Hydrogen Bomb (HB, WB) - weapon mass destruction, which has incredible destructive power (its power is estimated in megatons of TNT). The principle of operation of the bomb and the structure of the structure is based on the use of energy thermo nuclear fusion hydrogen nuclei. The processes that take place during an explosion are similar to those that take place in stars (including the Sun). The first test of a WB suitable for transportation over long distances (project by A.D. Sakharov) was carried out in the Soviet Union at a training ground near Semipalatinsk.

thermonuclear reaction

The sun contains huge reserves of hydrogen, which is under the constant influence of ultra-high pressure and temperature (about 15 million degrees Kelvin). At such an extreme density and temperature of the plasma, the nuclei of hydrogen atoms randomly collide with each other. The result of collisions is the fusion of nuclei, and as a result, the formation of nuclei of a heavier element - helium. Reactions of this type are called thermonuclear fusion, they are characterized by the release of an enormous amount of energy.

The laws of physics explain the energy release during a thermonuclear reaction as follows: part of the mass of light nuclei involved in the formation of heavier elements remains unused and turns into pure energy in enormous quantities. That is why our heavenly body loses approximately 4 million tons of matter per second, while releasing a continuous flow of energy into outer space.

Isotopes of hydrogen

The simplest of all existing atoms is the hydrogen atom. It consists of only one proton, which forms the nucleus, and a single electron, revolving around it. As a result scientific research water (H2O), it was found that the so-called "heavy" water is present in it in small quantities. It contains "heavy" isotopes of hydrogen (2H or deuterium), whose nuclei, in addition to one proton, also contain one neutron (a particle close in mass to a proton, but devoid of charge).

Science also knows tritium - the third isotope of hydrogen, the nucleus of which contains 1 proton and 2 neutrons at once. Tritium is characterized by instability and constant spontaneous decay with the release of energy (radiation), resulting in the formation of a helium isotope. Traces of tritium are found in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere: it is there, under the influence of cosmic rays, that the gas molecules that form the air undergo similar changes. It is also possible to obtain tritium in a nuclear reactor by irradiating the lithium-6 isotope with a powerful neutron flux.

Development and first tests of the hydrogen bomb

As a result of a thorough theoretical analysis, specialists from the USSR and the USA came to the conclusion that a mixture of deuterium and tritium makes it easiest to start a thermonuclear fusion reaction. Armed with this knowledge, scientists from the United States set about creating a hydrogen bomb in the 1950s. And already in the spring of 1951, at the Eniwetok training ground (an atoll in pacific ocean) a test test was carried out, but then only partial thermonuclear fusion was achieved.

A little more than a year passed, and in November 1952, a second test of a hydrogen bomb with a capacity of about 10 Mt in TNT was carried out. However, that explosion can hardly be called a thermal explosion. nuclear bomb in the modern sense: in fact, the device was a large container (the size of a three-story house) filled with liquid deuterium.

In Russia, they also took up the improvement of atomic weapons, and the first hydrogen bomb of the A.D. Sakharova was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site on August 12, 1953. RDS-6 (this type of weapon of mass destruction was nicknamed Sakharov's puff, since its scheme implied the sequential placement of deuterium layers surrounding the initiator charge) had a power of 10 Mt. However, unlike the American "three-story house", soviet bomb was compact, and it could be quickly delivered to the drop site on enemy territory on a strategic bomber.

Having accepted the challenge, in March 1954 the United States exploded a more powerful aerial bomb (15 Mt) at a test site on the Bikini Atoll (Pacific Ocean). The test caused the release into the atmosphere a large number radioactive substances, some of which fell with precipitation hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. The Japanese ship "Lucky Dragon" and instruments installed on the island of Roguelap recorded a sharp increase in radiation.

Since the processes occurring during the detonation of a hydrogen bomb produce stable, safe helium, it was expected that radioactive emissions should not exceed the level of contamination from an atomic fusion detonator. But the calculations and measurements of real radioactive fallout varied greatly, both in quantity and composition. Therefore, the US leadership decided to temporarily suspend the design of these weapons until a full study of their impact on the environment and humans.

Video: tests in the USSR

Tsar bomb - thermonuclear bomb of the USSR

The USSR put a fat point in the chain of accumulating the tonnage of hydrogen bombs when, on October 30, 1961, a 50-megaton (largest in history) Tsar bomb was tested on Novaya Zemlya - the result of many years of work by the research group A.D. Sakharov. The explosion thundered at an altitude of 4 kilometers, and the shock wave was recorded three times by instruments around the globe. Despite the fact that the test did not reveal any failures, the bomb never entered service. But the very fact that the Soviets possessed such weapons made an indelible impression on the whole world, and in the USA they stopped gaining tonnage nuclear arsenal. In Russia, in turn, they decided to refuse to put hydrogen warheads on combat duty.

