The most powerful bomb in the world. Which bomb is stronger: vacuum or thermonuclear? What happens if a nuclear bomb is dropped on your city?
The hydrogen bomb (Hydrogen Bomb, HB) is a weapon of mass destruction with incredible destructive power (its power is estimated at megatons of TNT). The principle of operation of the bomb and its structure are based on the use of energy thermonuclear fusion hydrogen nuclei. The processes occurring during the explosion are similar to those occurring on stars (including the Sun). The first test of a VB suitable for long-distance transportation (designed by A.D. Sakharov) was carried out in the Soviet Union at a test site near Semipalatinsk.
Thermonuclear reaction
The sun contains huge reserves of hydrogen, which is under constant influence of ultra-high pressure and temperature (about 15 million degrees Kelvin). At such an extreme plasma density and temperature, the nuclei of hydrogen atoms randomly collide with each other. The result of collisions is the fusion of nuclei, and as a consequence, the formation of nuclei of a heavier element - helium.
Reactions of this type are called thermonuclear fusion; they are characterized by the release of colossal amounts 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 is converted into pure energy in colossal quantities. That is why our celestial body loses approximately 4 million tons of matter per second, releasing space
continuous flow of energy.
Isotopes of hydrogen The simplest of all existing atoms is the hydrogen atom. It consists of just one proton, which forms the nucleus, and a single electron orbiting around it. As a result scientific research
Science also knows tritium, the third isotope of hydrogen, the nucleus of which contains 1 proton and 2 neutrons. 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 upper layers Earth's atmosphere: it is there, under the influence of cosmic rays, that the molecules of gases that form air undergo similar changes. It is also possible to obtain tritium in 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, experts from the USSR and the USA came to the conclusion that a mixture of deuterium and tritium makes it easiest to launch a thermonuclear fusion reaction. Armed with this knowledge, scientists from the United States in the 50s of the last century began to create a hydrogen bomb. And already in the spring of 1951, a test test was carried out at the Enewetak test site (an atoll in the Pacific Ocean), but then only partial thermonuclear fusion was achieved.
A little more than a year passed, and in November 1952 the second test of a hydrogen bomb with a yield of about 10 Mt of TNT was carried out. However, that explosion can hardly be called an explosion of a thermonuclear bomb in the modern sense: in fact, the device was a large container (the size of a three-story building) filled with liquid deuterium.
Russia also took up the task of improving atomic weapons, and the first hydrogen bomb of the A.D. project. Sakharov was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site on August 12, 1953. RDS-6 ( this type weapons of mass destruction were nicknamed Sakharov’s “puff”, since its design involved the sequential placement of layers of deuterium surrounding the initiator charge) had a power of 10 Mt. However, unlike the American “three-story house,” the Soviet bomb was compact, and it could be quickly delivered to the drop site on enemy territory on a strategic bomber.
Accepting the challenge, the United States in March 1954 exploded a more powerful aerial bomb (15 Mt) at a test site on Bikini Atoll ( Pacific Ocean). The test caused the release of a large amount of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, some of which fell in precipitation hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.
Since the processes that occur during the detonation of a hydrogen bomb produce stable, harmless helium, it was expected that radioactive emissions should not exceed the level of contamination from an atomic fusion detonator. But calculations and measurements of actual radioactive fallout varied greatly, both in quantity and composition. Therefore, the US leadership decided to temporarily suspend the design of this weapon until its impact on the environment and humans is fully studied.
Video: tests in the USSR
Tsar Bomba - thermonuclear bomb of the USSR
The USSR marked the final point in the chain of hydrogen bomb production when, on October 30, 1961, a 50-megaton (the largest in history) “Tsar Bomb” was tested on Novaya Zemlya - the result of many years of work by A.D.’s research group. Sakharov. The explosion thundered at an altitude of 4 kilometers, and the shock wave was recorded three times by instruments throughout to 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 the United States stopped accumulating the tonnage of its nuclear arsenal. Russia, in turn, decided to abandon the introduction of warheads with hydrogen charges into combat duty.
A hydrogen bomb is a complex technical device, the explosion of which requires the sequential occurrence of a number of processes.
