Hydrogen explosion. Hydrogen bomb and nuclear bomb differences

The content of the article

H-BOMB, a weapon of great destructive power (on the order of megatons in TNT equivalent), the operating principle of which is based on the reaction of thermonuclear fusion of light nuclei. The source of explosion energy is processes similar to those occurring on the Sun and other stars.

Thermonuclear reactions.

The interior of the Sun contains a gigantic amount of hydrogen, which is in a state of ultra-high compression at a temperature of approx. 15,000,000 K. At such high temperatures and plasma densities, hydrogen nuclei experience constant collisions with each other, some of which result in their fusion and ultimately the formation of heavier helium nuclei. Such reactions, called thermonuclear fusion, are accompanied by the release of enormous amounts of energy. According to the laws of physics, the energy release during thermonuclear fusion is due to the fact that during the formation of a heavier nucleus, part of the mass of the light nuclei included in its composition is converted into a colossal amount of energy. That is why the Sun, having a gigantic mass, loses approx. every day in the process of thermonuclear fusion. 100 billion tons of matter and releases energy, thanks to which life on Earth became possible.

Isotopes of hydrogen.

The hydrogen atom is the simplest of all existing atoms. It consists of one proton, which is its nucleus, around which a single electron rotates. Careful studies of water (H 2 O) have shown that it contains negligible amounts of “heavy” water containing the “heavy isotope” of hydrogen - deuterium (2 H). The deuterium nucleus consists of a proton and a neutron - a neutral particle with a mass close to a proton.

There is a third isotope of hydrogen, tritium, whose nucleus contains one proton and two neutrons. Tritium is unstable and undergoes spontaneous radioactive decay, turning into an isotope of helium. Traces of tritium have been found in the Earth's atmosphere, where it is formed as a result of the interaction of cosmic rays with gas molecules that make up the air. Tritium is produced artificially in a nuclear reactor by irradiating the lithium-6 isotope with a stream of neutrons.

Development of the hydrogen bomb.

Preliminary theoretical analysis has shown that thermonuclear fusion is most easily accomplished in a mixture of deuterium and tritium. Taking this as a basis, US scientists at the beginning of 1950 began implementing a project to create a hydrogen bomb (HB). The first tests of a model nuclear device were carried out at the Enewetak test site in the spring of 1951; thermonuclear fusion was only partial. Significant success was achieved on November 1, 1951 during the testing of a massive nuclear device, the explosion power of which was 4 × 8 Mt in TNT equivalent.

The first hydrogen aerial bomb was detonated in the USSR on August 12, 1953, and on March 1, 1954, the Americans detonated a more powerful (approximately 15 Mt) aerial bomb on Bikini Atoll. Since then, both powers have carried out explosions of advanced megaton weapons.

The explosion at Bikini Atoll was accompanied by the release of large amounts of radioactive substances. Some of them fell hundreds of kilometers from the explosion site on the Japanese fishing vessel "Lucky Dragon", while others covered the island of Rongelap. Since thermonuclear fusion produces stable helium, the radioactivity from the explosion of a pure hydrogen bomb should be no more than that of an atomic detonator of a thermonuclear reaction. However, in the case under consideration, the predicted and actual radioactive fallout differed significantly in quantity and composition.

The mechanism of action of the hydrogen bomb.

The sequence of processes occurring during the explosion of a hydrogen bomb can be represented as follows. First, the thermonuclear reaction initiator charge (a small atomic bomb) located inside the HB shell explodes, resulting in a neutron flash and creating the high temperature necessary to initiate thermonuclear fusion. Neutrons bombard an insert made of lithium deuteride, a compound of deuterium and lithium (a lithium isotope with mass number 6 is used). Lithium-6 is split into helium and tritium under the influence of neutrons. Thus, the atomic fuse creates the materials necessary for synthesis directly in the actual bomb itself.

Then a thermonuclear reaction begins in a mixture of deuterium and tritium, the temperature inside the bomb rapidly increases, involving more and more hydrogen in the synthesis. With a further increase in temperature, a reaction between deuterium nuclei, characteristic of a pure hydrogen bomb, could begin. All reactions, of course, occur so quickly that they are perceived as instantaneous.