A hydrogen bomb is the most complex technical device, the explosion of which requires a series of sequential processes.

First, the detonation of the initiator charge located inside the shell of the VB (miniature atomic bomb) occurs, which results in a powerful emission of neutrons and the creation of a high temperature required to start thermonuclear fusion in the main charge. A massive neutron bombardment of the lithium deuteride insert (obtained by combining deuterium with the lithium-6 isotope) begins.

Under the influence of neutrons, lithium-6 is split into tritium and helium. The atomic fuse in this case becomes a source of materials necessary for the occurrence of thermonuclear fusion in the detonated bomb itself.

The mixture of tritium and deuterium triggers a thermonuclear reaction, resulting in a rapid increase in temperature inside the bomb, and more and more hydrogen is involved in the process.
The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb implies an ultra-fast flow of these processes (the charge device and the layout of the main elements contribute to this), which look instantaneous to the observer.

Superbomb: Fission, Fusion, Fission

The sequence of processes described above ends after the start of the reaction of deuterium with tritium. Further, it was decided to use nuclear fission, and not the fusion of heavier ones. After the fusion of tritium and deuterium nuclei, free helium and fast neutrons are released, the energy of which is sufficient to initiate the onset of fission of uranium-238 nuclei. Fast neutrons can split atoms from the uranium shell of a superbomb. The fission of a ton of uranium generates an energy of the order of 18 Mt. In this case, energy is spent not only on the creation of an explosive wave and the release of an enormous amount of heat. Each uranium atom decays into two radioactive "fragments". A whole "bouquet" is formed from various chemical elements(up to 36) and about two hundred radioactive isotopes. It is for this reason that numerous radioactive fallout is formed, recorded hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.

After the fall " iron curtain”, it became known that the USSR planned to develop the “Tsar Bomb”, with a capacity of 100 Mt. Due to the fact that at that time there was no aircraft capable of carrying such a massive charge, the idea was abandoned in favor of a 50 Mt bomb.

Consequences of the explosion of the hydrogen bomb

shock wave

The explosion of a hydrogen bomb entails large-scale destruction and consequences, and the primary (obvious, direct) impact is of a threefold nature. The most obvious of all direct impacts is the ultra-high intensity shock wave. Its destructive ability decreases with distance from the epicenter of the explosion, and also depends on the power of the bomb itself and the height at which the charge detonated.

thermal effect

The effect of the thermal impact of an explosion depends on the same factors as the power of the shock wave. But one more is added to them - the degree of transparency air masses. Fog or even a slight overcast dramatically reduces the radius of damage, at which a thermal flash can cause serious burns and loss of vision. An explosion of a hydrogen bomb (more than 20 Mt) generates an incredible amount of thermal energy, enough to melt concrete at a distance of 5 km, evaporate almost all the water from a small lake at a distance of 10 km, destroy enemy manpower, equipment and buildings at the same distance . In the center, a funnel is formed with a diameter of 1-2 km and a depth of up to 50 m, covered with a thick layer of vitreous mass (several meters of rocks with a high content of sand melt almost instantly, turning into glass).

According to calculations from real-world tests, people have a 50% chance of staying alive if they:

  • They are located in a reinforced concrete shelter (underground) 8 km from the epicenter of the explosion (EV);
  • They are located in residential buildings at a distance of 15 km from the EW;
  • Will be on open area at a distance of more than 20 km from the EE in case of poor visibility (for a "clean" atmosphere, the minimum distance in this case will be 25 km).

With the distance from the EV, the probability of staying alive among people who find themselves in open areas also increases sharply. So, at a distance of 32 km, it will be 90-95%. A radius of 40-45 km is the limit for the primary impact from the explosion.

Fire ball

Another obvious impact from the explosion of a hydrogen bomb is self-sustaining firestorms (hurricanes), which are formed due to the involvement of colossal masses of combustible material in the fireball. But, despite this, the most dangerous consequence of the explosion in terms of impact will be radiation pollution of the environment for tens of kilometers around.

Fallout

The fireball that arose after the explosion is quickly filled with radioactive particles in huge quantities (decay products of heavy nuclei). The size of the particles is so small that when they get into the upper layers of the atmosphere, they are able to stay there for a very long time. Everything that the fireball reaches on the surface of the earth instantly turns into ashes and dust, and then is drawn into the fiery column. Flame vortices mix these particles with charged particles, forming a dangerous mixture of radioactive dust, the process of sedimentation of granules of which stretches for a long time.

Coarse dust settles quite quickly, but fine dust is carried by air currents over great distances, gradually falling out of the newly formed cloud. In the immediate vicinity of the EW, the largest and most charged particles settle, hundreds of kilometers from it, one can still see ash particles that are visible to the eye. It is they who form a deadly cover, several centimeters thick. Anyone who gets close to him runs the risk of receiving a serious dose of radiation.

Smaller and indistinguishable particles can "hover" in the atmosphere for many years, repeatedly going around the Earth. By the time they fall to the surface, they are pretty much losing their radioactivity. The most dangerous is strontium-90, which has a half-life of 28 years and generates stable radiation throughout this time. Its appearance is determined by instruments around the world. "Landing" on grass and foliage, it becomes involved in food chains. For this reason, strontium-90, which accumulates in the bones, is found in people thousands of kilometers from the test sites. Even if its content is extremely small, the prospect of being a "polygon for storing radioactive waste" does not bode well for a person, leading to the development of bone malignant neoplasms. In regions of Russia (as well as other countries) close to the places of test launches of hydrogen bombs, an increased radioactive background is still observed, which once again proves the ability of this type of weapon to leave significant consequences.

H-bomb video

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Everyone has already had time to discuss one of the most unpleasant news of December - the successful testing of a hydrogen bomb by North Korea. Kim Jong-un did not fail to hint (bluntly declare) that he was ready at any moment to turn weapons from defensive to offensive, which caused unprecedented excitement in the press around the world. However, there were also optimists who said that the tests were falsified: they say that the shadow of Juche falls in the wrong direction, and something is not visible from radioactive fallout. But why is the presence of a hydrogen bomb in the aggressor country such a significant factor for free countries, because even nuclear warheads, which North Korea are available in abundance, has anyone been so frightened yet?

The hydrogen bomb, also known as the Hydrogen Bomb or HB, is a weapon of incredible destructive power, whose power is calculated in megatons of TNT. The principle of operation of HB is based on the energy that is produced during the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei - exactly the same process occurs on the Sun.

How is a hydrogen bomb different from an atomic bomb?

Thermonuclear fusion - the process that occurs during the detonation of a hydrogen bomb - is the most powerful type of energy available to mankind. We have not yet learned how to use it for peaceful purposes, but we have adapted it to the military. This thermonuclear reaction, similar to what can be observed in stars, releases an incredible flow of energy. In atomic energy, energy is obtained from the fission of the atomic nucleus, so the explosion of an atomic bomb is much weaker.

First test

AND Soviet Union again outstripped many participants of the race cold war. The first hydrogen bomb, made under the guidance of the brilliant Sakharov, was tested at the secret test site of Semipalatinsk - and, to put it mildly, they impressed not only scientists, but also Western spies.

shock wave

The direct destructive effect of a hydrogen bomb is the strongest, high-intensity shock wave. Its power depends on the size of the bomb itself and the height at which the charge detonated.

thermal effect

A hydrogen bomb of only 20 megatons (the size of the largest one tested on this moment bombs - 58 megatons) creates great amount thermal energy: concrete melted within a radius of five kilometers from the test site of the projectile. Within a nine-kilometer radius, all living things will be destroyed, neither equipment nor buildings will stand. The diameter of the funnel formed by the explosion will exceed two kilometers, and its depth will fluctuate about fifty meters.

Fire ball

The most spectacular after the explosion will be a huge fireball to observers: flaming storms, initiated by the detonation of a hydrogen bomb, will support themselves, drawing more and more combustible material into the funnel.

radiation contamination

But most dangerous consequence explosion will, of course, be radiation contamination. The decay of heavy elements in a raging fiery whirlwind will fill the atmosphere with the smallest particles of radioactive dust - it is so light that when it enters the atmosphere, it can go around Earth two or three times and only then it will fall out in the form of precipitation. Thus, one 100 megaton bomb explosion could have consequences for the entire planet.

Tsar bomb

58 megatons - that's how much the largest hydrogen bomb, detonated at the test site of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, weighed. The shock wave circled the globe three times, forcing the opponents of the USSR to once again be convinced of the enormous destructive power of these weapons. Veselchak Khrushchev joked at the plenum that the bomb was no longer made just for fear of breaking the windows in the Kremlin.

Many of our readers associate the hydrogen bomb with the atomic bomb, only much more powerful. In fact, this is a fundamentally new weapon that required disproportionately large intellectual efforts for its creation and works on fundamentally different physical principles.

"Puff"

modern bomb

The only thing that the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb have in common is that both release the colossal energy hidden in the atomic nucleus. This can be done in two ways: split heavy nuclei, such as uranium or plutonium, into lighter ones (fission reaction) or force the lightest hydrogen isotopes to merge (fusion reaction). As a result of both reactions, the mass of the resulting material is always less than the mass of the initial atoms. But the mass cannot disappear without a trace - it turns into energy according to the famous Einstein formula E=mc2.

A-bomb

To create an atomic bomb, a necessary and sufficient condition is to obtain fissile material in sufficient quantities. The work is rather laborious, but not very intellectual, and is closer to the mining industry than to high science. The main resources in the creation of such weapons go to the construction of giant uranium mines and enrichment plants. Evidence of the simplicity of the device is the fact that not even a month passed between obtaining the plutonium necessary for the first bomb and the first Soviet nuclear explosion.

Let us briefly recall the principle of operation of such a bomb, known from the course of school physics. It is based on the property of uranium and some transuranium elements, such as plutonium, to release more than one neutron during decay. These elements can decay both spontaneously and under the influence of other neutrons.

The released neutron may leave the radioactive material, or it may collide with another atom, causing another fission reaction. When a certain concentration of a substance (critical mass) is exceeded, the number of newborn neutrons that cause further fission of the atomic nucleus begins to exceed the number of decaying nuclei. The number of decaying atoms begins to grow like an avalanche, giving birth to new neutrons, that is, a chain reaction occurs. For uranium-235, the critical mass is about 50 kg, for plutonium-239, 5.6 kg. That is, a ball of plutonium weighing a little less than 5.6 kg is just a warm piece of metal, and a little more mass exists for only a few nanoseconds.

Actually, the operation of the bomb is simple: we take two hemispheres of uranium or plutonium, each slightly less than the critical mass, place them at a distance of 45 cm, cover them with explosives and explode. Uranium or plutonium is sintered into a piece of supercritical mass, and a nuclear reaction begins. All. There is another way to start a nuclear reaction - to compress powerful explosion a piece of plutonium: the distance between the atoms will decrease and the reaction will start at a lower critical mass. All modern atomic detonators work on this principle.

The problems of the atomic bomb start from the moment when we want to increase the power of the explosion. A simple increase in fissile material is indispensable - as soon as its mass reaches a critical one, it detonates. Various ingenious schemes were devised, for example, to make a bomb not from two parts, but from many, which made the bomb begin to resemble a gutted orange, and then assemble it into one piece with one explosion, but still, with a power of over 100 kilotons, the problems became insurmountable.

h-bomb

But the fuel for thermonuclear fusion does not have a critical mass. Here the Sun, filled with thermonuclear fuel, hangs overhead, a thermonuclear reaction has been going on inside it for billions of years, and nothing explodes. In addition, during the fusion reaction, for example, deuterium and tritium (heavy and superheavy isotope of hydrogen), 4.2 times more energy is released than when the same mass of uranium-235 is burned.

The manufacture of the atomic bomb was more experimental than theoretical. The creation of a hydrogen bomb required the emergence of completely new physical disciplines: the physics of high-temperature plasma and superhigh pressures. Before starting to design a bomb, it was necessary to thoroughly understand the nature of the phenomena that occur only in the core of stars. No experiments could help here - only theoretical physics and higher mathematics were the tools of researchers. It is no coincidence that a gigantic role in the development of thermonuclear weapons belongs precisely to mathematicians: Ulam, Tikhonov, Samarsky, etc.

classic super

By the end of 1945, Edward Teller proposed the first hydrogen bomb design, dubbed the "classic super". To create the monstrous pressure and temperature necessary to start the fusion reaction, it was supposed to use a conventional atomic bomb. The "classic super" itself was a long cylinder filled with deuterium. An intermediate "ignition" chamber with a deuterium-tritium mixture was also provided - the deuterium and tritium synthesis reaction begins at a lower pressure. By analogy with a fire, deuterium was supposed to play the role of firewood, a mixture of deuterium and tritium - a glass of gasoline, and an atomic bomb - matches. Such a scheme was called a "pipe" - a kind of cigar with an atomic lighter at one end. According to the same scheme, Soviet physicists began to develop a hydrogen bomb.

However, mathematician Stanislav Ulam proved to Teller on an ordinary slide rule that the occurrence of a fusion reaction of pure deuterium in a "super" is hardly possible, and the mixture would require such an amount of tritium that for its production it would be necessary to practically freeze the production of weapons-grade plutonium in the United States.

Sugar puff

In mid-1946, Teller proposed another scheme for the hydrogen bomb - the "alarm clock". It consisted of alternating spherical layers of uranium, deuterium and tritium. During a nuclear explosion of the central charge of plutonium, the necessary pressure and temperature were created to start a thermonuclear reaction in other layers of the bomb. However, for the "alarm clock" a high-power atomic initiator was required, and the United States (as, indeed, the USSR) experienced problems with the production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium.

In the fall of 1948, Andrei Sakharov came up with a similar scheme. In the Soviet Union, the design was called "sloika". For the USSR, which did not have enough time to produce weapons-grade uranium-235 and plutonium-239, the Sakharov puff was a panacea. And that's why.

In an ordinary atomic bomb, natural uranium-238 is not only useless (the energy of neutrons during decay is not enough to initiate fission), but also harmful, since it greedily absorbs secondary neutrons, slowing down chain reaction. Therefore, weapons-grade uranium is 90% uranium-235 isotope. However, the neutrons resulting from thermonuclear fusion are 10 times more energetic than fission neutrons, and natural uranium-238 irradiated with such neutrons begins to fission excellently. The new bomb made it possible to use uranium-238 as an explosive, which had previously been considered as waste products.

The highlight of the Sakharov "puff" was also the use of a white lung instead of acutely deficient tritium crystalline substance— lithium deutride 6LiD.

As mentioned above, a mixture of deuterium and tritium ignites much more easily than pure deuterium. However, this is where the advantages of tritium end, and only disadvantages remain: in the normal state, tritium is a gas, which causes difficulties with storage; tritium is radioactive and, as it decays, turns into stable helium-3, actively devouring much-needed fast neutrons, which limits the bomb's shelf life to a few months.

The non-radioactive lithium deutride, when irradiated with slow fission neutrons - the consequences of the explosion of an atomic fuse - turns into tritium. Thus, the radiation of the primary atomic explosion in an instant, it produces enough tritium for a further thermonuclear reaction, and deuterium is present in lithium deuterium from the very beginning.

It was such a bomb, RDS-6s, that was successfully tested on August 12, 1953 on the tower of the Semipalatinsk test site. The power of the explosion was 400 kilotons, and disputes have not yet stopped whether it was a real thermonuclear explosion or a super-powerful atomic one. Indeed, the reaction of thermonuclear fusion in the Sakharov puff accounted for no more than 20% of the total charge power. The main contribution to the explosion was made by the decay reaction of uranium-238 irradiated with fast neutrons, thanks to which the RDS-6s opened the era of the so-called "dirty" bombs.

The fact is that the main radioactive contamination is just the decay products (in particular, strontium-90 and cesium-137). In essence, the Sakharov "sloika" was a giant atomic bomb, only slightly enhanced by a thermonuclear reaction. It is no coincidence that only one explosion of the “sloika” produced 82% of strontium-90 and 75% of cesium-137, which entered the atmosphere during the entire history of the existence of the Semipalatinsk test site.

american bombs

However, it was the Americans who detonated the first hydrogen bomb. On November 1, 1952, the Mike fusion device with a yield of 10 megatons was successfully tested on the Elugelab Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Calling a 74-ton American device a bomb can be difficult. "Mike" was a bulky device the size of a two-story house, filled with liquid deuterium at a temperature close to absolute zero (the Sakharov "sloika" was a completely transportable product). However, the highlight of "Mike" was not the size, but the ingenious principle of compressing thermonuclear explosives.

Recall that the main idea of ​​the hydrogen bomb is to create conditions for fusion (superhigh pressure and temperature) through a nuclear explosion. In the puff scheme, the nuclear charge is located in the center, and therefore it does not compress the deuterium so much as scatter it outward - an increase in the amount of thermonuclear explosive does not lead to an increase in power - it simply does not have time to detonate. This is precisely what limits the maximum power of this scheme - the world's most powerful "puff" Orange Herald, blown up by the British on May 31, 1957, gave only 720 kilotons.

It would be ideal if the atomic fuse could be made to explode inside, squeezing thermonuclear explosives. But how to do that? Edward Teller put forward a brilliant idea: to compress thermonuclear fuel not by mechanical energy and neutron flux, but by radiation from the primary atomic fuse.

In Teller's new design, the initiating atomic node was spaced apart from the thermonuclear unit. When the atomic charge fired, X-ray radiation outstripped the shock wave and propagated along the walls of the cylindrical body, evaporating and turning the polyethylene inner lining of the bomb body into plasma. The plasma, in turn, re-emitted the softer x-rays, which was absorbed by the outer layers of the inner cylinder of uranium-238 - "pusher". The layers began to evaporate explosively (this phenomenon is called ablation). Hot uranium plasma can be compared with jets of super-powerful rocket engine, whose thrust is directed inside the cylinder with deuterium. The uranium cylinder collapsed, the pressure and temperature of deuterium reached a critical level. The same pressure compressed the central plutonium tube to a critical mass, and it detonated. The explosion of the plutonium fuse pressed against the deuterium from the inside, additionally compressing and heating the thermonuclear explosive, which detonated. The intense neutron flux splits the uranium-238 nuclei in the pusher, causing a secondary decay reaction. All this had time to happen before the moment when blast wave from the primary nuclear explosion reached the thermonuclear block. The calculation of all these events occurring in billionths of a second required the strain of the minds of the strongest mathematicians on the planet. The creators of "Mike" experienced not horror from the 10-megaton explosion, but indescribable delight - they managed not only to understand the processes that occur in the real world only in the cores of stars, but also experimentally test their theories by arranging their small star on Earth.

Bravo

Outperforming the Russians in terms of the beauty of their design, the Americans were unable to make their device compact: they used supercooled liquid deuterium instead of Sakharov's powdered lithium deutride. In Los Alamos, they reacted to the Sakharov puff with a degree of envy: “instead of a huge cow with a bucket of raw milk, Russians use a package of powdered milk.” However, both sides failed to hide secrets from each other. On March 1, 1954, near the Bikini Atoll, the Americans tested the 15-megaton Bravo bomb on lithium deutride, and on November 22, 1955, the first Soviet two-stage bomb exploded over the Semipalatinsk test site. thermonuclear bomb RDS-37 with a capacity of 1.7 megatons, having demolished almost half of the polygon. Since then, the design of the thermonuclear bomb has undergone minor changes (for example, a uranium shield appeared between the initiating bomb and the main charge) and has become canonical. And in the world there are no more such large-scale mysteries of nature, which could be solved by such a spectacular experiment. Is that the birth of a supernova.

