What is a thermonuclear bomb? Fourth generation nuclear weapons are being created
Atomic weapons - a device that receives enormous explosive power from the reactions of ATOMIC FISSION and NUCLEAR fusion.
About atomic weapons
Atomic weapons are the most powerful weapons today, in service with five countries: Russia, the USA, Great Britain, France and China. There are also a number of states that are more or less successfully developing atomic weapons, but their research is either not completed, or these countries do not have the necessary means of delivering weapons to the target. India, Pakistan, North Korea, Iraq, Iran have developed nuclear weapons at different levels, Germany, Israel, South Africa and Japan theoretically have the necessary capabilities to create nuclear weapons in a relatively short time.
It is difficult to overestimate the role of nuclear weapons. On the one hand, this is a powerful means of deterrence, on the other hand, it is the most effective tool for strengthening peace and preventing military conflicts between the powers that possess these weapons. 52 years have passed since the first use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The world community has come close to realizing that a nuclear war will inevitably lead to a global environmental catastrophe, which will make the further existence of mankind impossible. Over the years, legal mechanisms have been created to defuse tensions and ease the confrontation between nuclear powers. For example, many agreements were signed to reduce the nuclear potential of powers, the Convention on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed, according to which possessor countries pledged not to transfer the technology for the production of these weapons to other countries, and countries that do not have nuclear weapons pledged not to take steps to development; Finally, quite recently, the superpowers agreed on a complete ban on nuclear testing. It is obvious that nuclear weapons are the most important instrument that has become the regulatory symbol of an entire era in the history of international relations and in the history of mankind.
Atomic weapons
ATOMIC WEAPON, a device that receives enormous explosive power from the reactions of ATOMIC FISSION and NUCLEAR fusion. The first nuclear weapons were used by the United States against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. These atomic bombs consisted of two stable doctritic masses of URANIUM and PLUTONIUM, which upon violent collision caused the CRITICAL MASS to be exceeded, thereby provoking an uncontrolled CHAIN REACTION of fission of atomic nuclei. Such explosions release enormous amounts of energy and harmful radiation: the explosive power can be equal to that of 200,000 tons of trinitrotoluene. The much more powerful hydrogen bomb (fusion bomb), first tested in 1952, consists of an atomic bomb that, when exploded, creates a temperature high enough to cause nuclear fusion in a nearby solid layer, usually lithium deterrite. The explosive power can be equal to that of several million tons (megatons) of trinitrotoluene. The area of destruction caused by such bombs reaches large sizes: a 15 megaton bomb will explode all burning substances within 20 km. The third type of nuclear weapon, the neutron bomb, is a small hydrogen bomb, also called a high radiation weapon. It causes a weak explosion, which, however, is accompanied by an intense emission of high-speed NEUTRONS. The weakness of the explosion means that buildings are not damaged much. Neutrons cause serious radiation sickness in people within a certain radius of the explosion site, and kill everyone affected within a week.
Initially, the explosion of an atomic bomb (A) forms a fireball (1) with a temperature of millions of degrees Celsius and emits radiation (?). After a few minutes (B), the ball increases in volume and creates a shock wave with high pressure (3). The fireball rises (C), sucking up dust and debris, and forms a mushroom cloud (D), As the fireball increases in volume, it creates a powerful convection current (4), releasing hot radiation (5) and forming a cloud (6), When it explodes 15 megaton bomb destruction from the blast wave is complete (7) in a radius of 8 km, severe (8) in a radius of 15 km and noticeable (I) in a radius of 30 km Even at a distance of 20 km (10) all flammable substances explode, within two days after the bomb explodes, fallout continues to fall 300 km from the explosion with a radioactive dose of 300 roentgens. The accompanying photo shows how the explosion of a large nuclear weapon on the ground creates a huge mushroom cloud of radioactive dust and debris that can reach a height of several kilometers. Dangerous dust in the air is then freely transported by prevailing winds in any direction. Devastation covers a vast area.
Modern atomic bombs and shells
Radius of action
Depending on the power of the atomic charge, atomic bombs and shells are divided into calibers: small, medium and large . To obtain energy equal to the energy of the explosion of a small-caliber atomic bomb, you need to explode several thousand tons of TNT. The TNT equivalent of a medium-caliber atomic bomb is tens of thousands, and that of a large-caliber bomb is hundreds of thousands of tons of TNT. Thermonuclear (hydrogen) weapons can have even greater power; their TNT equivalent can reach millions and even tens of millions of tons. Atomic bombs, the TNT equivalent of which is 1-50 thousand tons, belong to the class of tactical atomic bombs and are intended to solve operational-tactical problems. Tactical weapons also include: artillery shells with an atomic charge with a power of 10–15 thousand tons and atomic charges (with a power of about 5–20 thousand tons) for anti-aircraft guided missiles and shells used to arm fighter aircraft. Atomic and hydrogen bombs with a yield of over 50 thousand tons are classified as strategic weapons.