Fission, fusion, fission (superbomb).

In fact, in a bomb, the sequence of processes described above ends at the stage of the reaction of deuterium with tritium. Further, the bomb designers chose not to use nuclear fusion, but nuclear fission. The fusion of deuterium and tritium nuclei produces helium and fast neutrons, the energy of which is high enough to cause nuclear fission of uranium-238 (the main isotope of uranium, much cheaper than the uranium-235 used in conventional atomic bombs). Fast neutrons split the atoms of the uranium shell of the superbomb. The fission of one ton of uranium creates energy equivalent to 18 Mt. Energy goes not only to explosion and heat generation. Each uranium nucleus splits into two highly radioactive “fragments.” Fission products include 36 different chemical elements and nearly 200 radioactive isotopes. All this constitutes the radioactive fallout that accompanies superbomb explosions.

Thanks to the unique design and the described mechanism of action, weapons of this type can be made as powerful as desired. It is much cheaper than atomic bombs of the same power.

Consequences of the explosion.

Shock wave and thermal effect.

The direct (primary) impact of a superbomb explosion is threefold. The most obvious direct impact is a shock wave of enormous intensity. The strength of its impact, depending on the power of the bomb, the height of the explosion above the surface of the earth and the nature of the terrain, decreases with distance from the epicenter of the explosion. The thermal impact of an explosion is determined by the same factors, but also depends on the transparency of the air - fog sharply reduces the distance at which a thermal flash can cause serious burns.

According to calculations, during an explosion in the atmosphere of a 20-megaton bomb, people will remain alive in 50% of cases if they 1) take refuge in an underground reinforced concrete shelter at a distance of approximately 8 km from the epicenter of the explosion (E), 2) are in ordinary urban buildings at a distance of approx. . 15 km from EV, 3) found themselves in an open place at a distance of approx. 20 km from EV. In conditions of poor visibility and at a distance of at least 25 km, if the atmosphere is clear, for people in open areas, the likelihood of survival increases rapidly with distance from the epicenter; at a distance of 32 km its calculated value is more than 90%. The area over which the penetrating radiation generated during an explosion causes death is relatively small, even in the case of a high-power superbomb.

Fire ball.

Depending on the composition and mass of flammable material involved in the fireball, giant self-sustaining firestorms can form and rage for many hours. However, the most dangerous (albeit secondary) consequence of the explosion is radioactive contamination of the environment.

Fallout.

How they are formed.

When a bomb explodes, the resulting fireball is filled with a huge amount of radioactive particles. Typically, these particles are so small that once they reach the upper atmosphere, they can remain there for a long time. But if a fireball comes into contact with the surface of the Earth, it turns everything on it into hot dust and ash and draws them into a fiery tornado. In a whirlwind of flame, they mix and bind with radioactive particles. Radioactive dust, except the largest, does not settle immediately. Finer dust is carried away by the resulting cloud and gradually falls out as it moves with the wind. Directly at the site of the explosion, radioactive fallout can be extremely intense - mainly large dust settling on the ground. Hundreds of kilometers from the explosion site and at greater distances, small but still visible particles of ash fall to the ground. They often form a cover similar to fallen snow, deadly to anyone who happens to be nearby. Even smaller and invisible particles, before they settle on the ground, can wander in the atmosphere for months and even years, circling the globe many times. By the time they fall out, their radioactivity is significantly weakened. The most dangerous radiation remains strontium-90 with a half-life of 28 years. Its loss is clearly observed throughout the world. When it settles on leaves and grass, it enters food chains that include humans. As a consequence of this, noticeable, although not yet dangerous, amounts of strontium-90 have been found in the bones of residents of most countries. The accumulation of strontium-90 in human bones is very dangerous in the long term, as it leads to the formation of malignant bone tumors.

Long-term contamination of the area with radioactive fallout.

