The entire potential of Soviet science was invested in the RDS-6S product
From the published archival documents, it is known that in the initial period of the Soviet Atomic Project, two versions of the hydrogen bomb (VB) were developed: a "pipe" (RDS-6T) and a "puff" (RDS-6S). The names to a certain extent corresponded to their design.
Yakov Zeldovich's group at the Institute of Chemical Physics (ICP), and then the scientists of Laboratory No. 3 and Laboratory V, carried out calculations of the RDS-6T VB in the form of a thin-walled cylinder with a diameter of 50 centimeters and a length of at least five meters, filled with liquid deuterium in an amount of 140 kilograms. According to calculations, the explosion of this mass of deuterium is equivalent to one to two million tons of TNT. A cannon-type atomic bomb is used to initiate an explosion. Between the charge of uranium-235 and deuterium is an additional detonator made from a mixture of deuterium and tritium, which reacts faster and at a lower temperature than pure deuterium. The entire system is thermally insulated to prevent liquid deuterium from evaporating during transport. Even from this description, presented by Yakov Zeldovich in the note "Hydrogen deuterium bomb" in February 1950, it can be seen that the implementation of the RDS-6T WB with liquid hydrogen turned out to be associated with great technical difficulties.
The advantage of "puff"
Igor Tamm, Yakov Zeldovich and Andrei Sakharov pointed out in their report "Model of the RDS-6S product" for 1953 that the thermonuclear reaction in deuterium proceeds at the rate required for an explosion only at extremely high temperatures, and the practical possibility of maintaining them has not yet been proven.
In connection with the negative results of many years of theoretical calculations, work on the RDS-6T WB was terminated by the decision of the leadership of the USSR MSM in 1954.
The solution to create a VB in the form of alternating layers of fissile matter and thermonuclear components (hence the "puff") was proposed by Andrei Sakharov, an employee of the theoretical department of the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN), headed by Igor Tamm. On December 2, 1948, at a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council (STC) of Laboratory No. 2, a discussion of the reports of Zeldovich and Tamm on the results of studying the use of the reaction of fusion of light nuclei for the creation of WB of various design schemes took place.
The protocol of the NTS meeting indicated that the council considers the results of both groups to be interesting, but especially the system in the form of a column of layers of heavy water and A-9 (a symbol of natural uranium), which, according to preliminary calculations, can detonate with a column diameter of about 400 millimeters. The advantage of this system is the ability to use heavy water instead of deuterium, which eliminates the need to deal with hydrogen at low temperatures.
The decision of the Scientific and Technical Council of Laboratory No. 2 of 1948 indicated the need to concentrate the work of Tamm's group on Sakharov's proposal and to conduct experiments at FIAN in Ilya Frank's team to study the multiplication of neutrons in the heavy water - uranium system, freeing the team of scientists from other work.
Igor Kurchatov and Yuliy Khariton reported the results of this consideration to the head of the First Main Directorate (PSU) under the Council of Ministers (CM) of the USSR, Boris Vannikov, attaching a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, prepared on the basis of the decision of the NTS.
The discussion at the scientific seminar of Laboratory No. 2 of the reports of Zeldovich and Tamm served as the basis for the widespread development of theoretical and experimental work on the creation of the first domestic hydrogen bomb.
A paradise for theorists
VB RDS-6S in official documents was called a product, only sometimes using its true name. RDS-6S is structured as follows: in the center of the system of alternating layers of natural uranium and a light material consisting of a mixture of deuteride and lithium-6 tritide, a charge of uranium-235 is placed. The surface of the "puff" consists of an explosive (explosive) to initiate an explosion of a nuclear (uranium-235) charge, which causes a powerful flow of energy in the form of neutrons, quanta and other particles. This leads to ionization heating (compression) to stellar temperatures of a thin layer of thermonuclear fuel and a layer of uranium. In this case, the latter turns into plasma with a corresponding increase in pressure, which compresses the adjacent layer of the light substance. Due to the combined effect of the explosion of a nuclear charge and an ionized layer of uranium, conditions are created for a thermonuclear reaction, as a result of which the rate of fission of uranium by thermonuclear neutrons increases. A feature of this process is that it takes place under extreme conditions: with a high density of energy release in a small volume of matter at a high temperature, all this develops within microseconds, which ultimately leads to an explosive effect. The computational study of the physics of complex processes occurring in the World Bank is a manifestation of the higher intelligence of scientists, a paradise for theorists, as Andrei Sakharov once said.
The world's first hydrogen bomb RDS-6S.
Charge test conducted on August 12
1953 at the Semipalatinsk test site.
