Where is the lost atomic bomb? Tsar bomb: an atomic bomb that was too powerful for this world. Where is the bomb.

It is no longer secret information that during the Cold War, about 50 nuclear warheads were lost, and not all of them remained lying in deserted areas.

In 1980, the US Department of Commerce published a report in which there were already 32 cases of loss of nuclear bombs. At the same time, the same documents were issued and navy under the Freedom of Information Act, which listed 381 incidents with nuclear weapons in the United States between 1965 and 1977. We have already read about 13 cases related to and one of them, which concerns the tragedy over the Spanish village of Palomares, is simply shocking.

Let's find out more about this case.

On January 21, 1968, a US Air Force B-52 strategic bomber crashed near the American base at North Star Bay. On board crashed aircraft had four such bombs. The plane broke through the ice and ended up on the seabed. Officially, the US authorities announced that all atomic bombs were raised from sea ​​day. However, in reality, only three bombs were discovered and recovered from the Arctic Ocean. And the fourth charge was never found.

So how was it...

The plane crash over the Thule base occurred on January 21, 1968, when, after a fire broke out on board a B-52 strategic bomber, the crew was forced to urgently leave the plane over the Thule Air Force Base in Greenland and the unmanned plane crashed 12 km from the base. The bomber flew combat patrols as part of Operation Chrome Dome (English) and carried four B28FI thermonuclear bombs (English). As a result of the crash of the aircraft left by the crew, thermonuclear munitions were destroyed, causing radiation contamination of the area. Subsequently, reports appeared in the press, based on declassified documents, that during the search work, fragments of only three of the four bombs on board were found, and the fate of the fourth remains unknown.

1. Flight mission

Since 1960, the US Air Force Strategic Command has been conducting Operation Chrome Dome, which consisted of constant combat patrols in the air of strategic bombers with thermonuclear weapons on board, in readiness to strike targets in the USSR. Since 1961, as part of the operation, tasks have been carried out under the code name "Hard Head" (Eng. Hard Head) to visually monitor the radar station at Thule airbase, which served as a key component of the BMEWS missile attack early warning system. The purpose of "Hard Head" was to obtain a prompt assessment of the situation in the event of a loss of communication with the station. The aircraft operating under this mission also carried thermonuclear bombs.

Set of four thermonuclear bombs B28

2. Disaster

On January 21, 1968, a B-52G bomber belonging to the 380th bomber wing flew from Plattsburgh Air Force Base, located in Plattsburgh, New York, to the next patrol according to the Hard Head plan. strategic aviation USA. The captain of the ship was Captain John Hogue. On board, in addition to five full-time crew members, were a replacement navigator, Captain Chris Curtis, and a spare (third) pilot, Major Alfred D "Mario.

Before taking off, D "Mario put on the ventilation hole of the heating system, under the seat of the navigator-instructor in the aft part of the lower deck, three foam rubber, fabric-covered pillows, and shortly after departure, another one. The flight went without incident, with the exception of in-flight refueling from the tanker KC-135, which had to be manually produced due to autopilot problems.

About an hour after refueling, the commander ordered the co-pilot, Captain Leonard Svitenko, to change for rest, and Major D "Mario to take his place. Since it was cold in the cockpit, D" Mario opened the air intake valve from the engine air path to the heating system. Due to a technical malfunction, the hot air from the turbine was practically not cooled when it entered the heating system, and soon it became very hot in the cabin, and the foam cushions folded under the seat ignited. It smelled like burning rubber. The crew began to search for the source of the smell, and the navigator, having examined the lower deck twice, discovered a source of ignition. Attempts to extinguish the flames with two fire extinguishers failed, and at 15:22 EST, when the plane was 140 kilometers from Thule Air Base, Captain Hog ​​transmitted a distress call and requested permission for an emergency landing. Within five minutes, all fire extinguishers on board were used up, power was cut off, and the cockpit was filled with smoke to such an extent that the pilots could not distinguish instrument readings. The commander of the ship, realizing that it would not be possible to land the car, ordered the crew to leave the plane. Four crew members ejected as soon as D "Mario confirmed that the plane was directly above the base. They were followed by the pilots - Hog himself and D" Mario. Co-pilot Svitenko, left without an ejection seat, tried to leave the car through the lower hatch, but received a fatal head injury.