In the event of hostilities, the use of a hydrogen bomb will lead to immediate radioactive contamination of an area within a radius of approx. 100 km from the epicenter of the explosion. If a superbomb explodes, an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers will be contaminated. Such a huge area of destruction with a single bomb makes it a completely new type of weapon. Even if the superbomb does not hit the target, i.e. will not hit the object with shock-thermal effects, the penetrating radiation and radioactive fallout accompanying the explosion will make the surrounding space uninhabitable. Such precipitation can continue for many days, weeks and even months. Depending on their quantity, the intensity of radiation can reach deadly levels. A relatively small number of superbombs is enough to completely cover a large country with a layer of radioactive dust that is deadly to all living things. Thus, the creation of the superbomb marked the beginning of an era when it became possible to make entire continents uninhabitable. Even long after the cessation of direct exposure to radioactive fallout, the danger due to the high radiotoxicity of isotopes such as strontium-90 will remain. With food grown on soils contaminated with this isotope, radioactivity will enter the human body.

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 already in 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 so 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 a 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.

Our article is devoted to the history of creation and general principles of synthesis of such a device, sometimes called hydrogen. Instead of releasing explosive energy by splitting the nuclei of heavy elements like uranium, it generates even more energy by fusing the nuclei of light elements (such as isotopes of hydrogen) into one heavy one (such as helium).

Why is nuclear fusion preferable?

During a thermonuclear reaction, which consists in the fusion of the nuclei of the chemical elements participating in it, significantly more energy is generated per unit mass of a physical device than in a pure atomic bomb that implements a nuclear fission reaction.

In an atomic bomb, fissile nuclear fuel quickly, under the influence of the energy of detonation of conventional explosives, combines in a small spherical volume, where its so-called critical mass is created, and the fission reaction begins. In this case, many neutrons released from fissile nuclei will cause the fission of other nuclei in the fuel mass, which also release additional neutrons, leading to a chain reaction. It covers no more than 20% of the fuel before the bomb explodes, or perhaps much less if conditions are not ideal: as in the atomic bombs Little Kid dropped on Hiroshima and Fat Man that hit Nagasaki, efficiency (if such a term can be applied to them) apply) were only 1.38% and 13%, respectively.

The fusion (or fusion) of nuclei covers the entire mass of the bomb charge and lasts as long as neutrons can find thermonuclear fuel that has not yet reacted. Therefore, the mass and explosive power of such a bomb are theoretically unlimited. Such a merger can theoretically continue indefinitely. Indeed, the thermonuclear bomb is one of the potential doomsday devices that could destroy all human life.

What is a nuclear fusion reaction?

The fuel for the thermonuclear fusion reaction is hydrogen isotopes deuterium or tritium. The first differs from ordinary hydrogen in that its nucleus, in addition to one proton, also contains a neutron, and the tritium nucleus already has two neutrons. In natural water, there is one deuterium atom for every 7,000 hydrogen atoms, but from its quantity. contained in a glass of water, as a result of a thermonuclear reaction, the same amount of heat can be obtained as from the combustion of 200 liters of gasoline. At a 1946 meeting with politicians, the father of the American hydrogen bomb, Edward Teller, emphasized that deuterium provides more energy per gram of weight than uranium or plutonium, but costs twenty cents per gram compared with several hundred dollars per gram of fission fuel. Tritium does not occur in nature in a free state at all, so it is much more expensive than deuterium, with a market price of tens of thousands of dollars per gram, but the greatest amount of energy is released precisely in the fusion reaction of deuterium and tritium nuclei, in which the nucleus of a helium atom is formed and released neutron carrying away excess energy of 17.59 MeV

D + T → 4 He + n + 17.59 MeV.

This reaction is shown schematically in the figure below.

Is it a lot or a little? As you know, everything is learned by comparison. So, the energy of 1 MeV is approximately 2.3 million times more than that released during the combustion of 1 kg of oil. Consequently, the fusion of only two nuclei of deuterium and tritium releases as much energy as is released during the combustion of 2.3∙10 6 ∙17.59 = 40.5∙10 6 kg of oil. But we are talking about only two atoms. You can imagine how high the stakes were in the second half of the 40s of the last century, when work began in the USA and the USSR, which resulted in a thermonuclear bomb.

