons to the territory of a potential enemy. At that time, the United States already had plans to launch atomic strikes of 20, 50, and then more Soviet cities. L. Beria, who was appointed chairman of a special (nuclear) committee in the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, was appointed to supervise the Soviet nuclear project by the government. At his disposal were directed enormous technical, financial and human resources, including prison labor. Through the incredible efforts of Soviet scientists and designers, thanks to the work of hundreds of thousands of people, in 1948 the first ballistic missile R-1, and in 1949 an atomic bomb was tested.

It should be noted that work in this area has been significantly accelerated Soviet intelligence and counterintelligence. The creation of a rocket and an atomic bomb in the USSR could have been completed later if Soviet scientists had not used in their developments information on the production of German V-missiles obtained in the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany, and had not compared their research in the nuclear field with data on the American atomic project received from the Soviet intelligence network in the West (including from members of the so-called “Cambridge Five”). The achievements of the USSR in the field of nuclear and missile technologies, made possible thanks to such scientists as Kurchatov, Korolev, Keldysh and others, made it possible not only to create the country's nuclear missile shield, but also to use the latest discoveries for peaceful purposes. Already in 1954, the first in the world was launched in Obninsk nuclear power plant, and research was actively carried out on launching an artificial Earth satellite into space, which was crowned with success in 1957.

TAMING THE CORE

September 24, 1918- Organization in Petrograd of the State X-ray and Radiological Institute, which included the physico-technical department headed by Professor A.F. Ioffe.

December 15, 1918- Creation of the State Optical Institute (GOI) in Petrograd, headed by Academician D.S. Rozhdestvensky.

end 1918 of the year - Creation of the Central Chemical Laboratory in Moscow, since 1931 transformed into the Physico-Chemical Institute, headed by Academician A.N. Bach.

January 21, 1920- The first meeting of the Atomic Commission, in which A.F. took part. Ioffe, D.S. Rozhdestvensky, A.N. Krylov and other outstanding scientists.

April 15, 1921- Creation of a Radium Laboratory at the Academy of Sciences, headed by V.G. Khlopin.

end 1921- Development and implementation of I.Ya. Bashilov technologies for processing uranium ore from the Tyuyamuyun deposit to produce radium and uranium preparations on a factory scale.

January 1, 1922- Transformation of the State Radiological and Radiological Institute into three independent research institutions:

X-ray and Radiological Institute headed by M.I. Nemenov;

Physico-Technical Institute (LPTI) headed by A.F. Ioffe;

Radium Institute headed by V.I. Vernadsky.

March 1, 1923- Adoption of a resolution of the State Council of Labor and Defense on the extraction and accounting of radium.

1928 - Creation of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UPTI) in Kharkov, headed by I.V. Obreimov.

1931 - Creation of the Institute of Chemical Physics in Leningrad, headed by N.N. Semenov.

1931 - Creation on the basis of the Institute of Applied Mineralogy of the State Research Institute of Rare Metals (Giredmet) headed by V.I. Glebova.

1932 - D.D. Ivanenko put forward a hypothesis about the structure of nuclei from protons and neutrons.

1933 - Creation of the Commission for the Study of the Atomic Nucleus of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which included A.F. Ioffe (chairman), S.E. Frish, I.V. Kurchatov, A.I. Leypunsky and A.V. Mysovsky.

1934 - P.A. Cherenkov discovered a new optical phenomenon (Cerenkov-Vavilov radiation).

1934 - Obtaining A.I. Brodsky (Institute physical chemistry Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR) the first heavy water in the USSR.

December 28, 1934- Creation of the Institute of Physical Problems in Moscow, headed by P.L. Kapitsa.

1935 - I.V. Kurchatov, together with his collaborators, discovered nuclear isomerism.

1937 - Obtaining a beam of accelerated protons at the Radium Institute at the first cyclotron in Europe.

summer 1938- Formulation by the director of the Radium Institute V.G. Khlopin's proposals for developing the problem of the atomic nucleus in the institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the third five-year plan.

end 1938- Formulation by the director of the Physical Institute S.I. Vavilov’s proposals for organizing work at the institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the study of the atomic nucleus.