First, the initiator charge located inside the shell of the VB (miniature atomic bomb) detonates, resulting in a powerful emission of neutrons and the creation high temperature required to initiate thermonuclear fusion in the main charge. 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 splits into tritium and helium. The atomic fuse in this case becomes a source of materials necessary for thermonuclear fusion to occur in the detonated bomb itself.
A mixture of tritium and deuterium triggers a thermonuclear reaction, causing the temperature inside the bomb to rapidly increase, and more and more hydrogen is involved in the process.
The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb implies the ultra-fast occurrence of these processes (the charge device and the layout of the main elements contribute to this), which to the observer appear instantaneous.
Superbomb: fission, fusion, fission
The sequence of processes described above ends after the start of the reaction of deuterium with tritium. Next, it was decided to use nuclear fission rather than 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 fission of uranium-238 nuclei. Fast neutrons are capable of splitting atoms from the uranium shell of a superbomb. The fission of a ton of uranium generates energy of about 18 Mt. In this case, energy is spent not only on creating a blast wave and releasing a colossal amount of heat. Each uranium atom decays into two radioactive “fragments.” A whole “bouquet” of different chemical elements (up to 36) and about two hundred radioactive isotopes
. It is for this reason that numerous radioactive fallouts are formed, recorded hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it became known that the USSR was planning to develop a “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 a hydrogen bomb explosion
Shock wave
The explosion of a hydrogen bomb entails large-scale destruction and consequences, and the primary (obvious, direct) impact is threefold. The most obvious of all direct impacts is a shock wave of ultra-high intensity. 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.
According to calculations based on real-life tests, people have a 50% chance of surviving if they:
- They are located in a reinforced concrete shelter (underground) 8 km from the epicenter of the explosion (EV);
- Are situated in residential buildings at a distance of 15 km from EV;
- They will find themselves in an open area at a distance of more than 20 km from the EV with poor visibility (for a “clean” atmosphere, the minimum distance in this case will be 25 km).
With distance from EVs, the likelihood of surviving in people who find themselves in open areas 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 initial impact of an explosion.
Fire ball
Another obvious impact from the explosion of a hydrogen bomb is self-sustaining firestorms (hurricanes), formed as a result of colossal masses of combustible material being drawn into the fireball. But despite this, the most dangerous consequence of the explosion in terms of impact will be radiation contamination environment for tens of kilometers around.
Fallout
The fireball that appears after the explosion is quickly filled with radioactive particles in huge quantities (products of the decay of heavy nuclei). The particle size is so small that when they enter the upper atmosphere, they can stay there for a very long time. Everything that the fireball reaches on the surface of the earth instantly turns into ash and dust, and then is drawn into the pillar of fire.
Flame vortices mix these particles with charged particles, forming a dangerous mixture of radioactive dust, the process of sedimentation of the granules of which lasts for a long time.
Coarse dust settles quite quickly, but fine dust is carried by air currents over vast distances, gradually falling out of the newly formed cloud. Large and most charged particles settle in the immediate vicinity of the EC; ash particles visible to the eye can still be found hundreds of kilometers away. They form a deadly cover, several centimeters thick. Anyone who gets close to him risks receiving a serious dose of radiation. Smaller, more indistinguishable particles can float in the atmosphere long years food chains. For this reason, examinations of people located thousands of kilometers from the testing sites reveal strontium-90 accumulated in the bones. Even if its content is extremely low, the prospect of being a “landfill for storing radioactive waste” does not bode well for a person, leading to the development of bone malignancies. In regions of Russia (as well as other countries) close to the sites 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.
Video about the hydrogen bomb
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MOSCOW, April 14 – RIA Novosti. The US Air Force has released video footage of tests of the most powerful non-nuclear bomb GBU-43/B. She is also known as the "mother of all bombs".
The tests, a recording of which appeared on the Internet, took place back in 2003. The US Air Force decided to make them public only after “field” tests - the day before they dropped the GBU-43/B on the positions of the “Islamic State” * in Afghanistan.
What is GBU-43/B
The American high-explosive aerial bomb GBU-43/B was created in 2002-2003. According to open sources, one bomb of this type was once sent to Iraq, but was not used during military operations.