How it all began

As early as the summer of 1942, at the beginning of the atomic bomb project in the United States (the Manhattan Project) and later in a similar Soviet program, long before a bomb based on the fission of uranium nuclei was built, the attention of some participants in these programs was drawn to the device, which can use a much more powerful nuclear fusion reaction. In the USA, a supporter of this approach, and even, one might say, its apologist, was the above-mentioned Edward Teller. In the USSR, this direction was developed by Andrei Sakharov, a future academician and dissident.

For Teller, his fascination with thermonuclear fusion during the years of creating the atomic bomb was rather a disservice. As a participant in the Manhattan Project, he persistently called for the redirection of funds to implement his own ideas, the goal of which was a hydrogen and thermonuclear bomb, which did not please the leadership and caused tension in relations. Since at that time the thermonuclear direction of research was not supported, after the creation of the atomic bomb Teller left the project and began teaching, as well as researching elementary particles.

However, the outbreak of the Cold War, and most of all the creation and successful testing of the Soviet atomic bomb in 1949, became a new chance for the ardent anti-communist Teller to realize his scientific ideas. He returns to the Los Alamos laboratory, where the atomic bomb was created, and, together with Stanislav Ulam and Cornelius Everett, begins calculations.

The principle of a thermonuclear bomb

In order for the nuclear fusion reaction to begin, the bomb charge must be instantly heated to a temperature of 50 million degrees. The thermonuclear bomb scheme proposed by Teller uses for this purpose the explosion of a small atomic bomb, which is located inside the hydrogen casing. It can be argued that there were three generations in the development of her project in the 40s of the last century:

Teller's variation, known as the "classic super";
more complex, but also more realistic designs of several concentric spheres;
the final version of the Teller-Ulam design, which is the basis of all thermonuclear weapon systems operating today.

The thermonuclear bombs of the USSR, whose creation was pioneered by Andrei Sakharov, went through similar design stages. He, apparently, completely independently and independently of the Americans (which cannot be said about the Soviet atomic bomb, created by the joint efforts of scientists and intelligence officers working in the USA) went through all of the above design stages.

The first two generations had the property that they had a succession of interlocking "layers", each of which reinforced some aspect of the previous one, and in some cases feedback was established. There was no clear division between the primary atomic bomb and the secondary thermonuclear one. In contrast, the Teller-Ulam thermonuclear bomb diagram sharply distinguishes between a primary explosion, a secondary explosion, and, if necessary, an additional one.

The device of a thermonuclear bomb according to the Teller-Ulam principle

Many of its details still remain classified, but it is reasonably certain that all thermonuclear weapons currently available are based on the device created by Edward Telleros and Stanislaw Ulam, in which an atomic bomb (i.e. the primary charge) is used to generate radiation, compresses and heats fusion fuel. Andrei Sakharov in the Soviet Union apparently independently came up with a similar concept, which he called the "third idea."

The structure of a thermonuclear bomb in this version is shown schematically in the figure below.

It was cylindrical in shape, with a roughly spherical primary atomic bomb at one end. The secondary thermonuclear charge in the first, not yet industrial samples, was made of liquid deuterium; somewhat later it became solid from a chemical compound called lithium deuteride.

The fact is that industry has long used lithium hydride LiH for balloon-free hydrogen transportation. The developers of the bomb (this idea was first used in the USSR) simply proposed taking its isotope deuterium instead of ordinary hydrogen and combining it with lithium, since it is much easier to make a bomb with a solid thermonuclear charge.

The shape of the secondary charge was a cylinder placed in a container with a lead (or uranium) shell. Between the charges there is a neutron protection shield. The space between the walls of the container with thermonuclear fuel and the bomb body is filled with special plastic, usually polystyrene foam. The bomb body itself is made of steel or aluminum.

These shapes have changed in recent designs such as the one shown below.

In it, the primary charge is flattened, like a watermelon or an American football ball, and the secondary charge is spherical. Such shapes fit much more efficiently into the internal volume of conical missile warheads.

Thermonuclear explosion sequence

When a primary atomic bomb detonates, in the first moments of this process a powerful X-ray radiation (neutron flux) is generated, which is partially blocked by the neutron shield, and is reflected from the inner lining of the housing surrounding the secondary charge, so that the X-rays fall symmetrically across its entire length

During the initial stages of a thermonuclear reaction, neutrons from an atomic explosion are absorbed by a plastic filler to prevent the fuel from heating up too quickly.

