How an atomic bomb works. How a nuclear warhead works

The nuclear reactor works smoothly and accurately. Otherwise, as you know, there will be trouble. But what's going on inside? Let's try to formulate the principle of operation of a nuclear (atomic) reactor briefly, clearly, with stops.

In fact, the same process is going on there as in a nuclear explosion. Only now the explosion occurs very quickly, and in the reactor all this stretches for a long time. In the end, everything remains safe and sound, and we get energy. Not so much that everything around immediately smashed, but quite enough to provide electricity to the city.

Before you can understand how a controlled nuclear reaction works, you need to know what nuclear reaction generally.

nuclear reaction - this is the process of transformation (fission) of atomic nuclei during their interaction with elementary particles and gamma quanta.

Nuclear reactions can take place both with absorption and with the release of energy. Second reactions are used in the reactor.

Nuclear reactor - This is a device whose purpose is to maintain a controlled nuclear reaction with the release of energy.

Often a nuclear reactor is also called a nuclear reactor. Note that there is no fundamental difference here, but from the point of view of science, it is more correct to use the word "nuclear". There are now many types of nuclear reactors. These are huge industrial reactors designed to generate energy at power plants, nuclear submarine reactors, small experimental reactors used in scientific experiments. There are even reactors used to desalinate seawater.

The history of the creation of a nuclear reactor

The first nuclear reactor was launched in the not so distant 1942. It happened in the USA under the leadership of Fermi. This reactor was called the "Chicago woodpile".

In 1946, the first Soviet reactor started up under the leadership of Kurchatov. The body of this reactor was a ball seven meters in diameter. The first reactors did not have a cooling system, and their power was minimal. By the way, the Soviet reactor had an average power of 20 watts, while the American one had only 1 watt. For comparison: the average power of modern power reactors is 5 Gigawatts. Less than ten years after the launch of the first reactor, the world's first industrial nuclear power plant was opened in the city of Obninsk.

The principle of operation of a nuclear (atomic) reactor

Any nuclear reactor has several parts: core with fuel and moderator , neutron reflector , coolant , control and protection system . Isotopes are the most commonly used fuel in reactors. uranium (235, 238, 233), plutonium (239) and thorium (232). The active zone is a boiler through which ordinary water (coolant) flows. Among other coolants, “heavy water” and liquid graphite are less commonly used. If we talk about the operation of a nuclear power plant, then a nuclear reactor is used to generate heat. The electricity itself is generated by the same method as in other types of power plants - steam rotates the turbine, and the energy of movement is converted into electrical energy.

Below is a diagram of the operation of a nuclear reactor.

As we have already said, the decay of a heavy uranium nucleus produces lighter elements and a few neutrons. The resulting neutrons collide with other nuclei, also causing them to fission. In this case, the number of neutrons grows like an avalanche.

It needs to be mentioned here neutron multiplication factor . So, if this coefficient exceeds a value equal to one, a nuclear explosion occurs. If the value is less than one, there are too few neutrons and the reaction dies out. But if you maintain the value of the coefficient equal to one, the reaction will proceed for a long time and stably.

The question is how to do it? In the reactor, the fuel is in the so-called fuel elements (TVELah). These are rods in which, in the form of small tablets, nuclear fuel . The fuel rods are connected into hexagonal cassettes, of which there can be hundreds in the reactor. Cassettes with fuel rods are located vertically, while each fuel rod has a system that allows you to adjust the depth of its immersion in the core. In addition to the cassettes themselves, among them are control rods and emergency protection rods . The rods are made of a material that absorbs neutrons well. Thus, the control rods can be lowered to different depths in the core, thereby adjusting the neutron multiplication factor. The emergency rods are designed to shut down the reactor in the event of an emergency.

How is a nuclear reactor started?

We figured out the very principle of operation, but how to start and make the reactor function? Roughly speaking, here it is - a piece of uranium, but after all, a chain reaction does not start in it by itself. The fact is that in nuclear physics there is a concept critical mass .

Critical mass is the mass of fissile material necessary to start a nuclear chain reaction.

With the help of fuel elements and control rods, a critical mass of nuclear fuel is first created in the reactor, and then the reactor is brought to the optimal power level in several stages.

In this article, we have tried to give you a general idea of the structure and principle of operation of a nuclear (atomic) reactor. If you have any questions on the topic or the university asked a problem in nuclear physics, please contact specialists of our company. We, as usual, are ready to help you solve any pressing issue of your studies. In the meantime, we are doing this, your attention is another educational video!

To understand the principle of operation and design of a nuclear reactor, you need to make a short digression into the past. A nuclear reactor is a centuries-old embodied, albeit not completely, dream of mankind about an inexhaustible source of energy. Its ancient "progenitor" is a fire made of dry branches, which once illuminated and warmed the vaults of the cave, where our distant ancestors found salvation from the cold. Later, people mastered hydrocarbons - coal, shale, oil and natural gas.