The unmanned aircraft flew north for some time, then turned 180° and crashed onto the ice of North Star Bay at 15:39 EST. On impact, the conventional fuses in all four bombs exploded, and although there was no nuclear explosion, the radioactive components were scattered over a large area. The ignited aviation fuel melted through the ice and the wreckage went to the bottom of the ocean.

Hog and D "Mario landed directly on the territory of the air base with a difference of ten minutes and immediately informed the base commander that at least six crew members managed to eject, and that hydrogen bombs were on board the crashed B-52. Rescuers managed to find the rest of the survivors The longest search was for Captain Curtis, who left the plane first and landed at a distance of 9.7 km from the base.He was found only after 21 hours and suffered from hypothermia (the air temperature reached -31 °), but managed to survive, wrapped parachute.

Aerial reconnaissance of the crash site, carried out almost immediately, was able to detect only six engines, a tire and small debris on the ice. The incident was classified as Broken Arrow, a code for a non-war threatening nuclear incident.

Loading contaminated ice into tanks

3. Crested Ice Project

Explosions and fire destroyed most debris scattered over an area approximately 4.8 km long and 1.6 km wide. Parts of the bomb bay were found 3.2 km north of the crash site, indicating that the aircraft began to break down while still in the air. The ice at the impact site was broken, forming a polynya with a diameter of about 50 m. South of the impact point, burning jet fuel left a blackened spot 670 by 120 m, this area was most contaminated with spilled JP-4 fuel and radioactive elements, including plutonium, uranium, americium and tritium, the plutonium concentration reached 380 mg/m².

American and Danish services immediately began work to clean up and decontaminate the area. The project was officially codenamed Crested Ice, and (unofficially among the members) Dr. Freezelove. The goal of the project was to complete the work before the spring thaw, in order to prevent radioactive contamination of the ocean.

The head of the operation was appointed US Air Force General Richard Hunziker (eng. Richard Overton Hunziker). To ensure round-the-clock operation in the immediate vicinity of the crash site, the "Huntziker Camp" was created, consisting of residential igloos, a power plant, a communications center and a helicopter port. Two ice roads were laid to communicate with the air base. Later, several prefabricated houses, a trailer with decontamination equipment and a public latrine were installed.

To control the decontamination of people and equipment, on January 25, a “ zero line"- the border of the contamination zone measuring 1.6 by 4.8 km (1 by 2 miles), within which alpha decay was recorded. The operation was carried out in extreme weather conditions, the average air temperature was about -40° Celsius, periodically dropping to -60°, the wind speed reached 40 m/s. Since the accident occurred during the polar night, they had to work under artificial lighting, the first sunrise took place only on February 14.

With the help of graders, contaminated snow and ice from the accident site were loaded into wooden containers. The containers were stockpiled at a site near the air base, and then reloaded into steel tanks, which were sent by sea to the United States. The fragments of the hydrogen bombs were sent to the Pantex plant in Texas for examination, and the disposal tanks were sent to the Savana River nuclear repository in South Carolina.

The Air Force monitored levels of airborne contamination through respirator checks. Of the 9,837 respirators assembled, 335 registered alpha decay, but within acceptable limits. The level of plutonium contamination was checked using urine tests, and no traces of plutonium were found in any of the 756 samples taken.

The operation ended on September 13, 1968, when last tank was loaded on a ship bound for the United States. A total of 2,100 m3 (55,000 gallons) of radioactive liquid and 30 tanks of various materials, some of which were also infected. By the end of the project, 700 American and Danish specialists, as well as more than 70 US government agencies, took part in it. The cost of the operation is estimated at $9.4 million ($58.8 million in 2010 prices).