It should be noted that such a classification of atomic weapons is only conditional, since in reality the consequences of the use of tactical atomic weapons can be no less than those experienced by the population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and even greater. It is now obvious that the explosion of just one hydrogen bomb is capable of causing such severe consequences over vast territories that tens of thousands of shells and bombs used in past world wars did not carry with them. And a few hydrogen bombs are quite enough to turn vast territories into desert zones.
Nuclear weapons are divided into 2 main types: atomic and hydrogen (thermonuclear). In atomic weapons, energy is released due to the fission reaction of the nuclei of atoms of the heavy elements uranium or plutonium. In a hydrogen weapon, energy is released by the formation (or fusion) of helium atom nuclei from hydrogen atoms.
Thermonuclear weapons
Modern thermonuclear weapons are strategic weapons that can be used by aviation to destroy the most important industrial and military facilities, and large cities as centers of civilization behind enemy lines. The most well-known type of thermonuclear weapon is thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs, which can be delivered to the target by aircraft. Warheads of missiles for various purposes, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, can also be filled with thermonuclear charges. For the first time, such a missile was tested in the USSR back in 1957. Currently, the Strategic Missile Forces are armed with several types of missiles based on mobile launchers, silo launchers, and submarines.
Atomic bomb
The operation of thermonuclear weapons is based on the use of a thermonuclear reaction with hydrogen or its compounds. In these reactions, which occur at ultra-high temperatures and pressures, energy is released by the formation of helium nuclei from hydrogen nuclei, or from hydrogen and lithium nuclei. To form helium, mainly heavy hydrogen is used - deuterium, the nuclei of which have an unusual structure - one proton and one neutron. When deuterium is heated to temperatures of several tens of millions of degrees, its atom loses its electron shells during the first collisions with other atoms. As a result, the medium turns out to consist only of protons and electrons moving independently of them. The speed of thermal motion of particles reaches such values that deuterium nuclei can come closer and, thanks to the action of powerful nuclear forces, combine with each other, forming helium nuclei. The result of this process is the release of energy.
The basic diagram of a hydrogen bomb is as follows. Deuterium and tritium in a liquid state are placed in a tank with a heat-proof shell, which serves to preserve deuterium and tritium in a very cool state for a long time (to maintain it from a liquid state of aggregation). The heat-proof shell may contain 3 layers consisting of a hard alloy, solid carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen. An atomic charge is placed near a reservoir of hydrogen isotopes. When an atomic charge is detonated, hydrogen isotopes are heated to high temperatures, creating conditions for a thermonuclear reaction to occur and a hydrogen bomb to explode. However, in the process of creating hydrogen bombs, it was found that it was impractical to use hydrogen isotopes, since in this case the bomb would acquire too much weight (more than 60 tons), which is why it was impossible to even think about using such charges on strategic bombers, and especially in ballistic missiles of any range. The second problem faced by the developers of the hydrogen bomb was the radioactivity of tritium, which made its long-term storage impossible.
Study 2 addressed the above issues. Liquid isotopes of hydrogen were replaced by the solid chemical compound of deuterium with lithium-6. This made it possible to significantly reduce the size and weight of the hydrogen bomb. In addition, lithium hydride was used instead of tritium, which made it possible to place thermonuclear charges on fighter bombers and ballistic missiles.
The creation of the hydrogen bomb did not mark the end of the development of thermonuclear weapons, more and more new samples appeared, the hydrogen-uranium bomb was created, as well as some of its varieties - heavy-duty and, conversely, small-caliber bombs. The last stage in the improvement of thermonuclear weapons was the creation of the so-called “clean” hydrogen bomb.
H-bomb
The first developments of this modification of the thermonuclear bomb appeared back in 1957, in the wake of US propaganda statements about the creation of some kind of “humane” thermonuclear weapon that would not cause as much harm to future generations as a conventional thermonuclear bomb. There was some truth in the claims to “humaneness.” Although the destructive power of the bomb was not less, at the same time it could be detonated so that strontium-90, which in a normal hydrogen explosion poisons the earth's atmosphere for a long time, would not spread. Everything within the range of such a bomb will be destroyed, but the danger to living organisms that are far from the explosion, as well as to future generations, will be reduced. However, these statements were refuted by scientists, who recalled that explosions of atomic or hydrogen bombs produce a large amount of radioactive dust, which rises with a powerful air flow to a height of 30 km, and then gradually settles to the ground over a large area, contaminating it. Research conducted by scientists shows that it will take 4 to 7 years for half of this dust to fall to the ground.