H-BOMB
a weapon of great destructive power (of the order of megatons in TNT equivalent), the principle of operation of which is based on the thermonuclear fusion reaction of light nuclei. The energy source of the explosion are 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 superhigh compression at a temperature of approx. 15,000,000 K. At such a high temperature and plasma density, hydrogen nuclei experience constant collisions with each other, some of which end in their merger and, ultimately, the formation of heavier helium nuclei. Such reactions, called thermonuclear fusion, are accompanied by the release of a huge amount of energy. According to the laws of physics, the energy release during thermonuclear fusion is due to the fact that when a heavier nucleus is formed, 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. 100 billion tons of matter and releases energy, thanks to which it has become possible life on the ground.
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 revolves. Careful studies of water (H2O) have shown that it contains negligible amounts of "heavy" water containing the "heavy isotope" of hydrogen - deuterium (2H). The deuterium nucleus consists of a proton and a neutron, a neutral particle with a mass close to that of a proton. There is a third isotope of hydrogen, tritium, which contains one proton and two neutrons in its nucleus. 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 obtained artificially in a nuclear reactor by irradiating the lithium-6 isotope with a neutron flux.
Development of the hydrogen bomb. Preliminary theoretical analysis showed that thermonuclear fusion is most easily carried out in a mixture of deuterium and tritium. Taking this as a basis, US scientists in the early 1950s began to implement a project to create a hydrogen bomb (HB). The first tests of a model nuclear device were carried out at the Eniwetok test site in the spring of 1951; thermonuclear fusion was only partial. Significant success was achieved on November 1, 1951, when testing a massive nuclear device, the explosion power of which was 4e8 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 (about 15 Mt) aerial bomb on Bikini Atoll. Since then, both powers have been detonating advanced megaton weapons. The explosion on the Bikini Atoll was accompanied by the release of a large amount of radioactive substances. Some of them fell hundreds of kilometers from the explosion site on the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon, while the other covered Rongelap Island. Since thermonuclear fusion produces stable helium, the radioactivity in the explosion of a purely 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 charge-initiator of a thermonuclear reaction (a small atomic bomb) located inside the HB shell explodes, resulting in a neutron flash and creating heat required to initiate thermonuclear fusion. Neutrons bombard an insert made of lithium deuteride - a compound of deuterium with lithium (a lithium isotope with a mass number of 6 is used). Lithium-6 is split by neutrons into helium and tritium. Thus, the atomic fuse creates the materials necessary for synthesis directly in the bomb itself. Then a thermonuclear reaction begins in a mixture of deuterium and tritium, the temperature inside the bomb rises rapidly, involving more and more large quantity hydrogen. With a further increase in temperature, a reaction between deuterium nuclei could begin, which is characteristic of a purely hydrogen bomb. All reactions, of course, proceed so quickly that they are perceived as instantaneous.
Division, synthesis, division (superbomb). In fact, in the bomb, the sequence of processes described above ends at the stage of the reaction of deuterium with tritium. Further, the bomb designers preferred to use not the fusion of nuclei, but their fission. Fusion of deuterium and tritium nuclei produces helium and fast neutrons, the energy of which is large enough to cause the fission of uranium-238 nuclei (the main isotope of uranium, much cheaper than the uranium-235 used in conventional atomic bombs). Fast neutrons split the atoms of the superbomb's uranium shell. The fission of one ton of uranium creates an energy equivalent to 18 Mt. Energy goes not only to the explosion and the release of heat. Each uranium nucleus splits into two highly radioactive "fragments". Fission products include 36 different chemical elements and nearly 200 radioactive isotopes. All this makes up the radioactive fallout that accompanies the explosions of superbombs. Due 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 of the direct effects is a shock wave of tremendous intensity. The strength of its impact, depending on the power of the bomb, the height of the explosion above the ground and the nature of the terrain, decreases with distance from the epicenter of the explosion. The thermal effect of an explosion is determined by the same factors, but, in addition, it 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, in the event of 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 about 8 km from the epicenter of the explosion (EW), 2) are in ordinary urban buildings at a distance of approx. . 15 km from the EW, 3) were in the open 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 probability of surviving increases rapidly with distance from the epicenter; at a distance of 32 km, its calculated value is more than 90%. The area in which the penetrating radiation that occurs during the explosion causes a lethal outcome is relatively small, even in the case of a high-yield superbomb.
Fire ball. Depending on the composition and mass of the combustible material involved in the fireball, gigantic self-sustaining firestorms can form, raging 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. Usually, these particles are so small that once they get into the upper atmosphere, they can remain there for a long time. But if the fireball comes into contact with the surface of the Earth, everything that is on it, it turns into red-hot dust and ash and draws them into fiery tornado. In the vortex of flame, they mix and bind with radioactive particles. Radioactive dust, except for the largest, does not settle immediately. Finer dust is carried away by the resulting explosion cloud and gradually falls out as it moves downwind. Directly at the site of the explosion, radioactive fallout can be extremely intense - mainly coarse dust settling on the ground. Hundreds of kilometers from the site of the explosion and at greater distances, small, but still visible to the eye ash particles. Often they form a snow-like cover, 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, going around the globe many times. By the time they fall out, their radioactivity is significantly weakened. The most dangerous is the radiation of strontium-90 with a half-life of 28 years. Its fall is clearly observed throughout the world. Settling on foliage and grass, it enters food chains, including humans. As a consequence of this, noticeable, although not yet dangerous, amounts of strontium-90 have been found in the bones of the inhabitants of most countries. Accumulation of strontium-90 in human bones in long term very dangerous, as it leads to the formation of bone malignant tumors.
Prolonged 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 the territory within a radius of approx. 100 km from the epicenter of the explosion. In the event of a superbomb explosion, an area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers will be contaminated. Such a huge area of ​​\u200b\u200bdestruction with a single bomb makes it a completely new type of weapon. Even if the super bomb does not hit the target, i.e. will not hit the object with shock-thermal effects, penetrating radiation and radioactive fallout accompanying the explosion will make the surrounding area unsuitable for habitation. Such precipitation can continue for many days, weeks and even months. Depending on their number, the intensity of radiation can reach deadly levels. A relatively small number of superbombs is enough to completely cover major country a layer of deadly radioactive dust for all living things. Thus, the creation of the superbomb marked the beginning of an era when it became possible to render entire continents uninhabitable. Even long after direct exposure to radioactive fallout has ceased, there will still be a danger due to the high radiotoxicity of isotopes such as strontium-90. With food grown on soils contaminated with this isotope, radioactivity will enter the human body.
see also
NUCLEAR fusion;
NUCLEAR WEAPON ;
WAR NUCLEAR.
LITERATURE
Operation of nuclear weapons. M., 1960 Nuclear explosion in space, on earth and underground. M., 1970

Collier Encyclopedia. - Open society. 2000 .