Submersible Star III

4. Search for bombs

In August 1968, an underwater search was organized for the remnants of hydrogen bombs, especially the uranium shells of the second stages, using underwater vehicle Star III (Eng. Star III). The real goals of the operation were classified, the instruction prescribed in discussions with the Danes to mention the operation as "exploring the ocean floor at the crash site." Underwater work was associated with significant technical difficulties and was interrupted ahead of schedule. As a result of the search, one practically intact uranium shell and fragments were found, which together correspond to two more, and some minor details. The fourth shell was not found. An Atomic Energy Commission document dated September 1968 indicated that the fourth shell was believed to be in "a heap of massive debris found at the bottom".

Operation Chromedome

Operation Chrome Dome was greatly scaled back after the Palomares disaster, and finally abandoned after the Thule incident, as the costs and risks associated with the operation were reassessed as unacceptable. Intercontinental ballistic missiles land-based and sea-based have become for the United States the main means of ensuring nuclear parity.

After the disasters over Palomares and Thule, in which a conventional explosion led to the dispersion nuclear materials, the researchers concluded that the explosive used in the construction of the bombs was not stable enough to withstand the conditions of a plane crash. It was also found that the electrical circuits of the safety devices are not sufficiently reliable, and in the event of a fire there is a risk of a short circuit. These conclusions served as an impetus for the start of a new stage of research and development work to improve safety. nuclear weapons.

Livermore National Laboratory has developed the so-called Susan Test to test explosives for stability. The test consisted of firing a special projectile at a sample of explosives placed on a hard metal surface. By 1979, Los Alamos National Laboratory had developed a new "low-sensitivity" high explosive for use in nuclear devices. Ray Kidder (English), an American physicist and designer of nuclear weapons, argued that if the bombs had been equipped with new explosives during the Palomares and Thule disasters, the explosions would not have occurred.

It's been 40 years...

Bomber pilot John Hogue, almost half a century after the incident, spoke about what happened: "The situation got out of control. A fire started in the cockpit, and after five minutes we had practically no control over the car. For the first time in my life, I had to send an SOS signal." Another pilot of the crashed B-52, Joe Di-Amario, testifies: "We only had a few minutes to reach military base in Tula [Greenland], we even saw landing lights, but the situation rapidly deteriorated. The car could not be saved."

For local residents, the incident was a shock. When the plane crashed, the fuel tanks detonated. An eyewitness to the crash, who watched the plane crash from the shore, said: "I saw an explosion. At first, nothing was heard, but I saw a monstrous explosion." Another witness to the fall of the B-52 shared his memories of what he saw: “We were sitting in a bar. It was a typical Sunday morning when the news came that the plane had nuclear bombs fell into the ocean, breaking through the ice. People were shocked."

Immediately after the crash, search teams were equipped. Hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of radioactive snow and ice were removed from the crash site. They searched for a long time, even a submarine came to the place where the bomber crashed. Three nuclear charges were found and successfully defused, but the fourth bomb was never found, although it was officially announced that all the consequences of the crash were eliminated, the bombs were found and raised from the seabed.

An eyewitness to the incident, a local resident, recalls: “We were young and were happy to help the US military. They collected the remains of the aircraft and equipment, loaded everything into containers and took it to the base. We were not told much about how things really were.”

Everyone who took part in the rescue operation was thanked, and the case was closed, having been archived under the heading "secret" for a long 40 years. Now the secrecy period established by US law has expired, and it has become clear that Greenland has been living on a nuclear bomb for the past 40 years.

In fact, only three bombs were discovered and recovered from the Arctic Ocean. And the fourth charge was never found. This is evidenced by a declassified American government video obtained by the Air Force.

According to the documents, by the end of January, one of the blackened sections of ice in the area of ​​the accident was visible. The ice there froze again, and through it the outlines of the weapon's parachute were visible. By April, it was decided to send a Star III submarine to the area of ​​​​the incident to search for lost bomb under registration number 78252. The real purpose of the submarine's arrival was deliberately hidden from the Danish authorities, the Air Force notes.

"The fact that this operation involves the search for an object or a missing piece of a weapon must be treated as a confidential NOFORN (which means not to be disclosed to any foreign country),” reads one of the documents dated July.

