115 years ago, on January 12, 1903, Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov was born - a Soviet physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the "father" of the Soviet atomic bomb. Three times Hero of Socialist Labor, awarded five Orders of Lenin, four times winner of the Stalin Prize and laureate of the Lenin Prize. Member of the Communist Party since 1948.

Today, many people know this name of the "father" of the Soviet atomic bomb. This is Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov, a well-known Soviet nuclear physicist who was at the forefront of the creation and successful testing of hydrogen and plutonium bombs. He led the project for the construction and launch of the first nuclear power plant. He was also the founder of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

What else is known about him to a wide audience? As a rule, many people know only scanty lines from his biography and how highly the activities of such scientists as Kurchatov were highly valued in the USSR. He is three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1949, 1951, 1954), holder of five Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, awarded the medals "For the Victory over Germany" and "For the Defense of Sevastopol", four times winner of the Stalin Prize (1942, 1949, 1951, 1954), laureate of the Lenin Prize (1957). For outstanding scientific achievements, he was awarded the L. Euler Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Joliot-Curie Silver Peace Medal.

From the meager lines of his biography, it is known that the future creator of the Soviet atomic bomb was born in the Southern Urals on January 12, 1903 (or December 30, 1902, according to the old style) in the city of Sim, Chelyabinsk Region. The boy's father, who was named Igor, worked as an assistant forester, and was an honorary citizen of the Russian Empire. In 1911, the Kurchatov family moved to Simferopol, Igor entered the gymnasium. From childhood he loved good music, literature, showed interest rather in the humanities. The fate of Kurchatov, as often happens, was decided by chance. The boy read the book by O.M. Korbino “Advances in modern technology” that fell into his hands. She simply turned the young man's imagination around. Igor began to collect and study technical literature. Dreaming of becoming an engineer, he began studying analytic geometry as part of a university course and solving endless mathematical problems. But the boy’s dreams and plans were almost thwarted by the outbreak of the First World War, which made the already not brilliant financial situation of an already poor family very difficult. Igor was forced to help his father support his family. He went to the canning factory to cut firewood, and in the evenings he worked in the mouthpiece workshop. In the Simferopol evening school, he qualified as a locksmith. Nevertheless, despite the workload, Igor continued to read a lot, for the last two years of study he received only fives, and in 1920 he graduated from the gymnasium with a gold medal. However, Igor Kurchatov did not receive a gold medal - in the conditions of the war, the Russian authorities had no time for medals. From 1920 to 1923, the young man was already studying at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Crimean (Tauride) University. Teaching was easy. An inquisitive mind and a good memory allowed student Kurchatov to complete a 4-year university course as an external student in three years and brilliantly defend his thesis.

Already in the autumn of 1923, Igor Kurchatov left for Petrograd, where he was immediately enrolled in the third year of the shipbuilding department of the Polytechnic Institute. At the same time, he began working as an observer at the Magneto-Meteorological Observatory in Pavlovsk. His first experimental scientific work was devoted to the alpha radioactivity of light. In the spring of 1924, Kurchatov interrupted his studies at the Polytechnic Institute to engage in scientific activities.

A turning point in the scientific life of Igor Kurchatov was his transfer in September 1925 to work in the Leningrad Physics and Technology Laboratory of the famous physicist Abram Fedorovich Ioffe. Very soon, Igor gained authority in the laboratory and received the title of first-class researcher, and then - senior engineer-physicist. Along with research work, Kurchatov taught a special course in the physics of dielectrics at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Leningrad Polytechnic University and at the Pedagogical Institute. Possessing brilliant lecturer's abilities, mastering the art of conveying the physical meaning of the phenomena described, Igor Kurchatov earned great love from students. He often told them about the results of his research, which aroused in students an interest in science and a desire to do it.

Kurchatov's research largely determined the development of ideas about the structure of the atomic nucleus. At the same time, Kurchatov conducted other experiments with neutrons. At this time, the world was on the verge of a crisis and a new war. And in 1941, the program of scientific work outlined by Kurchatov was interrupted, and instead of nuclear physics, he, together with Anatoly Alexandrov and other employees of the LPTI, took up research related to the protection of ships from magnetic mines. Work on the use of atomic energy was resumed only at the end of 1942. In 1943, Igor Kurchatov headed the Soviet atomic project, within the framework of which a cyclotron was built in just a year, and for the first time in the USSR a beam of deuterons was brought out. Igor Kurchatov carried out the scientific management of all work on the atomic project and was directly involved in the work on the creation of uranium-graphite reactors, starting with the first F-1 reactor in Eurasia, launched on December 25, 1946 in laboratory No. 2.

An extremely important milestone in Kurchatov's biography was the creation and testing of the first Soviet atomic bomb, which marked the beginning of the formation of the nuclear shield of the USSR. A formidable weapon, paradoxical as it may sound, was necessary to keep the peace. Many years later, Academician Aleksandrov, recalling those years, said: “Stalin's word generally decided the fate of the project ... But Kurchatov was still the top of the pyramid. It is our happiness that it was embodied then. A successful test of a new weapon took place in the early morning of August 29, 1949 at a specially built test site in the Semipalatinsk region. The creators of the bomb fulfilled their obligations. And the US monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons was ended ... The West was shocked by the news that the Soviet Union had atomic weapons. Almost four years later, on the morning of August 12, 1953, before sunrise, a thermonuclear explosion was heard over the test site. It passed the successful test of the world's first hydrogen bomb. Nuclear weapons were created, but, according to Igor Kurchatov, atomic energy was supposed to serve man, not kill him.

Back in 1949, Kurchatov began working on a nuclear power plant project. On June 27, 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant was launched. But Kurchatov has already set new tasks - the creation of a power plant based on a controlled thermonuclear reaction. Unfortunately, the scientist did not have time to implement this plan.

At the same time, Kurchatov began to create the first submarine in the USSR, Leninsky Komsomol, in 1958, and the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker, Lenin, in 1959. As a result, a new branch of nuclear submarine and surface shipbuilding, new science, new steels and technologies appeared.

