The creation and testing of the first atomic bomb in the USSR

In the Soviet Union, since 1918, research has been conducted on nuclear physics, which prepared the first atomic bomb in the USSR. In Leningrad, at the Radium Institute, in 1937 the cyclotron, the first in Europe, was launched. "In what year was the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR?" - you ask. You will know the answer very soon.

In 1938, on November 25, by the decree of the Academy of Sciences a commission on the atomic nucleus was created. It included Sergei Vavilov, Abram Alikhanov, Abram Ioffe, Igor Kurchatov and others. Two years later, they joined Isai Gurevich and Vitaly Khlopin. By that time, nuclear research had already been conducted in more than 10 scientific institutes. At the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in the same year was organized by the Commission on Heavy Water, which was later called the Commission on isotopes. After reading this article, you will learn how the further preparation and testing of the first atomic bomb in the USSR was carried out.

The construction of the cyclotron in Leningrad, the discovery of new uranium ores

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

Representation of physicists about the future atomic bomb

Many physicists in the period from the late 30's to the early 40's had an approximate idea of how it would look. The idea was to concentrate a certain amount (more critical mass) of the fission material under neutron impact in a certain place at a certain place. In it, the avalanche-like increase in the number of decays of atoms should begin after this. That is, it will be a chain reaction, as a result of which a huge charge of energy will be released and a powerful explosion will occur.

The problems encountered in the creation of the atomic bomb

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

As it soon became clear, the alternative to uranium is plutonium-239. It almost does not occur in nature (it is less than 100 times that of uranium-235). In an acceptable concentration, it can be obtained in nuclear reactors if irradiated with uranium-238 by neutrons. The construction of the reactor for this also represented significant difficulties.

The third problem was that it was not easy to assemble the necessary amount of fissile material in one place. In the process of rapprochement of subcritical parts, even very fast, fission reactions begin to occur in them. The energy released in this case may not allow the main part of the atoms to participate in the fission process. Not having time to react, they will scatter.

The invention of V. Maslov and V. Shpinel

V. Maslov and V. Shpinel from the Physical and Technical Institute of Kharkov in 1940 applied for the invention of an ammunition based on the use of a chain reaction that triggers spontaneous fission of uranium-235, its supercritical mass, which is created from several subcritical, explosive-separated, impenetrable For neutrons and destroyed by means of undermining. There is great doubt about the performance of such a charge, but nevertheless the certificate for this invention was still received. However, this happened only in 1946.

Cannon scheme of Americans

For the first bombs, the Americans intended to use a cannon scheme, in which a cannon barrel was actually used. With its help, one part of the fissile material (subcritical) was fired into the other. But soon it was discovered that such a scheme for plutonium is not suitable because the speed of approach is insufficient.

Construction of a cyclotron in Moscow

In 1941, April 15, the SNK decided to start building a powerful cyclotron in Moscow. However, after the Great Patriotic War began, almost all work in the field of nuclear physics was called to end the 1th atomic bomb test in the USSR. At the front were many nuclear physicists. Others were reoriented to more vital, as it seemed then, spheres.

Collecting information about the nuclear issue

Collection of information on the nuclear problem since 1939 dealt with the First Administration of the NKVD and the GRU of the Red Army. In 1940, in October, D. Cairncross received the first communication, which talked about the plans for the creation of an atomic bomb. This issue was considered in the British Committee for Science, in which he worked Cairncross. In 1941, in the summer, the project of creating a bomb, which was called "Tube Helloyz", was approved. England at the beginning of the war was one of the world leaders in nuclear development. This situation was largely due to the help of German scientists who fled to this country with the advent of Hitler to power.

K. Fuchs, a member of the KKE, was one of them. He went to the Soviet embassy in the autumn of 1941, where he reported that he had important information about the powerful weapons created in England. S. Kramer and R. Kuchinskaya (radio operator Sonya) were singled out for communication with him. The first radiograms sent to Moscow contained information about a special method for separating uranium isotopes, gas diffusion, and also about the plant being built for this purpose in Wales. After six broadcasts, the connection with Fuchs was broken.

