Conducting nuclear tests in the USSR
05.08.2009 15:41:26
The first nuclear explosion of the USSR was carried out on August 29, 1949, and the last nuclear explosion was carried out on October 24, 1990. The USSR's nuclear testing program lasted 41 years, 1 month, 26 days between these dates. During this time, 715 nuclear explosions were carried out, both for peaceful purposes and for combat purposes.
The first nuclear explosion was carried out at the Semipalatinsk Test Site (SIP), and the last nuclear explosion of the USSR was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya Northern Test Site (SNPT).
To test nuclear weapons in the interests of the navy of the Soviet Union, the government decided to build a test site on Novaya Zemlya. On July 31, 1954, Council of Ministers resolution No. 1559-699 was issued on the creation of such a test site on Novaya Zemlya. The newly organized construction was named “Spetsstroy-700”. During the year, object 700 was subordinate to the commander of the White Sea Flotilla. Then, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy No. 00451 of August 12, 1955, this object was removed from the subordination of the flotilla and subordinated to the head of the 6th Directorate of the Navy.
The first nuclear explosion at the Novaya Zemlya test site was carried out on the morning of September 21, 1955 in Chernaya Bay. This was the first Soviet underwater nuclear explosion. By this time, the United States had already carried out two underwater nuclear explosions in the Pacific Ocean - in July 1946 and in May 1955. In addition, the United States carried out 44 explosions in the air, 18 on the ground and 2 underground. In October 1952, Great Britain carried out a surface explosion on the island of Monte Bello, and 21 nuclear devices were tested at the Semipalatinsk test site.
To carry out an underwater explosion, the warhead of the T-5 nuclear torpedo with a power of 3.5 kt was lowered from a specially converted Project 253-L minesweeper to a depth of 12 m. Naturally, after the explosion, the minesweeper was blown to smithereens.
The destroyer "Reut" stood about three hundred meters from the epicenter. He landed on the edge of the plume, jumped up and immediately sank to the bottom. On the other hand, further away, stood the Kuibyshev, which remained afloat, having escaped with serious damage.”
On October 10, 1957, a repeat firing of a T-5 torpedo with a nuclear warhead was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya test site in Chernaya Guba. At 10 o'clock the Project 613 submarine S-144, which was at periscope depth, fired a T-5 torpedo. The torpedo traveled at a speed of 40 knots, the explosion occurred at a depth of 35 m. Thanks to improvements in the charge, the power was slightly higher than when tested in 1955.
After the explosion (but not immediately), the destroyers “Infuriated” and “Grozny”, the submarines S-20 and S-19, and two minesweepers sank. A number of ships, including the destroyer Gremyashchiy, the submarine K-56 and others, were damaged. The T-5 torpedo was put into service and became the first shipborne nuclear weapon of the Soviet fleet.
On October 20, 1961, during an exercise, an R-13 ballistic missile with a nuclear charge was launched from a Project 629 diesel submarine. The explosion was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya test site. Immediately after this explosion, Exercise Coral began, during which nuclear warheads of various torpedoes were exploded. The diesel submarine of Project 641 fired (commander captain 1st rank N.A. Shumnov).
In the early 1960s. On Novaya Zemlya, a number of super-powerful thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs with a yield of up to 50 Mgt were dropped from Tu-95 strategic bombers. The creation of a 100 Mgt bomb has also become a reality.
Already after the first nuclear explosions, it became clear that nuclear weapons are most effective against large cities (remember Hiroshima), but their effect on ships or ground forces is tens of times less effective. We already know about the effect of nuclear bombs on ships, but as for ground forces, the explosion of a 20 kt nuclear bomb, as in Hiroshima, could disable on average a motorized rifle or tank battalion.
Firing at ships at sea with long-range ballistic or cruise missiles without a homing system, even with astro correction, is not effective at all, since the tabulated circular probable deviation (CPD) of such missiles in the 1950s - 1960s. was about 4 km, but in fact it was 6 - 8 km.
It should be noted that military personnel, even those who received lethal doses of radiation, were able to carry out assigned combat missions for several hours or even days.
Training at the Totsky training ground.
In total, the Soviet Army, it can be considered, conducted two military exercises using nuclear weapons: on September 14, 1954 - at the Totsk artillery range in the Orenburg region and on September 10, 1956 - a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site with the participation of military units. 
Eight similar exercises were conducted in the United States.
TASS message:
"In accordance with the plan of research and experimental work, in recent days a test of one of the types of atomic weapons was carried out in the Soviet Union. The purpose of the test was to study the effect of an atomic explosion. During the test, valuable results were obtained that will help Soviet scientists and engineers successfully solve problems on protection against atomic attack"
The military exercise with the use of atomic weapons on September 14, 1954 took place after the USSR government made a decision to begin training the country’s Armed Forces for actions in the conditions of the actual use of nuclear weapons by a potential enemy. Making such a decision had its own history.
The first development of proposals on this issue at the level of the country's leading ministries dates back to the end of 1949. This was due not only to the successful first nuclear tests in the former Soviet Union, but also to the influence of the American media, which fed our foreign intelligence with information that the Armed Forces The US Forces and Civil Defense are actively preparing to deal with the use of nuclear weapons in the event of an armed conflict. The initiator of the preparation of proposals to conduct an exercise with the use of nuclear weapons was the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (at that time the Ministry of the Armed Forces) in agreement with the ministries of atomic energy (at that time the first main directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR), healthcare, chemical and radio engineering industries of the USSR. The direct developer of the first proposals was a special department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR (V.A. Bolyatko, A.A. Osin, E.F. Lozovoy). The development of proposals was led by the Deputy Minister of Defense for Armaments, Marshal of Artillery N.D. Yakovlev.
The first submission of the proposal for the exercise was signed by Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky, B.L. Vannikov, E.I. Smirnov, P.M. Kruglov, other responsible persons and sent to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N.A. Bulganin. Over four years (1949-1953), more than twenty ideas were developed, which were sent mainly to N.A. Bulganin, as well as L.M. Kaganovich, L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov and V.M. Molotov.
On September 29, 1953, a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which marked the beginning of the preparation of the Armed Forces and the country for actions in special conditions. At the same time, on the recommendation of V.A. Bolyatko, N.A. Bulganin approved for publication a list of guidance documents previously developed by the 6th Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, in particular the Handbook on Nuclear Weapons, a manual for officers “Combat Properties of Nuclear Weapons”, Manual on conducting operations and combat operations in the context of the use of nuclear weapons, Manual on Anti-Nuclear Defense, Guide to the Protection of Cities. Medical Support Guide, Radiation Survey Guide. Guide to decontamination and sanitization and Memo to soldiers, sailors and the public on protection against atomic weapons. On the personal instructions of N. Bulganin, within a month, all these documents were published by Military Publishing House and delivered to groups of forces, military districts, air defense districts and fleets. At the same time, a screening of special films on nuclear weapons testing was organized for the leadership of the army and navy.
The practical testing of new views on warfare began with the Totsky military exercises using a real atomic bomb created by scientists and designers of KB-11 (Arzamas-16).
In 1954, US strategic aviation was armed with more than 700 atomic bombs. The United States conducted 45 nuclear tests, including 2 nuclear bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Surveys of the use of atomic weapons and protection against them have been widely tested not only at test sites, but also in military exercises of the US Army.
By this time, only 8 tests of atomic weapons had been carried out in the USSR. The results of the atomic bombing by US aircraft of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were studied. The nature and scale of the destructive effect of this formidable weapon were quite well known. This made it possible to develop the first instructions on the conduct of combat operations in conditions of the use of atomic weapons and methods of protecting troops from the damaging effects of atomic explosions. From the point of view of modern ideas, the recommendations contained in them are largely true today.
To conduct the exercises, consolidated military units and formations were formed, collected from all regions of the country from all branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces, intended to subsequently pass on the experience gained to those who did not take part in these exercises.
To ensure safety in the event of an atomic explosion, a plan for ensuring safety in the event of an atomic explosion, instructions for ensuring the safety of troops during corps exercises, a memo to soldiers and sergeants on safety during exercises, and a memo to the local population were developed.