A turbulent but short-lived era of steam began, which was replaced by an even more fantastic era of electricity. The cities were filled with light, and the workshops with the hum of hitherto unknown machines driven by electric motors. Then it seemed that progress had reached its climax.

Everything changed at the end of the 19th century, when the French chemist Antoine Henri Becquerel accidentally discovered that uranium salts are radioactive. After 2 years, his compatriots Pierre Curie and his wife Maria Sklodowska-Curie obtained radium and polonium from them, and their level of radioactivity was millions of times higher than that of thorium and uranium.

The baton was picked up by Ernest Rutherford, who studied in detail the nature of radioactive rays. Thus began the age of the atom, which gave birth to its beloved child - the nuclear reactor.

First nuclear reactor

The "firstborn" is from the USA. In December 1942, the reactor gave the first current, which got the name of its creator, one of the greatest physicists of the century, E. Fermi. Three years later, the ZEEP nuclear plant came to life in Canada. "Bronze" went to the first Soviet reactor F-1, launched at the end of 1946. I. V. Kurchatov became the head of the domestic nuclear project. Today, more than 400 nuclear power units are successfully operating in the world.

Types of nuclear reactors

Their main purpose is to support a controlled nuclear reaction that produces electricity. Some reactors produce isotopes. In short, they are devices in the depths of which some substances are converted into others with the release of a large amount of thermal energy. This is a kind of "furnace", where instead of traditional fuels, uranium isotopes - U-235, U-238 and plutonium (Pu) are "burned".

Unlike, for example, a car designed for several types of gasoline, each type of radioactive fuel has its own type of reactor. There are two of them - on slow (with U-235) and fast (with U-238 and Pu) neutrons. Most nuclear power plants are equipped with slow neutron reactors. In addition to nuclear power plants, installations "work" in research centers, on nuclear submarines and.

How is the reactor

All reactors have approximately the same scheme. Its "heart" is the active zone. It can be roughly compared with the furnace of a conventional stove. Only instead of firewood there is nuclear fuel in the form of fuel elements with a moderator - TVELs. The active zone is located inside a kind of capsule - a neutron reflector. The fuel rods are "washed" by the coolant - water. Since the “heart” has a very high level of radioactivity, it is surrounded by reliable radiation protection.

The operators control the operation of the plant with the help of two critical systems, the chain reaction control and the remote control system. If an emergency situation arises, emergency protection is instantly triggered.

How the reactor works

The atomic "flame" is invisible, since the processes occur at the level of nuclear fission. In the course of a chain reaction, heavy nuclei break up into smaller fragments, which, being in an excited state, become sources of neutrons and other subatomic particles. But the process does not end there. Neutrons continue to “crush”, as a result of which a lot of energy is released, that is, what happens for which nuclear power plants are built.

The main task of the staff is to maintain a chain reaction with the help of control rods at a constant, adjustable level. This is its main difference from the atomic bomb, where the process of nuclear decay is uncontrollable and proceeds rapidly, in the form of a powerful explosion.

What happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

One of the main causes of the catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 was a gross violation of operational safety rules in the process of routine maintenance at the 4th power unit. Then 203 graphite rods were removed from the core at the same time instead of the 15 allowed by the regulations. As a result, the uncontrolled chain reaction that began ended in a thermal explosion and the complete destruction of the power unit.

New generation reactors

Over the past decade, Russia has become one of the world's nuclear power leaders. At the moment, the state corporation Rosatom is building nuclear power plants in 12 countries, where 34 power units are being built. Such a high demand is evidence of the high level of modern Russian nuclear technology. Next in line are the new 4th generation reactors.

"Brest"

One of them is Brest, which is being developed as part of the Breakthrough project. Current open-cycle systems run on low-enriched uranium, leaving a large amount of spent fuel to be disposed of at a huge cost. "Brest" - a fast neutron reactor is unique in a closed cycle.

In it, spent fuel, after appropriate processing in a fast neutron reactor, again becomes a full-fledged fuel that can be loaded back into the same facility.

Brest is distinguished by a high level of security. It will never "explode" even in the most serious accident, it is very economical and environmentally friendly, since it reuses its "renewed" uranium. It also cannot be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium, which opens up the broadest prospects for its export.

VVER-1200

VVER-1200 is an innovative generation 3+ reactor with a capacity of 1150 MW. Thanks to its unique technical capabilities, it has almost absolute operational safety. The reactor is equipped with passive safety systems in abundance, which will work even in the absence of power supply in automatic mode.

One of them is a passive heat removal system, which is automatically activated when the reactor is completely de-energized. In this case, emergency hydraulic tanks are provided. With an abnormal pressure drop in the primary circuit, a large amount of water containing boron is supplied to the reactor, which quenches the nuclear reaction and absorbs neutrons.