The bomb contains 8.4 tons of special Australian-made explosives: a mixture of hexogen, TNT and aluminum powder. According to experts, the United States may have about 15 such shells in its arsenals.
The bomb has a second official name Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) is a heavy high-explosive munition. The abbreviation gave birth to the nickname Mother Of All Bombs - “mother of all bombs”.
The radius of complete damage after the GBU-43/B explosion is 140 meters, partial destruction occurs at a distance of up to one and a half kilometers from the epicenter.
Strike in Afghanistan
The first combat test of the super-bomb took place in Afghanistan. The American Air Force dropped it on the positions of IS militants; the main target of the bombing was the tunnels that the terrorists used to travel.
Military expert on the GBU-43 bomb in Afghanistan: the United States is the “master of advertising”The use of the GBU-43 bomb by the Americans in the Afghan province of Nangarhar was primarily a political message from the United States to other countries. This opinion was expressed on radio Sputnik by military expert Mikhail Khodarenok.The Afghan Ministry of Defense said that 36 militants were killed as a result of the airstrike. However, there is no data on civilian casualties.
US President Donald Trump called the US military's strike against IS "another very, very successful mission."
"I'm giving orders to the military. We have the greatest military in the world, and they did their job as usual. We gave them every right (to do that), and that's what they're doing now," Trump told reporters.
Questionable effectiveness
Even American experts doubted the effectiveness of using such weapons in Afghanistan.
“The strike on the cave complex in Afghanistan probably killed 150-200 members of the Afghan unit of the terrorist group ISIS *. In this sense, it was a modest tactical success,” military historian Doug McGregor told RIA Novosti.
As it turned out later, the damage caused to the militants was even less.
"From a strategic perspective, the strike had no impact on the war in Afghanistan, where 40,000 Taliban fighters are regaining ground lost over the past few years and overwhelming the US-trained and armed Afghan army and police," McGregor added.
According to the expert, the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from Washington's actions is that "the president is being given bad advice."
Military analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Michael O'Hanlon, also believes that the capabilities of the “mother of all bombs” are exaggerated.
"This is a weapon without the deep effect that folklore often ascribes to it. It's not super big and not super bad," O'Hanlon said.
"Effective Gesture"
Deputy Director National Institute development of modern ideology, Igor Shatrov, commenting on the use of the “mother of all bombs” in Afghanistan, noted that the United States is becoming prone to “spectacular gestures.”
"In fact, it really was a bomb test because it was her first combat use. In this regard, we saw a certain position, a certain new trait of Trump. He is prone to spectacular, “beautiful” gestures using the armed forces,” the political scientist noted on Sputnik radio.
He did not rule out that there will be many more similar “gestures” from Trump.
"The United States has shown that it has most powerful weapon, the emphasis is placed on the fact that this is a powerful non-nuclear bomb - of course, this is a signal to the whole world and Russia in particular. All this is called “saber rattling,” Shatrov said.
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense Yuri Shvytkin also agrees with the political scientist. According to the deputy, the use of a super-powerful non-nuclear bomb indicates Washington's desire to show its power.
“Here, it seems to me, the blow is less aimed at the Islamic State*, although it is clear that physical and material damage was caused. But to a greater extent here we're talking about about showing other states their power. Washington’s attempt to show the power of its power,” Shvytkin told RIA Novosti.
According to him, the bombing once again proved the impulsiveness and unpredictability of American President Donald Trump.
“It is important to understand that this damages not only the Islamic State itself*, but also the territory of the state where the militants are located. There must be comparability of actions. It is especially important to prevent losses among civilians, but, unfortunately, the United States does not have this It always works out,” Shvytkin said.
*The terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) is banned in Russia
The period of the late 1940s and early 1950s was marked for the Soviet Union by a furious “nuclear race”. " Cold War"with former allies anti-Hitler coalition threatened to go into a “hot” stage at any moment due to the fact that the United States had atomic weapons, but the USSR did not.
In August 1949, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, breaking the US monopoly on this type of weapon.
But this, however, did not mean that the threat had passed. The United States was ahead of the USSR both in the number of charges produced and in quality, being at least one step ahead in the technical improvement of the new type of weapon.
On November 1, 1952, the United States conducted the first test of a megaton-class thermonuclear device, called Eevee Mike, at Eniwetak Atoll.
The Soviet Union's response came on August 12, 1953, when the RDS-6s device was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site - the first domestic hydrogen bomb, which also became the world's first bomb of this class, ready for combat use.
Castle Bravo Shock
The race continued. Scientists in both countries were looking for ways to increase the power of bombs. On March 1, 1954, on Bikini Atoll, the Americans tested a device codenamed Castle Bravo. We were talking about a bomb with a so-called two-stage charge, in which a solid substance, lithium deuteride, was used as a thermonuclear fuel for the first time in American practice. The explosive device was made according to the Ulam-Teller scheme, in which the first phase is an explosion of an atomic charge of uranium or plutonium, and during the second stage a thermonuclear reaction occurs in a container compressed by the energy of the first explosion through radiation implosion.
The estimated power of the explosion was estimated in the range of 4-8 megatons, with the most likely 6 megatons.
The American specialists missed the mark. The power of the explosion was 2.5 times higher than calculated and amounted to 15 megatons, which made it the most powerful in the entire history of testing nuclear weapons in USA. Experts who took refuge in the bunker later wrote that it wavered “like a ship on a stormy sea.” Due to the strong radioactivity, it became possible to leave the bunker only after 11 hours.
Dangerous doses of radiation were received by the American military and residents of nearby inhabited islands, who were not warned about the danger.
Radioactive dust falling from the explosion cloud showered the Japanese fishing vessel Fukuryu Maru, which was located 170 km from Bikini. The infection caused severe radiation sickness in all crew members, who received a radiation dose of about 300 roentgens each and became severely disabled, and the ship's radio operator Aikichi Kuboyama he died six months later.
Despite all these consequences, the military declared the test a success.
The Americans received their high-power thermonuclear charge, and Soviet Union again it was necessary to catch up with the opponent who had gone ahead.
Work on the Soviet “superbomb” had been going on since 1953, but it was only in 1954 that the basic principles of the new principle underlying the two-stage design were finally formulated.
On December 24, 1954, the scientific and technical council of KB-11 was held under the chairmanship of Igor Kurchatov. The Minister of Medium Engineering took part in the work of the council Vyacheslav Malyshev, management of KB-11, scientists and designers and developers of atomic charges. At the meeting, the problem of creating a high-power hydrogen bomb on a new principle (radiation implosion scheme) was discussed. As a result, it was decided to begin work on a new hydrogen bomb, which received the code name “RDS-37”.
In October 1955, the USSR Council of Ministers decided that the test of the new bomb would take place at test site No. 2, located in Semipalatinsk. It was supposed to test the new weapon by targeted bombing from an airplane. In order to allow the bomber crew to escape to a safe distance, it was planned to drop the RDS-37 by parachute.
The best landing of Major Golovashko
The test of the “superbomb” was scheduled for November 20, 1955. That morning, scientists carried out a final check on the munition and handed it over to the military to be attached to an aircraft. At 9:30 a Tu-16 carrier aircraft with a crew under the command of a major Fedora Golovashko took off from Zhana-Semey airfield.
And here unforeseen difficulties began. Contrary to meteorologists' forecasts, the test site was covered with dense clouds. Then it turned out that the radar sight was out of order and targeted bombing was impossible.
In such conditions, it was necessary to recall the Tu-16 to the base, but no one had yet to land a plane with a thermonuclear bomb on board.
There were no people willing to take responsibility for such an order, and the Tu-16 had less and less fuel left.
To make a decision, two leading experts on thermonuclear devices were urgently involved - Andrey Sakharov And Yakov Zeldovich, who gave written guarantees that the charge would not explode during landing.
The commander of the Tu-16 crew, Fyodor Golovashko, made probably his most ideal landing that day. A year later, for his participation in nuclear weapons tests, he would be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. And that day the pilots, and not only them, were happy that everything ended well.
November "heat"
After analyzing the emergency situation, test leaders announced a new date - November 22, 1955.