The test of the atomic bomb in the USSR, the date of which is widely known today, was also prepared by other scouts. So, the Soviet intelligence officer in the United States Semenov (Twain) at the end of 1943 reported that E. Fermi in Chicago managed to carry out the first chain reaction. The source of this information was the physicist Pontecorvo. In the line of foreign intelligence, at the same time, closed works of scientists of the West concerning atomic energy, dated 1940-1942, came from England. The information contained in them confirmed that much progress had been made in the creation of the atomic bomb.

Konenkov's wife (pictured below), a well-known sculptor, worked with others to explore. She approached Einstein and Oppenheimer, the largest physicists, and had a long influence on them. L. Zarubina, another resident in the United States, was a member of the people of Oppenheimer and L. Szilard. With the help of these women, the USSR succeeded in introducing agents to Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and the Chicago Laboratory, the largest nuclear research centers in America. Information on the atomic bomb in the United States was transferred to Soviet intelligence in 1944 by the spouses Rosenbergs, D. Gringlass, B. Pontecorvo, S. Sake, T. Hall, K. Fuchs.

In 1944, in early February, L. Beria, People's Commissar of the NKVD, held a meeting of intelligence leaders. It adopted a decision to coordinate the collection of information on the atomic problem, which came through the GRU of the Red Army and the NKVD. For this purpose a department "C" was created. In 1945, on September 27, it was organized. P. Sudoplatov, the GB Commissar, headed this department.

Fuchs gave in January 1945 a description of the design of the atomic bomb. In addition, materials were obtained on the separation of uranium isotopes by electromagnetic means, data on the operation of the first reactors, instructions for the production of plutonium and uranium bombs, data on the dimensions of the critical mass of plutonium and uranium, on the design of explosive lenses, on plutonium-240, on the sequence And the time of operations for assembling and manufacturing a bomb. The information also touched on the method of bringing the bomb initiator into action, the construction of special plants for the separation of isotopes. There were also received diary entries, which contained information about the first test bomb explosion in the United States in July 1945.

Information flowed through these channels accelerated and facilitated the task posed to Soviet scientists. Specialists of the West believed that in the USSR a bomb could be created only in 1954-1955. However, they were mistaken. The first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR occurred in 1949, in August.

New stages in the creation of the atomic bomb

In 1942, in April, M. Pervukhin, People's Commissar for the Chemical Industry, was acquainted with Stalin's instructions with materials relating to work on an atomic bomb conducted abroad. To assess the information presented in the report, Pervukhin suggested creating a group of specialists. It included, on the recommendation of Joffe, young scientists Kikoin, Alikhanov and Kurchatov.

In 1942, on November 27, the decree "On Uranium Mining" of T-bills was issued. It provided for the creation of a special institute, as well as the beginning of work on the processing and extraction of raw materials, and geological exploration. All this was supposed to be done in order to test the first atomic bomb in the USSR as soon as possible. The year 1943 was marked by the fact that the NCCM started mining and processing uranium ore in Tajikistan, at the Tabarsky mine. The plan was 4 tons per year of uranium salts.

Mobilized earlier scientists at this time were withdrawn from the front. In the same year of 1943, February 11, the Laboratory No. 2 of the Academy of Sciences was organized. Kurchatov was appointed its head. She had to coordinate the work on the creation of the atomic bomb.

Soviet intelligence in 1944 received a handbook, which contained valuable information about the presence of uranium-graphite reactors and the determination of reactor parameters. However, the uranium needed to load even a small experimental nuclear reactor was not yet in our country. In 1944, on September 28, the government of the USSR ordered the NKTsM to hand over uranium salts and uranium to the state fund. Laboratory No. 2 was assigned the task of storing them.

Works in Bulgaria

A large group of specialists, led by V. Kravchenko, the chief of the 4th special department of the NKVD, left in November 1944 to study the results of geological prospecting for the liberated Bulgaria. In the same year, on December 8, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer processing and extraction of uranium ores from the NKMC to the 9th Directorate of the State Penitentiary Department of the NKVD. In 1945, in March, S. Yegorov was appointed head of the mining and metallurgical department of the 9th Directorate. At the same time, in January, NII-9 is being organized to study uranium deposits, to solve the problems of obtaining plutonium and uranium metal, and to process raw materials. About a half tons of uranium ore came from Bulgaria by that time.

