Nuclear bomb of the USSR. Atomic bomb in the USSR: creation

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

In 1938, on November 25, a commission on the atomic nucleus was created by a resolution of the Academy of Sciences. It included Sergey Vavilov, Abram Alikhanov, Abram Iofe, and others. They were joined two years later by Isai Gurevich and Vitaly Khlopin. By that time, nuclear research had already been carried out in more than 10 scientific institutes. At the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, in the same year, the Commission on Heavy Water was organized, which later became known as 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.

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

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

Physicists' idea of a future atomic bomb

Many physicists in the late 1930s and early 1940s already had a rough idea of what it would look like. The idea was to concentrate quite quickly in one place a certain amount (more than a critical mass) of fissile material under the influence of neutrons. After this, an avalanche-like increase in the number of atomic decays should begin in it. That is, it will be a chain reaction, as a result of which a huge charge of energy will be released and a powerful explosion will occur.

Problems encountered in the development of the atomic bomb

The first problem was to get enough fissile material. In nature, the only substance of this kind that could be found is an isotope of uranium with mass number 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 enough challenging task was the release of uranium-235.

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

The third problem was that it was not easy to collect the required amount of fissile material in one place. In the process of approaching 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. Without having time to react, they will scatter.

The invention of V. Maslov and V. Spinel

V. Maslov and V. Spinel from the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology in 1940 filed an application for the invention of a munition based on the use of a chain reaction that triggers the spontaneous fission of uranium-235, its supercritical mass, which is created from several subcritical ones, separated by an impenetrable explosive for neutrons and destroyed by detonation. There are big doubts about the efficiency of such a charge, but nevertheless, a certificate for this invention was nevertheless received. However, this happened only in 1946.

Cannon diagram of the Americans

For the first bombs, the Americans intended to use a cannon scheme that used a real cannon barrel. With its help, one part of the fissile material (subcritical) was fired into another. But it was soon found that such a scheme for plutonium is not suitable due to the fact that the convergence rate is insufficient.

Construction of a cyclotron in Moscow

On April 15, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars decided to start building a powerful cyclotron in Moscow. However, after the Great Patriotic War began, almost all work in the field was stopped. nuclear physics, designed to bring 1 test of the atomic bomb in the USSR. Many nuclear physicists were at the front. Others were refocused on what seemed to be more pressing areas at the time.

Collection of information about the nuclear issue

Since 1939, the 1st Directorate of the NKVD and the GRU of the Red Army have been collecting information on the nuclear problem. In 1940, in October, the first message was received from D. Cairncross, which spoke of plans to create an atomic bomb. This question was considered by the British Science Committee, where Cairncross worked. In 1941, in the summer, a bomb project was approved, which was called Tube Alloys. England by 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 when Hitler came to power.

K. Fuchs, a member of the KPD, was one of them. He went in the autumn of 1941 to soviet embassy, where he announced that he has important information about a powerful weapon created in England. S. Kramer and R. Kuchinskaya (radio operator Sonya) were assigned to communicate with him. The first radiograms sent to Moscow contained information about a special method of separating uranium isotopes, gas diffusion, and also about a plant being built for this purpose in Wales. After six transmissions, communication with Fuchs was interrupted.

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

The wife of Konenkov (pictured below), a well-known sculptor, worked with others for intelligence. She became close to Einstein and Oppenheimer, the greatest physicists, and influenced them for a long time. L. Zarubina, another resident in the United States, was a member of Oppenheimer's and L. Szilard's circle of people. With the help of these women, the USSR managed to infiltrate agents in Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, as well as the Chicago laboratory - major centers nuclear research in America. Information on the atomic bomb in the United States was transmitted to Soviet intelligence in 1944 by the Rosenbergs, D. Greenglass, 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 decided to coordinate the collection of information relating to the atomic problem, which came through the GRU of the Red Army and the NKVD. To do this, a department "C" was created. In 1945, on September 27, it was organized. P. Sudoplatov, Commissioner of the State Security Service, headed this department.

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

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

New stages in the creation of the atomic bomb

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

In 1942, on November 27, a decree "On uranium mining" by the State Defense Committee was issued. It provided for the creation of a special institute, as well as the start of work on the processing and extraction of raw materials, geological exploration. All this was supposed to be carried out 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 NKCM started mining and processing uranium ore in Tajikistan, at the Tabarsh mine. The plan was 4 tons per year of uranium salts.

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

In 1944, Soviet intelligence obtained a handbook containing valuable information about the presence of uranium-graphite reactors and determining the parameters of the reactor. However, the uranium needed to load even a small experimental nuclear reactor did not yet exist in our country. In 1944, on September 28, the government of the USSR obliged the NKCM to hand over uranium salts and uranium to the state fund. Laboratory No. 2 was entrusted with the task of storing them.

Work carried out in Bulgaria

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

Construction of a diffusion plant

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

Involvement of German scientists in research

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

The creation of the atomic bomb is delayed

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

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

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

The event, which was sought for so long, occurred somewhat later than the re-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. Plant "B" was built to separate the accumulated plutonium from nuclear fuel. Uranium blocks, irradiated, dissolved and separated chemical methods plutonium from uranium. Then the solution was additionally purified from fission products in order to reduce its radiation activity. In April 1949, plant "V" began to manufacture bomb parts from plutonium using the NII-9 technology. The first heavy water research reactor was launched at the same time. With numerous accidents, the development of production went on. When their consequences were eliminated, cases of personnel overexposure were observed. However, at that time, they did not pay attention to such trifles. The most important thing was to carry out the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR (its date is 1949, August 29).