See what the "HYDROGEN BOMB" is in other dictionaries:

    An obsolete name for a nuclear bomb of great destructive power, the action of which is based on the use of energy released during the fusion reaction of light nuclei (see Thermonuclear reactions). The first hydrogen bomb was tested in the USSR (1953) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Thermo nuclear weapon a type of weapon 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 fusion of two nuclei of deuterium (heavy hydrogen) atoms into one ... ... Wikipedia

    A nuclear bomb of great destructive power, the action of which is based on the use of energy released during the fusion reaction of light nuclei (see Thermonuclear reactions). The first thermonuclear charge (with a capacity of 3 Mt) was detonated on November 1, 1952 in the USA. ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    H-bomb- vandenilinė bomba statusas T sritis chemija apibrėžtis Termobranduolinė bomba, kurios užtaisas - deuteris ir tritis. atitikmenys: engl. H-bomb; hydrogen bomb rus. hydrogen bomb ryšiai: sinonimas – H bomba … Chemijos terminų aiskinamasis žodynas

    H-bomb- vandenilinė bomba statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: angl. hydrogen bomb vok. Wasserstoffbombe, f rus. hydrogen bomb, f pranc. bombe a hydrogène, f … Fizikos terminų žodynas

    H-bomb- vandenilinė bomba statusas T sritis ekologija ir aplinkotyra apibrėžtis Bomba, kurios branduolinis užtaisas – vandenilio izotopai: deuteris ir tritis. atitikmenys: engl. H-bomb; hydrogen bomb vok. Wasserstoffbombe, f rus. hydrogen bomb f... Ekologijos terminų aiskinamasis žodynas

    Explosive bomb of great destructive power. Action V. b. based on thermonuclear reaction. See Nuclear weapons... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The geopolitical ambitions of the 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 a terrible weapon - nuclear bomb. From what date did the report of the atomic era go, how many countries of our planet have nuclear potential and in what fundamental difference a hydrogen bomb from an atomic bomb? You can find answers 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 an 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. Consider the classification of nuclear warheads in service with some countries:

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

Which is more powerful: nuclear or hydrogen bomb?

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

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

  • Fire ball: Diameter 4.5 -5 kilometers in diameter.
  • Sound wave: An explosion can be heard at a distance of 800 kilometers.
  • Energy: from the released energy, a person can get burned skin, being from the epicenter of the explosion up to 100 kilometers.
  • nuclear mushroom: height over 70 km in height, cap radius - about 50 km.

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

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

Now in service with nuclear powers are the hydrogen bombs. In addition to the fact that they are ahead of their " little brothers", they are much cheaper to manufacture.

How the hydrogen bomb works

Let's take it step by step the steps involved in detonating hydrogen bombs:

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

How the atomic bomb works

  1. charge detonation. The shell of the bomb contains several isotopes (uranium, plutonium, etc.), which decay in the detonation field and capture neutrons.
  2. Avalanche process. The destruction of one atom initiates the decay of several more atoms. There is a chain process that entails the destruction of a large number of nuclei.
  3. 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

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

Of course, there were tense moments in relation to the powers, but common sense always took precedence over ambition.

The situation changed at the end of the 20th century. "Nuclear baton" seized not only the developed countries Western Europe but also from Asia.

But, as you probably know, nuclear club» consists of 10 countries. Unofficially, it is believed that Israel has nuclear warheads, and possibly Iran. Although the latter, after imposing on them economic sanctions abandoned the development of the nuclear program.

After the appearance of the first atomic bomb, the scientists of the USSR and the USA began to think about a weapon that would not carry such great destruction and contamination of enemy territories, but purposefully act on the human body. The idea arose about building a neutron bomb.

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

The neutron bomb explodes at a distance of 200 meters from ground level, and is especially effective in an enemy tank attack. The armor of military equipment with a thickness of 250 mm is capable of reducing the effects of a nuclear bomb at times, but is powerless against the gamma radiation of a neutron bomb. Consider the effects of a neutron projectile with a capacity of up to 1 kiloton on a tank crew:

As you understand, the difference between a hydrogen bomb and an atomic bomb is huge. 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 thermonuclear bomb of 1 megaton, everything within a radius of 10 kilometers will be destroyed. Not only buildings and equipment will suffer, but all living things.

Heads should keep this in mind. nuclear countries, and use the "nuclear" threat solely as a deterrent, and not as an offensive weapon.

Video about the differences between the atomic and hydrogen bomb

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