Creation of the atomic bomb year. The history of the creation and principle of operation of the atomic bomb. There will be an atomic bomb

On August 6, 1945, at 08:15 local time, the American B-29 Enola Gay bomber, piloted by Paul Tibbetts and bombardier Tom Ferebee, dropped the first atomic bomb, called "Baby," on Hiroshima. . On August 9, the bombing was repeated - a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

According to official history, the Americans were the first in the world to make an atomic bomb and hastened to use it against Japan, so that the Japanese would capitulate faster and America could avoid colossal losses during the landing of soldiers on the islands, for which the admirals were already closely preparing. At the same time, the bomb was a demonstration of its new capabilities to the USSR, because Comrade Dzhugashvili in May 1945 was already thinking of spreading the construction of communism to the English Channel.

Having seen the example of Hiroshima, what will happen to Moscow? Soviet party leaders reduced their ardor and made the right decision to build socialism no further than East Berlin. At the same time, they threw all their efforts into the Soviet atomic project, dug up somewhere the talented academician Kurchatov, and he quickly made an atomic bomb for Dzhugashvili, which the secretaries general then rattled on the UN podium, and Soviet propagandists rattled it in front of the audience - like, yes, we sew pants bad, but« we made an atomic bomb». This argument is almost the main one for many fans of the Soviet Deputies. However, the time has come to refute these arguments.

Somehow the creation of an atomic bomb did not fit in with the level of Soviet science and technology. It is incredible that the slave system was capable of producing such a complex scientific and technological product on its own. Over time, somehow it wasn’t even denied, that Kurchatov was also helped by people from Lubyanka, bringing ready-made drawings in their beaks, but academicians completely deny this, minimizing the merit of technological intelligence. In America, the Rosenbergs were executed for transferring atomic secrets to the USSR. The dispute between official historians and citizens who want to revise history has been going on for quite some time, almost openly, however, the true state of affairs is far from both the official version and the ideas of its critics. But the situation is such that the atomic bomb was the firstand many things in the world were done by the Germans by 1945. And they even tested it at the end of 1944.The Americans prepared the atomic project themselves, but received the main components as a trophy or under an agreement with the top of the Reich, so they did everything much faster. But when the Americans detonated the bomb, the USSR began to look for German scientists, whichand made their contribution. That’s why the USSR created a bomb so quickly, although according to the Americans’ calculations, it could not have made a bomb before1952- 55 years old.

The Americans knew what they were talking about because if von Braun helped them make rocket technology, then their first atomic bomb was completely German. For a long time they managed to hide the truth, but in the decades after 1945, either someone retiring loosened their tongue, or they accidentally declassified a couple of sheets from secret archives, or journalists sniffed out something. The earth was full of rumors and rumors that the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was actually Germanhave been going since 1945. People whispered in the smoking rooms and scratched their foreheads over theireskyinconsistencies and puzzling questions until one day in the early 2000s, Mr. Joseph Farrell, a renowned theologian and expert on an alternative view of modern “science,” brought everything together known facts in one book - Black sun of the Third Reich. The battle for the “weapon of retribution.”

He checked the facts many times and many things about which the author had doubts were not included in the book, nevertheless, these facts are more than enough to balance the debit with the credit. Each of them can be argued (that official men This is what the United States does), trying to refute it, but all together the facts are extremely convincing. Some of them, for example the Resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, are completely irrefutable either by the pundits of the USSR, or even more so by the pundits of the USA. Since Dzhugashvili decided to give "enemies of the people"Stalin'sawards(more about below), so there was a reason.

We will not retell Mr. Farrell’s entire book, we simply recommend it as mandatory reading. Here are just a few excerptskifor example a few quotes, govOshouting that the Germans tested an atomic bomb and people saw it:

A certain man named Zinsser, an anti-aircraft missile specialist, spoke about what he witnessed: “At the beginning of October 1944, I took off from Ludwigslust. (south of Lübeck), located 12 to 15 kilometers from the nuclear test site, and suddenly saw a strong bright glow that illuminated the entire atmosphere, which lasted about two seconds.

A clearly visible shock wave erupted from the cloud formed by the explosion. By the time it became visible, it was about one kilometer in diameter, and the color of the cloud changed frequently. After a short period of darkness, it became covered with many bright spots, which, unlike a normal explosion, had a pale blue color.

Approximately ten seconds after the explosion, the distinct outlines of the explosive cloud disappeared, then the cloud itself began to lighten against the background of a dark gray sky covered with continuous clouds. The diameter of the shock wave, still visible to the naked eye, was at least 9,000 meters; it remained visible for at least 15 seconds. My personal feeling from observing the color of the explosive cloud: it took on a blue-violet hue. During this entire phenomenon, reddish-colored rings were visible, very quickly changing color to dirty shades. From my observation plane, I felt a weak impact in the form of slight jolts and jerks.

About an hour later I took off on a Xe-111 from Ludwigslust airfield and headed to east direction. Shortly after takeoff, I flew through an area of ​​continuous clouds (at an altitude of three to four thousand meters). Above the place where the explosion occurred there was a mushroom cloud with turbulent, vortex layers (at an altitude of approximately 7000 meters), without any visible connections. A strong electromagnetic disturbance manifested itself in the inability to continue radio communication. Since American P-38 fighters were operating in the Wittgenberg-Beersburg area, I had to turn north, but at least I could see the lower part of the cloud above the explosion site better. Note: I don't really understand why these tests were carried out in such a densely populated area."

ARI:Thus, a certain German pilot observed the testing of a device that, in all respects, resembled an atomic bomb. There are dozens of such evidence, but Mr. Farrell cites only officialdocumentation. And not only the Germans, but also the Japanese, whom the Germans, according to his version, also helped make a bomb and they tested it at their test site.

Shortly after the end of World War II, American intelligence in the Pacific received a stunning report: the Japanese, just before their surrender, had built and successfully tested an atomic bomb. The work was carried out in the city of Konan or in its environs ( Japanese name city ​​of Hungnam) in the north of the Korean Peninsula.

The war ended before these weapons saw combat use, and the production facility where they were made is now in Russian hands.

In the summer of 1946, this information was made widely public. David Snell, a member of the Twenty-Fourth Investigative Unit working in Korea... wrote about this in the Atlanta Constitution after his dismissal.

Snell's statement was based on unsubstantiated allegations by a Japanese officer returning to Japan. The officer advised Snell that he was assigned to provide security for the facility. Snell, recounting the testimony of a Japanese officer in his own words in a newspaper article, stated:

In a cave in the mountains near Konan, people were working, racing against time to complete the assembly of the “genzai bakudan” - the Japanese name for the atomic bomb. It was August 10, 1945 (Japan time), just four days after the atomic explosion tore through the sky

ARI: Among the arguments of those who do not believe in the Germans’ creation of an atomic bomb is the argument that there is no knowledge of significant industrial capacity in Hitler’s government that was directed to the German atomic project, as was done in the United States. However, this argument is refuted by oneAn extremely interesting fact associated with the concern “I. G. Farben", which, according to official legend, produced syntheticeskyrubber and therefore consumed more electricity than Berlin at that time. But in reality, over the five years of work, EVEN A KILOGRAM of official products was not produced there, and most likely it was main center on uranium enrichment:

Concern "I. G. Farben took an active part in the atrocities of Nazism, creating a huge plant for the production of synthetic buna rubber in Auschwitz (the German name for the Polish town of Oswiecim) in the Polish part of Silesia during the war.

