The appearance of atomic (nuclear) weapons was due to a mass of objective and subjective factors. Objectively, the creation of atomic weapons came thanks to the rapid development of science, which began with fundamental discoveries in the field of physics, the first half of the twentieth century. The main subjective factor was the military-political situation, when the states of the anti-Hitler coalition began an unspoken race in the development of such a powerful weapon. Today we will find out who invented the atomic bomb, how it developed in the world and the Soviet Union, and also get acquainted with its structure and the consequences of its use.

Atomic bomb

Scientifically, the year of creation atomic bomb became the distant 1896. It was then that the French physicist A. Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of uranium. Subsequently, the uranium chain reaction began to be regarded as a source of enormous energy, and was easy to base on the development of the most dangerous weapons in the world. Nevertheless, Becquerel is rarely recalled, talking about who invented the atomic bomb.

Over the next several decades, scientists with different corners Earth has been detected alpha, beta and gamma rays. At that time, a large number of radioactive isotopes were discovered, the law of radioactive decay was formulated, and the beginning of the study of nuclear isomerism was laid.

In the 1940s, scientists discovered a neuron and positron, and for the first time they split the nucleus of a uranium atom, accompanied by the absorption of neurons. This discovery was a turning point in history. In 1939, the French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie patented the world's first nuclear bomb, which he developed with his wife, professing a purely scientific interest. It was Joliot-Curie who is considered the creator of the atomic bomb, despite the fact that he was a staunch defender of world peace. In 1955, he, together with Einstein, Born and several other famous scientists, organized the Pugwash movement, whose members advocated for peace and disarmament.

Rapidly developing, atomic weapons have become an unprecedented military-political phenomenon that allows providing security to its owner and minimizing the capabilities of other weapons systems.

How is a nuclear bomb arranged?

Structurally, an atomic bomb consists of a large number components, the main of which are the case and automation. The case is designed to protect automation and nuclear charge from mechanical, thermal, and other influences. Automation controls the timing of the explosion.

It consists of:

1. Emergency blasting.
2. Cocking and safety devices.
3. Power supply.
4. Various sensors.

Transportation of atomic bombs to the place of attack is carried out using missiles (anti-aircraft, ballistic or cruise). Nuclear ammunition can be part of a landmine, torpedoes, aircraft bombs and other elements. For atomic bombs, various detonation systems are used. The simplest is the device in which the hit of a projectile at the target, causing the formation of supercritical mass, stimulates an explosion.

Nuclear weapons can have a large, medium and small caliber. Explosion power is usually expressed in TNT equivalent. Small-caliber atomic shells have a capacity of several thousand tons of TNT. The medium-caliber ones already correspond to tens of thousands of tons, and the power of a large caliber reaches millions of tons.

Principle of operation

The principle of operation of a nuclear bomb is based on the use of energy released during the course of a nuclear chain reaction. During this process, heavy particles divide and light particles are synthesized. During the explosion of an atomic bomb, in a short period of time, in a small area, a huge amount of energy is released. That is why such bombs are weapons of mass destruction.

In the area of \u200b\u200ba nuclear explosion, two key areas are distinguished: the center and the epicenter. In the center of the explosion, the process of energy release takes place directly. The epicenter is the projection of this process onto the earth or water surface. The energy of a nuclear explosion, projecting onto the earth, can lead to seismic shocks that extend over a considerable distance. These shocks bring harm to the environment only within a radius of several hundred meters from the point of explosion.

Striking factors

Atomic weapons have such damage factors:

1. Radioactive contamination.
2. Light emission.
3. Shock wave
4. Electromagnetic pulse.
5. Penetrating radiation.

The consequences of an atomic bomb are detrimental to all living things. Due to the release of a huge amount of light and warm energy, a nuclear projectile explosion is accompanied by a bright flash. In terms of power, this outbreak is several times stronger than the sun's rays, so there is a danger of damage to light and thermal radiation within a radius of several kilometers from the point of explosion.

Another dangerous damaging factor of atomic weapons is the radiation generated by the explosion. It acts only a minute after the explosion, but has maximum penetrating power.