Another know-how is located in the lower part of the containment - the "trap" of the melt. If, nevertheless, as a result of an accident, the core "leaks", the "trap" will not allow the containment to collapse and prevent the ingress of radioactive products into the ground.

The device and principle of operation are based on the initialization and control of a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. It is used as a research tool, for the production of radioactive isotopes, and as an energy source for nuclear power plants.

working principle (briefly)

Here, a process is used in which a heavy nucleus breaks up into two smaller fragments. These fragments are in a highly excited state and emit neutrons, other subatomic particles and photons. Neutrons can cause new fissions, as a result of which more neutrons are emitted, and so on. Such a continuous self-sustaining series of splits is called a chain reaction. In this case, a large amount of energy is released, the production of which is the purpose of using nuclear power plants.

The principle of operation of a nuclear reactor is such that about 85% of the fission energy is released within a very short period of time after the start of the reaction. The rest is produced by the radioactive decay of fission products after they have emitted neutrons. Radioactive decay is the process by which an atom reaches a more stable state. It continues even after the completion of the division.

In an atomic bomb, the chain reaction increases in intensity until most of the material has been split. This happens very quickly, producing the extremely powerful explosions characteristic of such bombs. The device and principle of operation of a nuclear reactor are based on maintaining a chain reaction at a controlled, almost constant level. It is designed in such a way that it cannot explode like an atomic bomb.

Chain reaction and criticality

The physics of a nuclear fission reactor is that the chain reaction is determined by the probability of nuclear fission after the emission of neutrons. If the population of the latter decreases, then the fission rate will eventually drop to zero. In this case, the reactor will be in a subcritical state. If the population of neutrons is maintained at a constant level, then the fission rate will remain stable. The reactor will be in critical condition. And finally, if the population of neutrons grows over time, the fission rate and power will increase. The state of the core will become supercritical.

The principle of operation of a nuclear reactor is as follows. Before its launch, the neutron population is close to zero. The operators then remove the control rods from the core, increasing nuclear fission, which temporarily puts the reactor in a supercritical state. After reaching the nominal power, the operators partially return the control rods, adjusting the number of neutrons. In the future, the reactor is maintained in a critical state. When it needs to be stopped, the operators insert the rods completely. This suppresses fission and brings the core to a subcritical state.

Reactor types

Most of the world's nuclear installations are energy generating, generating the heat needed to rotate the turbines that drive the generators of electrical energy. There are also many research reactors, and some countries have nuclear-powered submarines or surface ships.

Power plants

There are several types of reactors of this type, but the light water design has found wide application. In turn, it can use pressurized water or boiling water. In the first case, the liquid under high pressure is heated by the heat of the core and enters the steam generator. There, the heat from the primary circuit is transferred to the secondary, which also contains water. The eventually generated steam serves as the working fluid in the steam turbine cycle.

Boiling-type reactor operates on the principle of a direct energy cycle. Water, passing through the active zone, is brought to a boil at an average pressure level. Saturated steam passes through a series of separators and dryers located in the reactor vessel, which brings it to a superheated state. The superheated water vapor is then used as a working fluid to turn a turbine.

High temperature gas cooled

A high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is a nuclear reactor whose operating principle is based on the use of a mixture of graphite and fuel microspheres as fuel. There are two competing designs:

the German "fill" system, which uses 60 mm spherical fuel elements, which are a mixture of graphite and fuel in a graphite shell;
an American version in the form of graphite hexagonal prisms that interlock to form an active zone.

In both cases, the coolant consists of helium at a pressure of about 100 atmospheres. In the German system, helium passes through gaps in the layer of spherical fuel elements, and in the American system, through holes in graphite prisms located along the axis of the central zone of the reactor. Both options can operate at very high temperatures, since graphite has an extremely high sublimation temperature, while helium is completely chemically inert. Hot helium can be used directly as a working fluid in a gas turbine at high temperature, or its heat can be used to generate steam in a water cycle.

Liquid metal and working principle

Sodium-cooled fast neutron reactors received much attention in the 1960s and 1970s. Then it seemed that their ability to reproduce in the near future was necessary for the production of fuel for the rapidly developing nuclear industry. When it became clear in the 1980s that this expectation was unrealistic, the enthusiasm faded. However, a number of reactors of this type have been built in the USA, Russia, France, Great Britain, Japan and Germany. Most of them run on uranium dioxide or its mixture with plutonium dioxide. In the United States, however, the greatest success has been with metallic propellants.

CANDU

Canada has focused its efforts on reactors that use natural uranium. This eliminates the need for its enrichment to resort to the services of other countries. The result of this policy was the deuterium-uranium reactor (CANDU). Control and cooling in it is carried out by heavy water. The device and principle of operation of a nuclear reactor is to use a tank with cold D 2 O at atmospheric pressure. The core is pierced by pipes made of zirconium alloy with natural uranium fuel, through which heavy water cools it. Electricity is produced by transferring the heat of fission in heavy water to coolant that is circulated through the steam generator. The steam in the secondary circuit then passes through a conventional turbine cycle.