The concentration camp prisoners, who first worked on the construction of the complex and then served it, were subjected to unheard of cruelties. However, at the hearings of the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal, it turned out that the buna production complex in Auschwitz was one of the greatest mysteries of the war, because despite the personal blessing of Hitler, Himmler, Goering and Keitel, despite the endless source of both qualified civilian personnel and slave labor from Auschwitz, “the work was constantly hampered by disruptions, delays and sabotage... However, despite everything, the construction of a huge complex for the production of synthetic rubber and gasoline was completed. Over three hundred thousand concentration camp prisoners passed through the construction site; Of these, twenty-five thousand died from exhaustion, unable to withstand the grueling labor.

The complex turned out to be gigantic. So huge that “it consumed more electricity than the whole of Berlin.” However, during the war crimes tribunal, investigators of the victorious powers were not puzzled by this long list creepy details. They were baffled by the fact that, despite such a huge investment of money, materials and human lives, “not a single kilogram of synthetic rubber was ever produced.”

The directors and managers of Farben, who found themselves in the dock, insisted on this, as if possessed. Consume more electricity than all of Berlin - at the time the eighth largest city in the world - to produce absolutely nothing? If this is indeed the case, it means that the unprecedented expenditure of money and labor and the enormous consumption of electricity did not make any significant contribution to the German war effort. Surely something is wrong here.

ARI: Electric Energy in insane quantities - one of the main components of any nuclear project. It is needed for the production of heavy water - it is obtained by evaporating tons of natural water, after which the very water that nuclear scientists need remains at the bottom. Electricity is needed for the electrochemical separation of metals; uranium cannot be extracted any other way. And you also need a lot of it. Based on this, historians argued that since the Germans did not have such energy-intensive plants for enriching uranium and producing heavy water, that means there was no atomic bomb. But as we see, everything was there. Only it was called differently - similar to how in the USSR there was then a secret “sanatorium” for German physicists.

An even more surprising fact is the use by the Germans of an unfinished atomic bomb on... the Kursk Bulge.

As a finale to this chapter and a breathtaking indication of other mysteries that will be explored later in this book, a report declassified by the Agency national security only in 1978. This report appears to be a transcript of an intercepted message transmitted from the Japanese embassy in Stockholm to Tokyo. It is entitled "Report on the Splitting Bomb." It is best to cite this amazing document in its entirety, with the omissions that were made when deciphering the original message.

This bomb, revolutionary in its impact, will completely overturn all established concepts of conventional warfare. I am sending you all the reports collected together on what is called the atomic fission bomb:

It is reliably known that in June 1943 German army at a point 150 kilometers southeast of Kursk was completely tested against the Russians new type weapons. Although the entire 19th Russian Infantry Regiment was hit, just a few bombs (each with a combat charge of less than 5 kilograms) were enough to destroy it completely, down to the last man. The following material is given according to the testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Ue (?) Kenji, adviser to the attaché in Hungary and formerly (working?) in this country, who happened to see the consequences of what happened immediately after it happened: “All the people and horses (? in the area? ) the explosion of the shells were charred black, and even all the ammunition detonated.”

ARI:However, even withhowlofficial documents official US pundits are tryingto refute - they say, all these reports, reports and additional protocols are fakeRosovBut the balance still does not add up because by August 1945 the United States did not have enough uranium to produce bothminimummindtwo, and possibly four atomic bombs. Without uranium there will be no bomb, but it takes years to be mined. By 1944, the United States had no more than a quarter of the required uranium, and it would take at least another five years to extract the rest. And suddenly uranium seemed to fall on their heads from the sky:

In December 1944, a very unpleasant report was prepared, which greatly upset those who read it: “An analysis of the supply (of weapons-grade uranium) over the past three months shows the following ...: at the current rate, we will have approximately 10 kilograms of uranium by February 7, and by May 1 - 15 kilograms.” This was indeed very unpleasant news, because to create a uranium-based bomb, according to initial estimates made in 1942, 10 to 100 kilograms of uranium were required, and by the time of this memorandum, more accurate calculations had given the value of the critical mass required to produce uranium atomic bomb, equal to approximately 50 kilograms.

However, it was not only the Manhattan Project that had problems with missing uranium. Germany also seemed to suffer from "missing uranium syndrome" in the days immediately preceding and immediately after the end of the war. But in this case, the volumes of missing uranium were calculated not in tens of kilograms, but in hundreds of tons. It is worthwhile at this point to quote at length from the brilliant work of Carter Hydrick to explore this issue in depth:

From June 1940 until the end of the war, Germany removed three and a half thousand tons of uranium-containing substances from Belgium - almost three times what Groves had at his disposal... and placed them in salt mines near Strassfurt in Germany.

ARI: Leslie Richard Groves (Eng. Leslie Richard Groves; August 17, 1896 - July 13, 1970) - Lieutenant General of the US Army, in 1942-1947 - military leader of the nuclear weapons program (Manhattan Project).

Groves states that on April 17, 1945, when the war was already drawing to a close, the Allies managed to capture about 1,100 tons of uranium ore in Strassfurt and another 31 tons in the French port of Toulouse... And he claims that Germany never had more uranium ore, especially thereby showing that Germany never had enough material either to process uranium into raw material for a plutonium reactor, or to enrich it by electromagnetic separation.

Obviously, if at one time 3,500 tons were stored in Strassfurt, and only 1,130 were captured, approximately 2,730 tons remain - and this is still double what the Manhattan Project had throughout the war... The fate of this missing ore unknown to this day...

According to historian Margaret Gowing, by the summer of 1941, Germany had enriched 600 tons of uranium into the oxide form needed to ionize the raw material into a gas in which uranium isotopes could be separated magnetically or thermally. (Italics mine. - D.F.) The oxide can also be converted into a metal for use as a raw material in a nuclear reactor. In fact, Professor Reichl, who was responsible for all the uranium at Germany's disposal throughout the war, claims that the true figure was much higher...

ARI: So it is clear that without obtaining enriched uranium from somewhere outside, and some detonation technology, the Americans would not have been able to test or detonate their bombs over Japan in August 1945. And they received, as it turns out,missing components from the Germans.

In order to create a uranium or plutonium bomb, uranium-containing raw materials must be converted into metal at a certain stage. For a plutonium bomb, metallic U238 is obtained; for a uranium bomb, U235 is needed. However, due to the treacherous characteristics of uranium, this metallurgical process is extremely complex. The United States took up the problem early, but did not learn to successfully convert uranium into metallic form in large quantities until late 1942. German specialists... by the end of 1940 had already converted 280.6 kilograms, more than a quarter of a ton, into metal."

In any case, these figures clearly indicate that in 1940–1942 the Germans were significantly ahead of the Allies in one very important component of the atomic bomb production process - uranium enrichment, and therefore also leads to the conclusion that they have come far ahead in the race to possess a working atomic bomb. However, these figures also raise one troubling question: where did all that uranium go?

The answer to this question is provided by the mysterious incident with the German submarine U-234, captured by the Americans in 1945.

The story of U-234 is well known to all scholars of the Nazi atomic bomb, and, of course, “Allied legend” has it that the materials aboard the captured submarine were in no way used in the Manhattan Project.

All this is absolutely not true. The U-234 was a very large underwater minelayer, capable of carrying large payloads underwater. Consider the supremely strange cargo that was aboard U-234 on that final voyage:

Two Japanese officers.