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There are a considerable number of different political clubs in the world. The G7, now the G20, BRICS, SCO, NATO, the European Union, to some extent. However, none of these clubs can boast of a unique function - the ability to destroy the world as we know it. The “nuclear club” has similar capabilities.
Today there are 9 countries that have nuclear weapons:
- Russia;
- Great Britain;
- France;
- India
- Pakistan;
- Israel;
- DPRK.
Countries are ranked as they acquire nuclear weapons in their arsenal. If the list were arranged by the number of warheads, then Russia would be in first place with its 8,000 units, 1,600 of which can be launched even now. The states are only 700 units behind, but they have 320 more charges at hand. “Nuclear club” is a purely relative concept; in fact, there is no club. There are a number of agreements between countries on non-proliferation and reduction of nuclear weapons stockpiles.
The first tests of the atomic bomb, as we know, were carried out by the United States back in 1945. This weapon was tested in the “field” conditions of World War II on residents of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They operate on the principle of division. During the explosion, a chain reaction is triggered, which provokes the fission of nuclei into two, with the accompanying release of energy. Uranium and plutonium are mainly used for this reaction. Our ideas about what nuclear bombs are made of are connected with these elements. Since uranium occurs in nature only as a mixture of three isotopes, of which only one is capable of supporting such a reaction, it is necessary to enrich uranium. The alternative is plutonium-239, which does not occur naturally and must be produced from uranium.
If a fission reaction occurs in a uranium bomb, then a fusion reaction occurs in a hydrogen bomb - this is the essence of how a hydrogen bomb differs from an atomic one. We all know that the sun gives us light, warmth, and one might say life. The same processes that occur in the sun can easily destroy cities and countries. The explosion of a hydrogen bomb is generated by the synthesis of light nuclei, the so-called thermonuclear fusion. This “miracle” is possible thanks to hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium. This is actually why the bomb is called a hydrogen bomb. You can also see the name “thermonuclear bomb”, from the reaction that underlies this weapon.
After the world saw the destructive power of nuclear weapons, in August 1945, the USSR began a race that lasted until its collapse. The United States was the first to create, test and use nuclear weapons, the first to detonate a hydrogen bomb, but the USSR can be credited with the first production of a compact hydrogen bomb, which can be delivered to the enemy on a regular Tu-16. The first US bomb was the size of a three-story house; a hydrogen bomb of that size would be of little use. The Soviets received such weapons as early as 1952, while the United States' first "adequate" bomb was adopted only in 1954. If you look back and analyze the explosions in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, you can come to the conclusion that they were not that powerful . Two bombs in total destroyed both cities and killed, according to various sources, up to 220,000 people. Carpet bombing of Tokyo could kill 150-200,000 people a day even without any nuclear weapons. This is due to the low power of the first bombs - only a few tens of kilotons of TNT. Hydrogen bombs were tested with an aim to overcome 1 megaton or more.
The first Soviet bomb was tested with a claim of 3 Mt, but in the end they tested 1.6 Mt.
The most powerful hydrogen bomb was tested by the Soviets in 1961. Its capacity reached 58-75 Mt, with the declared 51 Mt. “Tsar” plunged the world into a slight shock, in the literal sense. The shock wave circled the planet three times. There was not a single hill left at the test site (Novaya Zemlya), the explosion was heard at a distance of 800 km. The fireball reached a diameter of almost 5 km, the “mushroom” grew by 67 km, and the diameter of its cap was almost 100 km. The consequences of such an explosion in a large city are hard to imagine. According to many experts, it was the test of a hydrogen bomb of such power (the States at that time had bombs four times less powerful) that became the first step towards signing various treaties banning nuclear weapons, their testing and reducing production. For the first time, the world began to think about its own security, which was truly at risk.
As mentioned earlier, the principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb is based on a fusion reaction. Thermonuclear fusion is the process of fusion of two nuclei into one, with the formation of a third element, the release of a fourth and energy. The forces that repel nuclei are enormous, so in order for the atoms to come close enough to merge, the temperature must be simply enormous. Scientists have been puzzling over cold thermonuclear fusion for centuries, trying, so to speak, to reset the fusion temperature to room temperature, ideally. In this case, humanity will have access to the energy of the future. As for the current thermonuclear reaction, to start it you still need to light a miniature sun here on Earth - bombs usually use a uranium or plutonium charge to start the fusion.