Meanwhile, the underwater search was not crowned with success. At first, various technical problems prevented this, and then winter came. It was decided to stop the search operation, the documents say. They also say that the missing part of the weapon contained radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium.

And now, according to the Air Force, local residents are concerned that the bomb has corroded under the influence of salt water and poses a huge threat to the environment.

sources

As it was announced hydrogen bomb caused an extremely negative reaction of the world community. The threat of imposing new sanctions hung over official Pyongyang. In a similar way, the leading countries of the world, primarily those armed with nuclear weapons, seek to prevent its further proliferation.

One of the biggest threats of the current moment is the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the so-called "rogue states" or terrorist groups.

At the same time, it is taken for granted that the munitions in service with the powers that have long been members of the "nuclear club" are under strict control and do not pose any threat.

In fact, this is far from the case. Information about egregious cases of negligent handling of nuclear bombs, no, no, yes, and it appears. For example, in the late summer of 2007, an American B-52 strategic bomber, mistakenly equipped with nuclear weapons, flew 1,500 miles over America with these weapons on board before the loss was noticed.

The bomber took off from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and landed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana more than three hours later. Only then did the crew discover that 6 cruise missiles armed with W80-1 warheads with a capacity of 5 to 150 kilotons were placed under the wings of the aircraft.

The US military was quick to state that the munitions had not posed a threat all this time and were under control. However, the squadron commander was removed from his post, and the crew was forbidden to work with a combat nuclear arsenal.

But the 2007 incident is a trifle compared to the cases when the US Air Force simply lost the most real military nuclear bombs.

Uranium as a gift to Canadians

In 1968, the US Department of Defense first published a list of accidents with nuclear weapons, which listed 13 serious accidents that occurred between 1950 and 1968. An updated list was released in 1980 with 32 cases. Meanwhile, the US Navy, which released classified data under the Freedom of Information Act, admitted 381 incidents with nuclear weapons between 1965 and 1977 alone.

The history of such emergencies began in February 1950, when, during an exercise, a B-36 bomber, playing the role of a Soviet Air Force aircraft that decided to drop a nuclear bomb on San Francisco, crashed in British Columbia. The bomb that was on board the aircraft did not have a capsule that triggers the process leading to an atomic explosion.

After the disappearance of the B-36, the leadership of the exercise considered that the plane had fallen into the ocean and stopped the search. But three years later, the US military accidentally stumbled upon the wreckage of the aircraft and the lost atomic bomb. They tried not to make the scandalous case widely publicized.

In 1949, the Soviet Union tested its own atomic bomb. In the United States, they reacted rather nervously to this, increasing the number of sorties with real atomic charges several times over.

But the more often planes take to the skies, the higher the risk of accidents. Only in 1950 in the US Air Force there were 4 cases of accidents with aircraft carrying atomic weapon. One of the most dangerous incidents occurred over Canada, where the crew of a B-50 bomber, which began to malfunction, decided to drop a Mark 4 atomic bomb into the St. Lawrence River, having previously turned on the self-destruct system. As a result, self-destruction occurred at an altitude of 750 meters, and 45 kilograms of uranium fell into the river. Local residents were told that the incident was a planned test during a military exercise.

Resort with a nuclear filling

In 1956 water mediterranean sea became richer by two containers of weapons-grade plutonium - this happened after the crash of a B-47 bomber flying to Morocco. These containers have never been found.

In 1957, an American C-124 transport aircraft carrying three nuclear warheads, due to an emergency on board, decided to drop two bombs into the Atlantic Ocean. To this day, they have not been found.

In February 1958, a Mark 15 hydrogen bomb hit the bottom of Wasso Bay near the resort town of Tybee Island on Tybee Island, Georgia. This happened after a collision between a B-47 bomber and an F-86 fighter. It was not possible to find the bomb, and careless American holidaymakers are still resting next to the "neighbor" of enormous destructive power. However, the US military department insists on the version that in 1958 it was not a real nuclear bomb that disappeared, but only its dummy.