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

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

Testing the first atomic bomb

In the USSR in 1949, on August 29, a nuclear charge was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. There was a device on top. The power of the explosion was 22 kt. The design of the used charge repeated the "Fat Man" from the USA, and the electronic filling was developed by Soviet scientists. The multilayer structure was represented by an atomic charge. In it, with the help 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 contain the core, which swelled during the chain reaction, in order to have time to react as much of the plutonium as possible. In addition, it was used as a reflector, as well as a neutron moderator. The tamper was surrounded by a shell made of aluminum. It served for uniform compression by the shock wave of a nuclear charge.

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

So, the first test of the atomic bomb in the USSR took place on August 29, 1949. It was the beginning of further developments in this area, which are ongoing to this day. The test of the atomic bomb in the USSR (1949) became important event in the history of our country, marking the beginning of its status as a nuclear power.

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

On September 14, 1954, the first military exercises were carried out, during which the 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. The participants in this experiment signed an undertaking that they would not disclose exposure information for 25 years.

The development of Soviet nuclear weapons began with the extraction of samples of radium in the early 1930s. In 1939, Soviet physicists Yuli Khariton and Yakov Zel'dovich calculated the chain reaction of nuclear fission of heavy atoms. The following year, scientists from the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology submitted applications for the creation of an atomic bomb, as well as methods for producing uranium-235. For the first time, researchers proposed using conventional explosives as a means of igniting a charge that would create critical mass and start a chain reaction.

However, the invention of the Kharkov physicists had its shortcomings, and therefore their application, having managed to visit various authorities, was ultimately rejected. The decisive word was left to the director of the Radium Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician Vitaly Khlopin: “... the application has no real basis. In addition, there is in fact a lot of fantastic in it ... Even if it were possible to realize a chain reaction, then the energy that is released is better used to drive engines, for example, aircraft.

The appeals of scientists on the eve of the Great Patriotic War to the people's commissar for defense, Sergei Timoshenko, also turned out to be fruitless. As a result, the project of the invention was buried on a shelf labeled "top secret".

Vladimir Semyonovich Spinel
Wikimedia Commons

In 1990, journalists asked Vladimir Shpinel, one of the authors of the bomb project: “If your proposals in 1939-1940 were duly appreciated at the government level and you were given support, when could the USSR have atomic weapons?”

“I think that with such opportunities that Igor Kurchatov later had, we would have received it in 1945,” Spinel replied.

However, it was Kurchatov who managed to use in his developments the successful American schemes for creating a plutonium bomb, obtained by Soviet intelligence.

nuclear race

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, nuclear research was temporarily stopped. The main scientific institutes of the two capitals were evacuated to remote regions.

The head of strategic intelligence, Lavrenty Beria, was aware of the developments of Western physicists in the field of nuclear weapons. For the first time about the possibility of creating a superweapon Soviet leadership learned from the "father" of the American atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, who visited the Soviet Union in September 1939. In the early 1940s, both politicians and scientists realized the reality of obtaining a nuclear bomb, as well as the fact that its appearance in the arsenal of the enemy would endanger the security of other powers.

In 1941, the Soviet government received the first intelligence from the United States and Great Britain, where the active work to create a superweapon. The main informant was the Soviet "atomic spy" Klaus Fuchs, a German physicist involved in the US and UK nuclear programs.

Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, physicist Pyotr Kapitsa
RIA News
V. Noskov

Academician Pyotr Kapitsa, speaking on October 12, 1941 at an anti-fascist rally of scientists, stated: “One of the important means modern war are explosives. Science indicates the fundamental possibilities to increase the explosive force by 1.5-2 times ... Theoretical calculations show that if modern powerful bomb can, for example, destroy an entire city block, then an atomic bomb of even a small size, if feasible, could easily destroy a large metropolitan city with several million people. My personal opinion is that the technical difficulties that stand in the way of the use of intra-atomic energy are still very great. So far, this case is still doubtful, but it is very likely that there are great opportunities here.

In September 1942, the Soviet government adopted a resolution "On the organization of work on uranium". spring next year for the production of the first Soviet bomb Laboratory No. 2 of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was created. Finally, on February 11, 1943, Stalin signed the decision of the GKO on the program of work to create an atomic bomb. At first, the deputy chairman of the GKO, Vyacheslav Molotov, was assigned to lead the important task. It was he who had to find the scientific director of the new laboratory.

Molotov himself, in a note dated July 9, 1971, recalls his decision as follows: “We have been working on this topic since 1943. I was instructed to answer for them, to find such a person who could carry out the creation of an atomic bomb. The Chekists gave me a list of reliable physicists who could be relied upon, and I chose. He summoned Kapitsa to himself, an academician. He said that we were not ready for this and that the atomic bomb was not a weapon of this war, but a matter for the future. Ioffe was asked - he, too, somehow vaguely reacted to this. In short, I had the youngest and still unknown Kurchatov, he was not given a go. I called him, we talked, he made me good impression. But he said he still had a lot of ambiguities. Then I decided to give him the materials of our intelligence - the intelligence officers did a very important job. Kurchatov spent several days in the Kremlin, with me, over these materials.