In addition to the consequences described above from the use of a bomb of tens of megatons, a hydrogen bomb, like any nuclear weapon, has a number of consequences from its use. Some people tend to believe that the hydrogen bomb is a “cleaner weapon” than a conventional bomb. Perhaps this has something to do with the name. People hear the word “water” and think that it has something to do with water and hydrogen, and therefore the consequences are not so dire. In fact, this is certainly not the case, because the action of the hydrogen bomb is based on extremely radioactive substances. It is theoretically possible to make a bomb without a uranium charge, but this is impractical due to the complexity of the process, so the pure fusion reaction is “diluted” with uranium to increase power. At the same time, the amount of radioactive fallout increases to 1000%. Everything that falls into the fireball will be destroyed, the area within the affected radius will become uninhabitable for people for decades. Radioactive fallout can harm the health of people hundreds and thousands of kilometers away. Specific numbers and the area of infection can be calculated by knowing the strength of the charge.
However, the destruction of cities is not the worst thing that can happen “thanks” to weapons of mass destruction. After a nuclear war, the world will not be completely destroyed. Thousands of large cities, billions of people will remain on the planet, and only a small percentage of territories will lose their “livable” status. In the long term, the entire world will be at risk due to the so-called “nuclear winter.” Detonation of the “club’s” nuclear arsenal could trigger the release of enough substance (dust, soot, smoke) into the atmosphere to “reduce” the brightness of the sun. The shroud, which could spread across the entire planet, would destroy crops for several years to come, causing famine and inevitable population decline. There has already been a “year without summer” in history, after a major volcanic eruption in 1816, so nuclear winter looks more than possible. Again, depending on how the war proceeds, we may end up with the following types of global climate change:
- a cooling of 1 degree will pass unnoticed;
- nuclear autumn - cooling by 2-4 degrees, crop failures and increased formation of hurricanes are possible;
- an analogue of the “year without summer” - when the temperature dropped significantly, by several degrees for a year;
- Little Ice Age – temperatures may drop by 30–40 degrees for a significant period of time and will be accompanied by depopulation of a number of northern zones and crop failures;
- ice age - the development of the Little Ice Age, when the reflection of sunlight from the surface can reach a certain critical level and the temperature will continue to fall, the only difference is the temperature;
- irreversible cooling is a very sad version of the Ice Age, which, under the influence of many factors, will turn the Earth into a new planet.
The nuclear winter theory has been constantly criticized, and its implications seem a bit overblown. However, there is no need to doubt its inevitable offensive in any global conflict involving the use of hydrogen bombs.
The Cold War is long behind us, and therefore nuclear hysteria can only be seen in old Hollywood films and on the covers of rare magazines and comics. Despite this, we may be on the verge of a, albeit small, but serious nuclear conflict. All this thanks to the rocket lover and hero of the fight against US imperialist ambitions - Kim Jong-un. The DPRK hydrogen bomb is still a hypothetical object; only indirect evidence speaks of its existence. Of course, the North Korean government constantly reports that they have managed to make new bombs, but no one has seen them live yet. Naturally, the States and their allies - Japan and South Korea - are a little more concerned about the presence, even hypothetical, of such weapons in the DPRK. The reality is that at the moment the DPRK does not have enough technology to successfully attack the United States, which they announce to the whole world every year. Even an attack on neighboring Japan or the South may not be very successful, if at all, but every year the danger of a new conflict on the Korean Peninsula is growing.
Unlike uranium and plutonium bombs, materials based on light elements do not have a critical mass, which leads to great difficulties in creating nuclear weapons. However, during thermonuclear fusion of deuterium and tritium, 4.2 times more energy is released than during the fission of nuclei of the same mass 2 35U. Therefore, a hydrogen bomb is a much more powerful weapon than an atomic one.
Thermonuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction, the destructive power of which is based on the use of the energy of the reaction of nuclear fusion of light elements into heavier ones (for example, the synthesis of one helium atom nucleus from two deuterium atom nuclei). This releases a colossal amount of energy.