The US military has a special code "Broken Arrow", which means that there has been a loss of a nuclear weapon, that is, an emergency of the highest category.

Curiosity as a vice

Less than a month after the events at Tybee Island, the Broken Arrow code was reactivated, this time a Mark 6 bomb was lost over South Carolina. This time, when it reached the ground, it exploded, leaving a crater 9 meters deep and 21 meters in diameter. Fortunately, the usual charge detonated, and there was no nuclear capsule inside.

When they began to find out how the B-47 bomber lost the bomb that was being transported to England, the highest ranks american army grabbed the heart. It turned out that one of the crew members, who decided to get to know the bomb better, accidentally pressed the emergency release lever, releasing the ammunition "to the wild."

In 1961, a B-52 bomber carrying two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs exploded mid-air. One of the bombs that fell into the swamp was found after a long excavation. The second one safely descended by parachute and calmly waited for the search party. But when the experts began to study it, they almost turned gray with horror - three of the four fuses that prevented a nuclear explosion turned off. From the most powerful thermonuclear explosion, America was saved by a low-voltage switch, which was a quarter fuse.

In 1965, another American hydrogen bomb found shelter on the ocean floor at a depth of 5 kilometers. This happened after an A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft equipped with a nuclear charge accidentally fell into the ocean from the Ticonderoga aircraft carrier.

Spanish "Chernobyl"

Incidents that occurred over their own territory, the US military tried not to make public. But on January 17, 1966, an emergency occurred international scope. At an altitude of 9500 meters off the coast of Spain, while refueling, a US Air Force B-52G bomber with a nuclear weapon on board rammed a KC-135 Stratotanker tanker aircraft. The B-52G disintegrated in the air, three of the seven crew members died, the rest ejected. And four Mark28 hydrogen bombs, equipped with drag parachutes, fell uncontrollably down. A tanker plane also exploded, the wreckage of which was scattered over an area of ​​40 square kilometers.

But the American military was more interested in the fate of the bombs. As it turned out, one of them fell into the ocean, nearly drowning the boat of a 40-year-old local fisherman from the village of Palomares. Francisco Simo Ortza.

It is interesting that when the fisherman turned to the police, they only shrugged their shoulders - the local law enforcement officers were not informed about the emergency.

Meanwhile, literally the next day, the inhabitants of the village of Palomares felt as if they were in a war - their locality and a ten-kilometer zone around it was cordoned off by NATO soldiers and officers conducting a search operation.

It was clear that something extraordinary was happening, but only three days later the US military command recognized the loss of a nuclear bomb in a plane crash, but only one. As stated, she fell into the ocean and does not pose a danger to local residents.

Three others were not reported. The search party managed to find one of them descended on her parachute into the half-dried bed of the Almansora River.

With the other two things were much worse. Them parachute systems did not work, and they crashed into the ground one and a half kilometers west of the village, as well as on its eastern outskirts. The fuses that set off the main charge did not work, otherwise the Spanish coast would have turned into a radioactive desert. But the detonated TNT caused the release of a dense cloud of highly radioactive plutonium into the atmosphere.

According to the official version, 230 hectares of soil, including farmland, were exposed to radioactive contamination. Despite the decontamination work carried out, 2 hectares of the territory around the bombing sites are still considered undesirable for visiting.

The fourth bomb was found and lifted from the seabed 80 days later, after they did find out what Francisco Simo Orts had seen. The work to find and recover the bomb cost the United States $84 million, the highest cost of a sea rescue operation in the 20th century.

The US government has paid more than $700,000 in compensation to local residents. The US Air Force announced the cessation of flights over Spain of bombers with nuclear weapons on board.

In order to reassure citizens that the sea in the area of ​​the accident is safe, US Ambassador to Spain Angier Beadle Duke and Spanish Tourism Minister Manuel Fraga Ilibarn in the presence of journalists, they personally bathed in the water, which many considered contaminated.

Forty years later, in 2006, Spain and the United States signed an agreement to clean up the area near the village of Palomares from the remnants of plutonium-239 that fell into the area as a result of the disaster on January 17, 1966.