The next couple of weeks, Kurchatov thoroughly studied the data obtained by intelligence and drew up an expert opinion: “The materials are of tremendous, invaluable importance for our state and science ... The totality of information indicates the technical possibility of solving the entire uranium problem in a much shorter time than our scientists think who are not familiar with the progress of work on this problem abroad.

In mid-March, Igor Kurchatov took over as scientific director of Laboratory No. 2. In April 1946, for the needs of this laboratory, it was decided to create a design bureau KB-11. The top-secret object was located on the territory of the former Sarov Monastery, a few tens of kilometers from Arzamas.

Igor Kurchatov (right) with a group of employees of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology
RIA News

KB-11 specialists were supposed to create an atomic bomb using plutonium as a working substance. At the same time, in the process of creating the first nuclear weapon in the USSR, domestic scientists relied on the schemes of the US plutonium bomb, which was successfully tested in 1945. However, since the production of plutonium in the Soviet Union has not yet been engaged, physicists at the first initial stage used uranium mined in Czechoslovak mines, as well as in the territories of East Germany, Kazakhstan and Kolyma.

The first Soviet atomic bomb was named RDS-1 ("Special Jet Engine"). A group of specialists led by Kurchatov managed to load a sufficient amount of uranium into it and start a chain reaction in the reactor on June 10, 1948. The next step was to use plutonium.

"This is atomic lightning"

In the plutonium "Fat Man", dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, American scientists laid 10 kilograms of radioactive metal. The USSR managed to accumulate such a quantity of substance by June 1949. The head of the experiment, Kurchatov, informed the curator of the atomic project, Lavrenty Beria, that he was ready to test the RDS-1 on August 29.

A part of the Kazakh steppe with an area of about 20 kilometers was chosen as a testing ground. In its central part, experts built a metal tower almost 40 meters high. It was on it that the RDS-1 was installed, the mass of which was 4.7 tons.

The Soviet physicist Igor Golovin describes the situation that prevailed at the test site a few minutes before the start of the tests: “Everything is fine. And suddenly, with a general silence, ten minutes before “one”, Beria’s voice is heard: “But nothing will work out for you, Igor Vasilyevich!” - “What are you, Lavrenty Pavlovich! It will definitely work!" - exclaims Kurchatov and continues to watch, only his neck turned purple and his face became gloomy and concentrated.

To Abram Ioyrysh, a prominent scientist in the field of atomic law, Kurchatov’s condition seems similar to a religious experience: “Kurchatov rushed out of the casemate, ran up an earthen rampart and shouted “She!” waved his arms widely, repeating: “She, she!” and a gleam spread over his face. The pillar of the explosion swirled and went into the stratosphere. Approaching the command post shock wave, clearly visible on the grass. Kurchatov rushed towards her. Flerov rushed after him, grabbed him by the arm, forcibly dragged him into the casemate and closed the door. The author of the biography of Kurchatov, Pyotr Astashenkov, endows his hero with the following words: “This is atomic lightning. Now she is in our hands ... "

Immediately after the explosion, the metal tower collapsed to the ground, and only a funnel remained in its place. A powerful shock wave threw highway bridges a couple of tens of meters away, and the cars that were nearby scattered across the open spaces almost 70 meters from the explosion site.

Nuclear mushroom ground explosion RDS-1 August 29, 1949
Archive RFNC-VNIIEF

Once, after another test, Kurchatov was asked: “Are you not worried about the moral side of this invention?”

“You asked a legitimate question,” he replied. But I think it's misdirected. It is better to address it not to us, but to those who unleashed these forces... It is not physics that is terrible, but an adventurous game, not science, but the use of it by scoundrels... When science makes a breakthrough and opens up the possibility for actions that affect millions of people, the need arises to rethink the norms of morality in order to bring these actions under control. But nothing of the sort happened. Rather the opposite. Just think about it - Churchill's speech in Fulton, military bases, bombers along our borders. The intentions are very clear. Science has been turned into an instrument of blackmail and the main determinant of politics. Do you think morality will stop them? And if this is the case, and this is the case, you have to talk to them in their language. Yes, I know that the weapon we have created is an instrument of violence, but we were forced to create it in order to avoid more heinous violence!” - the answer of the scientist in the book of Abram Ioyrysh and nuclear physicist Igor Morokhov "A-bomb" is described.

A total of five RDS-1 bombs were manufactured. All of them were stored in the closed city of Arzamas-16. Now you can see the model of the bomb in the nuclear weapons museum in Sarov (former Arzamas-16).