The main measures to ensure safety in the event of an atomic explosion were developed based on the expected consequences of an atomic bomb explosion at an altitude of 350 m above the ground (air explosion) in the area of 195.1. In addition, special measures were envisaged to protect troops and the population from damage by radioactive substances in the event that an explosion occurs with large deviations from the specified conditions in range and altitude. All troop personnel were provided with gas masks, protective paper capes, protective stockings and gloves.
To prevent damage from the shock wave, the troops located closest (at a distance of 5-7.5 km) had to be in shelters, then 7.5 km - in open and covered trenches, in a sitting or lying position. Ensuring the safety of troops from damage by penetrating radiation was entrusted to the chemical troops. The standards for permissible contamination of personnel and military equipment were reduced by four times compared to the then acceptable levels in the troops.
To carry out measures to ensure the safety of the population, the training area within a radius of up to 50 km from the explosion site was divided into five zones: zone 1 (prohibited zone) - up to 8 km from the center of the explosion; zone 2 - from 8 to 12 km; zone 3 - from 12 to 15 km; zone 4 - from 15 to 50 km (in a sector of 300-0-110 degrees) and zone 5, located north of the target along the combat course of the carrier aircraft in a strip 10 km wide and 20 km deep, over which the carrier aircraft flew with an open bomb bay.
A military exercise on the topic “Breakthrough the enemy’s prepared tactical defense using atomic weapons” was scheduled for the fall of 1954. The exercise used a 40 kt atomic bomb, tested at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1951. The leadership of the exercise was entrusted to Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov (at that time Deputy Minister of Defense). The leadership of the Ministry of Medium Engineering of the USSR, headed by V.A., took an active part in the preparation and during the exercise. Malyshev, as well as leading scientists - creators of nuclear weapons I.V. Kurchatov, K.I. Click et al.
The main task in the preparatory period was the combat coordination of troops and headquarters, as well as individual training of specialists in the branches of the military for action in conditions of the actual use of atomic weapons. The training of troops involved in the exercise was carried out according to special programs designed for 45 days. The teaching itself lasted one day. Various types of training and special activities were organized in areas similar to the training area. In all, without exception, the recollections of the participants in the exercise, intensive combat training, training in protective equipment, engineering equipment of the area are noted - in general, difficult army work, in which both the soldier and the marshal participated
ORDER
September 9, 1954 Totskoye camp
On ensuring security during corps exercises
In order to ensure the safety of military personnel during the September 14 this year. corps teaching
I ORDER:
1. During the period of an atomic explosion, responsibility for the safety of military personnel shall be assigned to:
A) for the deputy head of the exercise on special issues - in the town of Medvezhya and in area No. 2 - Pronkiio, (claim) Pavlovka, height 238.6 m, elevation. 140.9 m, south. edge of the grove, (law) MTS, Makhovka;
B) to the commander of 128sk in the initial position of the corps (area No. 2) within the boundaries: from the north and south - the demarcation lines of 128sk; from the east - along the Mal. Uran River; from the west along the Makhovka River;
C) to the deputy chief of staff of the leadership for organizational issues - in the town of Petrovskaya Shishka, "Zapyataya" and in the town of the leadership headquarters of "Roshcha".
2. In the remaining territory of the exercise, security measures should be organized by order of the commander of the Southern Urals Military District.
3. Direct responsibility for compliance with security measures by troop personnel should be assigned to the commanders of units, units and formations.
4. To monitor the safety of the troops and their compliance with security measures, the districts are divided into sections and the commandants of the sections are appointed, who are given personal responsibility for the observance of all security measures by all military personnel and employees.
Station commanders must know exactly who and where will be in their area on the day of the exercise.
5. Commanders of formations and individual units should take into account all personnel and equipment that will be separated from their units and units during an atomic explosion. Bring single military personnel into teams, appoint senior officers and prepare shelters for them. The commanders of formations and individual units should be informed in writing to the district commanders by 18.00 on 11.9 about the composition and location of these teams.
District heads should check these teams, the availability of shelters for them and organize notification of them about the atomic alarm.
6. On the day of the exercise, from 5.00 to 9.00, the movement of single persons and vehicles is prohibited in the specified areas. Movement is permitted only in teams with responsible officers. From 9.00 to 10.00 all movement is prohibited.
7. Responsibility for organizing and implementing security measures should be assigned: when conducting live artillery firing - to the deputy head of the artillery exercise, when conducting live bombing - to the deputy head of the aviation exercise, when conducting a simulation - to the deputy exercise leader for engineering troops.
8. The areas of Lysaya (northern) and Kalanchevaya, where live bombing is carried out, are to be declared prohibited zones for the entire period of the exercise, fenced with wire and red flags. At the end of the bombing, by order of the deputy head of the exercise for engineering troops, set up a cordon.
9. Transmit warning signals from the management control point via radio warning networks at frequencies of 2500, 2875 and 36,500 kHz. At all command posts, outposts and control points up to and including the battalion (division), as well as in camp assembly units, have duty radios (radio stations) operating on one of these frequencies.
Commanders of formations and units should select for this purpose the best radio operators with fully operational radio receivers (radio stations) and personally check their readiness for work.
Training of personnel in working in radio networks should be carried out according to the schedule approved by my deputy for the communications troops.
10. In the period from 6.00 to 8.00 on September 12, by order of the commander of 128sk, conduct training of troops and headquarters in actions on atomic and chemical alarm signals.
11. The withdrawal of troops outside the restricted zones should be completed by the end of September 9 and reported to me in writing. All prepared shelters and shelters, as well as the readiness of communication means to receive and transmit signals, are checked by special commissions and the results of the check are formalized in acts.
12. For other issues of troop safety, strictly follow the “Instructions for ensuring the safety of troops during corps exercises in the area of the Totsk camps.”
13. The order should be conveyed to all commanders of formations and units.
14. Report the implementation of this order to the leadership headquarters by 19.00 on 09/11/54.
Exercise leader Marshal of the Soviet Union
G. K. ZHUKOV
Historical reference. The Totsky training ground is a military training ground in the South Ural Military District, 40 km east of the city of Buzuluk, north of the village of Totskoye (Orinurg region). Landfill area 45,700 hectares
The training ground became famous thanks to the tactical military exercises codenamed “Snowball” held on its territory on September 14, 1964. The essence of the exercise was to test the capabilities of breaking through enemy defenses using nuclear weapons. Materials related to these exercises have not yet been declassified, so the authenticity and interpretation of events cannot be fully verified.
During the exercise, the bomber dropped a nuclear bomb with a TNT equivalent of 40 kilotons from an altitude of 13 kilometers, and at 9 hours 53 minutes an air explosion was carried out at an altitude of 350 meters. Two simulators of nuclear charges were also blown up. 3 hours after the explosion, Zhukov sent 600 tanks, 600 armored personnel carriers and 320 aircraft to attack the epicenter of the explosion.
The total number of military personnel who took part in the exercises was about 45 thousand people (according to other sources, 45 thousand were only the forces of the “attacking” side, to which another 15 thousand should be added from the “defending” side). The task of the “attacking” side was to take advantage of the gap in the defense created after the explosion; The task of the “defenders” is to eliminate this gap.
What nuclear war brought to humanity can be judged by the story of the “Atomic Soldier” - T. Shevchenko, a retired colonel, participant in the exercises at the Totsky training ground
“In the life of every person, an event occurs that, in the full sense of the word, turns his destiny around and marks a new starting point. For me, such an event was an arch-secret secondment to a nuclear test site. I was silent about it, as well as about the diabolical experiments that were carried out there, about the serious consequences for the health of their participants for almost 50 years, although the receipt that I officially gave obligated me, like other participants in the tests of the “product” (the first Soviet atomic bombs ), forget about the training ground “just” for a quarter of a century.
My first acquaintance with the atomic monster happened a long time ago, almost half a century ago. This was the time of my formation as an officer and the first serious test of spiritual and physical strength on an unknown, but voluntarily chosen path of difficult, but seemingly so prestigious and romantic service.
Quite a lot has been written on the atomic topic. The infamous military exercises, as close as possible to combat operations, with the real use of nuclear weapons at the Totsky test site (near the village of Totskoye, Orenburg region, Russian Federation) are described in detail.
44 thousand military personnel took part in those exercises (their code name “Snowball”), of which less than one thousand remained alive on the first day of the third millennium. The exercise was commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov.
On September 14, 1954, at 9:32 a.m. local time, an atomic bomb with a capacity of 40 kilotons was dropped onto the “den of the enemy” from a TU-4 aircraft from an altitude of 8 thousand meters, which exploded over the test site at an altitude of 300 meters.