Under the leadership of Kurchatov, a straight-line thermonuclear installation "Ogra" was built to study the confinement and properties of plasma. Even during the lifetime of Igor Kurchatov, the first "tokamak" installations were built at the IAE under the leadership of Lev Artsimovich, the principle of operation of which was subsequently taken as the basis for the creation of the international experimental reactor ITER.

Igor Kurchatov was concerned not only with the problems of atomic science that were close to him, but also, it would seem, with problems of biology and genetics that were far from them. He was very concerned about the state of biology in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Together with Alexander Nesmeyanov, President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he specifically addressed the government with a statement about the need to develop a number of its sections, organized a special biological seminar, in which he attracted outstanding scientists. Of particular interest to Kurchatov were questions related to the reaction of a living cell to radioactive radiation. At the Institute of Atomic Energy, Kurchatov created a scientific sector in the field of genetics and selection of microorganisms, on the basis of which the radiobiological department was later created. Scientists of various specialties worked in it: biologists, chemists, physicists, technicians who launched work on the physics of biopolymers and molecular genetics. Later, on the basis of this department, the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was established.

But the nuclear physicist and creator of the Soviet atomic bomb, Igor Kurchatov, was an active fighter for peace, and realizing the enormous danger to humanity of the nuclear arms race, he consistently advocated an unconditional ban on nuclear weapons and the use of nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes. So at a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on March 31, 1958, he said: “Scientists are deeply worried that there is still no international agreement on the unconditional prohibition of atomic and hydrogen weapons. We appeal to scientists around the world to turn the energy of hydrogen nuclei from a weapon of destruction into a powerful, life-giving source of energy that brings prosperity and joy to all people on Earth.”

But the range of Kurchatov's interests was not limited to science. While at home, he read, listened to his wife (a good pianist) play the piano or records that he collected. He was very fond of music, especially the works of Rachmaninoff. In February 1960, Igor Kurchatov listened to Mozart's Requiem, as if foreseeing his imminent departure to another world.

The great scientist, whom the Americans called the "creator of the Stalinist atomic bomb", died on February 7, 1960. Unexpectedly, the life path of a scientist, one of the greatest physicists of the planet, the founder of the Institute of Atomic Energy, an outstanding figure in world, Soviet and Russian science, an intellectual, an encyclopedist and a charming person whom everyone loved, ended abruptly. His ashes rest on Red Square in the Kremlin wall.

Many monuments have been erected in honor of Igor Kurchatov, streets and institutions have been named. The element named after him is Kurchatovy, number 104, entered into the periodic table.

Prepared from open sources.

Ludmila Vasilyeva

FOR REFERENCE

Founder of the Soviet program for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. January 12 is the birthday of the founder of the Institute of Atomic Energy, Academician I.V. Kurchatov

The future well-known Soviet nuclear physicist, designer and manufacturer of the hydrogen and plutonium bombs, project manager for the construction and launch of the first nuclear power plant, founder of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was born on January 12, 1903 (December 30, 1902, according to the old style). years) in the village of Simsky Zavod, Ufa province (now the city of Sim, Chelyabinsk region).

Kurchatov's father worked as a forester and land surveyor, his mother was a teacher before marriage. In 1912, the Kurchatovs moved to the Crimea, to Simferopol.

In 1920, Igor Kurchatov graduated from the Simferopol State Gymnasium with a gold medal.

In the same year, he entered the Taurida (now Crimean) University in the mathematical department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. In 1923, he completed a four-year course in three years and brilliantly defended his thesis.

On September 1, 1923, Kurchatov, having decided to continue his education, entered the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute (now St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University) for the third year of the shipbuilding faculty. At the same time, he began working at the Main Geophysical Observatory in Slutsk (now Pavlovsk), combining study with work.

In the winter of 1924, he performed his first experimental study to measure the alpha radioactivity of snow. The work was published in 1925 in the Journal of Geophysics and Meteorology. Kurchatov determined the radioactivity of freshly fallen snow and gave mathematical calculation methods that took into account the radioactive equilibrium of radon decay products and the absorption of alpha particles by water.

In October 1924, he moved to Baku and until June 1925 worked as an assistant at the Department of Physics of the Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute, where he carried out research on the physics of dielectrics.

Soon, Academician Abram Ioffe learned about the talented scientist and invited Kurchatov to the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology (now the A.F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute) for the position of first-class researcher under his direct supervision.

In 1930, Kurchatov was appointed head of the physics department of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology: at that time he began to study atomic physics. Starting to study artificial radioactivity arising from the irradiation of nuclei with neutrons, or, as they called it then, the study of the Fermi effect, Igor Kurchatov already in April 1935 reported on a new phenomenon discovered by him, together with his brother Boris Kurchatov, Lev Mysovsky and Lev Rusinov - isomerism of artificial atomic nuclei.

From 1935 to 1940, while studying the interaction of neutrons with the nuclei of various elements, Kurchatov, together with other physicists, measured the cross section for neutron capture by a proton. Studying the scattering and absorption of neutrons in various media, the scientist discovered resonance phenomena during the absorption of neutrons. The development of these studies led later to the discovery of selective absorption of neutrons. These works of Igor Kurchatov and his collaborators were essential for the development of the problem of using the energy of the nucleus in technical devices.

On the basis of nuclear physics research carried out in 1939 - 1940 and the obtained values ​​of nuclear constants, Kurchatov came to the conclusion that it is possible to carry out a chain reaction of uranium fission under the action of slow neutrons.

In 1940, under the leadership of Kurchatov, Georgy Flerov and Konstantin Petrzhak discovered the spontaneous decay of uranium nuclei and proved the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction in a system with uranium and heavy water.

But in 1940, the program of scientific work outlined by Kurchatov was interrupted, and instead of nuclear physics, he began to develop systems for demagnetizing warships. The installation created by his employees made it possible to protect warships from German magnetic mines during the Great Patriotic War.