80 gold-lined cylindrical containers containing 560 kilograms of uranium oxide.

Several wooden barrels filled with “heavy water”.

Infrared proximity fuses.

Dr. Heinz Schlicke, inventor of these fuses.

As U-234 was being loaded in a German port before setting out on its final voyage, the submarine's radio operator, Wolfgang Hirschfeld, noticed that Japanese officers were writing "U235" on the paper in which the containers were wrapped before loading them into the hold of the boat. It hardly needs to be said that this remark caused the whole barrage of revealing criticism with which skeptics usually greet the stories of UFO eyewitnesses: the low position of the sun above the horizon, poor lighting, a large distance that did not allow us to see everything clearly, and the like. And this is not surprising, because if Hirschfeld really saw what he saw, the frightening consequences are obvious.

The use of gold-lined containers is explained by the fact that uranium, a highly corrosive metal, quickly becomes contaminated when it comes into contact with other unstable elements. Gold, which is not inferior to lead in terms of protection from radioactive radiation, unlike lead, is a very pure and extremely stable element; therefore, it is an obvious choice for the storage and long-term transportation of highly enriched and pure uranium. Thus, the uranium oxide carried on board U-234 was highly enriched uranium, most likely U235, the last stage of the raw material before being converted into weapons-grade or metallic uranium suitable for bomb production (if it was not already weapons-grade uranium) . Indeed, if the inscriptions made by Japanese officers on the containers were true, it is very likely that we were talking about the last stage of refining the raw materials before turning them into metal.

The cargo aboard U-234 was so sensitive that when officials navy The United States compiled an inventory of it, uranium oxide disappeared from the list without a trace.....

Yes, this would be the easiest way, if not for the unexpected confirmation from a certain Pyotr Ivanovich Titarenko, a former military translator from the headquarters of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky, who at the end of the war accepted the surrender of Japan from the Soviet Union. As the German magazine Der Spiegel wrote in 1992, Titarenko wrote a letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In it, he reported that in reality three atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, one of which, dropped on Nagasaki before the Fat Man exploded over the city, did not explode. This bomb was subsequently transferred by Japan Soviet Union.

Mussolini and the Soviet marshal's translator are not the only ones who confirm the version of the strange number of bombs dropped on Japan; it is possible that at some point a fourth bomb was also involved in the game, which was transported on Far East on board heavy cruiser US Navy USS Indianapolis (hull number CA 35) when it sank in 1945.

This strange evidence again raises questions about the “Allied legend”, for, as has already been shown, in late 1944 - early 1945 the Manhattan Project faced a critical shortage of weapons-grade uranium, and by that time the problem of fuses for plutonium had not been solved. bombs. So the question is: if these reports were true, where did the additional bomb (or even several bombs) come from? It is hard to believe that three or even four bombs ready for use in Japan were manufactured in such a short time - unless they were war booty exported from Europe.

ARI: Actually the storyU-234begins in 1944, when after the opening of the 2nd front and failures on the Eastern Front, perhaps on Hitler’s instructions, a decision was made to start trading with the allies - an atomic bomb in exchange for guarantees of immunity for the party elite:

Be that as it may, we are primarily interested in the role that Bormann played in the development and implementation of the plan for the secret strategic evacuation of the Nazis after their military defeat. After the Stalingrad disaster in early 1943, it became obvious to Bormann, like other high-ranking Nazis, that the military collapse of the Third Reich was inevitable if their secret weapons projects did not bear fruit in time. Bormann and representatives of various weapons departments, industrial sectors and, of course, the SS gathered for a secret meeting at which plans were developed for the removal of material assets, qualified personnel, scientific materials and technology from Germany......

First, JIOA director Grun, who was appointed to lead the project, compiled a list of the most qualified German and Austrian scientists that the Americans and British had used for decades. Although journalists and historians have repeatedly mentioned this list, none of them said that Werner Osenberg, who served as head of the scientific department of the Gestapo during the war, took part in its compilation. The decision to involve Ozenberg in this work was made by US Navy Captain Ransom Davis after consultation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff......

Finally, the Osenberg list and the American interest in it seem to support another hypothesis, namely that the knowledge that the Americans had about the nature of the Nazi projects, as evidenced by General Patton's unerring efforts to find Kammler's secret research centers, could come only from Nazi Germany itself. Since Carter Heidrick has proven very convincingly that Bormann personally directed the transfer of German atomic bomb secrets to the Americans, it can be safely argued that he ultimately coordinated the flow of other important information regarding the “Kammler Headquarters” to the American intelligence agencies, since no one knew better about him. the nature, content and personnel of German black projects. Thus, Carter Heidrick's thesis that Borman helped organize the transportation to the United States on the U-234 submarine of not only enriched uranium, but also a ready-to-use atomic bomb, looks very plausible.

ARI: In addition to the uranium itself, a lot more is needed for an atomic bomb, in particular fuses based on red mercury. Unlike a conventional detonator, these devices must explode super-synchronously, collecting the uranium mass into a single whole and starting a nuclear reaction. This technology is extremely complex; the United States did not have it and therefore the fuses were included in the kit. And since the question did not end with fuses, the Americans dragged German nuclear scientists to their place for consultations before loading an atomic bomb on board a plane flying to Japan:

There is another fact that does not fit into the post-war legend of the Allies regarding the impossibility of the Germans creating an atomic bomb: the German physicist Rudolf Fleischmann was flown to the United States for interrogation even before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Why was there such an urgent need to consult with the German physicist before the atomic bombing of Japan? After all, according to the Allied legend, we had nothing to learn from the Germans in the field of atomic physics......

ARI:Thus, there is no doubt left - Germany had a bomb in May 1945. WhyHitlerdidn't use it? Because one atomic bomb is not a bomb. For a bomb to become a weapon there must be a sufficient number of themquality, multiplied by the means of delivery. Hitler could destroy New York and London, could choose to wipe out a couple of divisions moving towards Berlin. But this would not have decided the outcome of the war in his favor. But the Allies would have come to Germany in a very bad mood. The Germans already got it in 1945, but if Germany had used nuclear weapons, its population would have gotten much more. Germany could have been wiped off the face of the earth, like Dresden, for example. Therefore, although Mr. Hitler is considered by someWithathe was not a mad politician, but nevertheless he was not a crazy politician, and weigh everything soberlyVquietly leaked the Second World War: we give you a bomb - and you don’t let the USSR reach the English Channel and guarantee a quiet old age for the Nazi elite.

So separate negotiationsOry in April 1945, described in the moviesRAbout 17 moments of spring really took place. But only at such a level that no Pastor Schlag could even dream of over-talkingOThe ry was led by Hitler himself. And physicsRthere was no unge because while Stirlitz was chasing him Manfred von Ardenne

already tested the finished productweapons - at least in 1943onTOthe Ur arc, at most in Norway, no later than 1944.

By byunderstandable???AndTo us, Mr. Farrell’s book is not being promoted either in the West or in Russia; not everyone caught the eye of it. But information is making its way and one day even a stupid person will know how nuclear weapons were made. And there will be a veryicantthe situation will have to be radically reconsideredall officialhistorythe last 70 years.

However, the worst thing will be for official pundits in RussiaIn federation, which for many years repeated the old mAntru: mAour tires may be bad, but we createdwhetheratomic bombbu.But as it turns out, even American engineers were unable to handle nuclear devices, at least in 1945. The USSR is not involved here at all - today the Russian federation would compete with Iran on who can make a bomb faster,if not for one BUT. BUT - these are captured German engineers who made nuclear weapons for Dzhugashvili.