REFERENCE. The power of the atomic bomb "Little Boy", dropped from an American military aircraft on Hiroshima, is 16 kilotons, and the "Fat Man", dropped on Nagasaki, is 21 kilotons. The explosion of the American atomic bomb in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 took the lives of more than 70 thousand people. 130 thousand residents of this Japanese city died later from radiation sickness.
The task of the Totsk exercises was to organize offensive actions of our troops against an imaginary enemy through its epicenter after the explosion of an atomic bomb. For the first time, the soldiers and officers who took part in the exercises were tested for resistance to nuclear weapons. On the obelisk at the epicenter is engraved: “To those who despised danger, fulfilled their military duty in the name of the defensive might of the Motherland.” Needless to say, it was written beautifully and majestically, but, obviously, both the inscription and the “atomic” heroes were quickly forgotten.
The completed team of 300-400 people (mostly young officers) was put into the heated vehicles of the “five hundred cheerful” train, and four days later they were transported to the station, which is 50 km south of Semipalatinsk. At the checkpoint, the security officers guarding the territory of the training ground meticulously checked our documents. It became clear: we are at a site of special importance and secrecy.
I got into the K-300 team. Our task is to deliver animals on specially equipped transport to the site of the bomb explosion, and then return them to the vivarium laboratory.
We were given special clothing: cotton overalls and caps, underwear soaked in some special solution, rubber gloves, stockings, shoe covers, and gas masks. In the pocket of the overalls lay a black, hermetically sealed capsule-dosimeter-storage with an individual number, by which one could find out who it belonged to if something irreparable happened...
We are waiting for the “H” hour to arrive (this is what the military calls receiving an order to begin a combat operation). The wait drags on unbearably slowly. Finally, amid the dead silence, the command from their megaphone sounded: “Close your eyes!” And the seconds ticked by, each of which seemed like an eternity.
Another moment, and the first thing we felt was blinding from the explosion. Even with my eyes closed, it felt as if strong lightning had flashed somewhere nearby. Then I felt a long, unlike anything else, grinding sound wave - and after one or two seconds the earth shook and groaned loudly.
Without waiting for a command, the most impatient ones timidly raised their heads, turning in the direction from which the rumble came. Before our eyes, a grey-black, ominous, fantastic mushroom was born and growing.
He moved the edges of his terrible hat as if alive. And blocked out the sun. The impression was as if it was twilight.
At first we were petrified with fear. But the stupor was interrupted by the commands: “Get up!”, “Put on gas masks!”, “Get to the cars!” We knew what to do next, and we moved along certain routes to our objects. After 3-5 km. our car was enveloped in a thick cloud of dust and fumes. It was stuffy and hot, but the windows in the car were not allowed to be opened in order to avoid the ingress of radioactive dust... to “protect” from radiation.
A huge mushroom, rising several kilometers above the ground, began to tilt, lose its shape, and with it the gray-brown clouds slowly floated to the midday west. For 5-7 km. From the center of the explosion, there were individual animals that, having gotten loose from their leash, wandered in all directions, just as far as possible from the inferno. They looked pitiful and scary.
Burnt, mangled bodies, watery or blinded eyes. Some animals had ichor oozing from their mouths. A monstrous sight! And it became even scarier as we approached the epicenter of the explosion. Here the grass burned hotter, the charred earth smoked, on which mutilated corpses of animals lay. New military equipment, damaged and thrown from their starting places just yesterday, was lying everywhere. Brick and reinforced concrete buildings turned into piles of stones and reinforcement. What could burn, burned. The moaning and howling of animals was heard from everywhere. Truly hell...
The driver and I worked like crazy, realizing that every extra minute we were here did not promise anything good. And our job was to load the surviving animals onto cars and send them to the vivarium, where veterinary service specialists were waiting for them...
On the platform of the station in Saratov, to our great surprise, we heard a TASS report about an event, the direct participants of which were: “A new formidable weapon has been tested in the Soviet Union, which will put an end to the blackmail of the aggressive forces of world imperialism and will be a reliable guarantor of peace on earth...”
We, who were involved in this event, took our breath away and our eyes sparkled. We felt proud of the honorable performance of military duty and the difficult ordeal that befell us. Everyone thought about their own – what they had experienced, seen, unforgettable...
A few years after the training, I was sent to Kazakhstan to harvest crops. There I met with friends from the military school, whom I had last seen at the training ground. Without saying a word, we returned to it, to the training ground, more than once in conversations. It turned out that none of the participants in the nuclear exercises could boast of good health as before. One does not leave hospitals and clinics because his liver and kidneys hurt. In the second, doctors discovered a disorder of the nervous system and, as a result, chronic insomnia, fatigue, apathy towards everything around him and towards life. And the third did not have a good personal life - a consequence of the negative effects of radiation.
And some friends were remembered according to folk custom, wishing: “May the earth rest in peace.” No one - neither friends in the service, nor wives, nor children - ever learned that another hostage of the nuclear age had passed away - a guinea pig of the system to which he swore an oath of silence, which he did until he fell silent forever.
There are few “nuclear” soldiers left in Ukraine. Most of them died without waiting for the legalization of their status as a participant in military exercises using nuclear weapons.
We have to bitterly regret that we will never know the truth: have these “nuclear” hostages, who died prematurely, forgive us, sinners, for our callousness and indifference? Although, perhaps, it was better for them - they did not feel the disastrous blow of the official phrase: “I didn’t send you there.”
At the beginning of 1954, by a secret decision of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and the order of the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal N. Bulganin, it was decided to conduct secret corps exercises with the real use of atomic weapons at the Totsky training ground of the South Ural Military District. Leadership was entrusted to Marshal G.K. Zhukov. The exercises were entitled "Breakthrough of the enemy's prepared tactical defense with the use of nuclear weapons." But this is official, but the code name for the Totsk military exercises was peaceful and affectionate - “Snowball”. Preparation for the exercise lasted three months. By the end of summer, the huge battlefield was literally dotted with tens of thousands of kilometers of trenches, trenches and anti-tank ditches. We built hundreds of pillboxes, bunkers and dugouts.
Military formations of the Belarusian and South Ural military districts took part in the exercises. In June-July 1954, several divisions were transferred from the Brest area to the exercise area. Directly, judging by the documents, over 45,000 military personnel, 600 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, 500 guns and Katyusha rocket launchers, 600 armored personnel carriers, over 6,000 various automotive equipment, communications and logistics equipment took part in the exercises. Three Air Force divisions also took part in the exercises. A real atomic bomb was supposed to be dropped on a defense area codenamed “Banya” (with a mark of 195.1). Two days before the start of the exercises, N. Khrushchev, N. Bulganin and a group of scientists led by I. Kurchatov and Yu. Khariton came to the training ground. They carefully examined the built fortifications and gave advice to commanders on how to protect military personnel from an atomic explosion.
Five days before the atomic explosion, all troops were removed from the eight-kilometer restricted zone and took up their starting positions for attack and defense.
On the eve of the exercise, officers were shown a secret film about the operation of nuclear weapons. For this purpose, a special cinema pavilion was built, into which people were admitted only with a list and an identity card in the presence of the regiment commander and a KGB representative. Then they heard: “You have a great honor - for the first time in the world to act in real conditions of using a nuclear bomb.” In an old oak grove, surrounded by mixed forest, a lime cross measuring 100x100 m was made. The deviation from the target should not exceed 500 m. Troops were stationed all around.
On September 14, 1954, from 5 to 9 o'clock the movement of single vehicles and persons was prohibited. Movement was allowed only in teams led by an officer. From 9 to 11, all movement was prohibited altogether.
On Mount Medvezhya, 10.5 km from the intended epicenter of the explosion, sapper units built an observation post, which was a stationary observation tower the height of a three-story house. It featured large open loggias as viewing stands. Below there were open trenches and a concrete bunker with embrasures. There were closed shelters and three more observation points.
Early in the morning of September 14, the high military command, led by the First Deputy Minister of Defense and the head of the exercises, Marshal Zhukov, drove 40 ZIM vehicles from Totskoye-2 to the main observation point. As the carrier aircraft approached the target, Zhukov stepped out onto the open observation platform. He was followed by all the marshals, generals and invited observers. Then Marshals A. Vasilevsky, I. Konev, R. Malinovsky, I. Bagramyan, S. Budyonny, V. Sokolovsky, S. Timoshenko, K. Vershinin, P. Peresypkin, V. Kazakov and academicians Kurchatov and Khariton climbed the tower in the right wing of the viewing platform.