March 10, 1943 Kurchatov was appointed scientific director of work on the use of atomic energy. He was granted emergency powers and full support from the government of the USSR. In the same year he was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Under his leadership, Laboratory No. 2 was established in 1943, which received the rights of an academic institute on February 5, 1944. In the autumn of 1946, work was completed on the creation of an experimental nuclear reactor on the territory of Laboratory No. 2.

On December 25, 1946, the first physical reactor F-1, created by Kurchatov and his employees, started working. Soon, scientists received laboratory plutonium-239. In 1947, it was possible to isolate its first significant amounts - about 20 micrograms. Experiments on the study of plutonium-239 made it possible to create and work out methods for its industrial production.

On June 22, 1948, Kurchatov carried out an industrial start-up of the reactor, bringing it to full power. On August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk test site, under the leadership of Kurchatov, the first test of a plutonium bomb in the USSR took place. During the development of the atomic bomb, the fundamental possibility of carrying out the explosive synthesis of light elements, which was called the hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb, was discovered. Soon the government of the USSR instructed Kurchatov to continue directing work in order to create a hydrogen bomb.

On August 12, 1953, the USSR announced that it had tested its own hydrogen bomb, which was supervised by Kurchatov.

Even before the end of military developments, at the suggestion of Kurchatov, research and development on the peaceful use of atomic energy began. Under the leadership of Kurchatov, the world's first pilot nuclear power plant was designed and built in Obninsk, which was launched on July 27, 1954.

Kurchatov sought to ensure that the discoveries of scientists in the field of the use of atomic energy were put at the service of human progress, and not for general destruction. In his speeches at the XX (1956) and XXI (1959) congresses of the CPSU, at sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1958), of which he was a deputy since 1950, in articles and interviews published in the press, he repeatedly pointed out the need achieve a general ban on atomic and thermonuclear weapons, establish cooperation between scientists from different countries in this field. Kurchatov's speech at an international conference in England was sensational, where he spoke about the Soviet program for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In 1955, Laboratory No. 2 was transformed into the Institute of Atomic Energy, of which Kurchatov was director until the last days of his life.

On February 7, 1960, Kurchatov died suddenly at the age of 57. The famous scientist was buried in Moscow on Red Square near the Kremlin wall.

During his work, I.V. Kurchatov received many awards. He is three times Hero of Socialist Labor (October 29, 1949, December 8, 1951, January 4, 1954); awarded: 5 orders of Lenin (June 10, 1945, October 29, 1949, January 10, 1954, September 19, 1953, September 11, 1956); 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (October 4, 1944, March 6, 1945); medals "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", "For the defense of Sevastopol", "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"; Lenin Prize (September 7, 1956); 4 Stalin Prizes (1942, October 29, 1949, December 6, 1951, December 31, 1953); the Leonhard Euler Gold Medal; Silver medal of the World named after Joliot-Curie.

Kurchatov's research allowed the Soviet Union to become a great nuclear power, which saved the world from World War III. Its main task I.V. Kurchatov always considered the use of his developments to serve the national economy, their use for peaceful purposes, and not for destruction.

prepared Vladimir Sula

The appearance of atomic (nuclear) weapons was due to a mass of objective and subjective factors. Objectively, the creation of atomic weapons came about thanks to the rapid development of science, which began with fundamental discoveries in the field of physics in the first half of the twentieth century. The main subjective factor was the military-political situation, when the states of the anti-Hitler coalition began an unspoken race to develop such powerful weapons. Today we will find out who invented the atomic bomb, how it developed in the world and the Soviet Union, and also get acquainted with its device and the consequences of its use.

Creation of the atomic bomb

From a scientific point of view, the distant 1896 was the year of the creation of the atomic bomb. It was then that the French physicist A. Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of uranium. Subsequently, the uranium chain reaction came to be seen as a source of tremendous energy, and easy to develop the most dangerous weapons in the world. Nevertheless, Becquerel is rarely mentioned when talking about who invented the atomic bomb.

Over the next few decades, alpha, beta and gamma rays were discovered by scientists from all over the Earth. At the same time, a large number of radioactive isotopes were discovered, the law of radioactive decay was formulated, and the beginning of the study of nuclear isomerism was laid.

In the 1940s, scientists discovered the neuron and the positron, and for the first time performed the fission of the nucleus of the uranium atom, accompanied by the absorption of neurons. It was this discovery that became a turning point in history. In 1939, the French physicist Frédéric Joliot-Curie patented the world's first nuclear bomb, which he developed with his wife out of purely scientific interest. It is Joliot-Curie who is considered the creator of the atomic bomb, despite the fact that he was a staunch defender of world peace. In 1955, he, along with Einstein, Born and a number of other famous scientists, organized the Pugwash Movement, whose members advocated peace and disarmament.

Rapidly developing, atomic weapons have become an unprecedented military-political phenomenon that allows you to ensure the safety of its owner and reduce to a minimum the capabilities of other weapons systems.

How is a nuclear bomb made?

Structurally, an atomic bomb consists of a large number of components, the main of which are the case and automation. The case is designed to protect automation and a nuclear charge from mechanical, thermal, and other influences. Automation controls the time parameters of the explosion.

It consists of:

1. Emergency demolition.
2. Arming and safety devices.
3. Source of power.
4. Various sensors.

Transportation of atomic bombs to the place of attack is carried out with the help of missiles (anti-aircraft, ballistic or cruise). Nuclear ammunition can be part of a land mine, torpedo, aerial bomb and other elements. For atomic bombs, various detonation systems are used. The simplest is a device in which a projectile hitting a target, causing the formation of a supercritical mass, stimulates an explosion.

Nuclear weapons can be of large, medium and small caliber. The power of the explosion is usually expressed in terms of TNT. Small-caliber atomic shells have a capacity of several thousand tons of TNT. Medium-caliber ones already correspond to tens of thousands of tons, and the capacity of large-caliber reaches millions of tons.