Research facilities

For scientific research, a nuclear reactor is most often used, the principle of operation of which is the use of water cooling and plate-like uranium fuel elements in the form of assemblies. Capable of operating over a wide range of power levels, from a few kilowatts to hundreds of megawatts. Since power generation is not the main task of research reactors, they are characterized by the generated thermal energy, density and nominal energy of neutrons in the core. It is these parameters that help to quantify the ability of a research reactor to conduct specific surveys. Low power systems are typically used in universities for teaching, while high power is needed in research labs for material and performance testing and general research.

The most common research nuclear reactor, the structure and principle of operation of which is as follows. Its active zone is located at the bottom of a large deep pool of water. This simplifies the observation and placement of channels through which neutron beams can be directed. At low power levels, there is no need to bleed the coolant, as the natural convection of the coolant provides sufficient heat dissipation to maintain a safe operating condition. The heat exchanger is usually located on the surface or at the top of the pool where hot water accumulates.

Ship installations

The original and main application of nuclear reactors is their use in submarines. Their main advantage is that, unlike fossil fuel combustion systems, they do not require air to generate electricity. Therefore, a nuclear submarine can remain submerged for long periods of time, while a conventional diesel-electric submarine must periodically rise to the surface to start its engines in the air. gives a strategic advantage to naval ships. Thanks to it, there is no need to refuel in foreign ports or from easily vulnerable tankers.

The principle of operation of a nuclear reactor on a submarine is classified. However, it is known that in the USA it uses highly enriched uranium, and slowing down and cooling is done by light water. The design of the first reactor of the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus was strongly influenced by powerful research facilities. Its unique features are a very large reactivity margin, which ensures a long period of operation without refueling and the ability to restart after a stop. The power station in the subs must be very quiet to avoid detection. To meet the specific needs of different classes of submarines, different models of power plants were created.

The aircraft carriers of the US Navy use a nuclear reactor, the principle of which is believed to be borrowed from the largest submarines. Details of their design have also not been published.

In addition to the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and India have nuclear submarines. In each case, the design was not disclosed, but it is believed that they are all very similar - this is a consequence of the same requirements for their technical characteristics. Russia also has a small fleet that has been equipped with the same reactors as the Soviet submarines.

Industrial plants

For production purposes, a nuclear reactor is used, the principle of which is high productivity with a low level of energy production. This is due to the fact that a long stay of plutonium in the core leads to the accumulation of unwanted 240 Pu.

Tritium production

At present, tritium (3 H or T) is the main material produced by such systems - the charge for Plutonium-239 has a long half-life of 24,100 years, so countries with nuclear weapons arsenals using this element tend to have it is more than necessary. Unlike 239 Pu, tritium has a half-life of approximately 12 years. Thus, in order to maintain the necessary supplies, this radioactive isotope of hydrogen must be produced continuously. In the United States, Savannah River, South Carolina, for example, operates several heavy water reactors that produce tritium.

Floating power units

Nuclear reactors have been created that can provide electricity and steam heating to remote isolated areas. In Russia, for example, small power plants specifically designed to serve Arctic communities have found use. In China, a 10 MW HTR-10 plant supplies heat and power to the research institute where it is located. Small controlled reactors with similar capabilities are being developed in Sweden and Canada. Between 1960 and 1972, the US Army used compact water reactors to power remote bases in Greenland and Antarctica. They were replaced by oil-fired power plants.

Space exploration

In addition, reactors have been developed for power supply and movement in outer space. Between 1967 and 1988, the Soviet Union installed small nuclear installations on the Kosmos satellites to power equipment and telemetry, but this policy became a target for criticism. At least one of these satellites entered the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in radioactive contamination of remote areas of Canada. The United States launched only one nuclear-powered satellite in 1965. However, projects for their use in deep space flights, manned exploration of other planets, or on a permanent lunar base continue to be developed. It will necessarily be a gas-cooled or liquid-metal nuclear reactor, the physical principles of which will provide the highest possible temperature necessary to minimize the size of the radiator. In addition, the spacecraft reactor should be as compact as possible to minimize the amount of material used for shielding and to reduce weight during launch and spaceflight. The fuel supply will ensure the operation of the reactor for the entire period of the space flight.

The appearance of such a powerful weapon as a nuclear bomb was the result of the interaction of global factors of an objective and subjective nature. Objectively, its creation was caused by the rapid development of science, which began with the fundamental discoveries of physics in the first half of the 20th century. The strongest subjective factor was the military-political situation of the 40s, when the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USA, Great Britain, the USSR - tried to get ahead of each other in the development of nuclear weapons.

Prerequisites for the creation of a nuclear bomb

The starting point of the scientific path to the creation of atomic weapons was 1896, when the French chemist A. Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of uranium. It was the chain reaction of this element that formed the basis for the development of terrible weapons.