At 6:55 am on November 22, the RDS-37 was again suspended from the Tu-16. At 8:34 the plane's crew received the order to take off. This time the situation in the area of the test site turned out to be favorable. At 9:47 a.m. a bomb was dropped from a height of 12 thousand meters. The parachute system worked successfully, the bomb exploded at an altitude of 1550 meters.
Despite the fact that the Tu-16 managed to move to a safe distance, the pilots in the cockpit felt a greater thermal effect on exposed skin than what happens in the open sun, even in the hottest weather.
Observers who were 35 kilometers from the epicenter, wearing special glasses, lying on the ground surface, felt a strong influx of heat at the moment of the flash, and when the shock wave approached, they felt a double strong and sharp sound, reminiscent of a lightning discharge.
5-7 minutes after the explosion, the height of the radioactive cloud reached 13-14 kilometers, and the diameter of the “mushroom” of the cloud at that moment was 25-30 kilometers.
People were injured tens of kilometers from the epicenter
The commission to determine the power of the explosion found that the actual power of the RDS-37 was 1.6 megatons. The magnitude would seem to be incomparable to the power of Castle Bravo, but the Soviet “superbomb” was tested by being dropped from an airplane, while the American one was detonated on the surface. RDS-37 became the first bomb in the world with a yield of more than 1 megaton, dropped from an airplane.
The explosion of RDS-37, like Castle Bravo, caused a lot of trouble. At the time of the collapse of the dugout in waiting area No. 1, located 36 kilometers from the center of the explosion, six soldiers of the security battalion were covered with earth, one of whom died from suffocation, the rest received minor bruises. In the village of Semiyarskoye, due to the collapse of ceilings in specially equipped premises, one woman received a closed hip fracture and two received spinal bruises. In different populated areas within a radius of several tens of kilometers, more than 40 people were injured by glass shards and building debris. Against this background, the fact that windows were broken in houses within a radius of up to 200 km looks like a trifle.
The successful test of the RDS-37 “superbomb” allowed the Soviet Union to take a decisive step towards creating its own “nuclear shield”, and the principle used in this bomb formed the basis for the creation of subsequent thermonuclear charges.
The destructive power of which, when exploded, cannot be stopped by anyone. What is the most powerful bomb in the world? To answer this question, you need to understand the features of certain bombs.
What is a bomb?
Nuclear power plants operate on the principle of release and containment nuclear energy. This process must be controlled. The released energy turns into electricity. An atomic bomb causes a chain reaction that is completely uncontrollable, and great amount the released energy causes monstrous destruction. Uranium and plutonium are not so harmless elements of the periodic table; they lead to global catastrophes.
Atomic bomb
To understand what the most powerful atomic bomb on the planet is, we’ll learn more about everything. Hydrogen and atomic bombs belong to nuclear energy. If you combine two pieces of uranium, but each has a mass below critical, then this “union” will greatly exceed critical mass. Each neutron participates in a chain reaction because it splits the nucleus and releases another 2-3 neutrons, which cause new decay reactions.
Neutron force is completely beyond human control. In less than a second, hundreds of billions of newly formed decays not only release enormous amounts of energy, but also become sources of intense radiation. This radioactive rain covers the earth, fields, plants and all living things in a thick layer. If we talk about the disasters in Hiroshima, we can see that 1 gram caused the death of 200 thousand people.
Working principle and advantages of a vacuum bomb
It is believed that a vacuum bomb created by the latest technologies, can compete with nuclear. The fact is that instead of TNT, a gas substance is used here, which is several tens of times more powerful. The high-power aircraft bomb is the most powerful vacuum bomb in the world, which is not a nuclear weapon. It can destroy the enemy, but houses and equipment will not be damaged, and there will be no decay products.
What is the principle of its operation? Immediately after being dropped from the bomber, a detonator is activated at some distance from the ground. The body is destroyed and a huge cloud is sprayed. When mixed with oxygen, it begins to penetrate anywhere - into houses, bunkers, shelters. The burning out of oxygen creates a vacuum everywhere. When this bomb is dropped, a supersonic wave is produced and a very high temperature is generated.