Principle of operation

The principle of operation of a nuclear bomb is based on the use of energy released during a nuclear chain reaction. During this process, heavy particles are divided and light particles are synthesized. When an atomic bomb explodes, a huge amount of energy is released in a short period of time over a small area. That is why such bombs are classified as weapons of mass destruction.

In the area of ​​a nuclear explosion, two key areas are distinguished: the center and the epicenter. In the center of the explosion, the process of energy release takes place directly. The epicenter is the projection of this process onto the earth or water surface. The energy of a nuclear explosion, projected onto the earth, can lead to seismic tremors that spread over a considerable distance. These shocks bring harm to the environment only within a radius of several hundred meters from the point of explosion.

Affecting factors

Nuclear weapons have the following damage factors:

1. radioactive infection.
2. Light emission.
3. shock wave.
4. electromagnetic impulse.
5. penetrating radiation.

The consequences of an atomic bomb explosion are detrimental to all living things. Due to the release of a huge amount of light and heat energy, the explosion of a nuclear projectile is accompanied by a bright flash. In terms of power, this flash is several times stronger than the sun's rays, so there is a danger of being hit by light and thermal radiation within a radius of several kilometers from the point of explosion.

Another most dangerous damaging factor of atomic weapons is the radiation generated during the explosion. It acts only a minute after the explosion, but has a maximum penetrating power.

The shock wave has the strongest destructive effect. She literally erases everything that stands in her way from the face of the earth. Penetrating radiation poses a danger to all living beings. In humans, it causes the development of radiation sickness. Well, the electromagnetic pulse harms only technology. Taken together, the damaging factors of an atomic explosion carry a huge danger.

First tests

Throughout the history of the atomic bomb, America has shown the greatest interest in its creation. At the end of 1941, the country's leadership allocated a huge amount of money and resources for this direction. The project manager was Robert Oppenheimer, who is considered by many to be the creator of the atomic bomb. In fact, he was the first who was able to bring the idea of ​​scientists to life. As a result, on July 16, 1945, the first test of an atomic bomb took place in the desert of New Mexico. Then America decided that in order to completely end the war, it needed to defeat Japan, an ally of Nazi Germany. The Pentagon quickly chose the targets for the first nuclear attacks, which were supposed to be a vivid illustration of the power of American weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the US atomic bomb, cynically called "Baby", was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The shot turned out to be just perfect - the bomb exploded at a height of 200 meters from the ground, due to which its blast wave caused terrifying damage to the city. In areas far from the center, charcoal stoves were overturned, causing severe fires.

A bright flash was followed by a heat wave, which, in 4 seconds of action, managed to melt the tiles on the roofs of houses and incinerate telegraph poles. The heat wave was followed by a shock wave. The wind, which swept through the city at a speed of about 800 km / h, demolished everything in its path. Of the 76,000 buildings located in the city before the explosion, about 70,000 were completely destroyed. A few minutes after the explosion, it began to rain from the sky, large drops of which were black. The rain fell due to the formation in the cold layers of the atmosphere of a huge amount of condensate, consisting of steam and ash.

People who were hit by the fireball within a radius of 800 meters from the point of explosion turned into dust. Those who were a little further from the explosion had burned skin, the remnants of which were torn off by the shock wave. Black radioactive rain left incurable burns on the skin of the survivors. Those who miraculously managed to escape soon began to show signs of radiation sickness: nausea, fever and bouts of weakness.

Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, America attacked another Japanese city - Nagasaki. The second explosion had the same disastrous consequences as the first.

In a matter of seconds, two atomic bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people. The shock wave practically wiped Hiroshima off the face of the earth. More than half of the local residents (about 240 thousand people) died immediately from their injuries. In the city of Nagasaki, about 73 thousand people died from the explosion. Many of those who survived were exposed to severe radiation, which caused infertility, radiation sickness and cancer. As a result, some of the survivors died in terrible agony. The use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki illustrated the terrible power of these weapons.

You and I already know who invented the atomic bomb, how it works and what consequences it can lead to. Now we will find out how things were with nuclear weapons in the USSR.

After the bombing of Japanese cities, I.V. Stalin realized that the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb was a matter of national security. On August 20, 1945, a committee on nuclear energy was created in the USSR, headed by L. Beria.

It is worth noting that work in this direction has been carried out in the Soviet Union since 1918, and in 1938, a special commission on the atomic nucleus was created at the Academy of Sciences. With the outbreak of World War II, all work in this direction was frozen.

In 1943, intelligence officers of the USSR handed over from England materials of closed scientific works in the field of nuclear energy. These materials illustrated that the work of foreign scientists on the creation of an atomic bomb has seriously advanced. At the same time, the American residents facilitated the introduction of reliable Soviet agents into the main centers of US nuclear research. Agents transmitted information about new developments to Soviet scientists and engineers.

Technical task

When in 1945 the issue of creating a Soviet nuclear bomb became almost a priority, one of the project leaders, Yu. Khariton, drew up a plan to develop two versions of the projectile. On June 1, 1946, the plan was signed by the top leadership.

According to the task, the designers had to build a RDS (Special Jet Engine) of two models:

1. RDS-1. A bomb with a plutonium charge that is detonated by spherical compression. The device was borrowed from the Americans.
2. RDS-2. A cannon bomb with two uranium charges converging in the cannon barrel before reaching a critical mass.

In the history of the notorious RDS, the most common, albeit humorous, formulation was the phrase "Russia does it itself." It was invented by Yu. Khariton's deputy, K. Shchelkin. This phrase very accurately conveys the essence of the work, at least for the RDS-2.

When America found out that the Soviet Union possessed the secrets of creating nuclear weapons, it became eager to escalate preventive war as soon as possible. In the summer of 1949, the Troyan plan appeared, according to which on January 1, 1950, it was planned to start hostilities against the USSR. Then the date of the attack was moved to the beginning of 1957, but on the condition that all NATO countries join it.