At the end of the 19th and in the first decades of the 20th century, scientists discovered alpha, beta, gamma rays, discovered many radioactive isotopes of chemical elements, the law of radioactive decay, and laid the foundation for the study of nuclear isometry. In the 1930s, the neutron and positron became known, and the nucleus of the uranium atom with the absorption of neutrons was first split. This was the impetus for the creation of nuclear weapons. The French physicist Frédéric Joliot-Curie was the first to invent and patent the design of the nuclear bomb in 1939.

As a result of further development, nuclear weapons have become a historically unprecedented military-political and strategic phenomenon capable of ensuring the national security of the possessor state and minimizing the capabilities of all other weapons systems.

The design of an atomic bomb consists of a number of different components, among which there are two main ones:

frame,
automation system.

Automation, together with a nuclear charge, is located in a case that protects them from various influences (mechanical, thermal, etc.). The automation system controls that the explosion occurs at a strictly set time. It consists of the following elements:

emergency detonation;
safety and cocking device;
source of power;
charge detonation sensors.

Delivery of atomic charges is carried out with the help of aviation, ballistic and cruise missiles. At the same time, nuclear munitions can be an element of a land mine, torpedo, aerial bombs, etc.

Nuclear bomb detonation systems are different. The simplest is the injection device, in which the impetus for the explosion is hitting the target and the subsequent formation of a supercritical mass.

Another characteristic of atomic weapons is the size of the caliber: small, medium, large. Most often, the power of the explosion is characterized in TNT equivalent. A small caliber nuclear weapon implies a charge capacity of several thousand tons of TNT. The average caliber is already equal to tens of thousands of tons of TNT, large - measured in millions.

Operating principle

The scheme of the atomic bomb is based on the principle of using nuclear energy released during a nuclear chain reaction. This is the process of fission of heavy or synthesis of light nuclei. Due to the release of a huge amount of intra-nuclear energy in the shortest period of time, a nuclear bomb is classified as a weapon of mass destruction.

There are two key points in this process:

the center of a nuclear explosion, in which the process directly takes place;
the epicenter, which is the projection of this process onto the surface (land or water).

A nuclear explosion releases an amount of energy that, when projected onto the ground, causes seismic tremors. The range of their distribution is very large, but significant environmental damage is caused at a distance of only a few hundred meters.

Nuclear weapons have several types of destruction:

light emission,
radioactive contamination,
shockwave,
penetrating radiation,
electromagnetic impulse.

A nuclear explosion is accompanied by a bright flash, which is formed due to the release of a large amount of light and thermal energy. The strength of this flash is many times greater than the power of the sun's rays, so the danger of light and heat damage extends for several kilometers.

Another very dangerous factor in the impact of a nuclear bomb is the radiation generated during the explosion. It works only for the first 60 seconds, but has a maximum penetrating power.

The shock wave has a high power and a significant destructive effect, therefore, in a matter of seconds, it causes great harm to people, equipment, and buildings.

Penetrating radiation is dangerous for living organisms and is the cause of radiation sickness in humans. The electromagnetic pulse affects only the technique.

All these types of damage combined make the atomic bomb a very dangerous weapon.

First nuclear bomb tests

The United States was the first to show the greatest interest in atomic weapons. At the end of 1941, huge funds and resources were allocated in the country for the creation of nuclear weapons. The work resulted in the first tests of an atomic bomb with an explosive device "Gadget", which took place on July 16, 1945 in the US state of New Mexico.

It is time for the US to act. For the victorious end of the Second World War, it was decided to defeat the ally of Nazi Germany - Japan. At the Pentagon, targets were chosen for the first nuclear strikes, in which the United States wanted to demonstrate how powerful weapons they possess.

On August 6 of the same year, the first atomic bomb under the name "Kid" was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and on August 9, a bomb with the name "Fat Man" fell on Nagasaki.

The hit in Hiroshima was considered ideal: a nuclear device exploded at an altitude of 200 meters. The blast wave overturned the stoves in the houses of the Japanese, heated by coal. This has led to numerous fires even in urban areas far from the epicenter.

The initial flash was followed by a heat wave impact that lasted seconds, but its power, covering a radius of 4 km, melted tiles and quartz in granite slabs, incinerated telegraph poles. After the heat wave came the shock wave. The wind speed was 800 km / h, and its gust demolished almost everything in the city. Of the 76,000 buildings, 70,000 were completely destroyed.

A few minutes later, a strange rain of large black drops began to fall. It was caused by condensation formed in the colder layers of the atmosphere from steam and ash.

People hit by a fireball at a distance of 800 meters were burned and turned into dust. Some had their burnt skin torn off by the shock wave. Drops of black radioactive rain left incurable burns.

The survivors fell ill with a previously unknown disease. They began to experience nausea, vomiting, fever, bouts of weakness. The level of white cells in the blood dropped sharply. These were the first signs of radiation sickness.