The shock wave has a strong destructive effect. She literally wipes everything that stands in her way from the face of the earth. Penetrating radiation is a danger to all living things. In people, it causes the development of radiation sickness. Well, an electromagnetic pulse only harms technology. In the aggregate, the damaging factors of an atomic explosion carry a huge danger.

First test

Throughout the history of the atomic bomb, America has shown the greatest interest in its creation. At the end of 1941, the country's leadership allocated a huge amount of money and resources to this area. Robert Oppenheimer, who many consider the creator of the atomic bomb, was appointed project manager. In fact, he was the first to bring the idea of \u200b\u200bscientists to life. As a result, on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb test took place in the desert of the state of New Mexico. Then America decided that in order to end the war completely, it needed to defeat Japan, an ally of Hitler Germany. The Pentagon quickly chose targets for the first nuclear attacks, which were supposed to be a vivid illustration of the power of American weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the US atomic bomb, cynically called the "Baby," was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The shot was just perfect - the bomb exploded at an altitude of 200 meters from the ground, so that its blast wave caused terrible damage to the city. In areas remote from the center, coal stoves were overturned, resulting in severe fires.

A bright flash was followed by a heat wave, which in 4 seconds of action managed to melt the tiles on the roofs of houses and incinerate telegraph poles. A shock wave followed. The wind swept through the city at a speed of about 800 km / h, blowing everything in its path. Of the 76,000 buildings located in the city before the explosion, about 70,000 were completely destroyed. A few minutes after the explosion, it rained from the sky, large drops of which were black. Rain fell due to the formation in the cold layers of the atmosphere of a huge amount of condensate, consisting of steam and ash.

People who fell under the influence of a fireball within a radius of 800 meters from the point of explosion turned into dust. Those who were a little further from the explosion got burnt skin, the remains of which were ripped off by the shock wave. Black radioactive rain left incurable burns on the skin of survivors. Those who miraculously managed to escape, soon began to show signs of radiation sickness: nausea, fever and bouts of weakness.

Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, America attacked another Japanese city - Nagasaki. The second explosion had the same detrimental effects as the first.

In seconds, two atomic bombs destroyed hundreds of thousands of people. The shock wave almost wiped Hiroshima from the face of the earth. More than half of local residents (about 240 thousand people) died immediately from their injuries. In the city of Nagasaki, about 73 thousand people died from the explosion. Many of those who survived were exposed to severe radiation, which caused infertility, radiation sickness and cancer. As a result, some of the survivors died in terrible agony. The use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki illustrated the terrible power of these weapons.

We already know who invented the atomic bomb, how it works and what consequences it may lead to. Now we learn how things were with nuclear weapons in the USSR.

After the bombing of Japanese cities, JV Stalin realized that the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb was a matter of national security. On August 20, 1945, a committee on nuclear energy was created in the USSR, and L. Beria was appointed its head.

It is worth noting that work in this direction has been carried out in the Soviet Union since 1918, and in 1938, a special commission on the atomic nucleus was created at the Academy of Sciences. With the outbreak of World War II, all work in this direction was frozen.

In 1943, scouts from the USSR transferred materials from closed scientific works in the field of nuclear energy from England. These materials illustrate that the work of foreign scientists on the creation of the atomic bomb has made significant progress. At the same time, American residents have contributed to the introduction of reliable Soviet agents in the main centers of US nuclear research. Agents transmitted information about new developments to Soviet scientists and engineers.

Technical task

When in 1945 the question of creating a Soviet nuclear bomb became almost a priority, one of the project managers Yu. Khariton drew up a plan for the development of two shell options. On June 1, 1946, the plan was signed by senior management.

According to the assignment, the designers had to build a RDS (Special Jet Engine) of two models:

1. RDS-1. A bomb with a plutonium charge, which is detonated by spherical compression. The device was borrowed from the Americans.
2. RDS-2. A cannon bomb with two uranium charges approaching in a gun barrel before a critical mass is created.

In the history of the notorious RDS, the most common, albeit comic wording, was the phrase "Russia does it herself." It was invented by Deputy Yu. Khariton, K. Shchelkin. This phrase very accurately conveys the essence of the work, at least for RDS-2.