Greenlandic "souvenir"

On January 21, 1968, a US Air Force B-52 strategic bomber crashed near the American base at North Star Bay in Greenland. Aircraft flying from this base on patrol were ready to strike at the USSR and had nuclear weapons on board.

The B-52 that fell on January 21 was equipped with four nuclear bombs. The plane broke through the ice and went to the bottom of the ocean. According to information released in 1968, all the bombs were found and defused. Years later, it became known that only three ammunition was able to be raised to the surface. The fourth, after several months of search work, was left at the bottom.

Hundreds of US military and Danish civilian specialists from the airbase were involved in the cleanup work. 10,500 tons of contaminated snow, ice and other radioactive waste were collected in barrels and sent for disposal in the United States at the Savannah River plant. The operation cost the US Treasury $10 million.

The disaster in Greenland forced US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamaru order the cessation of combat patrols with nuclear bombs on board.

To date, the US Department of Defense recognizes the irretrievable loss of 11 nuclear bombs during the Cold War.

As for the Soviet Union, according to the official statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense, no such cases were recorded in the USSR Air Force. Information about the fall of a Soviet strategic bomber with two nuclear bombs on board, allegedly taking place in 1976 in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, has never been confirmed by officials.

It is quite possible that in the USSR there really was no state of emergency comparable to the American ones. This is due to the smaller number of Soviet strategic aviation, and the ban on combat patrols with nuclear bombs on board, which has always existed in the USSR Air Force.

The Soviet Union is confidently leading in another indicator - in the number of nuclear weapons that ended up on the ocean floor after nuclear submarine disasters. According to the information available today, as a result of the accidents of nuclear submarines of the USSR and the USA, about 50 nuclear warheads ended up in the depths of the ocean, more than 40 of which were Soviet.

Koh Kambaran. Pakistan decided to conduct its first nuclear tests in the province of Balochistan. The charges were placed in an adit dug in the Koh Kambaran mountain and blown up in May 1998. Local residents almost never look into this area, with the exception of a few nomads and herbalists.

Maralinga. The area in southern Australia where atmospheric nuclear weapons tests took place was once considered sacred by the locals. As a result, twenty years after the end of the tests, a second operation was organized to clean up Maraling. The first was carried out after the final test in 1963.

Save In the Indian empty Thar state of Rajasthan on May 18, 1974, an 8 kiloton bomb was tested. In May 1998, charges were already blasted at the Pokhran test site - five pieces, among them a thermonuclear charge of 43 kilotons.

Bikini Atoll. In the Marshall Islands in pacific ocean Bikini Atoll is located where the United States actively conducted nuclear tests. Other explosions were rarely captured on film, but these were filmed quite often. Still - 67 tests in the interval from 1946 to 1958.

Christmas Island. Christmas Island, also known as Kiritimati, is distinguished by the fact that both Britain and the United States conducted nuclear weapons tests on it. In 1957, the first British hydrogen bomb was detonated there, and in 1962, as part of the Dominic Project, the United States tested 22 charges there.

Lobnor. At the site of a dried-up salt lake in western China, about 45 warheads were blown up - both in the atmosphere and underground. Testing was terminated in 1996.

Mururoa. The South Pacific atoll survived a lot - more specifically, 181 French nuclear weapons tests from 1966 to 1986. The last charge got stuck in an underground mine and, during the explosion, formed a crack several kilometers long. After this, the tests were terminated.

New Earth. The archipelago in the Arctic Ocean has been chosen for nuclear testing September 17, 1954. Since then, there have been 132 nuclear explosion, including the test of the most powerful hydrogen bomb in the world - the "Tsar bomb" at 58 megatons.

Semipalatinsk. From 1949 to 1989 at least 468 nuclear tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. So much plutonium accumulated there that from 1996 to 2012, Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States conducted a secret operation to search for and collect and dispose of radioactive materials. It was possible to collect about 200 kg of plutonium.