3 days after the bombing of Hiroshima, a bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. It had the same power and caused similar effects.

Two atomic bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people in seconds. The first city was practically wiped off the face of the earth by the shock wave. More than half of the civilians (about 240 thousand people) died immediately from their wounds. Many people were exposed to radiation, which led to radiation sickness, cancer, infertility. In Nagasaki, 73 thousand people were killed in the first days, and after a while another 35 thousand inhabitants died in great agony.

Video: nuclear bomb tests

RDS-37 tests

Creation of the atomic bomb in Russia

The consequences of the bombing and the history of the inhabitants of Japanese cities shocked I. Stalin. It became clear that the creation of their own nuclear weapons is a matter of national security. On August 20, 1945, the Atomic Energy Committee began its work in Russia, headed by L. Beria.

Nuclear physics research has been carried out in the USSR since 1918. In 1938, a commission on the atomic nucleus was established at the Academy of Sciences. But with the outbreak of war, almost all work in this direction was suspended.

In 1943, Soviet intelligence officers handed over from England closed scientific papers on atomic energy, from which it followed that the creation of the atomic bomb in the West had advanced far ahead. At the same time, in the United States, reliable agents were introduced into several American nuclear research centers. They passed information on the atomic bomb to Soviet scientists.

The terms of reference for the development of two variants of the atomic bomb were compiled by their creator and one of the scientific leaders Yu. Khariton. In accordance with it, it was planned to create an RDS (“special jet engine”) with an index of 1 and 2:

RDS-1 - a bomb with a charge of plutonium, which was supposed to undermine by spherical compression. His device was handed over by Russian intelligence.
RDS-2 is a cannon bomb with two parts of a uranium charge, which must approach each other in the cannon barrel until a critical mass is created.

In the history of the famous RDS, the most common decoding - "Russia does it itself" - was invented by Yu. Khariton's deputy for scientific work K. Shchelkin. These words very accurately conveyed the essence of the work.

Information that the USSR had mastered the secrets of nuclear weapons caused an impulse in the USA to start a pre-emptive war as soon as possible. In July 1949, the Trojan plan appeared, according to which it was planned to start hostilities on January 1, 1950. Then the date of the attack was moved to January 1, 1957, with the condition that all NATO countries enter the war.

Information received through intelligence channels accelerated the work of Soviet scientists. According to Western experts, Soviet nuclear weapons could not have been created before 1954-1955. However, the test of the first atomic bomb took place in the USSR at the end of August 1949.

On August 29, 1949, the RDS-1 nuclear device was blown up at the Semipalatinsk test site - the first Soviet atomic bomb, which was invented by a team of scientists headed by I. Kurchatov and Yu. Khariton. The explosion had a power of 22 kt. The design of the charge imitated the American "Fat Man", and the electronic filling was created by Soviet scientists.

The Trojan plan, according to which the Americans were going to drop atomic bombs on 70 cities in the USSR, was thwarted due to the likelihood of a retaliatory strike. The event at the Semipalatinsk test site informed the world that the Soviet atomic bomb ended the American monopoly on the possession of new weapons. This invention completely destroyed the militaristic plan of the USA and NATO and prevented the development of the Third World War. A new history has begun - an era of world peace, existing under the threat of total destruction.

"Nuclear club" of the world

The nuclear club is a symbol for several states that own nuclear weapons. Today there are such weapons:

in the USA (since 1945)
in Russia (originally USSR, since 1949)
in the UK (since 1952)
in France (since 1960)
in China (since 1964)
in India (since 1974)
in Pakistan (since 1998)
in North Korea (since 2006)

Israel is also considered to have nuclear weapons, although the country's leadership does not comment on its presence. In addition, on the territory of NATO member states (Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada) and allies (Japan, South Korea, despite the official refusal), US nuclear weapons are located.

Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, which owned part of the nuclear weapons after the collapse of the USSR, in the 90s handed it over to Russia, which became the sole heir to the Soviet nuclear arsenal.

Atomic (nuclear) weapons are the most powerful tool of global politics, which has firmly entered the arsenal of relations between states. On the one hand, it is an effective deterrent, on the other hand, it is a weighty argument for preventing military conflict and strengthening peace between the powers that own these weapons. This is a symbol of an entire era in the history of mankind and international relations, which must be handled very wisely.

Video: nuclear weapons museum

Video about the Russian Tsar Bomba

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After the end of World War II, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition rapidly tried to get ahead of each other in the development of a more powerful nuclear bomb.

The first test, conducted by the Americans on real objects in Japan, heated up the situation between the USSR and the USA to the limit. The powerful explosions that thundered in Japanese cities and practically destroyed all life in them forced Stalin to abandon many claims on the world stage. Most of the Soviet physicists were urgently "thrown" to the development of nuclear weapons.