The creation of the Soviet nuclear bomb in terms of the complexity of scientific, technical and engineering tasks– a significant, truly unique event that had an impact on the balance political forces in the world after World War II. The solution of this problem in our country, which has not yet recovered from the terrible destruction and shocks of four war years, became possible as a result of the heroic efforts of scientists, production organizers, engineers, workers and the whole people. The implementation of the Soviet nuclear project required a real scientific, technological and industrial revolution, which led to the emergence of the domestic nuclear industry. This labor feat justified himself. Having mastered the secrets of the production of nuclear weapons, our Motherland for many years ensured the military-defense parity of the two leading states of the world - the USSR and the USA. The nuclear shield, the first link of which was the legendary product RDS-1, still protects Russia today.
I. Kurchatov was appointed head of the Atomic Project. From the end of 1942, he began to gather scientists and specialists needed to solve the problem. Initially, the general leadership of the atomic problem was carried out by V. Molotov. But on August 20, 1945 (a few days after atomic bombing Japanese cities) The State Defense Committee decided to create a Special Committee, headed by L. Beria. It was he who began to lead the Soviet atomic project.
The first domestic atomic bomb had the official designation RDS-1. It was deciphered in different ways: “Russia does it itself”, “The Motherland gives Stalin”, etc. But in the official resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946, the RDS received the wording - “Jet engine “C””.
The tactical and technical assignment (TTZ) indicated that the atomic bomb was being developed in two versions: using "heavy fuel" (plutonium) and using "light fuel" (uranium-235). The writing of technical specifications for RDS-1 and the subsequent development of the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was carried out taking into account the available materials according to the scheme of the US plutonium bomb tested in 1945. These materials were provided by Soviet foreign intelligence. An important source of information was K. Fuchs, a German physicist, a participant in the work on the nuclear programs of the USA and England.
Intelligence materials on the US plutonium bomb made it possible to avoid a number of mistakes in the creation of the RDS-1, significantly reduce the time for its development, and reduce costs. At the same time, it was clear from the very beginning that many of the technical solutions of the American prototype were not the best. Even at the initial stages, Soviet specialists could offer the best solutions for both the charge as a whole and its individual components. But the unconditional demand of the country's leadership was to get a working bomb with a guarantee and with the least risk by the time it was first tested.
The nuclear bomb was to be made in the form of an aerial bomb weighing no more than 5 tons, no more than 1.5 meters in diameter and no more than 5 meters long. These restrictions were due to the fact that the bomb was developed in relation to the TU-4 aircraft, the bomb bay of which allowed the placement of a "product" with a diameter of no more than 1.5 meters.
As the work progressed, the need for a special research organization for the design and development of the “product” itself became obvious. A number of studies carried out by Laboratory N2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences required their deployment in a "remote and isolated place." This meant: it was necessary to create a special research and production center for the development of the atomic bomb.

Creation of KB-11

Since the end of 1945, there has been a search for a place to place a top-secret object. Various options were considered. At the end of April 1946, Yu. Khariton and P. Zernov examined Sarov, where the monastery used to be, and now plant No. 550 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition was located. As a result, the choice settled on this place, which was removed from major cities and at the same time had the initial production infrastructure.
The scientific and production activities of KB-11 were subject to the strictest secrecy. Its nature and goals were a state secret of paramount importance. The issues of object protection from the first days were in the center of attention.

April 9, 1946 A closed resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was adopted on the creation of a Design Bureau (KB-11) at Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences. P. Zernov was appointed head of KB-11, Yu. Khariton was appointed chief designer.

The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946 determined the strict deadlines for the creation of the object: the first stage was to be commissioned on October 1, 1946, the second - on May 1, 1947. The construction of KB-11 (“facility”) was entrusted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. The "object" was supposed to occupy up to 100 sq. kilometers of forests in the zone of the Mordovian Reserve and up to 10 sq. kilometers in the Gorky region.
Construction was carried out without projects and preliminary estimates, the cost of work was taken at actual costs. The team of builders was formed with the involvement of a "special contingent" - as they were designated in official documents prisoners. The government created special conditions for the provision of construction. Nevertheless, the construction was difficult, the first production buildings were ready only at the beginning of 1947. Some of the laboratories were located in monastic buildings.

The amount of construction work was great. Plant N 550 was to be reconstructed for the construction of a pilot plant on the existing premises. The power plant needed updating. It was necessary to build a foundry and press shop for working with explosives, as well as a number of buildings for experimental laboratories, test towers, casemates, warehouses. To carry out blasting, it was necessary to clear and equip large areas in the forest.
At the initial stage, there were no special premises for research laboratories - scientists were to occupy twenty rooms in the main design building. The designers, as well as the administrative services of KB-11, were to be accommodated in the reconstructed premises of the former monastery. The need to create conditions for arriving specialists and workers forced to pay more and more attention to the residential village, which gradually acquired the features of a small city. Simultaneously with the construction of housing, a medical campus was erected, a library, a cinema club, a stadium, a park and a theater were built.

On February 17, 1947, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR signed by Stalin, KB-11 was classified as a special security enterprise with the transformation of its territory into a closed security zone. Sarov was withdrawn from the administrative subordination of the Mordovian ASSR and excluded from all accounting materials. In the summer of 1947, the perimeter of the zone was taken under military guard.

Work in KB-11

The mobilization of specialists to the nuclear center was carried out regardless of their departmental affiliation. The leaders of KB-11 were looking for young and promising scientists, engineers, workers in literally all institutions and organizations of the country. All candidates for work in KB-11 underwent a special check in the state security services.
Creation atomic weapons was the result of the work of a large team. But it did not consist of faceless "staff units", but of bright personalities, many of which left a noticeable mark in the history of domestic and world science. A significant potential was concentrated here, both scientific, design, and performing, working.

In 1947, 36 researchers arrived at KB-11. They were seconded from various institutes, mainly from the USSR Academy of Sciences: Institute chemical physics, Laboratories N2, NII-6 and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. In 1947, 86 engineering and technical workers worked in KB-11.
Taking into account the problems that had to be solved in KB-11, the order of formation of its main structural divisions. The first research laboratories began to work in the spring of 1947 in the following areas:
laboratory N1 (head - M. Ya. Vasiliev) - testing of structural elements of a charge from explosives that provide a spherically converging detonation wave;
laboratory N2 (A. F. Belyaev) - research on explosive detonation;
laboratory N3 (V. A. Tsukerman) - X-ray studies of explosive processes;
laboratory N4 (L.V. Altshuler) - determination of the equations of state;
laboratory N5 (K. I. Shchelkin) - full-scale tests;
laboratory N6 (E.K. Zavoisky) - measurements of compression of the CC;
laboratory N7 (A. Ya. Apin) - development of a neutron fuse;
Laboratory N8 (N. V. Ageev) - study of the properties and characteristics of plutonium and uranium for use in bomb design.
The beginning of full-scale work of the first domestic atomic charge can be attributed to July 1946. During this period, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946, Yu. B. Khariton prepared the “Tactical technical task to the atomic bomb."