Construction of a diffusion plant

Since 1945, since March, after receiving information from the US through the NKGB channels about a bomb scheme built on the principle of implosion (i.e., compression of fissile material by explosion of a conventional explosive), work began on a circuit that had significant advantages over cannon. In April 1945, V. Makhanev wrote a note to Beria. It said that in 1947 it is planned to start up a diffusion plant for obtaining uranium-235, which is located at laboratory No. 2. The production capacity of this plant was to be about 25 kg of uranium per year. That should have been enough for two bombs. For the American, it really took 65 kg of uranium-235.

Involvement of German scientists

May 5, 1945 during the battles for Berlin was found property belonging to the Physical Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society . A special commission headed by A. Zavenyagin was sent to Germany on May 9. Its task was to find scientists who worked there on the atomic bomb, to collect materials on the uranium problem. Together with the families in the USSR, a significant group of German scientists was removed. These included Nobel laureates N. Riehl and H. Hertz, Professors Gayb, M. von Ardene, P. Thiessen, G. Pose, M. Vollmer, R. Deppel and others.

The creation of an atomic bomb is delayed

For the production of plutonium-239, it was necessary to build a nuclear reactor. Even for the experimental, about 36 tons of metallic uranium, 500 tons of graphite and 9 tons of uranium dioxide were needed. By August 1943, the graphite problem was solved. Its release was established in May 1944 at the Moscow Electrode Plant. However, the required amount of uranium was not available in the country by the end of 1945.

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

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

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

In 1948, on June 19, the first industrial reactor ("A") was launched. For the separation of spent plutonium from nuclear fuel, plant "B" was built. Uranium blocks irradiated, dissolved and separated by chemical methods plutonium from uranium. The solution was further purified from fission products in order to reduce its radiation activity. At the plant "B" in April 1949, they began to make the details of a bomb from plutonium, using the technology of NII-9. The first research reactor operating on heavy water was launched at the same time. With numerous accidents went the development of production. When eliminating their consequences, there were cases of overexposure of personnel. However, at that time did not pay attention to such trifles. The most important thing was to carry out the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR (its date was 1949, August 29).

In July, a set of parts of the charge was ready. A group of physicists headed by Flerov went to the combine for physical measurements. A group of theorists headed by Zeldovich was sent to process the results of the measurements, as well as to calculate the incomplete fracture probability and the efficiency.

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

Testing the First Atomic Bomb

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

Some features of the first atomic bomb

5 kg of plutonium was placed in the center of the charge. The substance was installed in the form of two hemispheres, surrounded by a shell of uranium-238. It served to deter a nucleus swelling during a chain reaction in order to react as much of the plutonium as possible. In addition, it was used as a reflector, as well as a neutron moderator. Tamper was surrounded by a shell made of aluminum. It served to uniformly compress the shock wave of a nuclear charge.

The installation of a node that contained fissile material for security purposes was carried out immediately before the charge was applied. For this purpose, there was a special through conical hole, which was closed with a stopper from an explosive. And in the inner and outer cases there were holes, which were closed with lids. The splitting of the nuclei of approximately 1 kg of plutonium caused the explosion power. The remaining 4 kg did not have time to react and it was useless to disperse when the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR was carried out, the date of which you now know. A lot of new ideas for improving charges arose during the implementation of this program. In particular, they touched upon the increase in the utilization rate of the material, as well as the reduction in weight and dimensions. Compared with the first, new samples have become more compact, more powerful and more elegant.

So, the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR occurred in 1949, on August 29. It served as the beginning of further developments in this field, which are ongoing to this day. The test of the atomic bomb in the USSR (1949) was an important event in the history of our country, setting the stage for its status as a nuclear power.

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

On September 14, 1954, the first military exercises were carried out at the Totsky training ground , during which an atomic bomb was used. They were called "Operation Snowball." The test of the atomic bomb in 1954 in the USSR, according to information declassified in 1993, was carried out, among other things, to find out how radiation affects a person. Participants in this experiment gave a subscription that they will not disclose information on exposure for 25 years.