X-rays initially cause the appearance of a dense plastic foam that fills the space between the housing and the secondary charge, which quickly turns into a plasma state that heats and compresses the secondary charge.

In addition, the X-rays evaporate the surface of the container surrounding the secondary charge. The substance of the container, evaporating symmetrically relative to this charge, acquires a certain impulse directed from its axis, and the layers of the secondary charge, according to the law of conservation of momentum, receive an impulse directed towards the axis of the device. The principle here is the same as in a rocket, only if you imagine that the rocket fuel scatters symmetrically from its axis, and the body is compressed inward.

As a result of such compression of thermonuclear fuel, its volume decreases thousands of times, and the temperature reaches the level at which the nuclear fusion reaction begins. A thermonuclear bomb explodes. The reaction is accompanied by the formation of tritium nuclei, which merge with deuterium nuclei initially present in the secondary charge.

The first secondary charges were built around a rod core of plutonium, informally called a "candle", which entered into a nuclear fission reaction, i.e., another, additional atomic explosion was carried out in order to further raise the temperature to ensure the start of the nuclear fusion reaction. It is now believed that more efficient compression systems have eliminated the "candle", allowing further miniaturization of bomb design.

Operation Ivy

This was the name given to the tests of American thermonuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands in 1952, during which the first thermonuclear bomb was detonated. It was called Ivy Mike and was built according to the Teller-Ulam standard design. Its secondary thermonuclear charge was placed in a cylindrical container, which was a thermally insulated Dewar flask with thermonuclear fuel in the form of liquid deuterium, along the axis of which a “candle” of 239-plutonium ran. The dewar, in turn, was covered with a layer of 238-uranium weighing more than 5 metric tons, which evaporated during the explosion, providing symmetrical compression of the thermonuclear fuel. The container containing the primary and secondary charges was housed in a steel casing 80 inches wide by 244 inches long with walls 10 to 12 inches thick, the largest example of wrought iron up to that time. The inner surface of the case was lined with sheets of lead and polyethylene to reflect radiation after the explosion of the primary charge and create plasma that heats the secondary charge. The entire device weighed 82 tons. A view of the device shortly before the explosion is shown in the photo below.

The first test of a thermonuclear bomb took place on October 31, 1952. The power of the explosion was 10.4 megatons. Attol Eniwetok, where it was produced, was completely destroyed. The moment of the explosion is shown in the photo below.

The USSR gives a symmetrical answer

The US thermonuclear championship did not last long. On August 12, 1953, the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb RDS-6, developed under the leadership of Andrei Sakharov and Yuli Khariton, was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site. From the description above, it becomes clear that the Americans at Enewetok did not explode the bomb itself, as a type of ready-to-use ammunition, but rather a laboratory device, cumbersome and very imperfect. Soviet scientists, despite the small power of only 400 kg, tested a completely finished ammunition with thermonuclear fuel in the form of solid lithium deuteride, and not liquid deuterium, like the Americans. By the way, it should be noted that only the 6 Li isotope is used in lithium deuteride (this is due to the peculiarities of thermonuclear reactions), and in nature it is mixed with the 7 Li isotope. Therefore, special production facilities were built to separate lithium isotopes and select only 6 Li.

Reaching Power Limit

What followed was a decade of continuous arms race, during which the power of thermonuclear munitions continually increased. Finally, on October 30, 1961, in the USSR over the Novaya Zemlya test site in the air at an altitude of about 4 km, the most powerful thermonuclear bomb that had ever been built and tested, known in the West as the “Tsar Bomba,” was exploded.

This three-stage munition was actually developed as a 101.5-megaton bomb, but the desire to reduce radioactive contamination of the area forced the developers to abandon the third stage with a yield of 50 megatons and reduce the design yield of the device to 51.5 megatons. At the same time, the power of the explosion of the primary atomic charge was 1.5 megatons, and the second thermonuclear stage was supposed to give another 50. The actual power of the explosion was up to 58 megatons. The appearance of the bomb is shown in the photo below.