Candidates for the role of applicable thermonuclear reactions for a hydrogen bomb are:
At temperatures reached in atomic bombs, reaction (1) occurs 10 times faster than reactions (2) and (3) combined. This explains why the first fusion experiments involved tritium. Reactions (2) and (3), in turn, are ten times faster than reaction (4). Moreover, the rate of all these processes (1-4) increases exponentially with temperature. As the temperature increases, the rate of reaction (4) exceeds the rate of reactions (2)+(3) combined. Reactions (5) and (6) are not thermonuclear. These are ordinary fission reactions that occur when lithium captures a neutron in the desired energy range. But during their course, tritium is released, which also participates in the process. Reaction 6 Li+ P requires a neutron with an energy of several MeV, 7 Li+ P - neutron not less than 4 MeV. Using an easy-to-ignite but expensive deuterium-tritium mixture, it is possible to initiate a reaction even at the usual density of thermonuclear fuel, using only the heat from an atomic explosion (504-100 million degrees). Tritium is expensive to produce (an order of magnitude more expensive than weapons-grade plutonium), and besides, it decays with T= 12.32 years old. This makes it of little use. What remains is 2 H - deuterium - a completely accessible fuel for reactions (2) and (h).
Pure deuterium was used only once - during testing Ivy Mike(USA). Its disadvantage is that it must be very strongly compressed or liquefied at cryogenic temperatures, which is impractical. The problem is solved by combining deuterium with lithium in LiD. In this case, due to the fission of lithium, a large amount of tritium is produced for reaction (l). To carry out a synthesis reaction it is necessary: l) to ensure a high reaction rate (i.e. high temperature); 2) maintain the previous condition for a time sufficient for the reaction to occur; h) provide a large energy output, proportional to the product (reaction rate) (reaction time).
The basic idea of the hydrogen bomb (Teller-Ulam) is based on the fact that in an atomic explosion, 80% of the energy is released in the form of soft x-rays, and not in the form of fission fragments. X-rays are much faster than the expanding (at a speed of ~100 km/s) plutonium residues. This allows them to be used to compress and ignite a separate container with thermonuclear fuel (second stage), by compressing it with radiation, before the expanding primary charge destroys it.
A thermonuclear bomb operating on the Teller-Ulam principle consists of two stages: a trigger and a container with thermonuclear fuel. The trigger is a small thermonuclear-enhanced plutonium nuclear charge with a yield of several kilotons. The task of the trigger is to create the necessary conditions for igniting a thermonuclear reaction - high temperature and pressure.
Rice. 6.
The bomb's components are placed in a cylindrical pusher housing in the form of a cylinder with an atomic firing charge ("trigger") at one end. A container with thermonuclear fuel is the main element of a bomb. Its body is made of 2 × 8 i, a substance that decays under the influence of fast neutrons (>1 MeV) released during the fusion reaction and absorbs slow neutrons. The container is covered with a layer of a neutron absorber (boron compound) to prevent premature heating of the thermonuclear fuel by the neutron flow from the trigger, which can prevent its effective compression. Inside the container there is thermonuclear fuel - 6 LiD, and a plutonium rod made of ^Pu located along the axis of the container, which plays the role of a fuse for a thermonuclear reaction. The trigger and container are filled with plastic, which conducts radiation from the trigger to the container, and placed in a steel bomb body. The trigger is separated from the fuel cylinder by a protective cover made of uranium or tungsten.
After the launch charge explodes, X-rays emitted from the fission reaction region spread throughout the plastic filler. The main components of plastic are carbon and hydrogen atoms, which are completely ionized and become completely transparent to x-rays. A uranium screen between the trigger and the fuel capsule, as well as the capsule body itself, prevents premature heating of lithium deuteride. Thermal equilibrium is established extremely quickly, so that the temperature and energy density remain constant throughout the entire path of radiation propagation.
When a trigger explodes, 80% of the energy released from it is spent on a powerful pulse of soft X-ray radiation, which is absorbed by the shell of the second stage. As a result of sharp heating of the uranium shell, mass is carried away (ablation) of the shell substance and jet thrust appears, which, together with light pressure, compresses the second stage. The phenomenon of entrainment, like a fiery jet of a rocket engine directed into the capsule, develops enormous pressure on the thermonuclear fuel, causing its progressive compression (the diameter of the capsule decreases by 30 times, the density of the material increases by 1000 times). Fusion fuel is heated to temperatures sufficient to initiate a fusion reaction. The plutonium rod goes into a supercritical state and a nuclear reaction begins inside the container. The neutrons emitted by the burning plutonium rod interact with 6 Li, resulting in tritium, which reacts with deuterium. Ablation - removal of mass from the surface of a solid body by a flow of hot gases flowing around this surface. Ablation occurs as a result of erosion, melting, sublimation.