When America learned that the Soviet Union possessed the secrets of creating nuclear weapons, she had a desire for an early escalation of a preventive war. In the summer of 1949, the Troyan plan appeared, according to which it was planned to begin on January 1, 1950 fighting against the USSR. Then the date of the attack was postponed to the beginning of 1957, but on condition that all NATO countries join it.

Test

When information about America’s plans came through intelligence channels in the USSR, the work of Soviet scientists accelerated significantly. Western experts believed that in the USSR atomic weapons would be created no earlier than in 1954-1955. In fact, the tests of the first atomic bomb in the USSR took place in August 1949. On August 29, a RDS-1 device was blown up at a training ground in Semipalatinsk. A large team of scientists took part in its creation, headed by Igor Kurchatov. The design of the charge belonged to the Americans, and the electronic equipment was created from scratch. The first atomic bomb in the USSR exploded with a power of 22 Kt.

Due to the likelihood of a retaliatory strike, the Troyan plan, which involved a nuclear attack on 70 Soviet cities, was disrupted. The tests at Semipalatinsk became the end of the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons. The invention of Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov completely destroyed the military plans of America and NATO and prevented the development of another world war. Thus began the era of peace on Earth, which exists under the threat of absolute destruction.

Nuclear Club of the world

Today, not only America and Russia have nuclear weapons, but also a number of other states. The set of countries that own such weapons is conventionally called the "nuclear club."

It includes:

1. America (since 1945).
2. USSR, and now Russia (since 1949).
3. England (since 1952).
4. France (since 1960).
5. China (since 1964).
6. India (since 1974).
7. Pakistan (since 1998).
8. Korea (since 2006).

Israel also has nuclear weapons, although the country's leadership refuses to comment on its presence. In addition, American nuclear weapons are located in NATO countries (Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada) and allies (Japan, South Korea, despite official refusal).

Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which owned part of the nuclear weapons of the USSR, after the collapse of the Union, transferred their bombs to Russia. She became the sole heir to the nuclear arsenal of the USSR.

Conclusion

Today we learned who invented the atomic bomb and what it is. Summarizing the foregoing, we can conclude that nuclear weapons today are a powerful global policy tool that has firmly entered into relations between countries. On the one hand, it is an effective means of intimidation, and on the other, a compelling argument to prevent military confrontation and strengthen peaceful relations between states. Nuclear weapons are a symbol of an era that requires particularly careful handling.

It is believed that testing is a prerequisite for developing a new nuclear weapon, since it is impossible to replace a real test with any computer simulators and simulators. Therefore, the limitation of testing is primarily aimed at preventing the development of new nuclear systems for those states that already have them, and not allowing other states to become owners of nuclear weapons.

However, a full-scale nuclear test is not always required. For example, a uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, did not pass any tests.

This thermonuclear aerial bomb was developed in the USSR in 1954-1961. a group of nuclear physicists led by Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR I.V. Kurchatov. This is the most powerful explosive device in the history of mankind. The total energy of the explosion, according to various sources, ranged from 57 to 58.6 megatons in TNT equivalent.

Khrushchev personally announced the upcoming tests of the 50-megaton bomb in his report on October 17, 1961 at the XXII Congress of the CPSU. They took place on October 30, 1961 within the framework of the Dry Nose nuclear test site (Novaya Zemlya). The carrier aircraft managed to fly away at a distance of 39 km, however, despite this, it was thrown by a shock wave into a dive and lost 800 m altitude until control was restored.

The main political advocacy goal of this test was to demonstrate ownership Soviet Union unlimited power weapons mass destruction - the TNT equivalent of the most powerful thermonuclear bomb at that time in the United States was almost four times less. The goal was fully achieved.

Castle Bravo is an American test of a thermonuclear explosive device on the Bikini Atoll. The first of a series of seven challenges, Operation Castle. Explosion energy reached 15 megatons, making Castle Bravo the most powerful US nuclear test ever.

The explosion led to severe radiation contamination. the environment, which caused concern around the world and led to a serious review of existing views on nuclear weapons. According to some American sources, this was the worst case of radioactive contamination in the entire history of American nuclear activity.