The TTZ indicated that the atomic bomb was being developed in two versions. In the first of them, the working substance should be plutonium (RDS-1), in the second - uranium-235 (RDS-2). In a plutonium bomb, the transition through the critical state must be achieved by symmetrical compression of plutonium, which has the shape of a ball, with a conventional explosive (implosion variant). In the second variant, the transition through the critical state is ensured by the combination of masses of uranium-235 with the help of an explosive (“cannon variant”).
At the beginning of 1947, the formation of design units began. Initially, all design work was concentrated in a single scientific and design sector (NKS) KB-11, which was headed by V. A. Turbiner.
The intensity of work in KB-11 from the very beginning was very high and constantly increased, since the initial plans, very extensive from the very beginning, increased every day in volume and depth of study.
Explosive experiments with large explosive charges began in the spring of 1947 at the KB-11 experimental sites that were still under construction. The greatest volume of research was to be carried out in the gas-dynamic sector. In this regard, there in 1947 was sent big number specialists: K. I. Shchelkin, L. V. Altshuler, V. K. Bobolev, S. N. Matveev, V. M. Nekrutkin, P. I. Roy, N. D. Kazachenko, V. I. Zhuchikhin, A. T. Zavgorodniy, K. K. Krupnikov, B. N. Ledenev, V. M. Malygin, V. M. Bezotosny, D. M. Tarasov, K. I. Panevkin, B. A. Terletskaya and others.
Experimental studies of charge gas dynamics were carried out under the direction of K. I. Shchelkin, and theoretical questions were developed by a group in Moscow headed by Ya. B. Zeldovich. The work was carried out in close cooperation with designers and technologists.

A.Ya. Apin, V.A. Aleksandrovich and designer A.I. Abramov. To achieve the desired result, it was necessary to master a new technology for using polonium, which has a fairly high radioactivity. At the same time, it was necessary to develop complex system protection of materials in contact with polonium from its alpha radiation.
In KB-11 long time research and design work was carried out on the most precise element of the charge-capsule-detonator. This is important direction conducted by A.Ya. Apin, I.P. Sukhov, M.I. Puzyrev, I.P. Kolesov and others. The development of research required a territorial approach of theoretical physicists to the research, design and production base of KB-11. Since March 1948, a theoretical department began to form in KB-11 under the leadership of Ya.B. Zeldovich.
Due to the great urgency and high complexity work in KB-11, new laboratories and production sites began to be created, and seconded to them the best specialists The Soviet Union mastered new high standards and harsh production conditions.

The plans drawn up in 1946 could not take into account many of the difficulties that opened up to the participants in the atomic project as they moved forward. Decree CM N 234-98 ss / op dated 02/08/1948. The production time for the RDS-1 charge was postponed to a later date - by the time the plutonium charge parts were ready at Plant N 817.
With regard to the RDS-2 variant, by that time it became clear that it would not be expedient to bring it to the testing stage because of the relatively low efficiency of this variant compared to the cost of nuclear materials. Work on the RDS-2 was terminated in mid-1948.

According to the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 10, 1948, they were appointed: the first deputy chief designer of the "object" - Schelkin Kirill Ivanovich; deputies of the chief designer of the facility - Alferov Vladimir Ivanovich, Dukhov Nikolay Leonidovich.
In February 1948, 11 scientific laboratories, including theorists led by Ya.B. Zeldovich, who moved to the facility from Moscow. His group included D. D. Frank-Kamenetsky, N. D. Dmitriev, V. Yu. Gavrilov. The experimenters did not lag behind the theorists. Major works were carried out in the departments of KB-11, which were responsible for detonating a nuclear charge. Its design was clear, the detonation mechanism too. In theory. In practice, it was necessary to carry out checks again and again, to carry out complex experiments.
The production workers also worked very actively - those who had to translate the ideas of scientists and designers into reality. In July 1947, A.K. Bessarabenko was appointed head of the plant, N.A. Petrov became the chief engineer, P.D. Panasyuk, V.D. Shcheglov, A.I. Novitsky, G.A. Savosin, A.Ya. Ignatiev, V. S. Lyubertsev.

In 1947, a second experimental plant appeared in the structure of KB-11 - for the production of parts from explosives, the assembly of experimental units of the product and the solution of many other important tasks. The results of calculations and design studies were quickly embodied in specific parts, assemblies, blocks. This, by the highest standards, responsible work was carried out by two plants at KB-11. Plant N 1 carried out the manufacture of many parts and assemblies of the RDS-1 and then their assembly. Plant No. 2 (A. Ya. Malsky became its director) was engaged in the practical solution of various problems related to the production and processing of parts from explosives. The assembly of the charge from explosives was carried out in the workshop, which was led by M. A. Kvasov.