Tests

When information about America's plans came to the USSR through intelligence channels, the work of Soviet scientists accelerated significantly. Western experts believed that in the USSR atomic weapons would be created no earlier than in 1954-1955. In fact, the tests of the first atomic bomb in the USSR took place already in August 1949. On August 29, the RDS-1 device was blown up at the training ground in Semipalatinsk. A large team of scientists took part in its creation, led by Kurchatov Igor Vasilyevich. The design of the charge belonged to the Americans, and the electronic equipment was created from scratch. The first atomic bomb in the USSR exploded with a power of 22 kt.

Due to the likelihood of a retaliatory strike, the Troyan plan, which involved a nuclear attack on 70 Soviet cities, was thwarted. Tests at Semipalatinsk marked the end of the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons. The invention of Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov completely destroyed the military plans of America and NATO and prevented the development of another world war. Thus began the era of peace on Earth, which exists under the threat of absolute annihilation.

"Nuclear club" of the world

To date, not only America and Russia have nuclear weapons, but also a number of other states. The set of countries that own such weapons is conditionally called the "nuclear club".

It includes:

1. America (since 1945).
2. USSR, and now Russia (since 1949).
3. England (since 1952).
4. France (since 1960).
5. China (since 1964).
6. India (since 1974).
7. Pakistan (since 1998).
8. Korea (since 2006).

Israel also has nuclear weapons, although the country's leadership refuses to comment on their existence. In addition, on the territory of NATO countries (Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada) and allies (Japan, South Korea, despite the official refusal), there are American nuclear weapons.

Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which owned some of the nuclear weapons of the USSR, transferred their bombs to Russia after the collapse of the Union. She became the sole heir to the nuclear arsenal of the USSR.

Conclusion

Today we learned who invented the atomic bomb and what it is. Summarizing the above, we can conclude that today nuclear weapons are the most powerful tool of global politics, firmly embedded in relations between countries. On the one hand, it is an effective deterrent, and on the other hand, it is a convincing argument for preventing military confrontation and strengthening peaceful relations between states. Nuclear weapons are a symbol of an entire era, which requires especially careful handling.

He was the founder and first director of the Institute of Atomic Energy, the chief scientific director of the atomic problem in the USSR, and also one of the founders of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. All this is about the famous Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov.

Today we decided to recall and illustrate to you the biography of the "father" of the Soviet atomic bomb.

Igor Vasilyevich was born on January 12, 1903 in the village of Simsky Zavod in the Southern Urals in the family of a land surveyor and a teacher. At the age of 12 he entered the gymnasium, which he graduated with a gold medal, despite the great need for a family.

After school he studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Crimean University in Simferopol (graduated in 1923).

Igor Kurchatov(left) with his high school friend

After graduating from the Crimean University. In the center - I. V. Kurchatov. 1923

In the spring of 1925, Kurchatov was invited by A.F. Ioffe to the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology. Since 1933 he has dealt with the problems of nuclear physics.

IgorVasilevich Kurchatovin Baku. 1924

Together with a group of colleagues, he studied nuclear reactions due to fast and slow neutrons; discovered the phenomenon of nuclear isometry in artificially obtained radioactive bromine.

I. V. Kurchatov is an employee of the Radium Institute. Mid 1930s.

Kurchatov is one of the creators of the first uranium-graphite reactor, which was launched in December 1946.

IgorVasilevich Kurchatov

Pupils of A.F. Ioffe at the Physicotechnical Institute. From left to right: D. N. Nasledov, A. P. Aleksandrov, L. M. Nemenov, Yu. P. Maslakovets, I. V. Kurchatov, P. V. Sharavsky, O. V. Losev. 1932

Soviet physicist Igor Kurchatov (sitting on the right) among the staff of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology

A special role belongs to Kurchatov in the formation and development of nuclear energy. He led the creation of the atomic bomb in the USSR. Work began during the Great Patriotic War (1943).

IgorVasilevich Kurchatov

Then, at the Academy of Sciences, Kurchatov created a closed laboratory where research was conducted aimed at obtaining a nuclear chain reaction. The atomic bomb was created in 1949, the hydrogen bomb in 1953, and the world's first industrial nuclear power plant in 1954.

A. Sakharov and I. Kurchatov (right), photograph, 1958

In 1955, the laboratory was transformed into the Institute of Atomic Energy (since 1960 it has been named after Kurchatov).

The most atomic guys of the USSR: Igor Kurchatov(left) and Julius Khariton

Academician since 1943, Kurchatov received many awards, including five Orders of Lenin.

In 1957 he became a laureate of the Lenin Prize. Kurchatov's contemporaries note that Igor Vasilyevich was a man of great intellect, talent and diligence.

Academician Igor Kurchatov (left) talks with Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Eremenko (right)

Igor Kurchatov

M.A. Lavrentiev and I.V. Kurchatov (on vacation in the Crimea). 1958

IgorKurchatov on the podium of the Extraordinary XXI Congress of the CPSU (1959)

He supported jokes with pleasure, liked to invent nicknames for his comrades, and he himself willingly responded when he was called "Beard".

Monument to Igor Kurchatov on the square named after him in Moscow

Kurchatov's favorite word was "I understand." It was it that became the last in his mouth, when on February 7, 1960, he died right at the moment of a conversation with a colleague, sitting on a bench in Barvikha near Moscow.

The fathers of the atomic bomb are usually called the American Robert Oppenheimer and the Soviet scientist Igor Kurchatov. But considering that work on the deadly was carried out in parallel in four countries and, in addition to the scientists of these countries, people from Italy, Hungary, Denmark, etc., took part in them, the bomb that was born as a result can rightly be called the brainchild of different peoples.

The Germans took over first. In December 1938, their physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, for the first time in the world, carried out artificial fission of the uranium atom nucleus. In April 1939, the military leadership of Germany received a letter from professors of the University of Hamburg P. Harteck and V. Groth, which indicated the fundamental possibility of creating a new type of highly effective explosive. The scientists wrote: "The country that is the first to be able to practically master the achievements of nuclear physics will gain absolute superiority over others." And now, in the Imperial Ministry of Science and Education, a meeting is being held on the topic "On a self-propagating (that is, a chain) nuclear reaction." Among the participants is Professor E. Schumann, head of the research department of the Third Reich Arms Administration. Without delay, we moved from words to deeds. Already in June 1939, the construction of Germany's first reactor plant began at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin. A law was passed to ban the export of uranium outside Germany, and a large amount of uranium ore was urgently purchased in the Belgian Congo.