November 25, 1938- Resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the organization of work in the USSR Academy of Sciences on the study of the atomic nucleus and the creation of a permanent Commission on the atomic nucleus at the Physics and Mathematics Department of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The commission included S.I. Vavilov (chairman), A.F. Ioffe, I.M. Frank, A.I. Alikhanov, I.V. Kurchatov and V.I. Wexler. In June 1940, V.G. was added to the Commission. Khlopin and I.I. Gurevich.

March 7, 1939- Proposal by M.G. Pervukhin on the concentration of research work on the atomic nucleus at the Physico-Technical Institute in Kharkov.

July 30, 1940- Creation of a Commission on the Uranium Problem to coordinate and generally manage the research work of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the uranium problem. The commission included V.G. Khlopin (chairman), V.I. Vernadsky (deputy chairman), A.F. Ioffe (deputy chairman), A.E. Fersman, S.I. Vavilov, P.P. Lazarev, A.N. Frumkin, L.I. Mandelstam, G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, P.L. Kapitsa, I.V. Kurchatov, D.I. Shcherbakov, A.P. Vinogradov and Yu.B. Khariton.

September 5, 1940- Suggestions from A.E. Fersman on speeding up exploration and production of uranium ores.

October 15, 1940- The Commission on the Problem of Uranium prepared a plan for scientific research and geological exploration for 1940-1941. The main objectives were:

Research into the possibilities of implementing a chain reaction using natural uranium;

Clarification of the physical data necessary for assessing the development of a chain reaction on uranium-235;

Studying various methods isotope separations and assessment of their applicability for the separation of uranium isotopes;

Studying the possibilities of producing volatile organic compounds of uranium;

Study of the state of the uranium raw material base and creation of a uranium fund.

November 30, 1940- Report by A.E. Fersman on the results of searching for uranium ore deposits in Central Asia.

October 1941- Obtaining the first intelligence information about work on a uranium project in the UK.

summer 1942- Proposal by G.M. Flerov on the creation of a nuclear explosive device.

September 28, 1942- Order of the State Defense Committee “On the organization of work on uranium”, which marked the beginning of the development of work on atomic energy in the USSR. The order ordered the creation of a Special Laboratory of the Atomic Nucleus (Laboratory No. 2) at the USSR Academy of Sciences to coordinate work on nuclear project.

November 27, 1942- Memo by I.V. Kurchatova V.M. Molotov, which contained an analysis of intelligence materials on the development of the atomic project in Great Britain and proposals for the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR.

February 11, 1943- The order of the State Defense Committee on the organization of work on uranium designated M.G. as the head of work on the uranium problem. Pervukhin and S.V. Kaftanova. The scientific leadership of the problem was entrusted to I.V. Kurchatova.

March 10, 1943- Appointment of I.V. Kurchatov, head of Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Russian Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Moscow), scientific center nuclear project.

1943 - Systematic analysis of I.V. Kurchatov of intelligence materials of the NKVD of the USSR on the development of nuclear projects in the USA and Great Britain and his development of proposals to M.G. Pervukhin about the development of work on the nuclear project in the USSR.

November 1944- Beginning of development of technology for producing uranium metal.

November 21, 1944- Sending a group of Soviet specialists to Bulgaria to analyze the state of uranium ore deposits.

December 8, 1944- The decision of the State Defense Committee to transfer the mining and processing of uranium ores to the jurisdiction of the NKVD of the USSR and the organization of a special department for these purposes.

end 1944- Creation of NII-9 (now VNIINM named after A.A. Bochvar, Moscow) in the NKVD system for the development of technologies for the production of metallic uranium, its special compounds and metallic plutonium (director V.B. Shevchenko).

May 9, 1945- Sending a group of Soviet specialists to Germany led by A.P. Zavenyagin for the search and acceptance of materials on the uranium problem in Germany. The main result of the group’s activities was the discovery and export to the USSR of about one hundred tons of uranium concentrates.