When and how did nuclear weapons appear

1896 can be considered the year of birth of the atomic bomb. It was then that French chemist A. Becquerel discovered that uranium is radioactive. The chain reaction of uranium forms a powerful energy that serves as the basis for a terrible explosion. It is unlikely that Becquerel imagined that his discovery would lead to the creation of nuclear weapons - the most terrible weapon in the whole world.

The end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century was a turning point in the history of the invention of nuclear weapons. It was in this time period that scientists from various countries of the world were able to discover the following laws, rays and elements:

Alpha, gamma and beta rays;
Many isotopes of chemical elements with radioactive properties have been discovered;
The law of radioactive decay was discovered, which determines the time and quantitative dependence of the intensity of radioactive decay, depending on the number of radioactive atoms in the test sample;
Nuclear isometry was born.

In the 1930s, for the first time, they were able to split the atomic nucleus of uranium with the absorption of neutrons. At the same time, positrons and neurons were discovered. All this gave a powerful impetus to the development of weapons that used atomic energy. In 1939, the world's first atomic bomb design was patented. This was done by French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie.

As a result of further research and development in this area, a nuclear bomb was born. The power and range of destruction of modern atomic bombs is so great that a country that has nuclear potential practically does not need a powerful army, since one atomic bomb is capable of destroying an entire state.

How an atomic bomb works

An atomic bomb consists of many elements, the main of which are:

Atomic Bomb Corps;
Automation system that controls the explosion process;
Nuclear charge or warhead.

The automation system is located in the body of an atomic bomb, along with a nuclear charge. The hull design must be sufficiently reliable to protect the warhead from various external factors and influences. For example, various mechanical, thermal or similar influences, which can lead to an unplanned explosion of great power, capable of destroying everything around.

The task of automation includes complete control over the explosion at the right time, so the system consists of the following elements:

Device responsible for emergency detonation;
Power supply of the automation system;
Undermining sensor system;
cocking device;
Safety device.

When the first tests were carried out, nuclear bombs were delivered by planes that had time to leave the affected area. Modern atomic bombs are so powerful that they can only be delivered by cruise, ballistic, or even anti-aircraft missiles.

Atomic bombs use a variety of detonation systems. The simplest of these is a simple device that is triggered when a projectile hits a target.

One of the main characteristics of nuclear bombs and missiles is their division into calibers, which are of three types:

Small, the power of atomic bombs of this caliber is equivalent to several thousand tons of TNT;
Medium (explosion power - several tens of thousands of tons of TNT);
Large, the charge power of which is measured in millions of tons of TNT.

Interestingly, most often the power of all nuclear bombs is measured precisely in TNT equivalent, since there is no scale for measuring the power of an explosion for atomic weapons.

Algorithms for the operation of nuclear bombs

Any atomic bomb operates on the principle of using nuclear energy, which is released during a nuclear reaction. This procedure is based on either the fission of heavy nuclei or the synthesis of lungs. Since this reaction releases a huge amount of energy, and in the shortest possible time, the radius of destruction of a nuclear bomb is very impressive. Because of this feature, nuclear weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction.

There are two main points in the process that starts with the explosion of an atomic bomb:

This is the immediate center of the explosion, where the nuclear reaction takes place;
The epicenter of the explosion, which is located at the site where the bomb exploded.

The nuclear energy released during the explosion of an atomic bomb is so strong that seismic tremors begin on the earth. At the same time, these shocks bring direct destruction only at a distance of several hundred meters (although, given the force of the explosion of the bomb itself, these shocks no longer affect anything).

Damage factors in a nuclear explosion

The explosion of a nuclear bomb brings not only terrible instantaneous destruction. The consequences of this explosion will be felt not only by people who fell into the affected area, but also by their children, who were born after the atomic explosion. Types of destruction by atomic weapons are divided into the following groups:

Light radiation that occurs directly during the explosion;
The shock wave propagated by a bomb immediately after the explosion;
Electromagnetic pulse;
penetrating radiation;
A radioactive contamination that can last for decades.

Although at first glance, a flash of light poses the least threat, in fact, it is formed as a result of the release of a huge amount of thermal and light energy. Its power and strength far exceeds the power of the rays of the sun, so the defeat of light and heat can be fatal at a distance of several kilometers.

The radiation that is released during the explosion is also very dangerous. Although it does not last long, it manages to infect everything around, since its penetrating ability is incredibly high.

The shock wave in an atomic explosion acts like the same wave in conventional explosions, only its power and radius of destruction are much larger. In a few seconds, it causes irreparable damage not only to people, but also to equipment, buildings and the surrounding nature.

Penetrating radiation provokes the development of radiation sickness, and an electromagnetic pulse is dangerous only for equipment. The combination of all these factors, plus the power of the explosion, makes the atomic bomb the most dangerous weapon in the world.