Each passed stage set new tasks for researchers, designers, engineers, workers. People worked for 14-16 hours a day, completely surrendering to the cause. On August 5, 1949, a plutonium charge manufactured at Combine No. 817 was accepted by a commission headed by Khariton and then sent by letter train to KB-11. Here, on the night of August 10-11, a control assembly of a nuclear charge was carried out. She showed: RDS-1 meets the technical requirements, the product is suitable for testing at the site.

Works until 1941

In 1930-1941, work was actively carried out in the nuclear field.

In this decade, fundamental radiochemical research was also carried out, without which any understanding of these problems, their development, and, even more so, their implementation, is inconceivable.

Academician V. G. Khlopin was considered an authority in this area. Also, a serious contribution was made, among many others, by the employees of the Radium Institute: G. A. Gamov, I. V. Kurchatov and L. V. Mysovsky (the creators of the first cyclotron in Europe), F. F. Lange (created the first Soviet project of the atomic bombs -), as well as the founder N. N. Semyonov. The Soviet project was supervised by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V. M. Molotov

Work in 1941-1943

Foreign intelligence information

As early as September 1941, the USSR began to receive intelligence information about the conduct of secret intensive research work in the UK and the USA aimed at developing methods for using atomic energy for military purposes and creating atomic bombs of enormous destructive power. One of the most important documents received back in 1941 by Soviet intelligence is the report of the British "MAUD Committee". From the materials of this report, received through the channels of foreign intelligence of the NKVD of the USSR from Donald McLean, it followed that the creation of an atomic bomb was real, that it could probably be created even before the end of the war and, therefore, could affect its course.

Intelligence information about work on the problem of atomic energy abroad, which was available in the USSR at the time of the decision to resume work on uranium, was received both through the channels of the NKVD intelligence and through the channels of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) of the Red Army.

In May 1942, the leadership of the GRU informed the Academy of Sciences of the USSR about the presence of reports of work abroad on the problem of using atomic energy for military purposes and asked to be informed whether this problem currently has a real practical basis. The answer to this request in June 1942 was given by V. G. Khlopin, who noted that for Last year in scientific literature there are almost no publications related to the solution of the problem of the use of atomic energy.

An official letter from the head of the NKVD L.P. Beria addressed to I.V. Stalin with information about the work on the use of atomic energy for military purposes abroad, proposals for organizing these works in the USSR and secret acquaintance with the materials of the NKVD of prominent Soviet specialists, the variants of which were prepared by the NKVD officers back in late 1941 - early 1942, it was sent to I.V. Stalin in October 1942, after the adoption of the GKO order to resume work on uranium in the USSR.

Soviet intelligence had detailed information about the work on the creation of an atomic bomb in the United States, coming from specialists who understood the danger of a nuclear monopoly or sympathizers of the USSR, in particular, Klaus Fuchs, Theodor Hall, Georges Koval and David Gringlas. However crucial, as some believe, had a letter addressed to Stalin in early 1943 by the Soviet physicist G. Flerov, who managed to explain the essence of the problem in a popular way. On the other hand, there is reason to believe that G. N. Flerov's work on the letter to Stalin was not completed and it was not sent.

Launch of the nuclear project

GKO Decree No. 2352ss "On the organization of work on uranium".

On September 28, 1942, a month and a half after the start of the Manhattan Project, GKO Resolution No. 2352ss "On the organization of work on uranium" was adopted. It prescribed:

Oblige the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Academician Ioffe) to resume work on the study of the feasibility of using atomic energy by fissioning the uranium nucleus and submit to the State Defense Committee by April 1, 1943 a report on the possibility of creating a uranium bomb or uranium fuel ...

The order provided for the organization of a special laboratory for this purpose at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR atomic nucleus, the creation of laboratory facilities for the separation of uranium isotopes and the implementation of a complex of experimental work. The order obligated the Council of People's Commissars of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to provide the USSR Academy of Sciences in Kazan with a room of 500 m² to accommodate the laboratory of the atomic nucleus and living space for 10 researchers.

Work on the creation of the atomic bomb

The first priority was to organize industrial production plutonium-239 and uranium-235. To solve the first problem, it was necessary to create experimental, and then industrial nuclear reactors, the construction of radiochemical and special metallurgical shops. To solve the second problem, the construction of a plant for the separation of uranium isotopes by the diffusion method was launched.

The solution of these problems turned out to be possible as a result of the creation of industrial technologies, the organization of production and the development of the necessary large quantities pure metallic uranium, uranium oxide, uranium hexafluoride, other uranium compounds, high purity graphite and a number of other special materials, the creation of a complex of new industrial units and devices. The insufficient volume of uranium ore mining and the production of uranium concentrates in the USSR during this period was compensated by captured raw materials and products of uranium enterprises in Eastern Europe, with which the USSR entered into appropriate agreements.

In 1945, the Government of the USSR made the following major decisions:

on the creation on the basis of the Kirov Plant (Leningrad) of two special experimental design bureaus designed to develop equipment for the production of uranium enriched in the isotope 235 by the gaseous diffusion method;
on the start of construction in the Middle Urals (near the village of Verkh-Neyvinsky) of a diffusion plant for the production of enriched uranium-235;
on the organization of a laboratory for work on the creation of heavy water reactors on natural uranium;
on the choice of a site and the start of construction in the South Urals of the country's first enterprise for the production of plutonium-239.

The structure of the enterprise in the South Urals was to include:

uranium-graphite reactor on natural (natural) uranium (Plant "A");
radiochemical production for the separation of plutonium-239 from natural (natural) uranium irradiated in the reactor (plant "B");
chemical and metallurgical production for the production of high-purity metallic plutonium (Plant "B").

Participation of German specialists in the nuclear project

In 1945, hundreds of German scientists who were related to the nuclear problem were brought from Germany to the USSR on a voluntary-compulsory basis. Most of them (about 300 people) were brought to Sukhumi and secretly placed in the former estates of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and the millionaire Smetsky (Sinop and Agudzery sanatoriums). Equipment was taken to the USSR from the German Institute of Chemistry and Metallurgy, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics, Siemens electrical laboratories, and the Physical Institute of the German Post Office. Three of the four German cyclotrons, powerful magnets, electron microscopes, oscilloscopes, transformers high voltage, high-precision instruments were brought to the USSR. In November 1945, the Directorate of Special Institutes (9th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR) was created as part of the NKVD of the USSR to manage the work on the use of German specialists.

Sanatorium "Sinop" was called "Object" A "" - it was led by Baron Manfred von Ardenne. "Agudzers" became "Object" G "" - it was headed by Gustav Hertz. Outstanding scientists worked at facilities "A" and "G" - Nikolaus Riehl, Max Vollmer, who built the first heavy water production plant in the USSR, Peter Thiessen, designer of nickel filters for gas diffusion enrichment of uranium isotopes, Max Steenbeck, author of a method for separating isotopes from using a gas centrifuge and the owner of the first Western centrifuge patent, Gernot Zippe. On the basis of objects "A" and "G", the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology was later created.

Some leading German specialists were awarded USSR government awards for this work, including the Stalin Prize.

In the period 1954 - 1959, German specialists at different times moved to the GDR (Gernot Zippe - to Austria).

Construction of Chelyabinsk-40

For the construction of the first enterprise in the USSR for the production of plutonium for military purposes, a site was chosen in the Southern Urals near the location of the ancient Ural cities of Kyshtym and Kasli. Surveys for site selection were carried out in the summer of 1945, in October 1945 the Government Commission found it expedient to place the first industrial reactor on the southern shore of Lake Kyzyl-Tash, and for a residential area, the choice of a peninsula on the southern shore of Lake Irtyash.

Over time, a whole complex was erected on the site of the selected construction site industrial enterprises, buildings and structures interconnected by a network of roads and railways, a system of heat and power supply, industrial water supply and sewerage. At different times, the secret city was called differently, but the most famous name is Sorokovka or Chelyabinsk-40. At present, the industrial complex, originally named plant No. 817, is called the Mayak production association, and the city on the shore of Lake Irtyash, in which Mayak workers and their families live, was named Ozyorsk.

In November 1945, geological surveys began at the selected site, and from the beginning of December, the first builders began to arrive.

The first head of construction (1946-1947) was Ya. D. Rappoport, later he was replaced by Major General M. M. Tsarevsky. The chief construction engineer was V. A. Saprykin, the first director of the future enterprise was P. T. Bystrov (from April 17, 1946), who was replaced by E. P. Slavsky (from July 10, 1947), and then B. G Muzrukov (since December 1, 1947). I. V. Kurchatov was appointed scientific director of the plant

Construction of Arzamas-16

The performance specifications for the design of the RDS-1 and RDS-2 were to be developed by July 1, 1946, and the designs of their main units - by July 1, 1947. The fully manufactured RDS-1 bomb was to be presented to state tests for an explosion when installed on the ground by January 1, 1948, in an aviation version - by March 1, 1948, and the RDS-2 bomb - by June 1, 1948 and January 1, 1949, respectively. be carried out in parallel with the organization in KB-11 of special laboratories and the deployment of these laboratories. Such tight deadlines and the organization of parallel work also became possible due to the receipt in the USSR of some intelligence data on American atomic bombs.

Research laboratories and design units of KB-11 began to deploy their activities directly in Arzamas-16 in the spring of 1947. In parallel, the first production workshops of pilot plants No. 1 and No. 2 were created.

Nuclear reactors

The first in the USSR experimental nuclear reactor F-1, the construction of which was carried out in Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences, was successfully launched on December 25, 1946.

On November 6, 1947, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, V. M. Molotov, made a statement regarding the secret of the atomic bomb, saying that "this secret has long ceased to exist." This statement meant that the Soviet Union had already discovered the secret of atomic weapons, and they had these weapons at their disposal. US scientific circles regarded this statement by V. M. Molotov as a bluff, believing that the Russians could master atomic weapons no earlier than 1952.

In less than two years, the building of the first nuclear industrial reactor "A" of plant No. 817 was ready, and work began on the installation of the reactor itself. The physical launch of the reactor "A" took place at 00:30 on June 18, 1948, and on June 19 the reactor was brought to design capacity.

On December 22, 1948, the first products with nuclear reactor. At Plant B, the plutonium produced in the reactor was separated from uranium and radioactive fission products. All radiochemical processes for Plant B were developed at the Radium Institute under the guidance of Academician V. G. Khlopin. A. Z. Rothschild was the general designer and chief engineer of the plant “B” project, and Ya. I. Zilberman was the chief technologist. B. A. Nikitin, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, was the supervisor of the start-up of Plant B.

The first batch of finished products (plutonium concentrate, consisting mainly of plutonium and lanthanum fluorides) was received in the refining department of Plant B in February 1949.

Obtaining weapons-grade plutonium

The plutonium concentrate was transferred to plant "B", which was intended for the production of high-purity plutonium metal and products from it.