Charge power - up to 400 kT
Photo: Vadim Savitsky
Thus, the first sample of the domestic WB RDS-6S contained, in addition to explosives, the following nuclear materials: uranium-235, natural uranium, lithium-6 deuteride and tritide. This made it possible to ensure the implementation of the following processes: a nuclear explosion of a central charge, heating as a result of this spherical layers with deuteride and lithium-6 tritide, a thermonuclear reaction with the release of energy and the formation of fast neutrons, the fission of uranium-238 nuclei by fast neutrons with the release of energy, the interaction of lithium 6 with neutrons to obtain an additional amount of tritium and thereby enhance the primary thermonuclear reaction.
In a hydrogen bomb, numerous nuclear reactions, hydrodynamic phenomena and high-intensity thermal processes occur almost simultaneously. It is quite obvious that, due to the lack of methods for their analysis and reliable information on the particle interaction constants, the calculation of the explosion of the WB presented significant theoretical difficulties. Nevertheless, Soviet scientists and engineers managed to create the first domestic WB, which is the most complex technical device in the world.
Principles of work organization
The activity on the creation of the first hydrogen bomb in the Soviet Union had a number of peculiarities. First of all, all participants in this work, regardless of their official position, had a high level of responsibility, understanding the exceptional military-political significance of the presence of a superbomb as one of the effective means of protecting the country from external threats.
Of course, the state centralization and coordination of the activities of all enterprises and organizations, as well as the maximum possible financing of work, including generous material incentives for the results obtained, played a huge role in achieving success. And all this with strict control over execution. The high potential of pre-war Soviet science, especially nuclear physics, and the presence of a large number of highly qualified scientists and engineers were also of great importance.
The achievements of nuclear physics were constantly used to solve urgent problems of the country's defense. In general, without the results of fundamental research, the creation of such a high-tech product as the RDS-6S WB and the subsequent improved WB models would be impossible. It is known that the director of the Leningrad Physics and Technology Institute (LPTI), Academician Abram Ioffe, in the pre-war years, was reprimanded for research in nuclear physics as not giving a practical solution. But it was precisely the pre-war fundamental research that enabled the Soviet Union to obtain advanced weapons.
Outstanding scientists of the country of various specialties participated in the creation of the first domestic World Bank, among which one should name, first of all, such famous physicists as Igor Kurchatov, Julius Khariton, Yakov Zeldovich, Kirill Shchelkin, Igor Tamm, Andrei Sakharov, Vitaly Ginzburg, Lev Landau, Evgeny Zababakhin, Yuri Romanov, Georgy Flerov, Ilya Frank, Alexander Shalnikov, and others.
A fundamental feature of the work on RDS-6 was the participation in them of a large number of highly qualified Soviet mathematicians, such as Nikolai Bogolyubov, Ivan Vinogradov, Leonid Kantorovich, Mstislav Keldysh, Andrei Kolmogorov, Ivan Petrovsky and many, many others. The entire color of Soviet science was involved in the creation of the first domestic WB. The active participation of a large number of scientific, design and engineering and production teams of the country with experienced personnel made it possible to solve the most complex science-intensive problems. The emergence of WB would be impossible without the production of lithium-6, deuterium, tritium and their compounds on an industrial scale - the main components of thermonuclear weapons, methods for separating tritium from irradiated lithium, etc.
New ideas, projects of installations, plans for research and development work, reports of directors of institutes on the work performed were discussed at seminars and scientific councils of Laboratory No. 2, NTS PGU and NTS at KB-11, etc. All government decisions were drawn up on the basis of recommendations of NTS PSU and NTS at KB-11 after approbation by the leadership of PSU and the Special Committee. The practice of constant collegial discussion of new proposals at the meetings of the STC led to the elimination of a large gap between ideas and their implementation.
The Soviet atomic project was distinguished by a wide program of various fundamental research with the construction of experimental nuclear reactors and installations, charged particle accelerators, etc., the results of which were immediately used in the performance of specific tasks. At the same time, enormous funds were spent on fundamental research.