It is reliably known, and academicians of the USSR do not deny it, that 3,000 captured Germans worked on the USSR missile project. That is, they essentially launched Gagarin into space. But as many as 7,000 specialists worked on the Soviet nuclear projectfrom Germany,so it is not surprising that the Soviets made an atomic bomb before they flew into space. If the USA still had its own path in the atomic race, then the USSR simply stupidly reproduced German technology.

In 1945, a group of colonels were searching for specialists in Germany, who in fact were not colonels, but secret physicists - future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin... The operation was led by the First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov.

Over two hundred of the most prominent German physicists (about half of them were doctors of science), radio engineers and craftsmen were brought to Moscow. In addition to the equipment of the Ardenne laboratory, later equipment from the Berlin Kaiser Institute and other German scientific organizations, documentation and reagents, supplies of film and paper for recorders, photo recorders, wire tape recorders for telemetry, optics, powerful electromagnets and even German transformers were delivered to Moscow. And then the Germans, under pain of death, began to build an atomic bomb for the USSR. They built it from scratch because by 1945 the United States had some of its own developments, the Germans were simply far ahead of them, but in the USSR, in the kingdom of “science” of academicians like Lysenko there was nothing on the nuclear program. Here's what researchers on this topic managed to dig up:

In 1945, the sanatoriums “Sinop” and “Agudzery”, located in Abkhazia, were placed at the disposal of German physicists. This was the beginning of the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology, which was then part of the system of top-secret facilities of the USSR. “Sinop” was called Object “A” in documents and was headed by Baron Manfred von Ardenne (1907–1997). This personality is legendary in world science: one of the founders of television, developer of electron microscopes and many other devices. During one meeting, Beria wanted to entrust the leadership of the atomic project to von Ardenne. Ardenne himself recalls: “I had no more than ten seconds to think about it. My answer is verbatim: I consider such an important offer as a great honor for me, because... this is an expression of exceptionally great confidence in my abilities. The solution to this problem has two different directions: 1. Development of the atomic bomb itself and 2. Development of methods for producing the fissile isotope of uranium 235U on an industrial scale. The separation of isotopes is a separate and very difficult problem. Therefore, I propose that isotope separation should be main problem our institute and German specialists, and the leading nuclear scientists of the Soviet Union sitting here would do a great job of creating an atomic bomb for their homeland.”

Beria accepted this offer. Many years later, at one government reception, when Manfred von Ardenne was introduced to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Khrushchev, he reacted like this: “Ah, you are the same Ardenne who so skillfully took his neck out of the noose.”

Von Ardenne later assessed his contribution to the development atomic problem as “the most important matter to which post-war circumstances led me.” In 1955, the scientist was allowed to travel to the GDR, where he headed a research institute in Dresden.

Sanatorium "Agudzery" received the code name Object "G". It was led by Gustav Hertz (1887–1975), nephew of the famous Heinrich Hertz, known to us from school. Gustav Hertz received the Nobel Prize in 1925 for the discovery of the laws of collision of an electron with an atom - the famous experiment of Frank and Hertz. In 1945, Gustav Hertz became one of the first German physicists brought to the USSR. He was the only foreign Nobel laureate who worked in the USSR. Like other German scientists, he lived without being denied anything in his house on seashore. In 1955, Hertz went to the GDR. There he worked as a professor at the University of Leipzig, and then as director Physical Institute at the university.

The main task of von Ardenne and Gustav Hertz was to find different methods for separating uranium isotopes. Thanks to von Ardenne, one of the first mass spectrometers appeared in the USSR. Hertz successfully improved his method of isotope separation, which made it possible to establish this process on an industrial scale.

Other prominent German scientists were also brought to the site in Sukhumi, including physicist and radiochemist Nikolaus Riehl (1901–1991). They called him Nikolai Vasilyevich. He was born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a German - the chief engineer of Siemens and Halske. Nikolaus’s mother was Russian, so he spoke German and Russian from childhood. He got great technical education: first in St. Petersburg, and after the family moved to Germany - at the Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin (later Humboldt University). In 1927 he defended his doctoral dissertation on radiochemistry. His scientific supervisors were future scientific luminaries - nuclear physicist Lisa Meitner and radiochemist Otto Hahn. Before the outbreak of World War II, Riehl was in charge of the central radiological laboratory of the Auergesellschaft company, where he proved himself to be an energetic and very capable experimenter. At the beginning of the war, Riehl was summoned to the War Ministry, where he was offered to engage in the production of uranium. In May 1945, Riehl voluntarily came to the Soviet emissaries sent to Berlin. The scientist, considered the main expert in the Reich on the production of enriched uranium for reactors, indicated where the equipment needed for this was located. Its fragments (the plant near Berlin was destroyed by bombing) were dismantled and sent to the USSR. The 300 tons of uranium compounds found there were also taken there. It is believed that this saved the Soviet Union a year and a half to create an atomic bomb - until 1945, Igor Kurchatov had only 7 tons of uranium oxide at his disposal. Under Riehl's leadership, the Elektrostal plant in Noginsk near Moscow was converted to produce cast uranium metal.

Trains with equipment went from Germany to Sukhumi. Three out of four German cyclotrons were brought to the USSR, as well as powerful magnets, electron microscopes, oscilloscopes, high-voltage transformers, ultra-precise instruments, etc. Equipment was delivered to the USSR from the Institute of Chemistry and Metallurgy, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics, Siemens electrical laboratories, Institute of Physics of the German Post Office.

Igor Kurchatov was appointed scientific director of the project, who was undoubtedly an outstanding scientist, but he always surprised his employees with his extraordinary “scientific insight” - as it later turned out, he knew most of the secrets from intelligence, but had no right to talk about it. The following episode, told by academician Isaac Kikoin, speaks about leadership methods. At one meeting, Beria asked Soviet physicists how long it would take to solve one problem. They answered him: six months. The answer was: “Either you solve it in one month, or you will deal with this problem in places much more remote.” Of course, the task was completed in one month. But the authorities spared no expense and rewards. Many people, including German scientists, received Stalin Prizes, dachas, cars and other rewards. Nikolaus Riehl, however, the only foreign scientist, even received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. German scientists played a big role in raising the qualifications of Georgian physicists who worked with them.

ARI: So the Germans didn’t just help the USSR a lot with the creation of the atomic bomb - they did everything. Moreover, this story was like with the “Kalashnikov assault rifle” because even German gunsmiths could not have made such a perfect weapon in a couple of years - while working in captivity in the USSR, they simply completed what was almost ready. It’s the same with the atomic bomb, work on which the Germans began back in 1933, and perhaps much earlier. Official history holds that Hitler annexed the Sudetenland because many Germans lived there. This may be true, but the Sudetenland is the richest uranium deposit in Europe. There is a suspicion that Hitler knew where to start in the first place, because German successors from the time of Peter were in Russia, and in Australia, and even in Africa. But Hitler started with the Sudetenland. Apparently some people knowledgeable in alchemy immediately explained to him what to do and which way to go, so it is not surprising that the Germans were far ahead of everyone and the American intelligence services in Europe in the forties of the last century were already just picking up scraps from the Germans, hunting for medieval alchemical manuscripts.