The main contribution to the development of technology and design of plant "V" was made by: A. A. Bochvar, I. I. Chernyaev, A. S. Zaimovsky, A. N. Volsky, A. D. Gelman, V. D. Nikolsky, N P. Aleksakhin, P. Ya. Belyaev, L. R. Dulin, A. L. Tarakanov, etc.

In August 1949, parts from high-purity plutonium metal for the first atomic bomb were manufactured at the V plant.

Tests

The successful test of the first Soviet atomic bomb was carried out on August 29, 1949 at the constructed test site in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan. It was kept secret.

On September 3, 1949, an aircraft of the US Special Meteorological Intelligence Service took air samples in the Kamchatka region, and then American specialists found isotopes in them, which indicated that a nuclear explosion had been carried out in the USSR.

... We have information that during the last weeks there was an atomic explosion in the Soviet Union. Since atomic energy was released by man, a corresponding development of this new strength other nations. This possibility has always been taken into account. Nearly four years ago, I pointed out that scientists were virtually unanimous in their belief that the essential theoretical information on which the discovery was based was already widely known.

On September 25, 1949, the Pravda newspaper published a TASS message "in connection with the statement by US President Truman about an atomic explosion in the USSR":

In the Soviet Union, as you know, large-scale construction work is being carried out - the construction of hydroelectric stations, mines, canals, roads, which necessitate large-scale blasting using the latest technical means. <…>It is possible that this could attract attention outside the Soviet Union.

Notes

Links

Chronology of the main events in the history of the nuclear industry of the USSR and Russia
Vladimir Gubarev "The White Archipelago. Unknown pages of the "atomic project of the USSR"
Vladimir Vasiliev "Abkhazia is a forge of nuclear weapons. Over half a century ago, German nuclear specialists were secretly brought to Sukhumi
Norilsk in solving the nuclear issue or the fate of the Norilsk "pasta"
Radio Liberty broadcast "1949: American reaction to the Soviet atomic explosion"
Atomic project of the USSR. To the 60th anniversary of the creation of Russia's nuclear shield. July 24 - September 20, 2009 . Description of the exhibition. Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Federal Archival Agency, State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom", State Archive of the Russian Federation (2009). Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
I. A. Andryushin A. K. Chernyshev Yu. A. Yudin Taming the core. Pages of the History of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Infrastructure of the USSR. - Sarov: Red October, 2003. - 481 p. - ISBN 5-7439-0621-6
R. Jung Brighter than a thousand suns. - M., 1961.

Atomic research in the USSR before the launch of the first reactor
research base	· (1918) RIAN (1922) FTI them. A. F. Ioffe · (1923) KIPT · (1928)

In the second half of the 40s, the leadership of the country of the Soviets was quite concerned that America already had weapons that were unprecedented in their destructive power, while the Soviet Union is not yet. Immediately after the end of the Second World War, the country was extremely afraid of the superiority of the United States, whose plans were not only to weaken the position of the USSR in a constant arms race, but, perhaps, even destroy it through nuclear strike. In our country, the fate of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was perfectly remembered.

In order for the threat not to constantly hang over the country, it was necessary to urgently create our own, powerful and frightening weapon. own atomic bomb. It helped a lot that in their research, Soviet scientists could use the data obtained in the occupation on German V-rockets, as well as apply other research obtained from Soviet intelligence in the West. For example, very important data was secretly transferred, risking their lives, by American scientists themselves, who understood the need for a nuclear balance.

After the terms of reference were approved, large-scale activities began to create an atomic bomb.

The leadership of the project was entrusted to the outstanding atomic scientist Igor Kurchatov, and a specially created committee that was supposed to control the process was headed.

In the process of research, a need arose for a special research organization, on the sites of which this “product” would be designed and tested. The research carried out by Laboratory N2 of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR required a remote and preferably deserted place. In other words, it was necessary to create a special center for the development of nuclear weapons. Moreover, interestingly, the development was carried out simultaneously in two versions: using plutonium and uranium-235, heavy and light fuel, respectively. Another feature: the bomb had to be of a certain size:

not more than 5 meters long;
with a diameter of not more than 1.5 meters;
weighing no more than 5 tons.

Such strict parameters of the deadly weapon were explained simply: the bomb was developed for a specific aircraft model: the TU-4, the hatch of which did not allow larger objects to pass through.

The first Soviet nuclear weapon had the abbreviation RDS-1. Unofficial transcripts were different, from: "The Motherland gives Stalin", to: "Russia makes itself", but in official documents it was interpreted as: "Jet engine" C "". In the summer of 1949, the most important event for the USSR and the whole world took place: in Kazakhstan, at the Semipalatinsk test site, a test of the created deadly weapon was passed. It happened at 7.00 local time and at 4.00 Moscow time.

It happened on a tower 37 and a half meters high, which was installed in the middle of a twenty-kilometer field. The power of the explosion was 20 kilotons of TNT.

This event once and for all ended the nuclear dominance of the United States, and the USSR began to proudly be called the second, after the United States, nuclear power in the world.

A month later, TASS told the world about the successful testing of nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union, and a month later, scientists who worked on the invention of the atomic bomb were awarded. All of them received high awards and solid state awards.

Today, the layout of the same bomb, namely: the body, the RDS-1 charge and the remote control with which it was blown up, is located in the country's first nuclear weapons museum. The museum, which stores authentic samples of legendary products, is located in the city of Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Region.