Hiroshima and Nagasaki - the consequences of the atomic bomb explosion (26 photos). Who invented the atomic bomb? The history of the invention and creation of the Soviet atomic bomb
nuclear explosions
Since the time of the Trinity (Trinity) - the first in the history of mankind atomic bomb in 1945, almost 2,000 nuclear tests were carried out, most of which took place in the 1960s and 1970s.
When the technology was still new, tests were frequent and revealing. But beginning in the 1990s, efforts were made to limit future nuclear weapons testing.
The photographs presented today are from the first 30 years of nuclear testing.
Part of Trinity's first atomic bomb, which was detonated at the test site on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
Jumbo - A 200-ton steel plutonium recovery tank used in the Trinity atomic bomb test. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
The growing fireball and shockwave from the Trinity bomb explosion: 0.025 seconds after explosion, July 16, 1945. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
The fireball continues to grow, and the first nuclear mushroom in the history of mankind begins to form: 9 seconds after explosion Trinity, July 16, 1945. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
Photo 1. July 25, 1946. Baker test in the Bikini Atoll lagoon, underwater explosion at a depth of 28 meters. This was fifth nuclear explosion in history after two tests and two bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
Photo 2. Another photo of the Baker underwater test in the Bikini Atoll lagoon on July 25, 1946. (AP Photo):
Photo 3. Another photo of the Baker underwater test. dark spots in the foreground are the ships that were placed near the explosion site to test what the atomic bomb could do to the huge ships. (AP Photo):
November 16, 1952, Eniwetok Atoll. The atomic bomb was dropped by a B-36H bomber. Test yield: 500 kilotons. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
Greenhouse test series consisting of 4 explosions in the Pacific Ocean. This photo is from the third test in May 1951. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
Animation: destruction of the blast wave of the building, located at a distance of 1 kilometer 67 meters from the epicenter of the atomic explosion on March 17, 1953. The time from the 1st to the last frame is 2.3 seconds. The chamber was placed in a lead sheath, 5 centimeters thick, to protect against radiation. (Photo by U.S. Department of Defense):
Photo 1. Until the explosion. During an Upshot-Knothole test in the house behind dinner table dummies were placed to simulate the situation, March 15, 1953. (Photo by Dick Strobel | AP):
Photo 2. After the explosion.(U.S. Department of Defense):
Photo 1. Until the explosion. The same house, but this mannequin is in bed. As in previous photographs, testing of the consequences of an atomic explosion at a test site near Las Vegas, Nevada, March 15, 1953. Directly through the window, 2.5 kilometers from the house, there is a 90-meter steel tower on which the bomb will be detonated. (Photo by Dick Strobel | AP):
Photo 2. After the explosion.(U.S. Department of Defense):
Photo 1. Until the explosion. The same house, but the mannequins are sitting in the living room. (AP Photo):
Photo 2. After the explosion.(U.S. Department of Defense):
Plumbbob test at the Nevada test site on August 30, 1957. (Photo by Nevada Site Office):
The explosion of a hydrogen bomb during Operation Redwing over Bikini Atoll on May 20, 1956. (AP Photo):
Flash from the explosion of a nuclear warhead of an air-to-air missile, similar to the sun, July 19, 1957. 20 kilometers from this place. (Photo by Nevada Site Office):
NATO observers watch the Plumbbob Boltzmann nuclear test on May 28, 1957 with goggles. (Photo by Nevada Site Office):
The tail section of a U.S. Navy unmanned airship. On the background- A nuclear explosion at a test site in Nevada, August 7, 1957. The airship flew 8 kilometers from the test site, but collapsed from the shock wave. (Photo by Nevada Site Office):
Hardtack I - thermonuclear explosion in the Pacific Ocean in 1958. (Photo by Nevada Site Office):
Test Arkansas as part of Operation Dominic. It was a series of over 100 nuclear tests in Nevada and the Pacific in 1962. (U.S. Department of Defense):
Aztec test as part of Operation Dominique. It was a series of over 100 nuclear tests in Nevada and the Pacific in 1962. (U.S. Department of Defense):
Explosion as part of Operation Fishbowl Bluegill. A 400 kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated in an atmosphere 50 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean in October 1962. (U.S. Department of Defense):
Testing Yeso as part of Operation Dominique, 1962. (U.S. Department of Defense):
Crater from the explosion of a 100-kiloton bomb in the desert on July 6, 1962. It was lifted into the air 12 million tons of earth. The crater measures 100 meters deep and 390 meters in diameter. (Photo by Nevada Site Office):
Photo 1. 1971. A nuclear explosion on the Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia. (AP Photo):
Photo 2. 1971. A nuclear explosion on the Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia. (AP Photo):
Upshot-Knothole Grable test conducted by the US military in Nevada on May 25, 1953. 280 nuclear projectiles were fired in the desert at a distance of 10 kilometers using the M65 Atomic Cannon. (U.S. Department of Defense):
A house from Survival City, located 2,280 meters from a 29-kiloton nuclear explosion. He remained unchanged. The "city of survival" consisted of houses, office buildings, power supply systems, communications facilities. The name of the nuclear test - Apple II, was carried out on May 5, 1955. (U.S. Department of Defense):
From the course of physics it is known that the nucleons in the nucleus - protons and neutrons - are held together by a strong interaction. It greatly exceeds the Coulomb repulsion forces, so the nucleus as a whole is stable. In the 20th century, the great scientist Albert Einstein discovered that the mass of individual nucleons is somewhat greater than their mass in a bound state (when they form a nucleus). Where does part of the mass go? It turns out that it passes into the binding energy of nucleons and thanks to it nuclei, atoms and molecules can exist.