But the USSR didn’t even have scraps. There was only “academician” Lysenko, according to whose theories weeds growing on a collective farm field, and not on a private farm, had every reason to be imbued with the spirit of socialism and turn into wheat. In medicine it was similar" scientific school", who tried to speed up pregnancy from 9 months to nine weeks - so that the wives of the proletarians would not be distracted from work. There were similar theories in nuclear physics, therefore for the USSR the creation of an atomic bomb was as impossible as the creation of its own computer because cybernetics in the USSR was officially considered a prostitute of the bourgeoisie. By the way, important scientific decisions in physics (for example, which direction to go and which theories to consider as working) in the USSR were made at best by "academics" from agriculture. Although more often this was done by a party functionary with an education "evening worker faculty." What kind of atomic bomb could there be at this base? Only someone else's. In the USSR they could not even assemble it from ready-made components with ready-made drawings. The Germans did everything and there is even official recognition their merits - Stalin Prizes and orders, which were awarded to engineers:

German specialists are laureates of the Stalin Prize for their work in the field of atomic energy use. Excerpts from the resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "on awards and bonuses...".

[From the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 5070-1944ss/op “On awards and bonuses for outstanding scientific discoveries and technical achievements in the use of atomic energy,” October 29, 1949]

[From the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 4964-2148ss/op “On awards and bonuses for outstanding scientific work in the field of the use of atomic energy, for the creation of new types of RDS products, achievements in the field of production of plutonium and uranium-235 and the development of the raw material base for the nuclear industry" , December 6, 1951]

[From the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 3044-1304ss “On awarding Stalin Prizes to scientific, engineering and technical workers of the Ministry of Medium Engineering and other departments for the creation of a hydrogen bomb and new designs of atomic bombs,” December 31, 1953]

Manfred von Ardenne

1947 - Stalin Prize (electron microscope - "In January 1947, the Chief of the Site presented von Ardenne with the State Prize (a purse full of money) for his microscope work.") "German Scientists in the Soviet Atomic Project", p . 18)

1953 - Stalin Prize, 2nd degree (electromagnetic separation of isotopes, lithium-6).

Heinz Barvich

Gunther Wirtz

Gustav Hertz

1951 - Stalin Prize, 2nd degree (theory of stability of gas diffusion in cascades).

Gerard Jaeger

1953 - Stalin Prize 3rd degree (electromagnetic separation of isotopes, lithium-6).

Reinhold Reichman (Reichman)

1951 - Stalin Prize 1st degree (posthumously) (technology development

production of ceramic tubular filters for diffusion machines).

Nikolaus Riehl

1949 - Hero of Socialist Labor, Stalin Prize 1st degree (development and implementation of industrial technology for the production of pure uranium metal).

Herbert Thieme

1949 - Stalin Prize, 2nd degree (development and implementation of industrial technology for the production of pure uranium metal).

1951 - Stalin Prize, 2nd degree (development of industrial technology for the production of high-purity uranium and the manufacture of products from it).

Peter Thiessen

1956 - State Prize Thyssen,_Peter

Heinz Froehlich

1953 - Stalin Prize, 3rd degree (electromagnetic isotope separation, lithium-6).

Ziehl Ludwig

1951 - Stalin Prize, 1st degree (development of technology for the production of ceramic tubular filters for diffusion machines).

Werner Schütze

1949 - Stalin Prize, 2nd degree (mass spectrometer).

ARI: This is how the story turns out - not a trace remains of the myth that the Volga is a bad car, but we made an atomic bomb. All that remains is the bad Volga car. And it wouldn’t have existed if they hadn’t bought the drawings from Ford. There would be nothing because the Bolshevik state is not capable of creating anything by definition. For the same reason, the Russian state cannot create anything, only sell natural resources.

Mikhail Saltan, Gleb Shcherbatov

For the stupid, just in case, we explain that we are not talking about the intellectual potential of the Russian people, it is quite high, we are talking about the creative possibilities of the Soviet bureaucratic system, which, in principle, cannot allow scientific talents to be revealed.

Introduction

Interest in the history of the emergence and significance of nuclear weapons for humanity is determined by the significance of a number of factors, among which, perhaps, the first row is occupied by the problems of ensuring the balance of power on the world stage and the relevance of building a system nuclear deterrence military threat to the state. The presence of nuclear weapons always has a certain impact, direct or indirect, on the socio-economic situation and political balance of power in the “countries that own” such weapons. This, among other things, determines the relevance of our chosen research problem. The problem of the development and relevance of the use of nuclear weapons in order to ensure the national security of the state has been quite relevant in domestic science for more than a decade, and this topic has not yet exhausted itself.

The object of this study is atomic weapons in modern world, the subject of the study is the history of the creation of the atomic bomb and its technological structure. The novelty of the work is that the problem atomic weapons covered from the perspective of a number of areas: nuclear physics, national security, history, foreign policy and intelligence.

The purpose of this work is to study the history of the creation and role of the atomic (nuclear) bomb in ensuring peace and order on our planet.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were solved:

the concept of “atomic bomb”, “nuclear weapon”, etc. is characterized;

the prerequisites for the emergence of atomic weapons are considered;

The reasons that prompted humanity to create atomic weapons and use them were identified.

the structure and composition of the atomic bomb were analyzed.

The set goals and objectives determined the structure and logic of the study, which consists of an introduction, two sections, a conclusion and a list of sources used.

ATOMIC BOMB: COMPOSITION, COMBAT CHARACTERISTICS AND PURPOSE OF CREATION

Before you begin studying the structure of an atomic bomb, you need to understand the terminology on this problem. So, in scientific circles, there are special terms that reflect the characteristics of atomic weapons. Among them, we especially note the following:

Atomic bomb - the original name of the aviation nuclear bomb, the action of which is based on an explosive nuclear fission chain reaction. With the advent of the so-called hydrogen bomb, based on the thermonuclear fusion reaction, a common term for them was established - nuclear bomb.

Nuclear bomb - aerial bomb with a nuclear charge, has great destructive power. The first two nuclear bombs, with a TNT equivalent of about 20 kt each, were dropped by American aircraft on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, on August 6 and 9, 1945, and caused enormous casualties and destruction. Modern nuclear bombs have a TNT equivalent of tens to millions of tons.

Nuclear or atomic weapons are explosive weapons based on the use of nuclear energy released during a nuclear chain reaction of the fission of heavy nuclei or a thermonuclear fusion reaction of light nuclei.

Refers to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) along with biological and chemical ones.

Nuclear weapons are a set of nuclear weapons, means of delivering them to the target and control means. Refers to weapons of mass destruction; has enormous destructive power. For the above reason, the USA and the USSR invested huge amounts of money in the development of nuclear weapons. Based on the power of charges and range, nuclear weapons are divided into tactical, operational-tactical and strategic. The use of nuclear weapons in war is disastrous for all humanity.

A nuclear explosion is a process of instantaneous release of a large amount of intranuclear energy in a limited volume.

The action of atomic weapons is based on the fission reaction of heavy nuclei (uranium-235, plutonium-239 and, in some cases, uranium-233).

Uranium-235 is used in nuclear weapons because, unlike the most common isotope uranium-238, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is possible in it.

Plutonium-239 is also called "weapons-grade plutonium" because it is intended for the creation of nuclear weapons and the content of the 239Pu isotope must be at least 93.5%.