August 6, 1945- First military use of the atomic bomb by the United States of America. Air bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

August 9, 1945- Second military use of the atomic bomb by the United States of America. Air bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

August 20, 1945- By decree of the State Defense Committee, a Special Committee was created under the State Defense Committee to manage all work on the use of atomic energy. Chairman - L.P. Beria, members of the Special Committee - G.M. Malenkov, N.A. Voznesensky, B.L. Vannikov, A.P. Zavenyagin, I.V. Kurchatov, P.L. Kapitsa, M.G. Pervukhin and V.A. Makhnev. A Technical Council was created under the Special Committee. Chairman - B.L. Vannikov, members of the Technical Council - A.I. Alikhanov, I.N. Voznesensky, A.P. Zavenyagin, A.F. Ioffe, P.L. Kapitsa, I.K. Kikoin, I.V. Kurchatov, V.A. Makhnev, Yu.B. Khariton and V.G. Khlopin. Under the Technical Council, the following were created: the Commission on the Electromagnetic Separation of Uranium (headed by A.F. Ioffe), the Commission on the Production of Heavy Water (headed by P.L. Kapitsa), the Commission on the Study of Plutonium (headed by V.G. Khlopin), Commission for Chemical Analytical Research (headed by A.P. Vinogradov), Section on Occupational Safety and Health (headed by V.V. Parin).

August 30, 1945- By the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the First Main Directorate (PGU) was formed under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Head of PSU - B.L. Vannikov, deputy chief - A.P. Zavenyagin, P.Ya. Antropov, N.A. Borisov, A.G. Kasatkin and P.Ya. Meshik, members of the PSU board - A.N. Komarovsky, G.P. Korsakov and S.E. Egorov.

September 1945- Start of joint work on exploration of uranium deposits and uranium mining in East Germany.

October 8, 1945- Decision of the Technical Council of the Special Committee on the creation of Laboratory No. 3 (now ITEP, Moscow) for the development of heavy water reactors (director - A.I. Alikhanov).

October 17, 1945- Agreement with the Government of Bulgaria on the exploration and production of uranium ores.

November 23, 1945- Agreement with Czechoslovakia on the extraction and supply of uranium ore from the Jachimov deposit.

January 29, 1946- Solution General Assembly UN on the creation of the UN Atomic Energy Commission.

March 1946- Beginning of development of two variants of industrial reactors (chief designer of the vertical reactor design - N.A. Dollezhal, chief designer of the horizontal reactor design - B.M. Sholkovich).

March 21, 1946- Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the establishment of special bonuses for scientific discoveries and technical advances in the use of nuclear energy.

April 9, 1946- Decree of the USSR Government on the creation of KB-11 (Arzamas-16, now RFNC-VNIIEF, Sarov), a center for the development of atomic weapons (director - P.M. Zernov, chief designer and scientific director - Yu.B. Khariton).

April 1946- Decree of the USSR Government on the creation of diagnostic tools at the Institute of Chemical Physics nuclear explosion(scientific supervisor of the work - M.A. Sadovsky).

June 19, 1946- The Soviet Union submitted proposals to the UN Atomic Energy Commission for an international convention “On the Prohibition of the Production and Use of Atomic Weapons.”

June 21, 1946- Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the plan for the deployment of KB-11 work on the creation of two versions of an atomic bomb based on plutonium and uranium-235. The decree ordered the development and submission for State testing of an aerial bomb based on plutonium by March 1, 1948, and an aerial bomb based on uranium-235 by January 1, 1949.

1946 - Creation at the Radium Institute of technology for processing irradiated reactor fuel and separating plutonium from it (scientific supervisor V.G. Khlopin).

April 21, 1947- Decree of the USSR Government on the creation of a test site (Mountain Station, Training Site No. 2, Semipalatinsk Test Site) for testing an atomic bomb (the head of the test site is P.M. Rozhanovich, the scientific supervisor is M.A. Sadovsky).

September 15, 1947- Agreement with the Polish government on exploration and production of uranium ores.

1947 - Beginning of the formation of KB-11 units.

June 10, 1948- Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on supplementing the work plan of KB-11. This Resolution obligated KB-11 to carry out, before January 1, 1949, theoretical and experimental verification of data on the possibility of creating new types of atomic bombs:

RDS-3 - an atomic bomb based on the principle of implosion of a “solid” design using a combination of Pu-239 and U-235 materials;

RDS-4 - an atomic bomb based on the principle of implosion of an improved design using Pu-239;

RDS-5 is an atomic bomb based on the principle of implosion of an improved design using a combination of Pu-239 and U-235 materials.

After the abandonment of the creation of the RDS-2 cannon-type atomic bomb based on U-235, the indices of these nuclear charges were changed. The same decree obliged KB-11 to carry out theoretical and experimental verification of data on the possibility of creating the RDS-6 hydrogen bomb by June 1, 1949.