Fast neutrons, which are available in excess during the fission trigger, are slowed down by lithium deuteride to thermal speeds and begin a chain reaction in the rod as quickly as it goes into a supercritical state. Its explosion, acting like a spark plug, increases the pressure and temperature in the center of the capsule, making it sufficient to ignite a thermonuclear reaction. Next, the self-sustaining combustion reaction moves to the outer regions of the fuel capsule.
The capsule body prevents thermal radiation from escaping beyond its boundaries, significantly increasing combustion efficiency. The temperatures arising during the thermonuclear reaction reach up to 8 K. For the operation of this scheme, the conditions of charge symmetry and strict compliance with the conditions of effective beam implosion are extremely important.
If the container shell was made of natural uranium, then the fast neutrons generated as a result of the fusion reaction cause fission reactions of 2 ^ 8 U atoms in it, adding their energy to the total energy of the explosion. In a similar way, a thermonuclear explosion of practically unlimited power is created, since behind the shell there can be other layers of lithium deuteride and layers 2, 8 and (puff).
The two-stage Teller-Ulam circuit allows you to create charges as powerful as the trigger power is enough to ultra-fastly compress a large amount of fuel. To further increase the amount of charge, the energy of the second stage can be used to compress the third. In general, at each stage in such devices, power amplification of -100 times is possible.
Thermonuclear munitions exist both in the form of aircraft bombs (hydrogen or thermonuclear bombs) and warheads for ballistic and cruise missiles.
At the end of the 30s of the last century, the laws of fission and decay were already discovered in Europe, and the hydrogen bomb moved from the category of fiction into reality. The history of the development of nuclear energy is interesting and still represents an exciting competition between the scientific potential of the countries: Nazi Germany, the USSR and the USA. The most powerful bomb, which any state dreamed of owning, was not only a weapon, but also a powerful political tool. The country that had it in its arsenal actually became omnipotent and could dictate its own rules.
The hydrogen bomb has its own history of creation, which is based on physical laws, namely the thermonuclear process. Initially, it was incorrectly called atomic, and illiteracy was to blame. The scientist Bethe, who later became a Nobel Prize winner, worked on an artificial source of energy - the fission of uranium. This time was the peak of the scientific activity of many physicists, and among them there was an opinion that scientific secrets should not exist at all, since the laws of science were initially international.
Theoretically, the hydrogen bomb had been invented, but now, with the help of designers, it had to acquire technical forms. All that remained was to pack it in a specific shell and test it for power. There are two scientists whose names will forever be associated with the creation of this powerful weapon: in the USA it is Edward Teller, and in the USSR it is Andrei Sakharov.
In the United States, a physicist began to study the thermonuclear problem back in 1942. By order of Harry Truman, then President of the United States, the best scientists in the country worked on this problem, they created a fundamentally new weapon of destruction. Moreover, the government’s order was for a bomb with a capacity of at least a million tons of TNT. The hydrogen bomb was created by Teller and showed humanity in Hiroshima and Nagasaki its limitless but destructive capabilities.
A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that weighed 4.5 tons and contained 100 kg of uranium. This explosion corresponded to almost 12,500 tons of TNT. The Japanese city of Nagasaki was destroyed by a plutonium bomb of the same mass, but equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT.
The future Soviet academician A. Sakharov in 1948, based on his research, presented the design of a hydrogen bomb under the name RDS-6. His research followed two branches: the first was called “puff” (RDS-6s), and its feature was an atomic charge, which was surrounded by layers of heavy and light elements. The second branch is the “pipe” or (RDS-6t), in which the plutonium bomb was contained in liquid deuterium. Subsequently, a very important discovery was made, which proved that the “pipe” direction is a dead end.
The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb is as follows: first, an HB charge explodes inside the shell, which is the initiator of a thermonuclear reaction, resulting in a neutron flash. In this case, the process is accompanied by the release of high temperature, which is needed for further neutrons begin to bombard the lithium deuteride insert, and it, in turn, under the direct action of neutrons, splits into two elements: tritium and helium. The atomic fuse used forms the components necessary for fusion to occur in the already detonated bomb. This is the complicated operating principle of a hydrogen bomb. After this preliminary action, the thermonuclear reaction begins directly in a mixture of deuterium and tritium. At this time, the temperature in the bomb increases more and more, and an increasing amount of hydrogen participates in the synthesis. If you monitor the time of these reactions, then the speed of their action can be characterized as instantaneous.