To reflect the structure and composition of an atomic bomb, as a prototype we will analyze the plutonium bomb “Fat Man” (Fig. 1) dropped on August 9, 1945 on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

atomic nuclear bomb explosion

Figure 1 - Atomic bomb "Fat Man"

The layout of this bomb (typical of plutonium single-phase munitions) is approximately as follows:

The neutron initiator is a ball with a diameter of about 2 cm made of beryllium, coated with a thin layer of yttrium-polonium alloy or metal polonium-210 - the primary source of neutrons for sharply reducing the critical mass and accelerating the onset of the reaction. It is triggered at the moment the combat core is transferred to a supercritical state (during compression, polonium and beryllium are mixed with the release of a large number of neutrons). Currently, in addition to this type of initiation, thermonuclear initiation (TI) is more common. Thermonuclear initiator (TI). Located in the center of the charge (like NI) where it is not located a large number of thermonuclear material, the center of which is heated by a converging shock wave and during the thermonuclear reaction, against the background of the resulting temperatures, a significant number of neutrons are produced, sufficient for the neutron initiation of a chain reaction (Fig. 2).

Plutonium. The purest isotope of plutonium-239 is used, although to increase the stability of physical properties (density) and improve charge compressibility, plutonium is doped with a small amount of gallium.

A shell (usually made of uranium) that serves as a neutron reflector.

Aluminum compression shell. Provides greater uniformity of compression by the shock wave, while at the same time protecting the internal parts of the charge from direct contact with the explosive and the hot products of its decomposition.

An explosive with a complex detonation system that ensures synchronized detonation of the entire explosive. Synchronicity is necessary to create a strictly spherical compressive (directed inside the ball) shock wave. A non-spherical wave leads to the ejection of ball material through inhomogeneity and the impossibility of creating a critical mass. The creation of such a system for the placement of explosives and detonation was at one time one of the most difficult tasks. A combined scheme (lens system) of “fast” and “slow” explosives is used.

The body is made of stamped duralumin elements - two spherical covers and a belt, connected by bolts.

Figure 2 - Operating principle of a plutonium bomb

Center nuclear explosion- the point at which the flash occurs or the center is located fireball, and the epicenter is the projection of the center of the explosion onto the earth or water surface.

Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and dangerous type of weapon of mass destruction, threatening all of humanity with unprecedented destruction and the extermination of millions of people.

If an explosion occurs on the ground or quite close to its surface, then part of the explosion energy is transferred to the Earth's surface in the form of seismic vibrations. A phenomenon occurs that resembles an earthquake in its characteristics. As a result of such an explosion, seismic waves are formed, which propagate through the thickness of the earth over very long distances. The destructive effect of the wave is limited to a radius of several hundred meters.

As a result of the extremely high temperature of the explosion, a bright flash of light occurs, the intensity of which is hundreds of times greater than the intensity of sun rays, falling to the Earth. A flash produces a huge amount of heat and light. Light radiation causes spontaneous combustion of flammable materials and skin burns in people within a radius of many kilometers.

A nuclear explosion produces radiation. It lasts about a minute and has such a high penetrating power that powerful and reliable shelters are required to protect against it at close ranges.

A nuclear explosion can instantly destroy or disable unprotected people, openly standing equipment, structures and various material assets. Main damaging factors nuclear explosion (NFE) are:

shock wave;

light radiation;

penetrating radiation;

radioactive contamination of the area;

electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

During a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere, the distribution of released energy between PFYVs is approximately the following: about 50% for the shock wave, 35% for light radiation, 10% for radioactive contamination and 5% for penetrating radiation and EMR.

Radioactive contamination of people, military equipment, terrain and various objects during a nuclear explosion is caused by fission fragments of the charge substance (Pu-239, U-235) and the unreacted part of the charge falling out of the explosion cloud, as well as radioactive isotopes formed in the soil and other materials under the influence of neutrons - induced activity. Over time, the activity of fission fragments decreases rapidly, especially in the first hours after the explosion. For example, the total activity of fission fragments in the explosion of a nuclear weapon with a power of 20 kT after one day will be several thousand times less than one minute after the explosion.

The question of the creators of the first Soviet nuclear bomb is quite controversial and requires more detailed study, but about who really father of the Soviet atomic bomb, There are several entrenched opinions. Most physicists and historians believe that the main contribution to the creation of Soviet nuclear weapons was made by Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov. However, some have expressed the opinion that without Yuli Borisovich Khariton, the founder of Arzamas-16 and the creator of the industrial basis for obtaining enriched fissile isotopes, the first test of this type of weapon in the Soviet Union would have dragged on for several more years.

Let us consider the historical sequence of research and development work to create a practical model of an atomic bomb, leaving aside theoretical studies of fissile materials and the conditions for the occurrence of a chain reaction, without which a nuclear explosion is impossible.

For the first time, a series of applications for obtaining copyright certificates for the invention (patents) of the atomic bomb was filed in 1940 by employees of the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology F. Lange, V. Spinel and V. Maslov. The authors examined issues and proposed solutions for the enrichment of uranium and its use as an explosive. The proposed bomb had a classic detonation scheme (cannon type), which was later, with some modifications, used to initiate a nuclear explosion in American uranium-based nuclear bombs.

The Great Beginning Patriotic War slowed down theoretical and experimental research in the field of nuclear physics, and the largest centers (Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology and the Radium Institute - Leningrad) ceased their activities and were partially evacuated.

Beginning in September 1941, the intelligence agencies of the NKVD and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army began to receive an increasing amount of information about the special interest shown in British military circles in the creation explosives based on fissile isotopes. In May 1942, the Main Intelligence Directorate, having summarized the materials received, reported to the State Defense Committee (GKO) about the military purpose of the nuclear research being carried out.

Around the same time, technical lieutenant Georgy Nikolaevich Flerov, who in 1940 was one of the discoverers of the spontaneous fission of uranium nuclei, wrote a letter personally to I.V. Stalin. In his message, the future academician, one of the creators of Soviet nuclear weapons, draws attention to the fact that publications on work related to the fission of the atomic nucleus have disappeared from the scientific press of Germany, Great Britain and the United States. According to the scientist, this may indicate a reorientation of “pure” science into the practical military field.

October–November 1942 foreign intelligence NKVD reports to L.P. Beria provides all available information about work in the field of nuclear research, obtained by illegal intelligence officers in England and the USA, on the basis of which the People's Commissar writes a memo to the head of state.

At the end of September 1942, I.V. Stalin signs a resolution of the State Defense Committee on the resumption and intensification of “uranium work,” and in February 1943, after studying the materials presented by L.P. Beria, a decision is made to transfer all research on the creation of nuclear weapons (atomic bombs) into a “practical direction.” General management and coordination of all types of work were entrusted to the Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee V.M. Molotov, the scientific management of the project was entrusted to I.V. Kurchatov. Management of the search for deposits and extraction of uranium ore was entrusted to A.P. Zavenyagin, M.G. was responsible for the creation of enterprises for uranium enrichment and heavy water production. Pervukhin, and People's Commissar of Non-ferrous Metallurgy P.F. Lomako “trusted” to accumulate 0.5 tons of metallic (enriched to the required standards) uranium by 1944.

At this point, the first stage (the deadlines for which were missed), providing for the creation of an atomic bomb in the USSR, was completed.

After the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japanese cities, the leadership of the USSR saw firsthand the lag in scientific research and practical work to create nuclear weapons from their competitors. To intensify and create an atomic bomb as quickly as possible, on August 20, 1945, a special decree of the State Defense Committee was issued on the creation of Special Committee No. 1, whose functions included the organization and coordination of all types of work on the creation of a nuclear bomb. L.P. is appointed as the head of this emergency body with unlimited powers. Beria, scientific leadership is entrusted to I.V. Kurchatov. Direct management of all research, development and manufacturing enterprises should have been carried out by People's Commissar of Armaments B.L. Vannikov.