Nevada. The Nevada test site, which has existed since 1951, breaks all records - 928 nuclear explosions, of which 800 are underground. Considering that the test site is located only 100 kilometers from Las Vegas, nuclear mushrooms were considered quite a normal part of entertainment for tourists half a century ago.

So if you are looking for a way how to defuse a bomb in beholder, then most likely it has already exploded, or you are holding the game on pause. Let's figure out where to start and how to proceed.

Where to look for the bomb?

First you need to find the bomb in the house. We go down to the basement and find it in the washing machine, which is on the left. After you have taken the bomb, run to the phone - "Dial the number" - "Report the bomb to the ministry."

bomb disposal

The Ministry will promise to send sappers to you. However, you do not have time and you will have to defuse the bomb. We learn from the ministry by phone about the types of bombs:

• MGB-53- 6 sticks of dynamite, 6 closed circuits, watch timer.
• NKVD-41- a flask with nitroglycerin, 1 closed circuit, a timer from an alarm clock.
• GUGB-43- pyroxylin powder, two closed circuits, a timer from an electronic clock.

After that, we return to the laundry, inspect the bomb (this will help you determine the type of bomb), and then defuse it using the instructions received.

Thus, problems with the task Tick-tock, boom! and bomb disarming in Beholder you shouldn't have.

The one who invented the atomic bomb could not even imagine what tragic consequences this miracle invention of the 20th century could lead to. Before this superweapon was experienced by the inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a very long way had been done.

A start

In April 1903, Paul Langevin's friends gathered in the Parisian Garden of France. The reason was the defense of a dissertation by a young and talented scientist Mary Curie. Among the distinguished guests was the famous English physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford. In the midst of the fun, the lights were put out. announced to everyone that now there will be a surprise. With a solemn air, Pierre Curie brought in a small tube of radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing extraordinary delight among those present. In the future, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that thanks to radium, the acute problem of lack of energy would be solved. This inspired everyone to new research and further perspectives. If they were then told that laboratory works with radioactive elements will lay the foundation for a terrible weapon of the 20th century, it is not known what their reaction would be. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.

Game ahead of the curve

On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. In fact, he managed to split the atom. AT scientific world it was regarded as a new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gunn did not share the political views of the Third Reich. Therefore, in the same year, 1938, the scientist was forced to move to Stockholm, where, together with Friedrich Strassmann, he continued his scientific research. Fearing that Nazi Germany would be the first to receive terrible weapon, he writes a letter warning about it. The news of a possible lead greatly alarmed the US government. The Americans began to act quickly and decisively.

Who created the atomic bomb? American project

Even before the group, many of whom were refugees from the Nazi regime in Europe, was tasked with developing nuclear weapons. The initial research, it is worth noting, was carried out in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the government of the United States of America began funding its own program to develop atomic weapons. An incredible amount of two and a half billion dollars was allocated for the implementation of the project. Outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited to carry out this secret project, including more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only the military, but also civilians. The development team was led by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, with Robert Oppenheimer as supervisor. He is the man who invented the atomic bomb. A special secret engineering building was built in the Manhattan area, which is known to us under the code name "Manhattan Project". Over the next few years, the scientists of the secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.

Non-peaceful atom by Igor Kurchatov

Today, every schoolchild will be able to answer the question of who invented the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And then, in the early 30s of the last century, no one knew this.

In 1932, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was one of the first in the world to start studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilievich in 1937 created the first cyclotron in Europe. In the same year, he and his like-minded people create the first artificial nuclei.

In 1939, I. V. Kurchatov began to study a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in studying this phenomenon, the scientist has at his disposal a classified Research Center, which was named "Lab No. 2". Today, this secret object is called "Arzamas-16".

The target direction of this center was a serious research and development of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. There were only ten people on his team then.

atomic bomb to be

By the end of 1945, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov managed to assemble a serious team of scientists numbering more than a hundred people. The best minds of different scientific specializations came to the laboratory from all over the country to create atomic weapons. After the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists understood that this could be done with Soviet Union. "Laboratory No. 2" receives a sharp increase in funding from the country's leadership and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The enormous labors of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.