Germany starts and… loses

On September 26, 1939, when war was already raging in Europe, it was decided to classify all work related to the uranium problem and the implementation of the program, called the "Uranium Project". The scientists involved in the project were initially very optimistic: they considered it possible to create nuclear weapons within a year. Wrong, as life has shown.

22 organizations were involved in the project, including such well-known scientific centers as the Physical Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the University of Hamburg, the Physical Institute of the Higher Technical School in Berlin, the Physical and Chemical Institute of the University of Leipzig and many others. The project was personally supervised by the Imperial Minister of Armaments Albert Speer. The IG Farbenindustry concern was entrusted with the production of uranium hexafluoride, from which it is possible to extract the uranium-235 isotope capable of maintaining a chain reaction. The same company was entrusted with the construction of an isotope separation facility. Such venerable scientists as Heisenberg, Weizsacker, von Ardenne, Riehl, Pose, Nobel laureate Gustav Hertz and others directly participated in the work.

Within two years, the Heisenberg group carried out the research needed to create an atomic reactor using uranium and heavy water. It was confirmed that only one of the isotopes, namely uranium-235, contained in a very small concentration in ordinary uranium ore, can serve as an explosive. The first problem was how to isolate it from there. The starting point of the bombing program was an atomic reactor, which required either graphite or heavy water as a reaction moderator. German physicists chose water, thereby creating a serious problem for themselves. After the occupation of Norway, the only heavy water plant in the world at that time passed into the hands of the Nazis. But there, the stock of the product needed by physicists by the beginning of the war was only tens of kilograms, and the Germans did not get them either - the French stole valuable products literally from under the noses of the Nazis. And in February 1943, the British commandos abandoned in Norway, with the help of local resistance fighters, disabled the plant. The implementation of Germany's nuclear program was in jeopardy. The misadventures of the Germans did not end there: an experimental nuclear reactor exploded in Leipzig. The uranium project was supported by Hitler only as long as there was hope of obtaining a super-powerful weapon before the end of the war unleashed by him. Heisenberg was invited by Speer and asked bluntly: "When can we expect the creation of a bomb capable of being suspended from a bomber?" The scientist was honest: "I think it will take several years of hard work, in any case, the bomb will not be able to affect the outcome of the current war." The German leadership rationally considered that there was no point in forcing events. Let the scientists work quietly - by the next war, you see, they will have time. As a result, Hitler decided to concentrate scientific, industrial and financial resources only on projects that would give the fastest return on the creation of new types of weapons. State funding for the uranium project was curtailed. Nevertheless, the work of scientists continued.

In 1944, Heisenberg received cast uranium plates for a large reactor plant, under which a special bunker was already being built in Berlin. The last experiment to achieve a chain reaction was scheduled for January 1945, but on January 31, all equipment was hastily dismantled and sent from Berlin to the village of Haigerloch near the Swiss border, where it was deployed only at the end of February. The reactor contained 664 cubes of uranium with a total weight of 1525 kg, surrounded by a graphite neutron moderator-reflector weighing 10 tons. In March 1945, an additional 1.5 tons of heavy water was poured into the core. On March 23, it was reported to Berlin that the reactor had started working. But the joy was premature - the reactor did not reach a critical point, the chain reaction did not start. After recalculations, it turned out that the amount of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally increasing the mass of heavy water. But there were no reserves left. The end of the Third Reich was inexorably approaching. On April 23, American troops entered Haigerloch. The reactor was dismantled and taken to the USA.

Meanwhile across the ocean

In parallel with the Germans (with only a slight lag), the development of atomic weapons was taken up in England and the USA. They began with a letter sent in September 1939 by Albert Einstein to US President Franklin Roosevelt. The initiators of the letter and the authors of most of the text were émigré physicists from Hungary Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller. The letter drew the president's attention to the fact that Nazi Germany was conducting active research, as a result of which it could soon acquire an atomic bomb.

In the USSR, the first information about the work carried out by both the allies and the enemy was reported to Stalin by intelligence as early as 1943. It was immediately decided to deploy similar work in the Union. Thus began the Soviet atomic project. Tasks were received not only by scientists, but also by intelligence officers, for whom the extraction of nuclear secrets has become a super task.

The most valuable information about the work on the atomic bomb in the United States, obtained by intelligence, greatly helped the promotion of the Soviet nuclear project. The scientists participating in it managed to avoid dead-end search paths, thereby significantly accelerating the achievement of the final goal.

Experience of Recent Enemies and Allies

Naturally, the Soviet leadership could not remain indifferent to German nuclear developments. At the end of the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany, among whom were the future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin. All were camouflaged in the uniform of colonels of the Red Army. The operation was led by First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov, which opened any door. In addition to the necessary German scientists, the "colonels" found tons of metallic uranium, which, according to Kurchatov, reduced the work on the Soviet bomb by at least a year. The Americans also took out a lot of uranium from Germany, taking with them the specialists who worked on the project. And in the USSR, in addition to physicists and chemists, they sent mechanics, electrical engineers, glassblowers. Some were found in POW camps. For example, Max Steinbeck, the future Soviet academician and vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, was taken away when he was making a sundial at the whim of the head of the camp. In total, at least 1000 German specialists worked on the atomic project in the USSR. From Berlin, the von Ardenne laboratory with a uranium centrifuge, equipment of the Kaiser Institute of Physics, documentation, reagents were completely taken out. Within the framework of the atomic project, laboratories "A", "B", "C" and "G" were created, the scientific supervisors of which were scientists who arrived from Germany.