The world's first nuclear weapons test

The first country to develop and test nuclear weapons was the United States of America. It was the US government that allocated huge cash subsidies for the development of promising new weapons. By the end of 1941, many prominent scientists in the field of atomic development were invited to the United States, who by 1945 were able to present a prototype atomic bomb suitable for testing.

The world's first test of an atomic bomb equipped with an explosive device was carried out in the desert in the state of New Mexico. A bomb called "Gadget" was detonated on July 16, 1945. The test result was positive, although the military demanded to test a nuclear bomb in real combat conditions.

Seeing that there was only one step left before victory in the Nazi coalition, and there might not be more such an opportunity, the Pentagon decided to launch a nuclear strike on the last ally of Nazi Germany - Japan. In addition, the use of a nuclear bomb was supposed to solve several problems at once:

To avoid the unnecessary bloodshed that would inevitably occur if US troops set foot on Imperial Japanese territory;
To bring the uncompromising Japanese to their knees in one blow, forcing them to agree to conditions favorable to the United States;
Show the USSR (as a possible rival in the future) that the US Army has a unique weapon that can wipe out any city from the face of the earth;
And, of course, to see in practice what nuclear weapons are capable of in real combat conditions.

On August 6, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which was used in military operations. This bomb was called "Baby", as its weight was 4 tons. The bomb drop was carefully planned, and it hit exactly where it was planned. Those houses that were not destroyed by the blast burned down, as the stoves that fell in the houses provoked fires, and the whole city was engulfed in flames.

After a bright flash, a heat wave followed, which burned all life within a radius of 4 kilometers, and the shock wave that followed it destroyed most of the buildings.

Those who were hit by heatstroke within a radius of 800 meters were burned alive. The blast wave tore off the burnt skin of many. A couple of minutes later, a strange black rain fell, which consisted of steam and ash. Those who fell under the black rain, the skin received incurable burns.

Those few who were lucky enough to survive fell ill with radiation sickness, which at that time was not only not studied, but also completely unknown. People began to develop fever, vomiting, nausea and bouts of weakness.

On August 9, 1945, the second American bomb, called "Fat Man", was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. This bomb had about the same power as the first, and the consequences of its explosion were just as devastating, although people died half as much.

Two atomic bombs dropped on Japanese cities turned out to be the first and only case in the world of the use of atomic weapons. More than 300,000 people died in the first days after the bombing. About 150 thousand more died from radiation sickness.

After the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities, Stalin received a real shock. It became clear to him that the issue of developing nuclear weapons in Soviet Russia was a security issue for the entire country. Already on August 20, 1945, a special committee on atomic energy began to work, which was urgently created by I. Stalin.

Although research on nuclear physics was carried out by a group of enthusiasts back in Tsarist Russia, it was not given due attention in Soviet times. In 1938, all research in this area was completely stopped, and many nuclear scientists were repressed as enemies of the people. After the nuclear explosions in Japan, the Soviet government abruptly began to restore the nuclear industry in the country.

There is evidence that the development of nuclear weapons was carried out in Nazi Germany, and it was German scientists who finalized the “raw” American atomic bomb, so the US government removed all nuclear specialists and all documents related to the development of nuclear weapons from Germany.

The Soviet intelligence school, which during the war was able to bypass all foreign intelligence services, back in 1943 transferred secret documents related to the development of nuclear weapons to the USSR. At the same time, Soviet agents were introduced into all major American nuclear research centers.

As a result of all these measures, already in 1946, the terms of reference for the manufacture of two Soviet-made nuclear bombs were ready:

RDS-1 (with plutonium charge);
RDS-2 (with two parts of the uranium charge).

The abbreviation "RDS" was deciphered as "Russia does itself", which almost completely corresponded to reality.

The news that the USSR was ready to release its nuclear weapons forced the US government to take drastic measures. In 1949, the Troyan plan was developed, according to which it was planned to drop atomic bombs on 70 largest cities in the USSR. Only the fear of a retaliatory strike prevented this plan from being realized.

This alarming information coming from Soviet intelligence officers forced scientists to work in an emergency mode. Already in August 1949, the first atomic bomb produced in the USSR was tested. When the US found out about these tests, the Trojan plan was postponed indefinitely. The era of confrontation between the two superpowers, known in history as the Cold War, began.

The most powerful nuclear bomb in the world, known as the Tsar Bomby, belongs precisely to the Cold War period. Soviet scientists have created the most powerful bomb in the history of mankind. Its capacity was 60 megatons, although it was planned to create a bomb with a capacity of 100 kilotons. This bomb was tested in October 1961. The diameter of the fireball during the explosion was 10 kilometers, and the blast wave circled the globe three times. It was this test that forced most countries of the world to sign an agreement to end nuclear tests not only in the earth's atmosphere, but even in space.

Although atomic weapons are an excellent means of intimidating aggressive countries, on the other hand, they are capable of extinguishing any military conflicts in the bud, since all parties to the conflict can be destroyed in an atomic explosion.