Personally responsible
The solution of state tasks on the creation of nuclear-hydrogen weapons became possible to a large extent thanks to the urgent measures of the Soviet government to organize an effective structure for the centralized control of the Atomic Project. On August 20, 1945, the Special Committee (SK, headed by Lavrentiy Beria) was created under the State Defense Committee and the First Main Directorate (PSU, headed by the former People's Commissar of Ammunition Boris Vannikov) under the USSR Council of People's Commissars. As a result, the following cycle of management of the Atomic Project was implemented: industrial enterprises, institutes, design organizations - Scientific and Technical Council (STC) PGU - PGU - Special Committee - Council of Ministers of the USSR. The work on the creation of the WB RDS-6S was constantly monitored by the Special Committee and the PGU. After the information letter from Vannikov and Kurchatov about the fundamental possibility of creating a superbomb, the Special Committee and the PGU repeatedly considered the state of the WB developments and, if necessary, prepared resolutions and orders of the Council of Ministers. During 1950-1953, 26 resolutions and orders of the Council of Ministers of the USSR were issued on scientific, production and organizational issues of the development of the WB RDS-6S. Such a large number of government decisions in other areas of the Atomic Project have not been issued. Most of them relate to the work of KB-11 as the main executing organization, where over time the order of work was formed, determined by the USSR Council of Ministers resolutions and orders of the KB-11 leadership. On February 8, 1949, the chief of KB-11, Pavel Zernov, signed an order on work in KB-11 on RDS-6, in paragraph 1 of which it was envisaged to organize a group “under the direct supervision of chief designer Yu. B. Khariton for further development of issues on the creation of RDS-6 in the following composition: Yu. B. Khariton (leader), K. I. Shchelkin, Ya. B. Zel'dovich, N. L. Dukhov, V. I. Alferov, A. S. Kozyrev, E. I. Zababakhin, G N. Flerov, L. V. Altshuler, V. A. Tsukerman, V. A. Davidenko, D. A. Frank-Kamenetsky, A. I. Abramov.
A year later, the government appointed a scientific supervisor and his deputy, responsible for specific areas of work. The status of the scientific supervisor, which was introduced in the Soviet Atomic Project, was very high, as evidenced, for example, by the activities of Igor Kurchatov. Clause 2 of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 827-303ss / op "On the work on the creation of RDS-6" dated February 26, 1950, it is stated: Khariton, first deputy scientific supervisor for the creation of RDS-6S and RDS-6T, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences K. I. Schelkina, Deputy Supervisor for RDS-6S products, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences I. E. Tamm, Deputy Supervisor for theoretical part of the RDS-6T Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Ya. B. Zel'dovich, Deputy Scientific Supervisors for Research on Nuclear Processes MG Meshcheryakov, Candidate of Physics and Mathematics, and GN Flerov, Candidate of Physics and Mathematics.
Also, the decree approved the personal composition of the calculators, in paragraph 4 of which we read the following: “To organize in KB-11 for the development of the theory of the RDS-6S product a calculation and theoretical group under the leadership of Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences I. Ye. Tamm, consisting of: A. D. Sakharov - Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, S. Z. Belen'ky - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Yu. A. Romanov - Research Fellow, N. N. Bogolyubov - Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, I. Ya. Pomeranchuk - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, V. N. Klimov - research assistant, D. V. Shirkov - research assistant."
According to the plan 1949-1950
Thus, in addition to KB-11, leading scientific specialists from the institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences participated in the work on the RDS-6. As a result, under the scientific supervision of KB-11 on computational and experimental research in support of the VB RDS-6S project, there were the following executing organizations: Physical Institute (FIAN), Institute for Physical Problems (IPP), Institute of Chemical Physics (ICP), Laboratory No. 1, Laboratory No. 2, Laboratory "B", Mathematical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences with the Leningrad branch, Institute of Geophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. NII-8, NII-9, LPTI, GSPI-11, GSPI-12, VIAM, NIIgrafit, as well as production enterprises: Combine No. 817, Plant No. 12, Plant No. 418, plant No. 752, Verkhne-Salda metallurgical plant, Novosibirsk chemical concentrate plant.
The administrative and scientific leadership of the Soviet Atomic Project vigorously set about organizing work on the creation of the first domestic WB RDS-6. The first representative meeting on RDS-6 took place on June 9, 1949 under the leadership of Vannikov and Kurchatov at KB-11 (Arzamas-16). In addition to the leading scientists of the Atomic Project, Sakharov was invited. The participants of the meeting developed the "Plan of research work on RDS-6 for 1949-1950." (in handwritten form, prepared, judging by the handwriting, by Sakharov), providing for the following areas of research: nuclear reactions of light nuclei in RDS-6; the possibility of initiating the RDS-6 using an atomic bomb and conventional explosives; the use of the explosion of an atomic bomb to obtain information regarding the creation of an EO; gas dynamics of the process. Along with theoretical work, the performers and the timing of the development of industrial technologies for the production of tritium, lithium-6, lithium deuteride, uranium deuteride, necessary for the creation of RDS-6, were also determined.
The RDS-6S hydrogen bomb model was successfully tested at the Semipalatinsk test site on August 12, 1953.
The capacity of the first Soviet AB RDS-1, which was a copy of the American AB, was 20 thousand tons of TNT equivalent. The total TNT equivalent of AB RDS-2 of the original Soviet design was 38,300 tons. The power of the first WB RDS-6S exceeded the TNT equivalent of AB RDS-2 by almost 10 times, which was undoubtedly a major achievement of Soviet nuclear weapons developers. Subsequently, the design principles of the WB RDS-6S were seriously improved, this made it possible to create a more powerful weapon.