June 10, 1948- The resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On strengthening KB-11 with leading design personnel” was approved by K.I. Shchelkina as first deputy chief designer, V.I. Alferov and N.L. Dukhova - deputy chief designer.

June 15, 1948- The industrial reactor - object "A" of plant No. 817 - has been brought to its design capacity.

August 15, 1948- Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the development of issues on the possibilities of creating means to counter nuclear weapons based on the use of flows of neutral and charged high-energy particles (Institute of Chemical Physics, Institute of Physics, Laboratory No. 2).

March 3, 1949- Decree of the USSR Government on the creation of the first serial plant for the production of atomic weapons (now EMZ Avangard, Sarov).

April 1949- Launch of the first research reactor using natural uranium and heavy water (Thermal Engineering Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences, ITEP).

August 29, 1949- test of the first atomic bomb RDS-1. (7 a.m. local time, 4 a.m. Moscow time).

October 28, 1949- L.P. Beria reported to I.V. Stalin about the results of testing the first atomic bomb.

We highly recommend meeting him. There you will find many new friends. In addition, this is the fastest and most effective way to contact project administrators. The Antivirus Updates section continues to work - always up-to-date free updates for Dr Web and NOD. Didn't have time to read something? Full content The ticker can be found at this link.

Research in the field of nuclear physics in the USSR has been carried out since 1918. In 1937, Europe's first cyclotron was launched at the Radium Institute in Leningrad. On November 25, 1938, by decree of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences (AS), a permanent commission on the atomic nucleus was created. It included Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov, Abram Iofe, Abram Alikhanov, Igor Kurchatov and others (in 1940 they were joined by Vitaly Khlopin and Isai Gurevich). By this time, nuclear research was carried out in more than ten scientific institutes. In the same year, the Commission on Heavy Water was formed under the USSR Academy of Sciences, which was later transformed into the Commission on Isotopes.

The first atomic bomb was given the designation RDS-1. This name comes from a government decree where the atomic bomb was coded as a “special jet engine,” abbreviated as RDS. The designation RDS-1 came into widespread use after the test of the first atomic bomb and was deciphered in different ways: “Stalin’s jet engine”, “Russia does it itself”.

In September 1939, construction began on a powerful cyclotron in Leningrad, and in April 1940 it was decided to build a pilot plant to produce approximately 15 kg of heavy water per year. But due to the outbreak of war, these plans were not realized. In May 1940, N. Semenov, Ya. Zeldovich, Yu. Khariton (Institute of Chemical Physics) proposed a theory of the development of a nuclear chain reaction in uranium. In the same year, work was accelerated to search for new deposits of uranium ores. In the late 30s - early 40s, many physicists already imagined how general outline should look like an atomic bomb. The idea is to quickly concentrate in one place a certain (more than critical mass) amount of material that is fissile under the influence of neutrons (with the emission of new neutrons). After which an avalanche-like increase in the number of atomic decays will begin in it - a chain reaction with the release of a huge amount of energy - an explosion will occur. The problem was obtaining a sufficient amount of fissile material. The only such substance found in nature in acceptable quantities is the isotope of uranium with a mass number (the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus) of 235 (uranium-235). In natural uranium, the content of this isotope does not exceed 0.71% (99.28% uranium-238); moreover, the content of natural uranium in the ore is, at best, 1%. Isolating uranium-235 from natural uranium was a rather difficult problem. An alternative to uranium, as it soon became clear, was plutonium-239. It is practically never found in nature (it is 100 times less than uranium-235). It is possible to obtain it in an acceptable concentration in nuclear reactors by irradiating uranium-238 with neutrons. Building such a reactor presented another problem.

Explosion of RDS-1 on August 29, 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site. The power of the bomb was more than 20 kt. The 37-meter tower on which the bomb was mounted was obliterated, leaving a crater 3 m in diameter and 1.5 m deep underneath, covered with a melted glass-like substance.

The third problem was how it was possible to collect the required mass of fissile material in one place. In the process of even very rapid convergence of subcritical parts, fission reactions begin in them. The energy released in this case may not allow most of the atoms to “take part” in the fission process, and they will fly apart without having time to react.

In 1940, V. Spinel and V. Maslov from the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology applied for the invention of an atomic weapon based on the use of a chain reaction of spontaneous fission of a supercritical mass of uranium-235, which is formed from several subcritical masses, separated by an explosive impenetrable to neutrons, destroyed by detonation ( although the “workability” of such a charge is highly doubtful, a certificate for the invention was nevertheless obtained, but only in 1946). The Americans intended to use the so-called cannon design for their first bombs. It actually used a cannon barrel with the help of which one subcritical part of the fissile material was shot into another (it soon became clear that such a scheme was not suitable for plutonium due to insufficient closing speed).

On April 15, 1941, a resolution was issued by the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) on the construction of a powerful cyclotron in Moscow. But after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, almost all work in the field of nuclear physics was stopped. Many nuclear physicists ended up at the front or were reoriented to other, as it seemed then, more pressing topics.

Since 1939, both the GRU of the Red Army and the 1st Directorate of the NKVD have been collecting information on the nuclear issue. The first message about plans to create an atomic bomb came from D. Cairncross in October 1940. This issue was discussed at the British Science Committee, where Cairncross worked. In the summer of 1941, the Tube Alloys project to create an atomic bomb was approved. By the beginning of the war, England was one of the leaders in nuclear research, largely thanks to German scientists who fled here when Hitler came to power, one of them was KPD member K. Fuchs. In the fall of 1941, he went to the Soviet Embassy and reported that he had important information about a powerful new weapon. To communicate with him, S. Kramer and radio operator “Sonya” - R. Kuchinskaya were allocated. The first radiograms to Moscow contained information about the gas diffusion method for separating uranium isotopes and about a plant in Wales being built for this purpose. After six transmissions, communication with Fuchs was lost. At the end of 1943, Soviet intelligence officer in the United States Semenov (“Twain”) reported that E. Fermi carried out the first nuclear chain reaction in Chicago. The information came from the physicist Pontecorvo. At the same time, closed secrets were received from England through foreign intelligence scientific works Western scientists on atomic energy for 1940-1942. They confirmed that great progress had been made in creating the atomic bomb. The wife of the famous sculptor Konenkov also worked for intelligence, and she became close to the leading physicists Oppenheimer and Einstein for a long time influenced them. Another resident in the USA, L. Zarubina, found a way to L. Szilard and was included in Oppenheimer’s circle of people. With their help, it was possible to introduce reliable agents into Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and the Chicago Laboratory - centers of American nuclear research. In 1944, information on the American atomic bomb was transmitted to Soviet intelligence by: K. Fuchs, T. Hall, S. Sake, B. Pontecorvo, D. Greenglass and the Rosenbergs.

At the beginning of February 1944, People's Commissar of the NKVD L. Beria held an extended meeting of the First Soviet nuclear bomb and its chief designer Yu. Khariton, heads of NKVD intelligence. During the meeting, a decision was made to coordinate the collection of information on the atomic problem. coming through the NKVD and the GRU of the Red Army. and its generalization to create department “C”. On September 27, 1945, the department was organized, leadership was entrusted to the GB Commissioner P. Sudoplatov. In January 1945, Fuchs transmitted a description of the design of the first atomic bomb. Among other things, intelligence obtained materials on the electromagnetic separation of uranium isotopes, data on the operation of the first reactors, specifications for the production of uranium and plutonium bombs, data on the design of a system of focusing explosive lenses and the size of the critical mass of uranium and plutonium, on plutonium-240, on time and sequence operations for the production and assembly of a bomb, the method of activating the bomb initiator; about the construction of isotope separation plants, as well as diary entries about the first test explosion American bomb in July 1945.

Information received through intelligence channels facilitated and accelerated the work of Soviet scientists. Western experts believed that an atomic bomb in the USSR could be created no earlier than in 1954-1955, but its first test took place already in August 1949.

In April 1942, the People's Commissar of the Chemical Industry M. Pervukhin, by order of Stalin, was familiarized with materials about work on the atomic bomb abroad. Pervukhin proposed selecting a group of specialists to evaluate the information presented in this report. On Ioffe’s recommendation, the group included young scientists Kurchatov, Alikhanov and I. Kikoin. On November 27, 1942, the State Defense Committee issued a decree “On uranium mining”. The resolution provided for the creation of a special institute and the start of work on geological exploration, extraction and processing of raw materials. Beginning in 1943, the People's Commissariat of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy (NKCM) began mining and processing uranium ore at the Tabashar mine in Tajikistan with a plan of 4 tons of uranium salts per year. At the beginning of 1943, previously mobilized scientists were recalled from the front.

In pursuance of the resolution of the State Defense Committee, on February 11, 1943, Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences was organized, the head of which was Kurchatov (in 1949 it was renamed the Laboratory of Measuring Instruments of the USSR Academy of Sciences - LIPAN, in 1956, on its basis, the Institute of Atomic Energy was created, and currently At the time, this was the Russian Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”), which was supposed to coordinate all work on the implementation of the nuclear project.

In 1944, Soviet intelligence received a reference book on uranium-graphite reactors, which contained very valuable information on determining reactor parameters. But the country did not yet have the uranium necessary to power even a small experimental nuclear reactor. On September 28, 1944, the government obliged the USSR NKCM to hand over uranium and uranium salts to the State Fund and assigned the task of storing them to Laboratory No. 2. In November 1944 large group Soviet specialists, under the leadership of the head of the 4th special department of the NKVD V. Kravchenko, went to liberated Bulgaria to study the results of geological exploration of the Gotensky deposit. On December 8, 1944, the State Defense Committee issued a decree on the transfer of the mining and processing of uranium ores from the NKMC to the 9th Directorate of the NKVD, created in the Main Directorate of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises (GU GMP). In March 1945, Major General S. Egorov, who had previously held the position of deputy, was appointed head of the 2nd department (mining and metallurgical) of the 9th Directorate of the NKVD. Head of the Main Department of Dalstroy. In January 1945, as part of the 9th Directorate on the basis of separate laboratories State Institute rare metals (Giredmet) and one of the defense plants, NII-9 (now VNIINM) is organized to study uranium deposits, solve problems of processing uranium raw materials, obtaining metallic uranium and plutonium. By this time, approximately one and a half tons of uranium ore per week were arriving from Bulgaria.

Since March 1945, after the NKGB received information from the United States about the design of an atomic bomb based on the principle of implosion (compression of fissile material by the explosion of a conventional explosive), work began on new scheme which had obvious advantages over the cannon. In a note from V. Makhanev to Beria in April 1945 about the timing of the creation of the atomic bomb, it was said that the diffusion plant at Laboratory No. 2 for the production of uranium-235 was supposed to be launched in 1947. Its productivity was supposed to be 25 kg of uranium per year, which should be enough for two bombs (in fact, the American uranium bomb required 65 kg of uranium-235).

During the battle for Berlin on May 5, 1945, the property of the Physical Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society was discovered. On May 9, a commission headed by A. Zavenyagin was sent to Germany to search for scientists working there on the Uranium project and accept materials on the uranium problem. A large group of German scientists were taken to the Soviet Union along with their families. Among them were Nobel laureates G. Hertz and N. Riehl, I. Kurchatov, professors R. Deppel, M. Volmer, G. Pose, P. Thyssen, M. von Ardene, Geib (in total about two hundred specialists, including 33 doctors of science).

The creation of a nuclear explosive device using plutonium-239 required the construction of an industrial nuclear reactor to produce it. Even a small experimental reactor required about 36 tons of uranium metal, 9 tons of uranium dioxide and about 500 tons of pure graphite. If the graphite problem was solved by August 1943, it was possible to develop and master a special process In order to obtain graphite of the required purity, and in May 1944 its production was launched at the Moscow Electrode Plant, then by the end of 1945 the country did not have the required amount of uranium. First technical specifications for the production of uranium dioxide and uranium metal for a research reactor were issued to Kurchatov in November 1944. In parallel with the creation of uranium-graphite reactors, work was carried out on reactors based on uranium and heavy water. The question arises: why was it necessary to “spread forces” so much and move simultaneously in several directions? Justifying the need for this, Kurchatov in his Report in 1947 gives the following figures. The number of bombs that could be obtained from 1000 tons of uranium ore using different methods is 20 using a uranium-graphite boiler, 50 using the diffusion method, 70 using the electromagnetic method, 40 using “heavy” water. At the same time, boilers with “heavy” water, although they have a number of significant disadvantages, have the advantage that they allow the use of thorium. Thus, although the uranium-graphite boiler made it possible to create an atomic bomb in the shortest possible time, it had the worst result in terms of complete use of raw materials. Taking into account the experience of the United States, where gas diffusion was chosen from four methods of uranium separation studied, on December 21, 1945, the government decided to build plants No. 813 (now the Ural Electro-Mechanical Plant in the city of Novouralsk) to produce highly enriched uranium-235 by gas diffusion and No. 817 (Chelyabinsk-40, now the Mayak chemical plant in the city of Ozersk) to produce plutonium.