On April 28, 1958, during the Grapple Y tests over Christmas Island (Kiribati), the UK dropped a 3 megaton bomb - the most powerful British thermonuclear device.

After a successful explosion of megaton class devices, the United States entered into nuclear cooperation with Britain, concluding an agreement in 1958 on the joint development of nuclear weapons.

During the Canopus test in August 1968, France exploded ( it was a powerful explosion) a fusion device of the Teller-Ulam type with a capacity of about 2.6 megatons. However, little is known about this test and the development of the French nuclear program as a whole.

France became the fourth country to experience a nuclear bomb in 1960. At present, the country possesses about 300 strategic warheads deployed on four nuclear submarines, as well as 60 air-based tactical warheads, which puts it in third place in the world in terms of nuclear weapons.

On June 17, 1967, the Chinese carried out their first successful test of a thermonuclear bomb. The test was carried out at the Lobnor training ground, the bomb was dropped from a Hong-6 aircraft ( analog soviet plane Tu-16), by parachute it was lowered to a height of 2960 m, where an explosion was made, the power of which was 3.3 megatons.

After completing this test, the PRC became the fourth thermonuclear power in the world after the USSR, USA and England.

According to American scientists, in nuclear potential China in 2009, there were about 240 nuclear warheads, of which 180 on alert, making it the fourth largest nuclear arsenal among the five major nuclear powers (USA, Russia, France, China, Great Britain).

The first Soviet nuclear device, codenamed "RDS-1" / Photo: kultprivet.ru

Sixty-five years ago, the first Soviet charge for an atomic bomb was successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakhstan).

August 29, 1949 - Test of the first atomic bomb RDS-1 / Photo:perevodika.ru

The following is reference information.

The successful tests of the first Soviet charge for the atomic bomb were preceded by the long and difficult work of physicists. The beginning of work on nuclear fission in the USSR can be considered the 1920s. Since the 1930s, nuclear physics has become one of the main directions of domestic physical science, and in October 1940, for the first time in the USSR, a group of Soviet scientists came forward with a proposal to use atomic energy for weapons purposes, submitting a request to the Red Army's Invention Department on the Use of Uranium as explosive and toxic substances. "

The war that began in June 1941 and the evacuation of scientific institutes dealing with the problems of nuclear physics interrupted the work on creating atomic weapons in the country. But already in the autumn of 1941, intelligence information began to arrive in the USSR about conducting secret intensive research work in the UK and the USA aimed at developing methods of use atomic energy for military purposes and the creation of explosives of tremendous destructive power.

This information forced, despite the war, to resume work on the uranium subject in the USSR. On September 28, 1942, a secret resolution of the State Defense Committee ╧ 2352ss “On the organization of uranium work” was signed, according to which research on the use of atomic energy was resumed. In February 1943, Igor Kurchatov was appointed scientific supervisor of the work on the atomic problem. In Moscow, headed by Kurchatov, Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center) was established, which began to study atomic energy.

Initially, the general management of the atomic problem was carried out by Vyacheslav Molotov, deputy chairman of the USSR State Defense Committee (GKO). But on August 20, 1945 (a few days after the United States conducted an atomic bombing of Japanese cities), the GKO decided to create a Special Committee, headed by Lavrenty Beria. He became the curator of the Soviet atomic project. Then for direct management of research, design, design organizations and industrial enterprisesemployed in the Soviet atomic project was created

The first main department under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (later the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine-Building, now the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom). Boris Vannikov, the former People's Commissar of Ammunition, became the head of PSU.

In April 1946, at Laboratory No. 2, the design bureau KB-11 (now the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - VNIIEF) was created - one of the most secretive enterprises for the development of domestic nuclear weapons, whose chief designer was appointed Julius Khariton. The base for the deployment of KB-11 was the ╧550 plant of the People’s Commissariat of Ammunition, which produced artillery shells. The top-secret facility was located 75 kilometers from the city of Arzamas (Gorky region, now Nizhny Novgorod region) on the territory of the former Sarov Monastery. KB-11 was tasked with creating an atomic bomb in two versions. In the first of them, plutonium should be the working substance, in the second - uranium-235.

In mid-1948, work on the uranium variant was discontinued due to its relatively low efficiency compared to costs. nuclear materials. The first domestic atomic bomb had the official designation RDS-1. It is deciphered in different ways: “Russia does it herself”, “the Motherland gives Stalin”, etc. But in the official decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 21, 1946 it was encrypted as “Special Jet Engine (" C "). The creation of the first the Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was carried out taking into account the available materials according to the plutonium bomb scheme of the United States, tested in 1945.

These materials were provided by Soviet foreign intelligence. An important source of information was Klaus Fuchs, a German physicist who participated in work on nuclear programs in the United States and Great Britain. Reconnaissance materials on the American plutonium charge for the atomic bomb reduced the time needed to create the first Soviet charge, although many of the technical solutions of the American prototype were not the best. Even on initial stages Soviet specialists could offer the best solutions to both the charge as a whole and its individual units.

Therefore, the first tested by the USSR charge for an atomic bomb was more primitive and less effective than the original version proposed by Soviet scientists in early 1949. But in order to guarantee and in a short time show that the USSR also has atomic weapons, it was decided at the first test to use a charge created according to the American scheme.

The charge for the RDS-1 atomic bomb was a multilayer structure in which the active substance, plutonium, was transformed to the supercritical state due to its compression by means of a converging spherical detonation wave during explosive. RDS-1 was an aircraft atomic bomb weighing 4.7 tons, a diameter of 1.5 meters and a length of 3.3 meters.

RDS-1 atomic bomb charge / Photo: 50megatonn.ru

It was developed in relation to the Tu-4 aircraft, whose bomb bay allowed the placement of a “product” with a diameter of not more than 1.5 meters. Plutonium was used as fissile material in the bomb. To produce an atomic charge of a bomb, the plant was built under the reference number 817 (now FSUE Mayak Production Association) in the city of Chelyabinsk-40. The plant consisted of the first Soviet industrial reactor for producing plutonium, a radiochemical plant for separating plutonium from irradiated a uranium reactor, and a plant for the production of plutonium metal products The 817 reactor was brought to its design capacity in June 1948, and a year later the enterprise received required amount plutonium for making the first charge for an atomic bomb.

The site for the charge test site was chosen in the Irtysh steppe, about 170 kilometers west of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. A plain with a diameter of about 20 kilometers was allotted to the landfill, surrounded by low mountains from the south, west and north. In the east of this space were small hills. The construction of the training ground, called training ground ╧2 of the Ministry of Armed Forces of the USSR (subsequently the Ministry of Defense of the USSR), began in 1947, and by July 1949 it was basically completed.

An experimental site with a diameter of 10 kilometers, divided into sectors, was prepared for testing at the test site. It was equipped with special facilities providing testing, observation and registration of physical research. In the center of the experimental field, a metal lattice tower 37.5 meters high, designed to set the RDS-1 charge, was mounted. An underground building was constructed at a distance of one kilometer from the center for equipment recording light, neutron and gamma-ray fluxes of a nuclear explosion.

To study the effects of a nuclear explosion on a test field, sections of subway tunnels, fragments of runways of aerodromes were built, samples of aircraft, tanks, artillery rocket launchers, ship superstructures of various types were placed. To ensure the work of the physical sector, 44 facilities were built at the test site and a cable network with a length of 560 kilometers was laid.

In June-July 1949, two groups of KB-11 workers with auxiliary equipment and household equipment were sent to the training ground, and on July 24 a group of specialists arrived there who was to take a direct part in preparing the atomic bomb for testing. On August 5, 1949, the government commission for the RDS-1 test gave a conclusion on the complete readiness of the landfill. On August 21, a plutonium charge and four neutron fuses were delivered by special train to the training ground, one of which was supposed to be used to detonate a weapon. On August 24, 1949, Kurchatov arrived at the training ground.

I.V. Kurchatov / Photo: 900igr.net

By August 26, all preparatory work at the training ground was completed. The head of the experiment Kurchatov ordered the test of RDS-1 on August 29 at eight in the morning local time and the preparatory operations, starting from eight in the morning on August 27. On the morning of August 27 near the central tower, the assembly of the military product began.

In the afternoon of August 28, the demolition team carried out the last full inspection of the tower, prepared for the demolition of the automation and checked the subversive cable line. At four o'clock in the afternoon on August 28, a plutonium charge and neutron fuses were delivered to the workshop near the tower. The final charge installation was completed by three in the morning on August 29. At four o’clock in the morning, the installers rolled out the product from the assembly shop along the rail track and installed it in the crates of the tower’s freight elevator, and then raised the charge to the top of the tower.

By six o’clock, the equipment was completed with fuses and its connection to a subversive circuit. Then the evacuation of all people from the test field began. Due to the worsening weather, Kurchatov decided to postpone the explosion from 8:00 to 7:00. At 6.35, the operators turned on the power of the automation system. 12 minutes before the explosion, the automatic machine of the field was turned on. 20 seconds before the explosion, the operator turned on the main connector (switch) connecting the product with the control automation system.

From that moment, all operations were performed by an automatic device. Six seconds before the explosion, the main mechanism of the machine turned on the power to the product and part of the field devices, and in one second turned on all the other devices, issued an explosion signal.

At exactly seven o'clock on August 29, 1949, the whole area was illuminated with a blinding light, which signaled that the USSR had successfully completed the development and testing of its first charge for an atomic bomb. The charge power was 22 kilotons of TNT.

20 minutes after the explosion, two tanks equipped with lead protection were sent to the center of the field for radiation reconnaissance and inspection of the center of the field. Intelligence found that all structures in the center of the field were demolished. A funnel gaped at the site of the tower, the soil in the center of the field melted, and a continuous crust of slag formed. Civil buildings and industrial facilities were completely or partially destroyed.

The equipment used in the experiment made it possible to carry out optical observations and measurements of the heat flux, parameters of the shock wave, characteristics of neutron and gamma radiation, determine the level of radioactive contamination of the area in the region of the explosion and along the trail of the explosion cloud, and study the effect damaging factors nuclear explosion on biological objects.

For the successful development and testing of the charge for the atomic bomb by several closed decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 29, 1949, the USSR was awarded orders and medals large group leading researchers, designers, technologists; many were awarded the title of laureates of the Stalin Prize, and more than 30 people received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

As a result of the successful test of RDS-1, the USSR liquidated the American monopoly on possession of atomic weapons, becoming the second nuclear power in the world.

MOSCOW, RIA News

In the USSR, a democratic form of government should be established.

Vernadsky V.I.

The atomic bomb in the USSR was created on August 29, 1949 (the first successful launch). Academician Igor V. Kurchatov led the project. The period of development of atomic weapons in the USSR lasted from 1942, and ended with a test in Kazakhstan. This violated the US monopoly on such weapons, because since 1945 they were the only nuclear power. The article is devoted to a description of the history of the emergence of the Soviet nuclear bomb, as well as a description of the consequences of these events for the USSR.

History of creation

In 1941, representatives of the USSR in New York transmitted to Stalin information that a meeting of physicists in the United States was being held, which was devoted to questions of development nuclear weapons. Soviet scientists of the 1930s also worked on the study of the atom, the most famous was the splitting of the atom by scientists from Kharkov, led by L. Landau. However, it didn’t reach the real use in armaments. In addition to the United States, Nazi Germany worked on this. At the end of 1941, the United States began its atomic project. Stalin found out about this at the beginning of 1942 and signed a decree on the creation in the USSR of a laboratory for the creation of an atomic project, academician I. Kurchatov became its head.

It is believed that the work of US scientists accelerated the secret development of German colleagues who came to America. In any case, at the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945, the new US President G. Truman informed Stalin about the completion of work on a new weapon - the atomic bomb. Moreover, to demonstrate the work of American scientists, the US government decided to test new weapons in battle: on August 6 and 9, bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the first time that humanity learned about a new weapon. It was this event that made Stalin speed up the work of his scientists. I. Kurchatova summoned Stalin and promised to fulfill any requirements of the scientist, if only the process went as quickly as possible. Moreover, a state committee was created under the Council of People's Commissars, which oversaw the Soviet atomic project. He was headed by L. Beria.

Development has moved to three centers:

1. Design Bureau of the Kirov Plant, working on the creation of special equipment.
2. Diffuse plant in the Urals, which was supposed to work on the creation of enriched uranium.
3. Chemical and metallurgical centers in which plutonium was studied. It was this element that was used in the first Soviet-style nuclear bomb.

In 1946, the first Soviet unified nuclear center was created. It was a secret facility of Arzamas-16, located in the city of Sarov (Nizhny Novgorod region). In 1947, the first nuclear reactor was created at an enterprise near Chelyabinsk. In 1948, a secret training ground was created in Kazakhstan, near the city of Semipalatinsk-21. It was here that on August 29, 1949, the first explosion of the Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was organized. This event was kept in secret, but the American Pacific aviation was able to record a sharp increase in the level of radiation, which was evidence of the test of new weapons. Already in September 1949, G. Truman announced the presence of an atomic bomb in the USSR. The USSR officially recognized the presence of these weapons only in 1950.

There are several main consequences of the successful development of atomic weapons by Soviet scientists:

1. US loss of status united state with atomic weapons. This not only equated the USSR with the United States in military power, but also forced the latter to think through their every military step, because now it was necessary to fear for a response from the leadership of the USSR.
2. The presence of atomic weapons in the USSR secured him the status of a superpower.
3. After equalizing the USA and the USSR in the presence of atomic weapons, the race began for its quantity. The states spent huge finances to surpass the competitor. Moreover, attempts began to create even more powerful weapons.
4. These events marked the start of the nuclear race. Many countries began investing in order to replenish the list of nuclear states and ensure their safety.

When Lawrence began to pester Oppenheimer with questions about what he thought at the time of the explosion, the creator of the atomic bomb looked gloomy at the journalist and quoted him from the holy Indian book Bhagavad Gita:

If the glitter of a thousand suns [mountains]
Flare up in the sky at once
Man will become Death
Threat to the Earth.

On the same day at dinner, amid the painful silence of his colleagues, Kistyakovsky said:

I’m sure that before the end of the world, in the last millisecond of the Earth’s existence, the last person will see the same thing that we saw today. " Ovchinnikov V.V. Hot ashes. - M.: True, 1987, p. 103-105.

"On the evening of July 16, 1945, just before the opening of the Potsdam Conference, a dispatch was delivered to Truman, which even after decoding was read as a doctor’s report : "The operation was done this morning. The diagnosis is still incomplete, but the results seem satisfactory and already exceed expectations. Dr. Groves is pleased." Ovchinnikov V.V. Hot ashes. - M.: True, 1987, p. 108.

On this topic:

On July 9, 1972, an underground nuclear explosion was launched in the densely populated Kharkov region to extinguish a burning gas well. Today, only a few know that a nuclear explosion was launched near Kharkov. His blast power was only three times less than that of a bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

On September 22, 2001, the United States tightened sanctions against India and Pakistan, imposed in 1998 after these countries tested nuclear weapons. In 2002, these countries were on the brink of nuclear war.

April 1, 2009, the world welcomed the presidential statement Russian Federation and the United States Barack Obama on a commitment to creating a world free of nuclear weapons, and on fulfilling obligations under article VI of the non-proliferation treaty with a view to further reducing and limiting strategic offensive weapons.

September 26 - Day for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The only absolute guarantee that nuclear weapons will never be used is their complete elimination. This was stated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which is celebrated on September 26.

“Convinced that nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons are the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons,” the General Assembly proclaimed September 26 as “International Day for the Complete Elimination of Nuclear Weapons", which aims to facilitate the complete elimination of nuclear weapons by mobilizing international efforts. First proposed in October 2013 in resolution (A / RES / 68/32) was the result of the Summit on nuclear disarmamentHeld at the UN General Assembly on September 26, 2013, International Day for the Complete Elimination of Nuclear Weapons was first celebrated in