The difference between an American vacuum bomb and a Russian one
The differences are that the latter can destroy an enemy even in a bunker using the appropriate warhead. During an explosion in the air, the warhead falls and hits the ground hard, burrowing to a depth of 30 meters. After the explosion, a cloud is formed, which, increasing in size, can penetrate into shelters and explode there. American warheads are filled with ordinary TNT, so they destroy buildings. A vacuum bomb destroys a specific object because it has a smaller radius. It doesn’t matter which bomb is the most powerful - any of them delivers an incomparable destructive blow that affects all living things.
H-bomb
The hydrogen bomb is another terrible nuclear weapon. The combination of uranium and plutonium generates not only energy, but also temperature, which rises to a million degrees. Hydrogen isotopes combine to form helium nuclei, which creates a source of colossal energy. The hydrogen bomb is the most powerful - fact. It’s enough just to imagine that its explosion is equal to 3000 explosions atomic bombs in Hiroshima. Both in the USA and in former USSR you can count 40 thousand bombs of varying power - nuclear and hydrogen.
The explosion of such ammunition is comparable to the processes observed inside the Sun and stars. Fast neutrons with enormous speed split the uranium shells of the bomb itself. Not only heat is released, but also radioactive fallout. There are up to 200 isotopes. The production of such nuclear weapons is cheaper than atomic ones, and their effect can be enhanced as many times as desired. This is the most powerful bomb detonated in the Soviet Union on August 12, 1953.
Consequences of the explosion
The result of a hydrogen bomb explosion is threefold. The very first thing that happens is a powerful blast wave is observed. Its power depends on the height of the explosion and the type of terrain, as well as the degree of air transparency. Large firestorms can form that do not subside for several hours. And yet, the secondary and most dangerous consequence that the most powerful thermonuclear bomb can cause is radioactive radiation and contamination of the surrounding area for a long time.
Radioactive remains from a hydrogen bomb explosion
When an explosion occurs, the fireball contains many very small radioactive particles that are retained in the atmospheric layer of the earth and remain there for a long time. Upon contact with the ground, this fireball creates incandescent dust consisting of decay particles. First, the larger one settles, and then the lighter one, which is carried hundreds of kilometers with the help of the wind. These particles can be seen with the naked eye; for example, such dust can be seen on snow. It leads to fatal outcome, if anyone is nearby. The smallest particles can remain in the atmosphere for many years and “travel” in this way, circling the entire planet several times. Their radioactive emissions will become weaker by the time they fall out as precipitation.
Its explosion is capable of wiping Moscow off the face of the earth in a matter of seconds. The city center could easily evaporate in the literal sense of the word, and everything else could turn into tiny rubble. The most powerful bomb in the world would wipe out New York and all its skyscrapers. It would leave behind a twenty-kilometer-long molten smooth crater. With such an explosion, it would not have been possible to escape by going down to the subway. The entire territory within a radius of 700 kilometers would be destroyed and infected with radioactive particles.
Explosion of the Tsar Bomba - to be or not to be?
In the summer of 1961, scientists decided to conduct a test and observe the explosion. The most powerful bomb in the world was to explode at a test site located in the very north of Russia. The huge area of the test site occupies the entire territory of the island of Novaya Zemlya. The scale of the defeat was supposed to be 1000 kilometers. In the event of an explosion, such people could remain infected industrial centers, like Vorkuta, Dudinka and Norilsk. Scientists, having comprehended the scale of the disaster, put their heads together and realized that the test was cancelled.
There was no place to test the famous and incredibly powerful bomb anywhere on the planet, only Antarctica remained. But on icy continent It also failed to carry out an explosion, since the territory is considered international and obtaining permission for such tests is simply unrealistic. I had to reduce the charge of this bomb by 2 times. The bomb was nevertheless detonated on October 30, 1961 in the same place - on the island of Novaya Zemlya (at an altitude of about 4 kilometers). During the explosion, a monstrous huge atomic mushroom was observed, which rose 67 kilometers into the air, and the shock wave circled the planet three times. By the way, in the Arzamas-16 museum in the city of Sarov, you can watch newsreels of the explosion on an excursion, although they claim that this spectacle is not for the faint of heart.