Subsequently, scientists began to use nuclear fission rather than nuclear fusion. The fission of one ton of uranium creates energy equivalent to 18 Mt. This bomb has enormous power. The most powerful bomb created by mankind belonged to the USSR. She even got into the Guinness Book of Records. Its blast wave was equivalent to 57 (approximately) megatons of TNT. It was blown up in 1961 in the area of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
Explosion initiator (trigger). This type of weapon does not create long-term radioactive contamination, due to the absence of decaying substances in it. Currently, it is considered theoretically, of course, possible, but the ways of practical implementation are not clear.
Concept
In modern thermonuclear weapons, the conditions necessary for the initiation of a nuclear fusion reaction are created by the detonation of a trigger - a small plutonium nuclear charge. The trigger explosion creates the high temperature and pressure necessary to initiate a thermonuclear reaction in lithium deuteride. At the same time, the main part of long-term radioactive contamination during a thermonuclear explosion is provided by radioactive substances in the trigger.
However, the conditions for the start of a thermonuclear reaction can be created without the use of a nuclear trigger. Such conditions are created in laboratory experiments and experimental thermonuclear reactors. It is theoretically possible to create a thermonuclear weapon in which the reaction is initiated without the use of a trigger charge - a "pure thermonuclear" weapon.
Such a weapon will have the following advantages:
Neutron version of a clean thermonuclear weapon
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The disadvantages of the neutron version of a pure thermonuclear weapon are the same as those of any neutron weapon:
- Due to the strong absorption and scattering of neutrons in the atmosphere, the range of destruction by neutron radiation, compared with the range of destruction of unprotected targets by a shock wave from the explosion of a conventional nuclear charge of the same power, is small.
- The interaction of neutrons with structural and biological materials leads to the appearance of induced radioactivity, that is, the weapon is not completely “clean”.
- Armored vehicles, since the 1960s, have been developed taking into account the possibility of using neutron weapons. New types of armor have been developed, which are already capable of protecting equipment and its crew from neutron radiation. For this purpose, sheets with a high content of boron, which is a good neutron absorber, are added to the armor, and depleted uranium is added to the armor steel. In addition, the composition of the armor is selected so that it does not contain elements that produce strong induced radioactivity under the influence of neutron irradiation. Thus, modern armored vehicles are extremely resistant to neutron weapons.
Possible solutions
Various solutions to the problem of clean thermonuclear weapons have been considered continuously since 1992, but have not yet yielded a positive result. The main problem is the significant difficulty in creating conditions for the start of a thermonuclear reaction. In laboratory experiments and thermonuclear reactors, such conditions are created by large-sized installations, which are also very energy-intensive. At present, it is not possible to create thermonuclear weapons suitable for use in combat conditions, based, for example, on laser ignition of the reaction - the lasers required for this are enormous and consume a significant amount of energy.
There are several theoretically possible ways to solve the problem:
Pure thermonuclear weapon using a shock wave emitter
It seems theoretically possible to create a relatively compact purely thermonuclear weapon based on a shock wave emitter. In this case, a pulse of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range is used to trigger a thermonuclear reaction.
According to theoretical calculations, a pure thermonuclear device using a shock wave emitter will have a TNT equivalent approximately comparable to its own mass, or even less. Thus, as an explosive device it will be completely ineffective. However, most (up to 80%) of the energy will be released in the form of a neutron flux, capable of hitting the enemy at a distance of hundreds of meters from the epicenter. Such a weapon would, in fact, be a clean neutron weapon—leaving no radioactive contamination and creating virtually no collateral damage.
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Excerpt characterizing Clean Thermonuclear Weapons
And also, despite the fact that at that time Lithuania was already under the heel of the “brown plague”, it still somehow retained its independent and militant spirit, which even the most ardent servants of communism did not manage to knock out of it... And this attracted the Seryogins even more than the beauty of the local nature or the hospitality of the people. So they decided to stay “for a while”... what happened was forever... It was already 1942. And the Seryogins watched with regret as the “brown” octopus of National Socialism tightened its tentacles around the country they loved so much... Having crossed the front line, they hoped that from Lithuania they would be able to get to France. But even with the “brown plague,” the door to the “big world” for the Seryogins (and, naturally, for my dad) turned out to be closed, and this time forever... But life went on... And the Seryogins began to gradually settle down in their new place of residence. They had to look for work again in order to have some means of subsistence. But it turned out to be not so difficult to do this - there was always a place for those who wanted to work in hardworking Lithuania. Therefore, very soon life flowed along its usual course and it seemed that everything was calm and good again...My dad began to “temporarily” go to a Russian school (Russian and Polish schools were not uncommon in Lithuania), which he really liked and he categorically did not want to leave it, because constant wandering and changing schools affected his studies and, more importantly, – did not allow me to make real friends, without whom it was very difficult for any normal boy to exist. My grandfather found a good job and had the opportunity on weekends to at least somehow “unwind” in his beloved surrounding forest.