Due to the fact that scientific, theoretical and experimental research has been completed, intelligence data about the organization industrial production uranium and plutonium were obtained, intelligence officers obtained schematics for American atomic bombs, the greatest difficulty was the transfer of all types of work to an industrial basis. To create enterprises for the production of plutonium, the city of Chelyabinsk-40 was built from scratch (scientific director I.V. Kurchatov). In the village of Sarov (future Arzamas - 16) a plant was built for the assembly and production on an industrial scale of the atomic bombs themselves (scientific supervisor - chief designer Yu.B. Khariton).

Thanks to the optimization of all types of work and strict control over them by L.P. Beria, who, however, did not interfere with the creative development of the ideas contained in the projects, in July 1946, technical specifications for the creation of the first two Soviet atomic bombs were developed:

• "RDS - 1" - a bomb with a plutonium charge, the detonation of which was carried out using the implosion type;
• "RDS - 2" - a bomb with a cannon detonation of a uranium charge.

I.V. was appointed scientific director of the work on the creation of both types of nuclear weapons. Kurchatov.

Paternity rights

Tests of the first atomic bomb created in the USSR, “RDS-1” (the abbreviation in various sources stands for “jet engine C” or “Russia makes it itself”) took place in late August 1949 in Semipalatinsk under the direct leadership of Yu.B. Khariton. Power nuclear charge was 22 kilotons. However, from the point of view of modern copyright law, it is impossible to attribute the paternity of this product to any of the Russian (Soviet) citizens. Earlier, when developing the first practical model suitable for military use, the USSR Government and the leadership of Special Project No. 1 decided to copy as much as possible a domestic implosion bomb with a plutonium charge from the American “Fat Man” prototype dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Thus, the “fatherhood” of the first nuclear bomb of the USSR most likely belongs to General Leslie Groves, the military leader of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Oppenheimer, known throughout the world as the “father of the atomic bomb” and who provided scientific leadership over the project "Manhattan". The main difference between the Soviet model and the American one is the use of domestic electronics in the detonation system and a change in the aerodynamic shape of the bomb body.

The RDS-2 product can be considered the first “purely” Soviet atomic bomb. Despite the fact that it was initially planned to copy the American uranium prototype “Baby”, the Soviet uranium atomic bomb “RDS-2” was created in an implosion version, which had no analogues at that time. L.P. participated in its creation. Beria – general project management, I.V. Kurchatov – scientific supervisor of all types of work and Yu.B. Khariton is the scientific director and chief designer responsible for the production of a practical bomb sample and its testing.

When talking about who is the father of the first Soviet atomic bomb, one cannot lose sight of the fact that both RDS-1 and RDS-2 were exploded at the test site. The first atomic bomb dropped from a Tu-4 bomber was the RDS-3 product. Its design was similar to the RDS-2 implosion bomb, but had a combined uranium-plutonium charge, which made it possible to increase its power, with the same dimensions, to 40 kilotons. Therefore, in many publications, Academician Igor Kurchatov is considered the “scientific” father of the first atomic bomb actually dropped from an airplane, since his scientific colleague, Yuli Khariton, was categorically against making any changes. “Paternity” is also supported by the fact that throughout the history of the USSR L.P. Beria and I.V. Kurchatov were the only ones who in 1949 were awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the USSR - “... for the implementation of the Soviet atomic project, the creation of the atomic bomb.”

In the 30s of the last century, many physicists worked on creating an atomic bomb. It is officially believed that the United States was the first to create, test and use the atomic bomb. However, recently I read books by Hans-Ulrich von Kranz, a researcher of the secrets of the Third Reich, where he claims that the Nazis invented the bomb, and the world's first atomic bomb was tested by them in March 1944 in Belarus. The Americans seized all the documents about the atomic bomb, the scientists and the samples themselves (there were supposedly 13 of them). So the Americans had access to 3 samples, and the Germans transported 10 to a secret base in Antarctica. Kranz confirms his conclusions by the fact that after Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the United States there was no news of testing bombs larger than 1.5, and after that the tests were unsuccessful. This, in his opinion, would have been impossible if the bombs had been created by the United States itself.

We are unlikely to know the truth.

In one thousand nine hundred and forty, Enrico Fermi finished working on a theory called the Nuclear Chain Reaction. After this, the Americans created their first nuclear reactor. In one thousand nine hundred and forty-five, the Americans created three atomic bombs. The first was blown up in New Mexico, and the next two were dropped on Japan.

It is hardly possible to specifically name any person that he is the creator of atomic (nuclear) weapons. Without the discoveries of predecessors there would have been no final result. But many people call Otto Hahn, a German by birth, a nuclear chemist, the father of the atomic bomb. Apparently, it was his discoveries in the field of nuclear fission, together with Fritz Strassmann, that can be considered fundamental in the creation of nuclear weapons.

Igor Kurchatov and Soviet intelligence and Klaus Fuchs personally are considered to be the father of Soviet weapons of mass destruction. However, we should not forget about the discoveries of our scientists in the late 30s. Work on uranium fission was carried out by A.K. Peterzhak and G.N. Flerov.

The atomic bomb is a product that was not invented immediately. It took dozens of years of various studies to reach the result. Before specimens were first invented in 1945, many experiments and discoveries were carried out. All scientists who are related to these works can be counted among the creators of the atomic bomb. Besom speaks directly about the team of inventors of the bomb itself, then there was a whole team, it’s better to read about it on Wikipedia.

A large number of scientists and engineers from various industries took part in the creation of the atomic bomb. It would be unfair to name just one. Not mentioned in the Wikipedia material French physicist Henri Becquerel, Russian scientists Pierre Curie and his wife Maria Sklodowska-Curie, who discovered the radioactivity of uranium, German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

Quite an interesting question.

After reading information on the Internet, I came to the conclusion that the USSR and the USA began working on creating these bombs at the same time.

I think you will read in more detail in the article. Everything is written there in great detail.

Many discoveries have their own parents, but inventions are often the collective result of a common cause, when everyone contributed. In addition, many inventions are, as it were, a product of their era, so work on them is carried out simultaneously in different laboratories. So it is with the atomic bomb, it does not have one single parent.

Quite a difficult task, it is difficult to say who exactly invented the atomic bomb, because many scientists were involved in its appearance, who consistently worked on the study of radioactivity, uranium enrichment, chain reaction of fission of heavy nuclei, etc. Here are the main points of its creation:

By 1945, American scientists had invented two atomic bombs Baby weighed 2722 kg and was equipped with enriched Uranium-235 and Fat man with a charge of Plutonium-239 with a power of more than 20 kt, it had a mass of 3175 kg.

At this time, they are completely different in size and shape.

Work on nuclear projects in the USA and USSR began simultaneously. In July 1945, an American atomic bomb (Robert Oppenheimer, head of the laboratory) was exploded at the test site, and then, in August, bombs were also dropped on the infamous Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The first test of a Soviet bomb took place in 1949 (project manager Igor Kurchatov), ​​but as they say, its creation was made possible thanks to excellent intelligence.

There is also information that the Germans were the creators of the atomic bomb. You can, for example, read about this here..

There is simply no clear answer to this question - the creation lethal weapons, capable of destroying the planet, many talented physicists and chemists worked, whose names are listed in this article - as we see, the inventor was far from alone.

The creation of the Soviet atomic bomb (military unit atomic project of the USSR) - fundamental research, development of technologies and their practical implementation in the USSR, aimed at creating weapons of mass destruction using nuclear energy. The events were largely stimulated by the activities in this direction of scientific institutions and the military industry of other countries, primarily Nazi Germany and the USA [ ] . In 1945, August 6 and 9 American planes dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Almost half of the civilians died immediately in the explosions, others were seriously ill and continue to die to this day.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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

  During this decade, fundamental radiochemical research was carried out, without which a complete understanding of these problems, their development, and, especially, their implementation would be unthinkable.

  Work in 1941-1943

  Foreign intelligence information

  Already in September 1941, the USSR began to receive intelligence information about secret intensive research work being carried out in Great Britain 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 external intelligence channels of the NKVD of the USSR from Donald McLean, it followed that the creation of an atomic bomb is real, that it could probably be created even before the end of the war and, therefore, could influence its course.

  Intelligence information about work on the problem of atomic energy abroad, which was available in the USSR at the time the decision was made to resume work on uranium, was received both through the intelligence channels of the NKVD 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 USSR Academy of Sciences about the presence of reports of work abroad on the problem of using atomic energy for military purposes and asked to report 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 over the past year, almost no work related to solving the problem of using atomic energy has been published in the scientific literature.

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

  Soviet intelligence had detailed information about the work to create an atomic bomb in the United States, coming from specialists who understood the danger of a nuclear monopoly or sympathized with the USSR, in particular, Klaus Fuchs, Theodore Hall, Georges Koval and David Gringlas. However, as some believe, the letter of the Soviet physicist G. Flerov addressed to Stalin at the beginning of 1943, who was able to explain the essence of the problem popularly, was of decisive importance. 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.

  The hunt for data from America's uranium project began on the initiative of the head of the scientific and technical intelligence department of the NKVD, Leonid Kvasnikov, back in 1942, but fully developed only after the famous couple arrived in Washington. Soviet intelligence officers: Vasily Zarubin and his wife Elizaveta. It was with them that the NKVD resident in San Francisco, Grigory Kheifitz, interacted, who reported that the most prominent American physicist Robert Oppenheimer and many of his colleagues had left California for an unknown place where they would create some kind of superweapon.

  Lieutenant Colonel Semyon Semenov (pseudonym “Twain”), who had been working in the United States since 1938 and had assembled a large and active intelligence group there, was entrusted with double-checking the data of “Charon” (that was Heifitz’s code name). It was “Twain” who confirmed the reality of the work on creating an atomic bomb, named the code for the Manhattan Project and the location of its main scientific center - former colony for juvenile offenders Los Alamos in New Mexico. Semenov also reported the names of some scientists who worked there, who at one time were invited to the USSR to participate in large Stalinist construction projects and who, upon returning to the USA, did not lose ties with far-left organizations.

  Thus, Soviet agents were introduced into the scientific and design centers of America, where nuclear weapons were created. However, in the midst of establishing undercover activities, Lisa and Vasily Zarubin were urgently recalled to Moscow. They were at a loss, because not a single failure occurred. It turned out that the Center received a denunciation from an employee of Mironov’s station, accusing the Zarubins of treason. And for almost six months, Moscow counterintelligence checked these accusations. They were not confirmed, however, the Zarubins were no longer allowed abroad.

  Meanwhile, the work of the embedded agents had already brought the first results - reports began to arrive, and they had to be immediately sent to Moscow. This work was entrusted to a group of special couriers. The most efficient and unafraid were the Cohen couple, Maurice and Lona. After Maurice was called to American army, Lona began independently delivering information materials from New Mexico to New York. To do this, she went to the small town of Albuquerque, where, for appearances, she visited a tuberculosis dispensary. There she met with agents named “Mlad” and “Ernst”.

  However, the NKVD still managed to extract several tons of low-enriched uranium in .

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

  The solution to 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, creating a complex of new industrial units and devices. The insufficient volume of uranium ore mining and uranium concentrate production in the USSR (the first plant for the production of uranium concentrate - “Combine No. 6 of the NKVD of the USSR” in Tajikistan was founded in 1945) during this period was compensated by captured raw materials and products of uranium enterprises in Eastern Europe, with which the USSR entered into corresponding agreements.

  In 1945, the Government of the USSR made the following most important decisions:

  • on the creation at the Kirov Plant (Leningrad) of two special development bureaus designed to develop equipment that produces uranium enriched in the 235 isotope by gas diffusion;
  • 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 using natural uranium;
  • on the selection of a site and the start of construction in the Southern Urals of the country's first plant for the production of plutonium-239.

  The enterprise in the Southern Urals should have included:

  • uranium-graphite reactor using natural uranium (plant “A”);
  • radiochemical production for the separation of plutonium-239 from natural uranium irradiated in a reactor (plant “B”);
  • chemical and metallurgical production for the production of highly pure metallic plutonium (plant “B”).

  Participation of German specialists in the nuclear project

  In 1945, hundreds of German scientists related to the nuclear problem were brought from Germany to the USSR. Most of(about 300 people) they were brought to Sukhumi and secretly housed in the former estates of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and millionaire Smetsky (sanatoriums “Sinop” and “Agudzery”). Equipment was exported 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 out of four German cyclotrons, powerful magnets, electron microscopes, oscilloscopes, high-voltage transformers, and ultra-precise instruments were brought to the USSR. In November 1945, a Directorate was created within the NKVD of the USSR special institutes(9th Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR) to lead the work on the use of German specialists.

  The Sinop sanatorium 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 objects “A” and “D” - Nikolaus Riehl, Max Vollmer, who built the first installation for the production of heavy water in the USSR, Peter Thiessen, designer of nickel filters for gas diffusion separation of uranium isotopes, Max Steenbeck and Gernot Zippe, who worked on centrifugal separation method and subsequently received patents for gas centrifuges in the West. On the basis of objects “A” and “G” (SFTI) 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 in different time move to the GDR (Gernot Zippe to Austria).

  Construction of a gas diffusion plant in Novouralsk

  In 1946, at the production base of plant No. 261 of the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry in Novouralsk, the construction of a gas diffusion plant began, called Plant No. 813 (plant D-1) and intended for the production of highly enriched uranium. The plant produced its first products in 1949.

  Construction of uranium hexafluoride production in Kirovo-Chepetsk

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

  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

  Products

  Development of the design of atomic bombs

  Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1286-525ss “On the plan for the deployment of KB-11 work at Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences” determined the first tasks of KB-11: the creation, under the scientific leadership of Laboratory No. 2 (Academician I.V. Kurchatov), ​​of atomic bombs, conventionally called in the resolution “jet engines C”, in two versions: RDS-1 - implosion type with plutonium and the RDS-2 gun-type atomic bomb with uranium-235.

  Tactical and technical specifications for the RDS-1 and RDS-2 designs were to be developed by July 1, 1946, and the designs of their main components by July 1, 1947. The fully manufactured RDS-1 bomb was to be submitted for state testing 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. Work on the creation of structures should have be carried out in parallel with the organization of special laboratories in KB-11 and the deployment of work in these laboratories. Such short deadlines and the organization of parallel work also became possible thanks to the receipt of some intelligence data about American atomic bombs in the USSR.

  Research laboratories and design departments of KB-11 began to expand their activities directly in