On the left are delegations of the armies of the Commonwealth countries, led by ministers of defense and marshals, including Marshal of Poland K. Rokossovsky, Minister of Defense of the People's Republic of China Peng De-Hui, Minister of Defense of Albania Enver Hoxha.
The viewing platform was equipped with loudspeaker communications. Zhukov heard reports on the meteorological situation at the test site. The weather was clear, warm, and a moderate wind was blowing.
The Marshal decided to start the exercises... The order was given to the “Eastern” to break through the prepared defense of the “Western”, for which they would use a strategic aviation group of bomber and fighter aircraft, an artillery division and tanks. At 8 o'clock the first stage of the Vostochny's breakthrough and offensive began.
Over loudspeaker installations located throughout the exercise area, it was announced that the nuclear-powered TU-4 aircraft, carrying a bomb, had taken off from one of the airfields of the Volga Military District, located in the Saratov region. (Two crews were selected to participate in the exercises: Major Kutyrchev and Captain Lyasnikov. Until the very last moment, the pilots did not know who would be the main one and who would be the backup. Kutyrchev’s crew, who already had experience in flight testing an atomic bomb at the Semipalatinsk test site, had an advantage .)
On the day of departure for the exercise, both crews prepared in full: nuclear bombs were suspended on each of the planes, the pilots simultaneously started the engines, and reported their readiness to complete the mission. Kutyrchev's crew received the command to take off, where Captain Kokorin was the bombardier, Romensky was the second pilot, and Babets was the navigator.
10 minutes before the atomic strike, on the signal "Lightning" (atomic alarm), all troops located outside the restricted zone (8 km) took shelters and shelters or lay face down in trenches, communication passages, put on gas masks, closed their eyes, that is According to the memo, we took personal safety measures. Everyone present at the Bear Mountain observation post put on gas masks with dark protective films on the eyepieces.
At 9:20 a.m., the carrier aircraft, accompanied by two Il-28 bombers and three MiG-17 fighters, flew up to the territory of the Totsky training ground and made the first reconnaissance approach to the target.
Having made sure that all calculations based on earthly landmarks were correct, the commander, Major V. Kutorchev, brought the plane into the designated corridor in zone No. 5 and on the second approach set down on a combat course.
The crew commander reported to Zhukov: “I see the object!” Ukov gave the order on the radio: “Complete the task!” The answer was: “I’m covering it, I threw it away!”
So, at 9 hours 33 minutes, the crew of the carrier aircraft, at a speed of almost 900 km/h from an altitude of 8000 meters, dropped the Tatyanka atomic bomb (a beautiful name that became a symbol of death) weighing 5 tons, with a power of 50 kilotons. According to the memoirs of Lieutenant General Osin, a similar bomb was previously tested at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1951. After 45 seconds, at an altitude of 358 meters, an explosion occurred with a deviation of 280 meters from the planned epicenter in the square. By the way, in Japan, during the explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bombs with a yield of 21 and 16 kilotons were used, and the explosions were carried out at an altitude of 600 and 700 meters.
At the moment the thick steel shell of the bomb ruptured, a loud deafening sound (thunder) arose, then a blinding flash in the form of a large fireball. The resulting ultra-high pressure of several trillion atmospheres compressed the surrounding airspace, so a vacuum arose in the center of the ball. At the same time, an ultra-high temperature of 8 to 25 thousand degrees was formed with ultra-high one-time, all-penetrating radiation in the air, on the surface and in the ground.
The explosive in the bomb turned into plasma and scattered in different directions. Uprooted trees, earthen soil with living vegetation, dust and soot weighing several thousand tons rose from the surface of the earth into the resulting vacuum hole.
As a result, a nuclear mushroom stalk with a diameter of 2.5 - 3 km was formed. At this time, it became difficult for people and animals to breathe. At the same time, a high-power shock wave was formed at the center of the explosion. It hit the carrier aircraft and the accompanying aircraft. They were thrown up 50 - 60 meters, although they had already moved 10 kilometers away from the explosion site. The shock sound wave shook the surface of the earth within a radius of up to 70 kilometers, first in one direction and then in the other direction. The shaking of the earth within a radius of 20 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion was the same as during an earthquake of 6-9 points. At this time, the reaction continued in the center of the explosion at an altitude of 358 meters. First, a cumulus white-gray spinning cloud formed around the fiery one, which began to turn into a huge mushroom cap, growing like a giant monster. Uplifted trees three girths thick “floated” in it. The mushroom cap shimmered with multi-colored flowers and at an altitude of 1.5-3 km its diameter was 3-5 km. Then it turned white-gray, rose to 10 km and began to move east at a speed of 90 km/h. On the ground, within a radius of up to 3 km from the epicenter, a fire tornado arose, which caused severe fires within a radius of 11 km from the explosion. The radiation caused radioactive contamination of the air, land, water, experimental animals, equipment and, most importantly, people.
Zhukov and the observers were at the observation post at the time of the explosion. A bright flash burned everyone's faces. Then there were two powerful impacts: one from a bomb explosion, and the second reflected from the ground. The movement of the feather grass showed how the shock wave was going. Many had their caps torn off, but neither Zhukov nor Konev even looked back. Zhukov gazed intently at the course and consequences of the nuclear explosion.
5 minutes after the nuclear explosion, artillery preparation began, followed by a bomber strike. Guns and mortars of various calibers, Katyushas, tanks, self-propelled guns began to speak. More shells and bombs were fired that day than during the storming of Berlin.
An hour after the explosion, which changed the landscape of the training ground beyond recognition, infantry in gas masks and armored vehicles walked through the epicenter. To protect against light radiation, the fighters were recommended to wear an extra set of underwear. That's all! Almost none of the test participants knew then what the dangers of radioactive contamination were. For reasons of secrecy, no checks or examinations of the military and the population were carried out. On the contrary, all participants in the exercises were required to sign a non-disclosure of state and military secrets for a period of 25 years.
The pilots who dropped a nuclear bomb were awarded a Pobeda car for successfully completing this task. At the debriefing of the exercises, crew commander Vasily Kutyrchev received the Order of Lenin and, ahead of schedule, the rank of colonel from the hands of Bulganin.
"...In accordance with the plan of research and experimental work, in recent days a test of one of the types of atomic weapons was carried out in the Soviet Union, the purpose of which was to study the effect of a nuclear explosion. The test obtained valuable results that will help Soviet scientists and engineers successfully solve problems on protection against atomic attack."
This TASS message was published in Pravda on September 17, 1954. Three days after military exercises with the first use of atomic weapons, held at the Totsky training ground in the Orenburg region. It was these teachings that were hidden behind this vague formulation.
And not a word about the fact that the tests, in fact, were carried out with the participation of soldiers and officers, civilians who, in essence, performed an unprecedented sacrificial feat in the name of the future of peace and life on earth. But then they themselves still knew about it.
Now it is difficult to judge how justified such sacrifices were, because many people subsequently died from radiation sickness. But one thing is obvious - they despised death, fear and saved the world from nuclear madness.
Of course, the topic turned to the arms race in space. And there was mention of nuclear tests that had already been carried out in space.But we have already begun to forget about the nuclear bacchanalia that was staged at the turn of the 1950s-1960s by two superpowers - the USSR and the USA. Then, while improving their weapons systems, the main opponents in the global confrontation exploded nuclear and thermonuclear devices almost every day. Moreover, these tests were carried out in all natural spheres: in the atmosphere, underground, under water and even in space. It was possible to put an end to this madness only in 1963, when the USSR, USA and Great Britain signed a treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons in three environments (in the atmosphere, under water and in outer space).
But by that time, humanity had managed to “do a lot of things”...
OPERATION ARGUS
The beginning of the use of outer space as a nuclear testing site dates back to the summer of 1958, when preparations for Operation Argus began in an atmosphere of heightened secrecy in the United States. The Americans christened it in honor of the all-seeing, hundred-eyed god from Ancient Greece. To some, this analogy seemed appropriate, although it is very problematic to see any connection between the ancient Greek deity and the essence of the experiment being carried out.
The main goal of Operation Argus was to study the influence of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion produced in outer space on terrestrial radars, communication systems and electronic equipment of satellites and ballistic missiles. At least that's what the US military now claims. But these were rather incidental experiments. And the main task was to test nuclear charges. In addition, it was planned to study the interaction of radioactive isotopes of plutonium released during the explosion with the Earth's magnetic field.
The starting point for the experiment, as it is customary to write about it today, was a rather eccentric, at that time, theory put forward by an employee of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Nicholas Christofilos. He suggested that the greatest military effect from nuclear explosions in space could be achieved by creating artificial Earth radiation belts similar to natural radiation belts (Van Allen belts).
In order not to return to this issue, I will immediately say that the experiment confirmed the theory put forward and artificial belts actually appeared after explosions. They were discovered by instruments of the American research satellite Explorer 4, which later allowed us to talk about Operation Argus as the largest scientific experiment ever conducted in the world.
The southern part of the Atlantic Ocean between 35° and 55° S was chosen as the location for the operation, which was determined by the configuration of the magnetic field, which in this area is closest to the Earth’s surface and which could play the role of a kind of trap, capturing charged particles, formed by the explosion, and holding them in the field. And the flight altitude of the missiles made it possible to deliver nuclear weapons only to this area of the magnetic field.
To carry out explosions in space, nuclear charges of the W-25 type with a power of 1.7 kilotons, developed for the unguided Jin air-to-air rocket, were used. The weight of the charge itself was 98.9 kilograms. Structurally, it was made in the form of a streamlined cylinder with a length of 65.5 centimeters and a diameter of 44.2 centimeters. Before Operation Argus, the W-25 charge was tested three times and demonstrated its reliability. In addition, in all three tests the explosion power corresponded to the nominal one, which was important when conducting the experiment.
A modified X-17A ballistic missile developed by Lockheed was used as a means of delivering a nuclear charge. Its length with a combat charge was 13 meters, diameter - 2.1 meters.
To conduct the experiment, a flotilla of nine ships of the US 2nd Fleet was formed, operating under the designation of the top secret Task Force No. 88. The launches were carried out from the lead ship of the flotilla, Norton Sound.
The first test was carried out on August 27, 1958. The exact time of the rocket launch, as during the two subsequent experiments, is unknown. But, taking into account the speed and altitude of the rocket, we can roughly assume that the launch took place in the interval from 5 to 10 minutes before the known explosion time. The first nuclear explosion in space “thundered” at 02:28 GMT that day at an altitude of 161 kilometers above a point on the earth’s surface with coordinates 38.5° S. and 11.5° W, 1800 kilometers southwest of the South African port of Cape Town.
Three days later, on August 30, at 03:18 GMT, a second nuclear explosion was carried out at an altitude of 292 kilometers above a point on the earth's surface with coordinates 49.5° S. and 8.2°W
The last, third explosion within the framework of Operation Argus, “thundered” on September 6 at 22:13 GMT at an altitude of 750 kilometers (according to other sources - 467 kilometers) above a point on the earth’s surface 48.5° S. and 9.7°W This is the highest-altitude cosmic nuclear explosion in the entire short history of such experiments.
An important detail that is not remembered so often. All explosions within the framework of Operation Argus were only part of the experiments being carried out. They were accompanied by numerous launches of geophysical rockets with measuring equipment, which were carried out by American scientists from various parts of the globe immediately before the explosions and some time after them.
Thus, on August 27, four missiles were launched [Jason missile No. 1909 from Cape Canaveral in Florida; two Jason missiles No. 1914 and 1917 from Ramay Air Force Base in Puerto Rico; Jason rocket No. 1913 from the Wallops test site in Virginia]. And on August 30-31, nine missiles were launched from the same launch positions. True, the explosion on January 6 was not accompanied by launches, but observations of the ionosphere were carried out using weather balloons.
Coincidentally, Soviet specialists managed to obtain information about the first of the American space explosions. On the day of the test, August 27, three geophysical missiles were launched from the Kapustin Yar test site: one R-2A and two R-5A. Measuring equipment installed on the rockets managed to detect anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field. True, what caused these anomalies became known a little later.
The preparation and conduct of Operation Argus was surrounded by a dense veil of secrecy. However, the secret could not be kept for long. Just six months later, on March 19, 1959, the New York Times published an article detailing what the American military was doing in the South Atlantic. The latter had no choice but to reluctantly admit the fact of nuclear testing in space and announce the results of the measurements. However, not all details of the experiment have yet become available to the general public. On the one hand, this is explained by the fact that too much time has passed for the events described to lay claim to sensationalism. On the other hand, at present the issue of conducting nuclear explosions in space is not as relevant as it was forty years ago, and therefore they are less interested in it than in “modern nuclear problems.”
OPERATION “K”
The moratorium on nuclear testing, which was in force from 1958 to 1961, did not allow the Soviet side to immediately respond to Operation Argus. But soon after it was interrupted, the Soviet Union conducted similar experiments. Tests of domestic nuclear devices in space took place as part of Operation K. Their preparation and implementation was carried out by the State Commission chaired by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Colonel General Alexander Vasilyevich Gerasimov. Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences Alexander Nikolaevich Shchukin was appointed scientific director of the experiments, and his deputy was the deputy head of the 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Konstantin Aleksandrovich Trusov. The main task during Operation “K” was to test the influence of high-altitude and space nuclear explosions on the operation of radio-electronic means of missile attack detection and missile defense systems (system “A”).
The first experiments, designated “K-1” and “K-2”, were carried out over just one day - October 27, 1961. Both 1.2 kt munitions were delivered to the explosion sites (above the center of the experimental system “A” at the Sary-Shagan test site) by R-12 (8K63) ballistic missiles launched from the Kapustin Yar test site. The first explosion was carried out at an altitude of about 300 kilometers, and the second at an altitude of about 150 kilometers.
The cardinal difference between Soviet experiments and American nuclear explosions in space is that they had a clear functional focus - testing the operation of the missile defense system. In this regard, the testing algorithm was different than in the framework of Operation Argus, where the explosion was the main focus, and not the performance of other types of equipment.
As the chief designer of the “A” system, Grigory Vasilyevich Kisunko, later said in his book “The Secret Zone,” “the plan for each of the tests of the “K” series provided for the sequential launch of two R-12 missiles. The first carried a nuclear charge, the second was equipped with equipment for recording the damaging effects of a nuclear explosion. In the conditions of a real nuclear explosion, the second missile was intercepted by the B-1000 anti-missile system “A”, equipped with a telemetric (without warhead) warhead.”
Operation K was continued exactly a year later - in October 1962. Then three explosions were carried out, but one of them belongs to the high-altitude category, since it was carried out at an altitude of 80 kilometers, so I will not say anything about it, but will only talk about those that are referred to in the literature under the indices “K-3” and "K-4".
On the morning of October 22, an R-12 ballistic missile was launched from the launch site of the Kapustin Yar test site, the head of which contained a nuclear charge with a power of 300 kt. As you can see, the power of this device was significantly greater than what the Americans used in Operation Argus or during the launches of K-1 and K-2, but less than during the American test in the summer of 1962, which I will talk about write later. After 11 minutes, the artificial Sun lit up at an altitude of about 300 kilometers.
During the test, several problems were solved at once. Firstly, this was another test of the reliability of the nuclear charge carrier - the R-12 ballistic missile. Secondly, check the operation of the charge itself. Thirdly, elucidation of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion and its impact on various types of military equipment, including missiles and military satellites. Fourthly, the basic principles of the Taran missile defense system proposed by Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey, which provided for the defeat of enemy missiles with a series of nuclear explosions in their path, had to be tested.
And the timing of the K-3 test was not chosen by chance. Two days before the explosion, an artificial Earth satellite of the DS-A1 type (open name “Cosmos-11”) was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site, designed to study radiation arising from nuclear explosions at high altitudes, in a wide range of energies and efficiencies, and develop methods and means for detecting high-altitude nuclear explosions and obtaining other data. The information that Soviet scientists were going to obtain and received from this satellite turned out to be extremely valuable for the development of next-generation weapons systems.
In addition, this explosion in space could also be considered as a demonstration of Soviet power in the conditions of the “Carribean crisis” that was raging in those days. In fact, it was a very risky undertaking with difficult to predict consequences. The military leadership of the USSR and the USA had their nerves on edge, and any insufficiently thought-out decision, especially the manifestation of military activity, could be misinterpreted and end in a worldwide cataclysm. Luckily for us, everything ended well.
The K-3 experiment program was significantly broader than the tests conducted the year before. In addition to two R-12 ballistic missiles and anti-missile missiles from the Sary-Shagan test site, it was planned to use a number of geophysical and meteorological missiles, as well as the R-9 (8K75) intercontinental ballistic missile, which was to be launched from the 13th launcher of the Tyura-Tam test site in within the framework of the 2nd stage of flight design tests. The head of this missile had to pass as close as possible to the epicenter of the explosion. At the same time, it was planned to study the reliability of radio communications of the radio control system equipment, evaluate the accuracy of measuring movement parameters and determine the effect of a nuclear explosion on the level of received signals at the input of on-board and ground receiving devices of the radio control system.
However, the launch of the R-9 that day ended in failure. 2.4 seconds after launch, the 1st combustion chamber of the 1st stage collapsed, and the rocket fell 20 meters from the launch pad, seriously damaging it.
The fourth nuclear explosion as part of Operation K was carried out on October 28, 1962. According to the scenario, this experiment coincided with the previous one, with the difference that the “nine” was supposed to launch from an experimental ground launcher No. 5. The launch of the R-12 with a nuclear warhead took place at 04:30 GMT from the Kapustin Yar test site. And 11 minutes later, at an altitude of 150 kilometers, a nuclear device was detonated. System “A” worked without any problems.
But the launch of the R-9 from the Tyura-Tam test site again ended in an accident. The rocket took off from the launch pad at 04:37:17 GMT, but managed to rise to a height of only 20 meters when the 2nd combustion chamber of the 1st stage propulsion system failed. The rocket settled and fell onto the launcher, a column of flame shooting high into the sky. Thus, in just six days, two R-9 launchers were seriously damaged. They were not used in any further testing.
The explosion on October 28 ends not only the history of Soviet nuclear tests in space, but also the era of using near-Earth space as a testing ground for these deadly weapons.
TWO MORE EXPLOSIONS IN SPACE
And at the end of the story, I’ll tell you about two more American nuclear experiments in space. The dates of their implementation lie in the interval between the first and second phases of Operation “K”, so we have to talk about them separately.
One of these tests took place in the summer of 1962. As part of Operation Fishbowl, it was planned to detonate a W-49 nuclear charge with a power of 1.4 Mt at an altitude of about 400 kilometers. This experiment was carried out by the American military under the code name “Starfish”.
The first pancake that time turned out to be lumpy. The launch of the Thor ballistic missile (serial number 193) that took place on June 20 from the LE1 site of Johnson Atoll in the Pacific Ocean was an emergency - the rocket engine was turned off at the 59th second of the flight. The officer in charge of flight safety sent a command on board six seconds later, which activated the elimination mechanism. At an altitude of 10-11 kilometers the rocket was exploded. The explosive charge destroyed the warhead without triggering the nuclear device. Some of the debris fell back onto Johnston Atoll, the other part onto nearby Sand Atoll. The accident led to slight radioactive contamination of the area.
The experiment was repeated on July 9 of the same year. The Thor rocket with serial number 195 was used. This time everything went well. The explosion looked simply amazing - the nuclear glow was visible on Wake Island at a distance of 2200 kilometers, on Kwajalein Atoll (2600 kilometers) and even in New Zealand, 7000 kilometers south of Johnston!
Unlike the 1958 tests, when the first nuclear explosions occurred in space, the Starfish test quickly gained publicity and was accompanied by a noisy political campaign. The explosion was observed by US and USSR space assets. For example, the Soviet satellite Cosmos-5, located 1200 kilometers below the explosion horizon, recorded an instantaneous increase in the intensity of gamma radiation by several orders of magnitude, followed by a decrease by two orders of magnitude in 100 seconds. After the explosion, a vast and powerful radiation belt emerged in the Earth's magnetosphere. At least three satellites entering it were damaged due to the rapid degradation of solar panels. The presence of this belt had to be taken into account when planning the flights of the manned spacecraft Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 in August 1962 and Mercury-8 in October of the same year. The effects of magnetospheric pollution have been visible for several years.
And finally, the last nuclear explosion in space took place on October 20, 1962. In the documents of the US Department of Defense, this test took place under the code name “Chickmate”. The explosion occurred at an altitude of 147 kilometers above the Earth's surface, 69 kilometers from Johnson Atoll. The XW-50X1 nuclear warhead was delivered to the detonation site by an XM-33 “Scab” aircraft missile fired from a B-52 “Stratofortress” bomber. Data on the power of the explosion vary. Some sources call the figure less than 20 kt, while others - 60 kt. But what interests us in this case is not this figure, but the location of the test. And this was space.
So, let's take a brief summary of nuclear testing in space. A total of nine explosions were carried out: the Americans detonated five nuclear charges, the Soviet Union - four charges. Other nuclear powers, fortunately for us, did not support the nuclear race that had begun in space. And in the future, let's hope this doesn't happen.
sources
List of used literature:
1. Agapov V.M. To the launch of the first satellite of the DS series // Cosmonautics News, 1997. No. 6.
2. Afanasyev I.B. R-12 “Sandalwood”. // Supplement to M-Hobby magazine. - M.: ExPrint NV, 1997.
3. Zheleznyakov A.B. Secrets of rocket disasters: Payment for a breakthrough into space. - M.: Eksmo-Yauza, 2004.
4. Zheleznyakov A., Rosenblum L. Nuclear explosions in space. // Cosmonautics News, 2002, No. 9.
5. Kisunko G.V. Secret zone: Confession of the general designer. - M.: Sovremennik, 1996.
6. Pervov M.A. Missile weapons of the Strategic Missile Forces. - M.: Violanta, 1999.
7. Rockets and spacecraft of the Yuzhnoye design bureau // Comp. A.N. Mashchenko and others, under the general direction. ed. S.N. Konyukhova. - Dnepropetrovsk, ColorGraph LLC, RA Tandem-U LLC, 2001.
8. Temny V.V. The history of the discovery of the Earth's radiation belts: who, when and how? // Earth and the Universe. 1993. No. 5.
9. Chertok B.E. Rockets and people. Fili-Podlipki-Tyuratam. - M.: Mechanical Engineering, 1996.
10. Nuclear tests of the USSR / Col. authors ed. V.N. Mikhailova. - M.: Publishing House, 1997.
11. Nuclear archipelago / Comp. B.I. Ogorodnikov. - M.: Publishing House, 1995.
("Atomic Strategy", June 2005).
In the Soviet Union, already since 1918, research on nuclear physics was carried out, preparing the test of the first atomic bomb in the USSR. In Leningrad, at the Radium Institute, in 1937, a cyclotron was launched, the first in Europe. "In what year was the first atomic bomb test in the USSR?" - you ask. You will find out the answer very soon.
In 1938, on November 25, a commission on the atomic nucleus was created by decree of the Academy of Sciences. It included Sergei Vavilov, Abram Alikhanov, Abram Iofe, and others. They were joined two years later by Isai Gurevich and Vitaly Khlopin. By that time, nuclear research had already been carried out in more than 10 scientific institutes. In the same year, the USSR Academy of Sciences established the Commission on Heavy Water, which later became known as the Commission on Isotopes. After reading this article, you will learn how further preparation and testing of the first atomic bomb was carried out in the USSR.
Construction of a cyclotron in Leningrad, discovery of new uranium ores
In September 1939, construction of a cyclotron began in Leningrad. In April 1940, it was decided to create a pilot plant that would produce 15 kg of heavy water per year. However, due to the war that began at that time, these plans were not implemented. In May of the same year, Yu. Khariton, Ya. Zeldovich, N. Semenov proposed their theory of the development of a nuclear chain reaction in uranium. At the same time, work began to discover new uranium ores. These were the first steps that led to the creation and testing of an atomic bomb in the USSR several years later.
Physicists' idea of a future atomic bomb
Many physicists in the period from the late 30s to the early 40s already had a rough idea of what it would look like. The idea was to concentrate quickly enough in one place a certain amount (more than a critical mass) of material fissile under the influence of neutrons. After this, an avalanche-like increase in the number of atomic decays should begin in it. That is, it will be a chain reaction, as a result of which a huge charge of energy will be released and a powerful explosion will occur.
Problems encountered in creating the atomic bomb
The first problem was to obtain fissile material in sufficient volume. In nature, the only substance of this kind that could be found is an isotope of uranium with a mass number of 235 (that is, the total number of neutrons and protons in the nucleus), otherwise uranium-235. The content of this isotope in natural uranium is no more than 0.71% (uranium-238 - 99.2%). Moreover, the content of natural substances in the ore is at best 1%. Therefore, the isolation of uranium-235 was a rather difficult task.
As it soon became clear, an alternative to uranium is plutonium-239. It is almost never found in nature (it is 100 times less abundant than uranium-235). It can be obtained in acceptable concentrations in nuclear reactors by irradiating uranium-238 with neutrons. Building a reactor for this also presented significant difficulties.
The third problem was that it was not easy to collect the required amount of fissile material in one place. In the process of bringing subcritical parts closer together, even very quickly, fission reactions begin to occur in them. The energy released in this case may not allow the bulk of the atoms to participate in the fission process. Without having time to react, they will fly apart.
Invention of V. Maslov and V. Spinel
V. Maslov and V. Spinel from the Physico-Technical Institute of Kharkov in 1940 applied for the invention of ammunition based on the use of a chain reaction that triggers the spontaneous fission of uranium-235, its supercritical mass, which is created from several subcritical ones, separated by an explosive, impenetrable for neutrons and destroyed by explosion. The operability of such a charge raises great doubts, but nevertheless, a certificate for this invention was nevertheless obtained. However, this happened only in 1946.
American cannon scheme
For the first bombs, the Americans intended to use a cannon design, which used a real cannon barrel. With its help, one part of the fissile material (subcritical) was shot into another. But it was soon discovered that such a scheme was not suitable for plutonium due to the fact that the approach speed was insufficient.
Construction of a cyclotron in Moscow
In 1941, on April 15, the Council of People's Commissars decided to begin construction of a powerful cyclotron in Moscow. However, after the Great Patriotic War began, almost all work in the field of nuclear physics, designed to bring closer the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR, was stopped. Many nuclear physicists found themselves at the front. Others were reoriented to more pressing areas, as it seemed then.
Gathering information about the nuclear issue
Since 1939, the 1st Directorate of the NKVD and the GRU of the Red Army have been collecting information regarding the nuclear problem. In 1940, in October, the first message was received from D. Cairncross, which spoke of plans to create an atomic bomb. This issue was considered by the British Science Committee, on which Cairncross worked. In the summer of 1941, a bomb project called “Tube Alloys” was approved. At the beginning of the war, England was one of the world leaders in nuclear development. This situation arose largely thanks to the help of German scientists who fled to this country when Hitler came to power.
K. Fuchs, a member of the KKE, was one of them. He went in the fall of 1941 to the Soviet embassy, where he reported that he had important information about powerful weapons created in England. S. Kramer and R. Kuchinskaya (radio operator Sonya) were assigned to communicate with him. The first radiograms sent to Moscow contained information about a special method for separating uranium isotopes, gas diffusion, as well as about a plant being built for this purpose in Wales. After six transmissions, communication with Fuchs was lost.
The test of the atomic bomb in the USSR, the date of which is widely known today, was also prepared by other intelligence officers. Thus, in the United States, Semenov (Twain) at the end of 1943 reported that E. Fermi in Chicago managed to carry out the first chain reaction. The source of this information was the physicist Pontecorvo. At the same time, through foreign intelligence, closed works of Western scientists concerning atomic energy, dated 1940-1942, were received from England. The information contained in them confirmed that great progress had been made in creating the atomic bomb.
The wife of Konenkov (pictured below), a famous sculptor, worked with others on reconnaissance. She became close to Einstein and Oppenheimer, the greatest physicists, and influenced them for a long time. L. Zarubina, another resident in the USA, was part of the circle of people of Oppenheimer and L. Szilard. With the help of these women, the USSR managed to introduce agents into Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and the Chicago Laboratory - the largest nuclear research centers in America. Information on the atomic bomb in the United States was transmitted to Soviet intelligence in 1944 by the Rosenbergs, D. Greenglass, B. Pontecorvo, S. Sake, T. Hall, and K. Fuchs.
In 1944, at the beginning of February, L. Beria, People's Commissar of the NKVD, held a meeting of intelligence leaders. At it, a decision was made to coordinate the collection of information related to the atomic problem, which came through the GRU of the Red Army and the NKVD. For this purpose, department “C” was created. In 1945, on September 27, it was organized. P. Sudoplatov, GB Commissioner, headed this department.
Fuchs transmitted in January 1945 a description of the design of the atomic bomb. Intelligence, among other things, also obtained materials on the separation of uranium isotopes by electromagnetic methods, data on the operation of the first reactors, instructions for the production of plutonium and uranium bombs, data on the size of the critical mass of plutonium and uranium, on the design of explosive lenses, on plutonium-240, on the sequence and the timing of bomb assembly and production operations. The information also concerned the method of setting the bomb initiator into action and the construction of special plants for isotope separation. Diary entries were also obtained, which contained information about the first test explosion of a bomb in the United States in July 1945.
The information received through these channels accelerated and facilitated the task assigned to Soviet scientists. Western experts believed that the USSR could create a bomb only in 1954-1955. However, they were wrong. The first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place in 1949, in August.
New stages in the creation of the atomic bomb
In April 1942, M. Pervukhin, People's Commissar of the Chemical Industry, was acquainted, by order of Stalin, with materials relating to the work on the atomic bomb carried out abroad. To evaluate the information presented in the report, Pervukhin proposed creating a group of specialists. It included, on the recommendation of Ioffe, young scientists Kikoin, Alikhanov and Kurchatov.
In 1942, on November 27, the GKO decree “On Uranium Mining” was issued. It provided for the creation of a special institute, as well as the start of work on the processing and extraction of raw materials, and geological exploration. All this was supposed to be carried out so that the first atomic bomb was tested in the USSR as soon as possible. The year 1943 was marked by the fact that NKCM began mining and processing uranium ore in Tajikistan, at the Tabarsh mine. The plan was 4 tons of uranium salts per year.
The previously mobilized scientists were recalled from the front at this time. In the same year, 1943, on February 11, Laboratory No. 2 of the Academy of Sciences was organized. Kurchatov was appointed its head. She was supposed to coordinate the work on creating an atomic bomb.
In 1944, Soviet intelligence received a reference book that contained valuable information about the availability of uranium-graphite reactors and the determination of reactor parameters. However, the uranium needed to load even a small experimental nuclear reactor was not yet available in our country. In 1944, on September 28, the USSR government obliged NKCM to hand over uranium salts and uranium to the state fund. Laboratory No. 2 was entrusted with the task of storing them.
Works carried out in Bulgaria
A large group of specialists, led by V. Kravchenko, head of the 4th special department of the NKVD, in November 1944, went to study the results of geological exploration in liberated Bulgaria. In the same year, on December 8, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer the processing and extraction of uranium ores from the NKMC to the 9th Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Main State MP of the NKVD. In March 1945, S. Egorov was appointed head of the mining and metallurgical department of the 9th Directorate. At the same time, in January, NII-9 was organized to study uranium deposits, solve problems of obtaining plutonium and metallic uranium, and processing raw materials. By that time, about one and a half tons of uranium ore were arriving from Bulgaria per week.
Construction of a diffusion plant
Since 1945, in March, after information was received from the United States through the NKGB about a bomb design built on the principle of implosion (that is, compression of fissile material by exploding a conventional explosive), work began on a design that had significant advantages over a cannon one. In April 1945, V. Makhanev wrote a note to Beria. It said that in 1947 it was planned to launch a diffusion plant to produce uranium-235, located at Laboratory No. 2. The productivity of this plant was supposed to be approximately 25 kg of uranium per year. This should have been enough for two bombs. The American one actually needed 65 kg of uranium-235.
Involving German scientists in research
On May 5, 1945, during the battle for Berlin, property belonging to the Society's Physics Institute was discovered. On May 9, a special commission headed by A. Zavenyagin was sent to Germany. Her task was to find the scientists who worked there on the atomic bomb and to collect materials on the uranium problem. A significant group of German scientists were taken to the USSR together with their families. These included Nobel laureates N. Riehl and G. Hertz, professors Geib, M. von Ardene, P. Thyssen, G. Pose, M. Volmer, R. Deppel and others.
The creation of the atomic bomb is delayed
To produce plutonium-239, it was necessary to build a nuclear reactor. Even for the experimental one, about 36 tons of uranium metal, 500 tons of graphite and 9 tons of uranium dioxide were needed. By August 1943, the graphite problem was solved. Its production began in May 1944 at the Moscow Electrode Plant. However, the country did not have the required amount of uranium by the end of 1945.
Stalin wanted the first atomic bomb to be tested in the USSR as soon as possible. The year by which it was supposed to be realized was initially 1948 (until spring). However, by this time there were not even materials for its production. A new deadline was set on February 8, 1945 by government decree. The creation of the atomic bomb was postponed until March 1, 1949.
The final stages that prepared the test of the first atomic bomb in the USSR
The event, which had been sought for so long, occurred somewhat later than the re-scheduled date. The first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place in 1949, as planned, but not in March, but in August.
In 1948, on June 19, the first industrial reactor ("A") was launched. Plant "B" was built to separate produced plutonium from nuclear fuel. Irradiated uranium blocks were dissolved and plutonium was separated from uranium by chemical methods. Then the solution was further purified from fission products in order to reduce its radiation activity. In April 1949, Plant B began producing bomb parts from plutonium using NII-9 technology. The first research reactor operating on heavy water was launched at the same time. The development of production proceeded with numerous accidents. When eliminating their consequences, cases of overexposure of personnel were observed. However, at that time they did not pay attention to such trifles. The most important thing was to carry out the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR (its date was 1949, August 29).
In July, a set of charge parts was ready. A group of physicists, led by Flerov, went to the plant to carry out physical measurements. A group of theorists, led by Zeldovich, was sent to process the measurement results, as well as calculate the probability of incomplete rupture and efficiency values.
Thus, the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR was carried out in 1949. On August 5, the commission accepted a charge of plutonium and sent it to KB-11 by letter train. By this time the necessary work was almost completed. The control assembly of the charge was carried out in KB-11 on the night of August 10-11. The device was then dismantled, and its parts were packed for shipment to the landfill. As already mentioned, the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place on August 29. The Soviet bomb was thus created in 2 years and 8 months.
Testing of the first atomic bomb
In the USSR in 1949, on August 29, a nuclear charge was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. There was a device on the tower. The power of the explosion was 22 kt. The design of the charge used was the same as the “Fat Man” from the USA, and the electronic filling was developed by Soviet scientists. The multilayer structure was represented by an atomic charge. In it, using compression by a spherical converging detonation wave, plutonium was transferred to a critical state.
Some features of the first atomic bomb
5 kg of plutonium was placed in the center of the charge. The substance was established in the form of two hemispheres surrounded by a shell of uranium-238. It served to contain the core, which inflated during the chain reaction, so that as much of the plutonium as possible could react. In addition, it was used as a reflector and also a neutron moderator. The tamper was surrounded by a shell made of aluminum. It served to uniformly compress the nuclear charge by the shock wave.
For safety reasons, the installation of the unit that contained fissile material was carried out immediately before using the charge. For this purpose, there was a special through conical hole, closed with an explosive plug. And in the inner and outer cases there were holes that were closed with lids. The fission of approximately 1 kg of plutonium nuclei was responsible for the power of the explosion. The remaining 4 kg did not have time to react and were sprayed uselessly when the first test of an atomic bomb was carried out in the USSR, the date of which you now know. Many new ideas for improving charges arose during the implementation of this program. They concerned, in particular, increasing the material utilization rate, as well as reducing weight and dimensions. Compared to the first ones, the new models have become more compact, more powerful and more elegant.
So, the first test of an atomic bomb in the USSR took place in 1949, on August 29. It served as the beginning of further developments in this area, which continue to this day. The testing of the atomic bomb in the USSR (1949) became an important event in the history of our country, marking the beginning of its status as a nuclear power.
In 1953, at the same Semipalatinsk test site, the first test in the history of Russia took place. Its power was already 400 kt. Compare the first tests in the USSR of an atomic bomb and a hydrogen bomb: power 22 kt and 400 kt. However, this was just the beginning.
On September 14, 1954, the first military exercises were carried out, during which an atomic bomb was used. They were called "Operation Snowball". The testing of an atomic bomb in 1954 in the USSR, according to information declassified in 1993, was carried out, among other things, with the aim of finding out how radiation affects humans. The participants in this experiment signed an agreement that they would not disclose information about the exposure for 25 years.
On July 29, 1985, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev announced the decision of the USSR to unilaterally stop any nuclear explosions before January 1, 1986. We decided to talk about five famous nuclear test sites that existed in the USSR.
Semipalatinsk test site
The Semipalatinsk Test Site is one of the largest nuclear test sites in the USSR. It also came to be known as SITP. The test site is located in Kazakhstan, 130 km northwest of Semipalatinsk, on the left bank of the Irtysh River. The landfill area is 18,500 sq km. On its territory is the previously closed city of Kurchatov. The Semipalatinsk test site is famous for the fact that the first nuclear weapons test in the Soviet Union was conducted here. The test was carried out on August 29, 1949. The bomb's yield was 22 kilotons.
On August 12, 1953, the RDS-6s thermonuclear charge with a yield of 400 kilotons was tested at the test site. The charge was placed on a tower 30 m above the ground. As a result of this test, part of the test site was very heavily contaminated with radioactive products of the explosion, and a small background remains in some places to this day. On November 22, 1955, the RDS-37 thermonuclear bomb was tested over the test site. It was dropped by an airplane at an altitude of about 2 km. On October 11, 1961, the first underground nuclear explosion in the USSR was carried out at the test site. From 1949 to 1989, at least 468 nuclear tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, including 125 atmospheric and 343 underground nuclear test explosions.
Nuclear tests have not been carried out at the test site since 1989.
Test site on Novaya Zemlya
The test site on Novaya Zemlya was opened in 1954. Unlike the Semipalatinsk test site, it was removed from populated areas. The nearest large settlement - the village of Amderma - was located 300 km from the test site, Arkhangelsk - more than 1000 km, Murmansk - more than 900 km.
From 1955 to 1990, 135 nuclear explosions were carried out at the test site: 87 in the atmosphere, 3 underwater and 42 underground. In 1961, the most powerful hydrogen bomb in human history, the 58-megaton Tsar Bomba, also known as Kuzka’s Mother, was exploded on Novaya Zemlya.
In August 1963, the USSR and the USA signed a treaty banning nuclear tests in three environments: in the atmosphere, outer space and under water. Limitations were also adopted on the power of the charges. Underground explosions continued to occur until 1990.
Totsky training ground
The Totsky training ground is located in the Volga-Ural Military District, 40 km east of the city of Buzuluk. In 1954, tactical military exercises under the code name “Snowball” were held here. The exercise was led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov. The purpose of the exercise was to test the capabilities of breaking through enemy defenses using nuclear weapons. Materials related to these exercises have not yet been declassified.
During an exercise on September 14, 1954, a Tu-4 bomber dropped an RDS-2 nuclear bomb with a yield of 38 kilotons of TNT from an altitude of 8 km. The explosion was carried out at an altitude of 350 m. 600 tanks, 600 armored personnel carriers and 320 aircraft were sent to attack the contaminated territory. The total number of military personnel who took part in the exercises was about 45 thousand people. As a result of the exercise, thousands of its participants received varying doses of radioactive radiation. Participants in the exercises were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which resulted in the victims being unable to tell doctors about the causes of their illnesses and receive adequate treatment.
Kapustin Yar
The Kapustin Yar training ground is located in the northwestern part of the Astrakhan region. The test site was created on May 13, 1946 to test the first Soviet ballistic missiles.
Since the 1950s, at least 11 nuclear explosions have been carried out at the Kapustin Yar test site at altitudes ranging from 300 m to 5.5 km, the total yield of which is approximately 65 atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima. On January 19, 1957, a Type 215 anti-aircraft guided missile was tested at the test site. It had a 10-kiloton nuclear warhead, designed to combat the main US nuclear strike force - strategic aviation. The missile exploded at an altitude of about 10 km, hitting the target aircraft - two Il-28 bombers controlled by radio control. This was the first high air nuclear explosion in the USSR.