Its consequences were impressive. Despite the very significant height of the explosion of 4000 m, the incredibly bright fireball with its lower edge almost reached the Earth, and with its upper edge it rose to a height of more than 4.5 km. The pressure below the burst point was six times higher than the peak pressure of the Hiroshima explosion. The flash of light was so bright that it was visible at a distance of 1000 kilometers, despite the cloudy weather. One of the test participants saw a bright flash through dark glasses and felt the effects of the thermal pulse even at a distance of 270 km. A photo of the moment of the explosion is shown below.

It was shown that the power of a thermonuclear charge really has no limitations. After all, it was enough to complete the third stage, and the calculated power would be achieved. But it is possible to increase the number of stages further, since the weight of the Tsar Bomba was no more than 27 tons. The appearance of this device is shown in the photo below.

After these tests, it became clear to many politicians and military men both in the USSR and in the USA that the limit of the nuclear arms race had come and it needed to be stopped.

Modern Russia inherited the nuclear arsenal of the USSR. Today, Russia's thermonuclear bombs continue to serve as a deterrent to those seeking global hegemony. Let's hope they only play their role as a deterrent and never get blown up.

The sun as a fusion reactor

It is well known that the temperature of the Sun, or more precisely its core, reaching 15,000,000 °K, is maintained due to the continuous occurrence of thermonuclear reactions. However, everything that we could glean from the previous text speaks of the explosive nature of such processes. Then why doesn't the Sun explode like a thermonuclear bomb?

The fact is that with a huge share of hydrogen in the solar mass, which reaches 71%, the share of its isotope deuterium, the nuclei of which can only participate in the thermonuclear fusion reaction, is negligible. The fact is that deuterium nuclei themselves are formed as a result of the merger of two hydrogen nuclei, and not just a merger, but with the decay of one of the protons into a neutron, positron and neutrino (so-called beta decay), which is a rare event. In this case, the resulting deuterium nuclei are distributed fairly evenly throughout the volume of the solar core. Therefore, with its enormous size and mass, individual and rare centers of thermonuclear reactions of relatively low power are, as it were, smeared throughout its entire core of the Sun. The heat released during these reactions is clearly not enough to instantly burn out all the deuterium in the Sun, but it is enough to heat it to a temperature that ensures life on Earth.

The content of the article

Thermonuclear reactions.

Isotopes of hydrogen.

Development of the hydrogen bomb.

The mechanism of action of the hydrogen bomb.

Fission, fusion, fission (superbomb).

Thanks to the unique design and the described mechanism of action, weapons of this type can be made as powerful as desired. It is much cheaper than atomic bombs of the same power.

Consequences of the explosion.

Shock wave and thermal effect.

Fire ball.

Fallout.

How they are formed.

Long-term contamination of the area with radioactive fallout.

The geopolitical ambitions of major powers always lead to an arms race. The development of new military technologies gave one country or another an advantage over others. Thus, with leaps and bounds, humanity approached the emergence of terrible weapons - nuclear bomb. From what date did the report of the atomic era begin, how many countries on our planet have nuclear potential, and what is the fundamental difference between a hydrogen bomb and an atomic one? You can find the answer to these and other questions by reading this article.

What is the difference between a hydrogen bomb and a nuclear bomb?

Any nuclear weapon based on intranuclear reaction, the power of which is capable of almost instantly destroying a large number of living units, as well as equipment, and all kinds of buildings and structures. Let's consider the classification of nuclear warheads in service with some countries:

Nuclear (atomic) bomb. During the nuclear reaction and fission of plutonium and uranium, energy is released on a colossal scale. Typically, one warhead contains two plutonium charges of the same mass, which explode away from each other.
Hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb. Energy is released based on the fusion of hydrogen nuclei (hence the name). The intensity of the shock wave and the amount of energy released exceeds atomic energy by several times.

What is more powerful: a nuclear or a hydrogen bomb?

While scientists were puzzling over how to use the atomic energy obtained in the process of thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen for peaceful purposes, the military had already conducted more than a dozen tests. It turned out that charge in a few megatons of a hydrogen bomb are thousands of times more powerful than an atomic bomb. It’s even difficult to imagine what would have happened to Hiroshima (and indeed to Japan itself) if there had been hydrogen in the 20-kiloton bomb thrown at it.