Laboratory "A" was headed by Baron Manfred von Ardenne, a talented physicist who developed a method for gaseous diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge. At first, his laboratory was located on the Oktyabrsky field in Moscow. Five or six Soviet engineers were assigned to each German specialist. Later, the laboratory moved to Sukhumi, and over time, the famous Kurchatov Institute grew up on the Oktyabrsky field. In Sukhumi, on the basis of the von Ardenne laboratory, the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology was formed. In 1947, Ardenne was awarded the Stalin Prize for the creation of a centrifuge for the purification of uranium isotopes on an industrial scale. Six years later, Ardenne became twice a Stalin laureate. He lived with his wife in a comfortable mansion, his wife played music on a piano brought from Germany. Other German specialists were not offended either: they came with their families, brought with them furniture, books, paintings, were provided with good salaries and food. Were they prisoners? Academician A.P. Alexandrov, himself an active participant in the atomic project, remarked: "Of course, the German specialists were prisoners, but we ourselves were prisoners."

Nikolaus Riehl, a native of St. Petersburg who moved to Germany in the 1920s, became the head of Laboratory B, which conducted research in the field of radiation chemistry and biology in the Urals (now the city of Snezhinsk). Here Riehl worked with his old acquaintance from Germany, the outstanding Russian biologist-geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky (“Zubr” based on the novel by D. Granin).

Recognized in the USSR as a researcher and talented organizer, able to find effective solutions to the most complex problems, Dr. Riehl became one of the key figures in the Soviet atomic project. After the successful testing of the Soviet bomb, he became a Hero of Socialist Labor and a laureate of the Stalin Prize.

The work of laboratory "B", organized in Obninsk, was headed by Professor Rudolf Pose, one of the pioneers in the field of nuclear research. Under his leadership, fast neutron reactors were created, the first nuclear power plant in the Union, and the design of reactors for submarines began. The object in Obninsk became the basis for the organization of the A.I. Leipunsky. Pose worked until 1957 in Sukhumi, then at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna.

Gustav Hertz, the nephew of the famous physicist of the 19th century, himself a famous scientist, became the head of the laboratory "G", located in the Sukhumi sanatorium "Agudzery". He received recognition for a series of experiments that confirmed Niels Bohr's theory of the atom and quantum mechanics. The results of his very successful activities in Sukhumi were later used on an industrial plant built in Novouralsk, where in 1949 the filling for the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was developed. For his achievements in the framework of the atomic project, Gustav Hertz was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1951.

German specialists who received permission to return to their homeland (of course, to the GDR) signed a non-disclosure agreement for 25 years about their participation in the Soviet atomic project. In Germany, they continued to work in their specialty. Thus, Manfred von Ardenne, twice awarded the National Prize of the GDR, served as director of the Physics Institute in Dresden, created under the auspices of the Scientific Council for the Peaceful Applications of Atomic Energy, led by Gustav Hertz. Hertz also received a national award - as the author of a three-volume work-textbook on nuclear physics. In the same place, in Dresden, at the Technical University, Rudolf Pose also worked.

The participation of German scientists in the atomic project, as well as the successes of intelligence officers, in no way detract from the merits of Soviet scientists, who ensured the creation of domestic atomic weapons with their selfless work. However, it must be admitted that without the contribution of both, the creation of the atomic industry and atomic weapons in the USSR would have dragged on for many years.

little boy
The American uranium bomb that destroyed Hiroshima was of a cannon design. Soviet nuclear scientists, creating RDS-1, were guided by the "Nagasaki bomb" - Fat Boy, made of plutonium according to the implosion scheme.

Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gas diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

Operation Crossroads was a series of atomic bomb tests conducted by the United States on Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946. The goal was to test the effect of atomic weapons on ships.

Help from overseas

In 1933, the German communist Klaus Fuchs fled to England. After receiving a degree in physics from the University of Bristol, he continued to work. In 1941, Fuchs reported his involvement in atomic research to Soviet intelligence agent Jurgen Kuchinsky, who informed Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky. He instructed the military attache to urgently establish contact with Fuchs, who, as part of a group of scientists, was going to be transported to the United States. Fuchs agreed to work for Soviet intelligence. Many illegal Soviet spies were involved in working with him: the Zarubins, Eitingon, Vasilevsky, Semyonov and others. As a result of their active work, already in January 1945, the USSR had a description of the design of the first atomic bomb. At the same time, the Soviet residency in the United States reported that it would take the Americans at least one year, but no more than five years, to create a significant arsenal of atomic weapons. The report also said that the explosion of the first two bombs might be carried out in a few months.

Nuclear fission pioneers

K. A. Petrzhak and G. N. Flerov
In 1940, in the laboratory of Igor Kurchatov, two young physicists discovered a new, very peculiar type of radioactive decay of atomic nuclei - spontaneous fission.

Otto Hahn
In December 1938, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann for the first time in the world carried out artificial fission of the uranium atom nucleus.

American Robert Oppenheimer and Soviet scientist Igor Kurchatov are officially recognized as the fathers of the atomic bomb. But in parallel, deadly weapons were developed in other countries (Italy, Denmark, Hungary), so the discovery rightfully belongs to everyone.

The German physicists Fritz Strassmann and Otto Hahn were the first to tackle this issue, who in December 1938 for the first time managed to artificially split the atomic nucleus of uranium. And six months later, at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin, the first reactor was already being built and urgently purchased uranium ore from the Congo.

"Uranium project" - the Germans start and lose

In September 1939, the Uranium Project was classified. 22 reputable scientific centers were attracted to participate in the program, the research was supervised by the Minister of Armaments Albert Speer. The construction of an isotope separation plant and the production of uranium for extracting an isotope from it that supports a chain reaction was entrusted to the IG Farbenindustry concern.

For two years, a group of the venerable scientist Heisenberg studied the possibilities of creating a reactor with and heavy water. A potential explosive (the isotope uranium-235) could be isolated from uranium ore.

But for this, an inhibitor is needed that slows down the reaction - graphite or heavy water. The choice of the last option created an insurmountable problem.