In the spring of 1948, the two-year period allotted by Stalin to create the Soviet atomic bomb expired. But by this time, let alone bombs, there were no fissile materials for its production. A government decree of February 8, 1948 set a new deadline for the production of the RDS-1 bomb - March 1, 1949.

The first industrial reactor “A” at Plant No. 817 was launched on June 19, 1948 (it reached its design capacity on June 22, 1948 and was decommissioned only in 1987). To isolate produced plutonium from nuclear fuel As part of plant No. 817, a radiochemical plant was built (plant “B”). Irradiated uranium blocks were dissolved and plutonium was separated from uranium using chemical methods. Concentrated solution plutonium was subjected to additional purification from highly active fission products in order to reduce its radiation activity when supplied to metallurgists. In April 1949, Plant B began manufacturing bomb parts from plutonium using NII-9 technology. At the same time, the first heavy water research reactor was launched. The development of the production of fissile materials was difficult with numerous accidents during the elimination of the consequences of which there were cases of overexposure of personnel (at that time no attention was paid to such trifles). By July, a set of parts for the plutonium charge was ready. To carry out physical measurements A group of physicists under the leadership of Flerov went to the plant, and a group of theorists under the leadership of Zeldovich was sent to the plant to process the results of these measurements, calculate the efficiency values ​​and the probability of an incomplete explosion.

On August 5, 1949, the plutonium charge was accepted by the commission headed by Khariton and sent by letter train to KB-11. By this time, work on creating an explosive device was almost completed here. Here, on the night of August 10-11, a control assembly of a nuclear charge was carried out, which received the index 501 for the RDS-1 atomic bomb. After this, the device was dismantled, the parts were inspected, packaged and prepared for shipment to the landfill. Thus, the Soviet atomic bomb was made in 2 years 8 months (in the USA it took 2 years 7 months).

The test of the first Soviet nuclear charge 501 was carried out on August 29, 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site (the device was located on a tower). The power of the explosion was 22 kt. The design of the charge was similar to the American “Fat Man”, although the electronic filling was of Soviet design. The atomic charge was a multilayer structure in which plutonium was transferred to a critical state by compression by a converging spherical detonation wave. At the center of the charge was placed 5 kg of plutonium, in the form of two hollow hemispheres, surrounded by a massive shell of uranium-238 (tamper). This shell, the first Soviet nuclear bomb, served to inertially contain the core inflating during the chain reaction, so that as much of the plutonium as possible had time to react and, in addition, served as a reflector and moderator of neutrons (neutrons with low energies are most effectively absorbed by plutonium nuclei, causing their fission ). The tamper was surrounded by an aluminum shell, which ensured uniform compression of the nuclear charge. shock wave. A neutron initiator (fuse) was installed in the cavity of the plutonium core - a beryllium ball with a diameter of about 2 cm, coated with a thin layer of polonium-210. When the nuclear charge of a bomb is compressed, the nuclei of polonium and beryllium come closer together, and the alpha particles emitted by radioactive polonium-210 knock out neutrons from beryllium, which initiate a nuclear chain reaction of fission of plutonium-239. One of the most complex units was the explosive charge, which consisted of two layers. The inner layer consisted of two hemispherical bases made of an alloy of TNT and hexogen, the outer layer was assembled from individual elements that had different detonation rates. The outer layer, designed to form a spherical converging detonation wave at the base of the explosive, is called the focusing system.

For safety reasons, the installation of the unit containing fissile material was carried out immediately before using the charge. For this purpose, the spherical explosive charge had a through conical hole, which was closed with an explosive plug, and in the outer and inner casings there were holes that were closed with lids. The power of the explosion was due to the nuclear fission of about a kilogram of plutonium; the remaining 4 kg did not have time to react and were uselessly dispersed. During the implementation of the RDS-1 creation program, many new ideas arose for improving nuclear charges (increasing the utilization rate of fissile material, reducing dimensions and weight). New types of charges have become more powerful, more compact and “more elegant” compared to the first.