Consider the powerful destructive force that results from a 50 megaton hydrogen bomb explosion:

Fire ball: diameter 4.5 -5 kilometers in diameter.
Sound wave: The explosion can be heard from 800 kilometers away.
Energy: from the released energy, a person can get burns to the skin, being up to 100 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.
nuclear mushroom: height is more than 70 km in height, the radius of the cap is about 50 km.

Atomic bombs of such power have never been detonated before. There are indicators of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, but its size was significantly inferior to the hydrogen discharge described above:

Fire ball: diameter about 300 meters.
nuclear mushroom: height 12 km, cap radius - about 5 km.
Energy: the temperature at the center of the explosion reached 3000C°.

Now in the arsenal of nuclear powers are namely hydrogen bombs. In addition to the fact that they are ahead in their characteristics of their " little brothers", they are much cheaper to produce.

The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb

Let's look at it step by step, stages of detonating hydrogen bombs:

Charge detonation. The charge is in a special shell. After detonation, neutrons are released and the high temperature required to begin nuclear fusion in the main charge is created.
Lithium fission. Under the influence of neutrons, lithium splits into helium and tritium.
Thermonuclear fusion. Tritium and helium trigger a thermonuclear reaction, as a result of which hydrogen enters the process, and the temperature inside the charge instantly increases. A thermonuclear explosion occurs.

The principle of operation of an atomic bomb

Charge detonation. The bomb shell contains several isotopes (uranium, plutonium, etc.), which decay under the detonation field and capture neutrons.
Avalanche process. The destruction of one atom initiates the decay of several more atoms. There is a chain process that leads to the destruction of a large number of nuclei.
Nuclear reaction. In a very short time, all parts of the bomb form one whole, and the mass of the charge begins to exceed the critical mass. A huge amount of energy is released, after which an explosion occurs.

The danger of nuclear war

Even in the middle of the last century, the danger of nuclear war was unlikely. Two countries had atomic weapons in their arsenal - the USSR and the USA. The leaders of the two superpowers were well aware of the danger of using weapons of mass destruction, and the arms race was most likely conducted as a “competitive” confrontation.

Of course, there were tense moments in relation to the powers, but common sense always prevailed over ambitions.

The situation changed at the end of the 20th century. The “nuclear baton” was taken over not only by the developed countries of Western Europe, but also by representatives of Asia.

But, as you probably know, " nuclear club"consists of 10 countries. It is unofficially believed that Israel, and possibly Iran, have nuclear warheads. Although the latter, after the imposition of economic sanctions on them, abandoned the development of the nuclear program.

After the appearance of the first atomic bomb, scientists in the USSR and the USA began to think about weapons that would not cause such great destruction and contamination of enemy territories, but would have a targeted effect on the human body. The idea arose about creation of a neutron bomb.

The operating principle is interaction of neutron flux with living flesh and military equipment. The more radioactive isotopes produced instantly destroy a person, and tanks, transporters and other weapons become sources of strong radiation for a short time.

A neutron bomb explodes at a distance of 200 meters to ground level, and is especially effective during an enemy tank attack. The armor of military equipment, 250 mm thick, is capable of reducing the effects of a nuclear bomb several times, but is powerless against the gamma radiation of a neutron bomb. Let's consider the effects of a neutron projectile with a power of up to 1 kiloton on a tank crew:

As you understand, the difference between a hydrogen bomb and an atomic bomb is enormous. The difference in the nuclear fission reaction between these charges makes a hydrogen bomb is hundreds of times more destructive than an atomic bomb.

When using a 1 megaton thermonuclear bomb, everything within a radius of 10 kilometers will be destroyed. Not only buildings and equipment will suffer, but also all living things.

The heads of nuclear countries should remember this, and use the “nuclear” threat solely as a deterrent tool, and not as an offensive weapon.

Video about the differences between the atomic and hydrogen bombs

This video will describe in detail and step by step the principle of operation of an atomic bomb, as well as the main differences from the hydrogen one: