The Cobalt Bomb is a terrifying weapon. Cobalt bomb

It has now been established that the explosion Tunguska meteorite™ occurred due to his internal energy that its flight speed and density were relatively low. Observers from various places they saw it in different guises, most likely because it changed as a result of the violent interaction of the meteorite substance with the air. What kind of substance could it be, of which there was no trace left in the area of ​​the disaster? The easiest way to assume that dark matter was a huge lump of hydrogen, the most common element in the universe, in one of its stable solid forms. The chemical energy released during the combustion and explosion of such a block could well have been enough for the destruction that took place, and the cosmic origin of the distilled water formed during the catastrophe could hardly have been determined even in 1908. The advantage of the hydrogen hypothesis over the cometary hypothesis, according to which the icy nucleus of a comet collided with the Earth, is that such a nucleus does not have the required reserve of internal energy. And its disadvantage is that nothing is known about the existence of solid homogeneous blocks in space, while much is known about the nuclei of comets. In particular, the fact that their composition, in addition to water, ammonia and methane ice, includes in the form of minor impurities such fusible and volatile elements as alkali metals, zinc, lead, mercury, bromine, antimony, tin. Namely, the anomalously high content of these elements was revealed when studying samples of catastrophic peat layers taken at the epicenter of the explosion using fine elemental analysis methods. According to some data, the main chemical elements of the mineral part of the Tunguska cosmic body are sodium (up to 50%), zinc (20%), calcium (more than 10%), iron (7.5%) and potassium (5%). That is, 65% of the mineral part of heavy metals consists of alkali and alkaline earth metals. If these elements were present in the HM body only as impurities, then they would not be able to create any noticeable anomaly in the soil. But the anomaly has been identified quite reliably, it objectively exists! So why not assume that sodium, calcium and potassium were not mere impurities, but the main substance of HM? Since they react violently with oxygen and water, releasing huge amounts of thermal and, most importantly, light energy, perhaps this simple assumption contains the solution to a long-standing mystery?!
Alkali metals are characterized by low density, low hardness, low temperatures melting and boiling have the same type crystal lattices and silvery white color. Extremely high chemical activity excludes the possibility of their presence in terrestrial conditions in free state. However, in conditions outer space in the absence of reagents such as oxygen, hydrogen, water, they can exist indefinitely. This is proven by the nature of Io, one of the satellites of Jupiter, which contains a significant amount of sodium.

Do you often use ICQ, Odnoklassniki or a mail agent? Then don't sleep, download funny statuses for mail agent - there you will find a lot interesting statuses. And not only for mail, but also for many other social networks.

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

Type of radiological weapon

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

What does a bomb consist of?

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

Chemical reactions during explosion

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

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

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

Cobalt-60 discovered at landfills

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

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

Author of the idea of ​​creating a dirty bomb

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

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

Method of using a bomb

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

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

Additional information

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

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

Russia has new types of weapons, including the advanced underwater drone “Status-6”, which is capable of carrying a nuclear charge on board. This fighting machine seriously excited Western experts, who appreciated this development of the Russian defense industry and called it a “cobalt bomb” capable of turning entire continents into lifeless territories.

Researcher on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, Stephen Schwartz, in an interview with Business Insider, analyzed combat capabilities unmanned vehicle "Status-6".

The expert said that the detonation of nuclear weapons near or on the surface of the earth causes radioactive fallout.

During an explosion, a fire cloud appears, which actually absorbs water or soil, contaminating it with radionuclides. The particles released into the atmosphere are then carried over vast distances.

Today, the United States has designed its nuclear weapons to destroy entire cities while creating minimal radioactive contamination. Their charges detonate in the air, and it is the shock wave that becomes the damaging factor.

He is "Status-6" experts expect much more. Despite the fact that accurate information about the possibilities Russian weapons not yet, there are rumors that the underwater drone, in addition to the possibility of detonation in the water column, also contains the substance cobalt-59. Upon detonation, neutron capture will transform the isotope into radioactive cobalt-60. In this case, water particles and fields containing it will be able to spread thousands of kilometers around the epicenter of the explosion.

Stephen Schwartz concluded that if such weapons were used near Washington, radioactive fallout would also most likely reach Mexico and Canada. The blow will be so powerful that before the intensity returns ionizing radiation It will take at least 50 years to reach background values. This will make the contaminated areas completely uninhabitable for this period.

The specialist noted that people who managed to hide underground, when trying to get to the surface, would be exposed to doses of radiation that would soon lead to their death.

Information about the Status-6 weapon is strictly classified, but earlier The Washington Free Beacon, citing American intelligence data, reported that the drone was allegedly tested at the end of 2016. During the tests, the vehicle was launched from the Sarov submarine.

According to currently available data, Status-6 has a range of about 10 thousand kilometers and can reach a speed of more than 56 knots at a diving depth of up to a kilometer. Now weapons are attributed to two damaging factors: radiation pollution and the creation of a tsunami.

Cameramen from Channel One and NTV “accidentally” broadcast documents about a new Russian development capable of destroying the United States from the ocean abyss. This is the most striking shot from the television report of the NTV channel about the event chaired by Russian President V.V. Putin on November 9, 2015, at a meeting on the development of the defense industry.

So what is known on at the moment? Ocean multipurpose system “Status-6”. Developer – OJSC “TsKB MT “Rubin”. Purpose – “Destruction of important enemy economic targets in the coastal area. Causing guaranteed unacceptable damage to the territory of the country by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for carrying out military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.”

The proposed carriers are shown at the top left of a nuclear power plant under construction submarine special purpose “Belgorod” project 09852. On the right is a special-purpose nuclear submarine under construction “Khabarovsk” project 09851.

Retaliation weapon concept

The main damaging factor of the new torpedo is not the creation of a tsunami, but the massive nuclear contamination of the coast, making it impossible to conduct it there. economic activity and accommodation. Academician Sakharov also proposed to use it as a weapon of retaliation against US ports and coastal zone cobalt bomb warheads. This is an option atomic weapons with an unusually high yield of radioactive material. (So, to ensure radioactive contamination of the entire surface of the Earth, only 510 tons of cobalt-60 are required).

Previously, it was believed that the cobalt bomb was only a theoretical weapon and no country actually possessed it. However measurements from the Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene named after. Ramzaeva near the site of testing nuclear charges in 1971 as part of the Taiga project, near Perm with the officially declared legend of explosions to create the Pechora-Kolva canal, radiation contamination with cobalt-60 isotopes was revealed. It can only be obtained artificially.

According to The Daily Mirror

the fact that the “Status-6” demonstration was carried out during a meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense dedicated to US missile defense, this weapon is considered as an asymmetric response to US missile defense - it is helpless against strategic nuclear torpedoes. Making a comparison, American sources note that the diving depth and speed of the Status-6 significantly exceed the capabilities of the US Mark 54 anti-submarine torpedoes. In addition, the Russian military design bureau is developing a whole line of .

In addition, it is very likely that the ideas of Academician Sakharov are involved in the project. He proposed using an armored version of the torpedo to reduce the likelihood of being hit by anti-submarine weapons and to ensure a breakthrough of anti-torpedo networks without damaging the nuclear carrier.

The Washington Free Beacon (WFB) received

Even before the publication of the TV report about “Status-6,” sources in the Pentagon provided information that “a high-speed, long-range nuclear torpedo with nuclear weapons of tens of megatons” was being created. The goal is to cause “catastrophic damage” to US ports and coastal areas. According to Pentagon experts, such a torpedo cannot be intercepted. And the use of such weapons violates the idea of ​​humanity and customs of war.

The Washington Times polled

leading American military analysts. How do they evaluate the project? nuclear torpedo, capable of destroying a wide coastal strip? Jack Caravelli, who previously worked for the CIA in the intelligence department against Russia, assessed the weapon as “extremely aggressive.” He believes that it can cause irreparable damage to the coastal cities of the United States and its allies.

Mark Schneider, former Pentagon analyst

on nuclear strategy, noted that he noticed RIA Novosti publications where an engineer for the development of underwater systems was interviewed, which he classified specifically as this weapon. General Robert Kehler, former manager strategic nuclear forces and US missile defense, assessed the development of a nuclear torpedo as extremely alarming for US security.

The Washington Times notes

Also, the head of the US Navy, Ray Maybus, in his speech in April 2015, mentioned “revolutionary undersea systems” that are capable of attacking the most protected waters of the United States.

Business Insider and The Washington Time s

also stated that previously authoritative analysts from the Jane’s 360 portal noted a change in the naval doctrine of the Russian Federation with the advent of certain uninhabited underwater vehicles strategic purpose. Special purpose submarines have already been accepted for combat duty. Thus, on August 1, in Severodvinsk, a ceremony was held to remove the special-purpose nuclear submarine BS-64 “Podmoskovye” from the slipway of workshop No. 15.

The submarine was converted from the K-64 missile carrier of Project 667BDRM. Now it is a boat designed to work with nuclear deep-sea stations (AGS) and uninhabited underwater vehicles in the interests of top-secret Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) Russian Ministry of Defense . This boat has yet to undergo mooring and then factory sea trials. After this, the BS-64 Podmoskovye will replace the Orenburg boat in the fleet. (In 1996-2002, also converted from a Project 667BDR missile carrier).

During trips to sea for sea trials and state trials, the BS-64 will presumably interact with the AGS of the Sperm Whale, Halibut and Losharik projects. It will serve as a mother boat, which secretly delivers an underwater special object for autonomous operation. "Orenburg" and AGS are part of the 29th separate brigade submarines of the Northern Fleet, which performs tasks in the interests of GUGI.

For reference:

Until 1986, the “kids” were not included in the Navy. They were part of a General Staff unit associated with the GRU. Note that at the beginning of September this year The American publication The Washington Free Beacon reported , that Russia is allegedly creating an “underwater drone” codenamed “Canyon”. It is believed to be capable of carrying tens of megatons of nuclear weapons and threatening US ports and coastal cities.

Then naval analyst Norman Polmar suggested that the Canyon system was based on the Soviet T-15 linear nuclear torpedo with a yield of 100 megatons (the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov). It was designed in the 1950s to attack coastal targets in the United States.

Academician Igor Nikolaevich Ostretsov

talked about the T-15 concept like this: “ A young nuclear physicist from Arzamas-16, Andrei Sakharov, proposed to the curator nuclear projects Lavrentiy Beria “to wash America off the face of the earth.”

What did the scientist suggest? Send a powerful tsunami onto the United States. To do this, blow up a super torpedo with a hot filling off the coast of America.

He painted picture after picture: a giant wave more than 300 m high comes from the Atlantic and hits New York, Philadelphia, Washington. Tsunami washes away White House and the Pentagon.

Another wave hits the West Coast in the Charleston area. Two more waves hit San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Just one wave is enough to wash away Houston, New Orleans and Pensacola to the Gulf Coast.

Submarines and aircraft carriers have been thrown ashore. Ports and naval bases have been destroyed... Sakharov considered such a project to be completely justified from a moral point of view.”

One should not, of course, accuse Academician Sakharov of being particularly bloodthirsty. Although he was definitely not a humanist, proposing such a plan. You cannot take a person’s actions out of historical context. Then there was a time of greatest instability and danger in the world - the USA and the USSR were one step away from nuclear war.

For security reasons, as well as taking into account other factors, the “Sakharov torpedo” (T-15) was developed without the participation of the Navy.

The Navy learned about it only through the project of the first nuclear submarine. At one time, it was precisely for such a large torpedo that the first Soviet nuclear submarine project 627. It was supposed to have not eight torpedo tubes, but one - with a caliber of 1.55 meters and a length of up to 23.5 meters.

It was assumed that the T-15 would be able to approach the American naval base and with a super-powerful charge of several tens of megatons, destroy all living things. But then this idea was abandoned in favor of a submarine with eight torpedoes, which could solve a whole range of tasks. As a result, Project 627A nuclear submarines were created.

There is information that Soviet admirals, having familiarized themselves with the project in 1954, stated that the submarine could be destroyed on the approach to the American base. Moreover, the entrances to American bases are blocked many kilometers away by the winding shores of bays, islands, shoals, as well as booms and steel nets.

How said military expert and historian Alexander Shirokorad , in 1961, the T-15 idea was again revived at the suggestion of academician Andrei Sakharov.

- The fact is that in fact the tactics of using such a super-torpedo could be completely different. The nuclear submarine was supposed to secretly fire a torpedo at a distance from the coast much greater than 40 km. Having used up all the energy of the batteries, the T-15 would lie on the ground, that is, it would become an intelligent bottom mine. The torpedo fuse could remain in the waiting mode for a long time for a signal from an aircraft or ship, through which the charge could be detonated. The point is that damage to naval bases, ports and other coastal facilities, including cities, would be caused by a powerful shock wave- a tsunami caused by a nuclear explosion...

In accordance with the project, the torpedo weighed 40 tons, had a length of 23.55 meters and a caliber of 1550 mm.

Ongoing the objections of the Navy leadership had an effect in 1955, when technical project 627 has been corrected. The submarine's ammunition load was 20 torpedoes, eight of which were 533-mm T-5 torpedoes carrying tactical nuclear weapons. After this, work on the T-15 torpedo was stopped...

Deputy Director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis Alexander Khramchikhin I am convinced of the following. In principle, there cannot be a scenario of an unplanned leak of information about developments classified as “Top Secret” in the media. “There is no doubt that this is a deliberate hoax. The goal is to make a known adversary think about his actions.”

Corresponding member of RARAN, captain 1st rank reserve Konstantin Sivkov commenting on this “leak” in the media, suggests that, apparently, it may be that special-purpose submarines in the future will solve combat missions. “If the ocean multi-purpose system “Status-6” is really being developed, then this, in my opinion, can only indicate one thing - our leadership is aware of the likelihood of a military clash with the West and is taking measures to counter the American threat of a military-technical nature - the “Fast” concept global impact"etc.

Moreover, apparently, the threat is quite serious, since we're talking about about this option of guaranteed deterrence. At one time, I put forward the idea (I voiced it at the international military-technical forum "Army-2015") that Russia needs to develop asymmetrical mega weapon, which will eliminate any threat of a large-scale war against Russia, even in conditions of the enemy’s absolute superiority in traditional defeat systems. Apparently, this development is in the same paradigm.

From a geophysical point of view, the United States is a very vulnerable country.

A guaranteed source of catastrophic geophysical processes there may be, first of all, an impact on the Yellowstone supervolcano. This initiates a powerful eruption. The detonation of powerful ammunition in the area of ​​the San Andreas, San Gabriel or San Jocinto faults is also being considered. Exposure to a sufficiently powerful nuclear weapon could trigger catastrophic events that could completely destroy US infrastructure on the Pacific coast with a large-scale tsunami. Initiating giant tsunamis is also the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov.

When several munitions are detonated at design points along the Atlantic and Pacific transform faults, according to scientists, a wave will be formed that will reach a height of 400-500 meters or more off the US coast...

It is quite possible to initiate such large-scale geophysical processes. Today it is possible to “fit” high-power ammunition into the weight and size characteristics of, for example, the same ICBM. The main headache and the main question that torments NATO analysts is: “what if the Russians already have an underwater drone - a means of delivering nuclear ammunition?”

After the TV report was released, The WBF newspaper and Russian Forces deciphered the data on the RF Ministry of Defense slide as follows.

The torpedo is intended primarily for radioactive contamination of coastal US cities (comments note that armament with a warhead capable of tens of megatons is quite likely).

Approximate diving depth is 3200 feet (1000m). Torpedo speed is 56 knots (103 km/h). Range – 6200 miles (10000 km). The main torpedo carriers are nuclear submarines of projects 09852 and 09851.

The torpedo is equipped with a nuclear reactor. (For the T-15, Academician Sakharov assumed the use of direct-flow water steam nuclear reactor). The system is controlled from special command ships.

Auxiliary vessels are being created to service the torpedo. The torpedo can also be transported by the Sarov submarine and a “special vessel”.

According to Pavel Podvig from the RussianForces portal , the first to notice the “leak”, a special vessel is used in the event of a torpedo accident.

Is the project promising? Whether there are torpedoes in stock and exactly how many are currently on combat duty is unknown. On November 11, 2015, a project of a nuclear torpedo “Status-6” with a range of 10,000 km, a travel depth of 1000 meters and a caliber of 1.6 meters, close to the T-15 and classified as a continuation of the T-15 by many experts, was “accidentally” demonstrated.

According to naval technology expert Norman Polmar published by The Washington Times Even before the “leak”, we should expect the Russian Federation to revive the T-15 project in a new capacity.

In the stories of a number of Russian television channels about a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on defense topics (held on November 9), footage of the secret “Status-6” system was actually shown. This was stated by presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov , Interfax reports. “Indeed, some secret data got into the camera lens there. They were subsequently removed. We hope that this will not happen again,” Peskov said. When asked whether any organizational conclusions were followed in connection with such a leak of information, Peskov said: “I am not yet aware of any measures. But in the future we will certainly take preventive measures to ensure that this does not happen again.”

On television footage of a number of Russian channels one could see a printout of a slide dedicated to the “Ocean multi-purpose system “Status-6””, developed by the Central Design Bureau for MT “Rubin”. According to information shown on the slide, the system is a massive torpedo (labeled a “self-propelled underwater vehicle”). The cruising range is up to 10 thousand kilometers and the cruising depth is about 1000 meters. A certain “combat module” has been proposed as equipment.

The purpose of the system, according to the slide, is formulated as “the defeat of important enemy economic facilities in the coastal area and causing guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country’s territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for carrying out military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.”

Special nuclear submarines of projects 90852 Belgorod and 09851 Khabarovsk are indicated as carriers of the system.

Special nuclear submarine "Belgorod" project 949A\09852 in the factory workshop

2015-11-11T23:23:03+05:00 Sergey Sinenko Analysis - forecast Defense of the Fatherlandanalysis, army, atomic bomb, defense of the Fatherland, Russia, USAOcean multi-purpose system "Status-6" (new weapon of retaliation) TV operators of Channel One and NTV "accidentally" broadcast documents about the new Russian development, capable of destroying the United States from the ocean depths. This is the most striking shot from the television report of the NTV channel about the event chaired by Russian President V.V. Putin on November 9, 2015, at a meeting on the development of the defense industry. So,...Sergei Sinenko Sergei Sinenko [email protected] Author In the Middle of Russia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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