The only plant for the production of heavy water, which was located in Norway, after the occupation was put out of action by local resistance fighters, and small stocks of valuable raw materials were taken to France.

The explosion of an experimental nuclear reactor in Leipzig also prevented the rapid implementation of the nuclear program.

Hitler supported the uranium project as long as he hoped to obtain a super-powerful weapon that could influence the outcome of the war he unleashed. After the cuts in public funding, the programs of work continued for some time.

In 1944, Heisenberg managed to create cast uranium plates, and a special bunker was built for the reactor plant in Berlin.

It was planned to complete the experiment to achieve a chain reaction in January 1945, but a month later the equipment was urgently transported to the Swiss border, where it was deployed only a month later. In a nuclear reactor there were 664 cubes of uranium weighing 1525 kg. It was surrounded by a graphite neutron reflector weighing 10 tons, an additional one and a half tons of heavy water was loaded into the core.

On March 23, the reactor finally started working, but the report to Berlin was premature: the reactor did not reach a critical point, and a chain reaction did not occur. Additional calculations have shown that the mass of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally adding the amount of heavy water.

But the reserves of strategic raw materials were at the limit, as was the fate of the Third Reich. On April 23, the Americans entered the village of Haigerloch, where the tests were carried out. The military dismantled the reactor and transported it to the United States.

The first atomic bombs in the USA

A little later, the Germans took up the development of the atomic bomb in the United States and Great Britain. It all started with a letter from Albert Einstein and his co-authors, immigrant physicists, sent by them in September 1939 to US President Franklin Roosevelt.

The appeal stressed that Nazi Germany was close to building an atomic bomb.

Stalin first learned about the work on nuclear weapons (both allies and opponents) from intelligence officers in 1943. They immediately decided to create a similar project in the USSR. The instructions were issued not only to scientists, but also to intelligence, for which the extraction of any information about nuclear secrets has become a super task.

The invaluable information about the developments of American scientists, which Soviet intelligence officers managed to obtain, significantly advanced the domestic nuclear project. It helped our scientists avoid inefficient search paths and significantly speed up the implementation of the final goal.

Serov Ivan Aleksandrovich - head of the operation to create a bomb

Of course, the Soviet government could not ignore the successes of German nuclear physicists. After the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany - future academicians in the form of colonels of the Soviet army.

Ivan Serov, the first deputy commissar of internal affairs, was appointed head of the operation, which allowed scientists to open any doors.

In addition to their German colleagues, they found reserves of uranium metal. This, according to Kurchatov, reduced the development time of the Soviet bomb by at least a year. More than one ton of uranium and leading nuclear specialists were also taken out of Germany by the American military.

Not only chemists and physicists were sent to the USSR, but also skilled labor - mechanics, electricians, glass blowers. Some employees were found in POW camps. In total, about 1,000 German specialists worked on the Soviet nuclear project.

German scientists and laboratories on the territory of the USSR in the postwar years

A uranium centrifuge and other equipment were transported from Berlin, as well as documents and reagents from the von Ardenne laboratory and the Kaiser Institute of Physics. As part of the program, laboratories "A", "B", "C", "D" were created, which were headed by German scientists.

The head of laboratory "A" was Baron Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gaseous diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

For the creation of such a centrifuge (only on an industrial scale) in 1947, he received the Stalin Prize. At that time, the laboratory was located in Moscow, on the site of the famous Kurchatov Institute. The team of each German scientist included 5-6 Soviet specialists.

Later, laboratory "A" was taken to Sukhumi, where a physico-technical institute was created on its basis. In 1953, Baron von Ardenne became a Stalin laureate for the second time.

Laboratory "B", which conducted experiments in the field of radiation chemistry in the Urals, was headed by Nikolaus Riehl - a key figure in the project. There, in Snezhinsk, the talented Russian geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky worked with him, with whom they were friends back in Germany. The successful test of the atomic bomb brought Riel the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize.

The research of laboratory "B" in Obninsk was led by Professor Rudolf Pose, a pioneer in the field of nuclear testing. His team managed to create fast neutron reactors, the first nuclear power plant in the USSR, and designs for reactors for submarines.

On the basis of the laboratory, the A.I. Leipunsky. Until 1957, the professor worked in Sukhumi, then in Dubna, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Technologies.

Laboratory "G", located in the Sukhumi sanatorium "Agudzery", was headed by Gustav Hertz. The nephew of the famous 19th-century scientist gained fame after a series of experiments that confirmed the ideas of quantum mechanics and the theory of Niels Bohr.

The results of his productive work in Sukhumi were used to create an industrial plant in Novouralsk, where in 1949 they made the filling of the first Soviet bomb RDS-1.

The uranium bomb that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima was a cannon-type bomb. When creating the RDS-1, domestic nuclear physicists were guided by the Fat Boy, the “Nagasaki bomb”, made from plutonium according to the implosive principle.

In 1951, Hertz was awarded the Stalin Prize for his fruitful work.

German engineers and scientists lived in comfortable houses, they brought their families, furniture, paintings from Germany, they were provided with a decent salary and special food. Did they have the status of prisoners? According to academician A.P. Alexandrov, an active participant in the project, they were all prisoners in such conditions.

Having received permission to return to their homeland, the German specialists signed a non-disclosure agreement about their participation in the Soviet atomic project for 25 years. In the GDR, they continued to work in their specialty. Baron von Ardenne was twice a laureate of the German National Prize.

The professor headed the Physics Institute in Dresden, which was created under the auspices of the Scientific Council for the Peaceful Applications of Atomic Energy. The Scientific Council was headed by Gustav Hertz, who received the National Prize of the GDR for his three-volume textbook on atomic physics. Here, in Dresden, at the Technical University, Professor Rudolf Pose also worked.

The participation of German specialists in the Soviet atomic project, as well as the achievements of Soviet intelligence, do not diminish the merits of Soviet scientists, who, with their heroic labor, created domestic atomic weapons. And yet, without the contribution of each participant in the project, the creation of the atomic industry and the nuclear bomb would have dragged on for indefinite