Semipalatinsk test site

The atomic bomb in the USSR was first tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). On August 29, 1949, a 22 kiloton nuclear device shook the Kazakh land. Nobel Laureate, physicist Otto Hanz, said: “This is good news. If Russia has atomic weapons, then there will be no war.” It was this atomic bomb in the USSR, encrypted as product number 501, or RDS-1, that eliminated the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.

Atomic bomb. Year 1945

In the early morning of July 16, the Manhattan Project conducted its first successful test of an atomic device - a plutonium bomb - at the Alamogordo test site in New Mexico, USA.

The money invested in the project was well spent. The first in the history of mankind was produced at 5:30 in the morning.

"We have done the work of the devil," the one who invented the atomic bomb in the United States, later called the "father of the atomic bomb," will say later.

Japan does not capitulate

By the time of the final and successful testing of the atomic bomb, Soviet troops and allies had finally defeated Nazi Germany. However, there was one state that promised to fight to the end for dominance in the Pacific Ocean. From mid-April to mid-July 1945, the Japanese army repeatedly carried out air strikes against allied forces, thereby inflicting heavy losses on the US army. At the end of July 1945, the militarist government of Japan rejected the Allied demand for surrender in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration. In it, in particular, it was said that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army would face rapid and complete destruction.

President agrees

The American government kept its word and began targeted bombing of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides on the invasion of American troops into Japan. However, the military command dissuades its president from such a decision, citing the fact that the American invasion would entail a large number of victims.

At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use more effective method end of the war. A big supporter of the atomic bomb, US Presidential Secretary James Francis Byrnes, believed that the bombing of Japanese territories would finally end the war and put the US in a dominant position, which would positively affect the future course of events in the post-war world. Thus, US President Harry Truman was convinced that this was the only correct option.

Atomic bomb. Hiroshima

The first target was the small Japanese city of Hiroshima, with a population of just over 350,000, located five hundred miles from Japan's capital, Tokyo. After the modified Enola Gay B-29 bomber arrived at the US naval base on Tinian Island, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was supposed to experience the effects of 9,000 pounds of uranium-235.

This hitherto unseen weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. The US atomic bomb bore the cynical name "Baby". On the morning of August 6, 1945, at about 8:15 am, the American "Baby" was dropped on the Japanese Hiroshima. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred and forty thousand inhabitants of the city died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese died a painful death from radiation sickness.

They were destroyed by the American atomic "Kid". However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided to another bombardment of Japanese territory.

Nagasaki. Sky on fire

The American atomic bomb "Fat Man" was installed on board the B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, all in the same place, at the US naval base in Tinian. This time the aircraft commander was Major Charles Sweeney. Initially, the strategic target was the city of Kokura.

However weather not allowed to carry out the plan, hindered by a large cloud cover. Charles Sweeney went into the second round. At 11:02 am, the American nuclear-powered Fat Man swallowed up Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which, in its strength, was several times higher than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10,000 pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.

The geographical location of the Japanese city reduced the expected effect. The thing is that the city is located in a narrow valley between the mountains. Therefore, the destruction of 2.6 square miles did not reveal the full potential of American weapons. The Nagasaki atomic bomb test is considered the failed "Manhattan Project".

Japan surrendered

On the afternoon of August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender in a radio address to the people of Japan. This news quickly spread around the world. In the United States of America, celebrations began on the occasion of the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.

September 2, 1945 on board the American battleship "Missouri", anchored in Tokyo Bay, was signed a formal agreement to end the war. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in the history of mankind.

Long six years global community came to this significant date - from September 1, 1939, when the first shots of Nazi Germany were fired on the territory of Poland.

Peaceful atom

A total of 124 nuclear explosions were carried out in the Soviet Union. It is characteristic that all of them were carried out for the benefit National economy. Only three of them were leak accidents. radioactive elements. Programs for the use of peaceful atom were implemented only in two countries - the United States and the Soviet Union. Nuclear peaceful energy knows an example of a global catastrophe, when years at the fourth power unit Chernobyl nuclear power plant the reactor exploded.