And my grandmother at that time had her little newborn son in her arms and dreamed of not moving anywhere for at least a short time, since physically she did not feel too well and was, like her whole family, tired of constant wanderings. Several years passed unnoticed. The war was long over, and life was becoming more normal in all respects. My dad studied perfectly all the time and the teachers denigrated his gold medal (which he received after graduating from the same school).
My grandmother calmly raised her little son, and my grandfather finally found his long-standing dream - the opportunity to “plunge headlong into” the Alytu forest that he loved so much every day.
Thus, everyone was more or less happy and so far no one wanted to leave this truly “God’s corner” and again set out to wander along the main roads. They decided to give dad the opportunity to finish the school he loved so much, and to give his grandmother’s little son Valery the opportunity to grow up as much as possible, so that it would be easier to embark on a long journey.
But the days flew by imperceptibly, months passed, being replaced by years, and the Seryogins still lived in the same place, as if having forgotten about all their promises, which, of course, was not true, but simply helped them get used to the idea that they might not will be able to fulfill the word given to Princess Elena never again... All the Siberian horrors were far behind, life had become everyday familiar, and it sometimes seemed to the Seryogins that this was possible and had never happened, as if it had happened in some long-forgotten, nightmare dream. ..
Vasily grew and matured, becoming a handsome young man, and it increasingly seemed to his adoptive mother that he was her own son, since she truly loved him very much and, as they say, doted on him. My dad called her mother, since he still (according to the general agreement) did not know the truth about his birth, and in return he loved her as much as he would have loved his real mother. This also applied to his grandfather, whom he called his father, and also sincerely, with all his heart, loved.
So everything seemed to be getting better little by little and only occasional conversations about distant France became less and less frequent, until one fine day they stopped completely. There was no hope of getting there, and the Seryogins apparently decided that it would be better if no one reopened this wound...
My dad had already graduated from school at that time, as predicted for him - with a gold medal and entered the literary institute in absentia. To help his family, he worked as a journalist for the Izvestia newspaper, and in his spare time he began writing plays for the Russian Drama Theater in Lithuania.
Everything seemed to be fine, except for one very painful problem - since dad was an excellent speaker (for which, from my memory, he really had a very great talent!), the Komsomol committee of our town did not leave him alone, wanting to get him as their secretary. Dad resisted with all his might, because (even without knowing about his past, which the Seryogins decided not to tell him about for now) he hated revolution and communism with all his soul, with all the consequences arising from these “teachings,” and no “sympathies” for them did not feed... At school, he, naturally, was a pioneer and a Komsomol member, since without this it was impossible in those days to dream of entering any institute, but he categorically did not want to go beyond that. And also, there was one more fact that brought dad into real horror - this was participation in punitive expeditions against the so-called “forest brothers”, who were nothing more than just guys as young as dad, “dispossessed” guys » parents who hid in the forests so as not to be taken to the distant and very frightening Siberia.
For several years after the advent of Soviet power, there was not a family left in Lithuania from which at least one person was not taken to Siberia, and very often the whole family was taken away.
Lithuania was a small but very rich country, with an excellent economy and huge farms, the owners of which in Soviet times began to be called “kulaks”, and the same Soviet government began to very actively “dekulakize” them... And it was precisely for these “punitive expeditions” “The best Komsomol members were selected to show others an “infectious example”... These were friends and acquaintances of the same “forest brothers” who went to the same schools together, played together, went to dances with the girls... And now, on someone’s crazy order, suddenly for some reason they became enemies and had to exterminate each other...
After two such trips, in one of which two of the twenty guys who left returned (and dad turned out to be one of these two), he got half drunk and the next day wrote a statement in which he categorically refused further participation in any such “events” . The first “pleasure” that followed after such a statement was the loss of his job, which at that time he “desperately” needed. But since dad was a truly talented journalist, he was immediately offered a job by another newspaper, Kaunasskaya Pravda, from a neighboring town. But, unfortunately, he didn’t have to stay there for long either, for such a simple reason as a short call “from above”... which instantly deprived dad of the new job he had just received. And dad was once again politely escorted out the door. Thus began his long-term war for the freedom of his personality, which even I remembered very well.
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