Most of the known nuclei are stable, but there are also radioactive ones. They continuously radiate energy, as they are subject to radioactive decay. The nuclei of such chemical elements unsafe for humans, but they do not emit energy capable of destroying entire cities.
Colossal energy appears as a result of a nuclear chain reaction. The uranium-235 isotope, as well as plutonium, are used as nuclear fuel in an atomic bomb. When one neutron hits the nucleus, it begins to divide. The neutron, being a particle without an electric charge, can easily penetrate into the structure of the nucleus, bypassing the action of the forces of electrostatic interaction. As a result, it will begin to stretch. The strong interaction between nucleons will begin to weaken, while the Coulomb forces will remain the same. The uranium-235 nucleus will split into two (rarely three) fragments. Two additional neutrons will appear, which can then enter into a similar reaction. Therefore, it is called chain: what causes the fission reaction (neutron) is its product.
As a result of a nuclear reaction, energy is released that bound nucleons in the parent nucleus of uranium-235 (binding energy). This reaction underlies the operation of nuclear reactors and explosions. For its implementation, one condition must be met: the mass of fuel must be subcritical. When plutonium combines with uranium-235, an explosion occurs.
Nuclear explosion
After the collision of the nuclei of plutonium and uranium, a powerful shock wave is formed that affects all life within a radius of about 1 km. The fireball that appeared at the site of the explosion gradually expands to 150 meters. Its temperature drops to 8 thousand Kelvin, when the shock wave moves far enough. The heated air carries radioactive dust over great distances. A nuclear explosion is accompanied by powerful electromagnetic radiation.
"I became Death, the destroyer of worlds." Robert Oppenheimer
General Thomas Farrell: “The effect that the explosion had on me can be called magnificent, amazing and at the same time terrifying. Mankind has never created a phenomenon of such incredible and terrifying power.
The brilliant physicist Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the "father of the atomic bomb", was born in New York in 1903 to a wealthy and educated Jewish family. During World War II, he led the development of American nuclear scientists to create the first atomic bomb in the history of mankind.
Trial Name: Trinity
Date: July 16, 1945
Location: Test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
It was the test of the world's first atomic bomb. In a section 1.6 kilometers in diameter, a giant purple-green-orange fireball shot up into the sky. The earth shuddered from the explosion, a white column of smoke rose to the sky and began to gradually expand, taking on a terrifying mushroom shape at an altitude of about 11 kilometers. The first nuclear explosion hit the military and scientists. Robert Oppenheimer remembered the lines from the Indian epic poem Bhagavad Gita: "I will become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Trial Name: Baker
Date: July 24, 1946
Location: Bikini Atoll Lagoon
Explosion type: Underwater, depth 27.5 meters
Power: 23 kilotons.
The purpose of the tests was to study the effects of nuclear weapons on naval vessels and their personnel. 71 ships were turned into floating targets. This was the 5th nuclear test.
The bomb was placed in a waterproof case and launched from the vessel LSM-60. 8 target ships were sunk, among them: ships LSM-60, Saratoga, Nagato, Arkansas, submarines Pilotfish, Apogon, drydock ARDC-13, barge YO-160. Eight more ships were badly damaged. The explosion lifted several million tons of water into the air.
Challenge Name: Castle Bravo
Date: March 1, 1954
Location: Bikini Atoll
Explosion type: on the surface
Capacity: 15 megatons.
Explosion of a hydrogen bomb. Castle Bravo was the most powerful explosion ever carried out by the United States. The power of the explosion turned out to be much higher than the initial forecasts of 4-6 megatons. The crater from the explosion turned out to be 2 km in diameter and 75 m deep. In 1 minute, the mushroom cloud reached a height of 15 km. 8 minutes after the explosion, the fungus reached its maximum size of 20 km in diameter. The Castle Bravo test caused the largest radioactive contamination of territories and exposure of local residents in the United States.
Challenge Name: Castle Romeo
Date: March 26, 1954
Location: On a barge in Bravo Crater, Bikini Atoll
Explosion type: on the surface
Capacity: 11 megatons.
The power of the explosion turned out to be 3 times greater than the initial forecasts. Romeo was the first test made on a barge. The fact is that such nuclear explosions left large funnels in the atoll, and the test program would destroy all the islands.
Test name: AZTEC
Date: April 27, 1962
Location: Christmas Island
Power: 410 kilotons.
These tests were carried out from 1962 to 1963 in the USA.
Trial Name: Chama
Date: October 18, 1962
Location: Johnston Island
Capacity: 1.59 megatons
Part of Project Dominic, a series of nuclear weapons tests consisting of 105 explosions.
Test Name: Truckee
Date: June 9, 1962
Location: Christmas Island
Power: more than 210 kilotons
Part of Project Dominic, a series of nuclear weapons tests consisting of 105 explosions.
Test Name: Dog
Date: 1951
Trial Name: Annie
Date: March 17, 1953
Location: Nevada Nuclear Test Site
Power: 16 kilotons
Test name: "Unicorn" (fr. Licorne)
Date: July 3, 1970
Location: atoll in French Polynesia
Power: 914 kilotons
The largest thermonuclear explosion in France.
"Unicorn".
"Unicorn".
"Unicorn".
Test Name: Oak
Date: June 28, 1958
Capacity: 8.9 megatons
Challenge Name: Mike
Date: October 31, 1952
Location: Elugelab ("Flora") Island, Eneweita Atoll
Power: 10.4 megatons
The device detonated in Mike's test, dubbed the "sausage", was the first true megaton-class "hydrogen" bomb. The mushroom cloud reached a height of 41 km with a diameter of 96 km. Mike's power was greater than the power of all the bombs dropped in the Second world war.
Challenge Name: Grable
Date: 25 May 1953
Location: Nevada Nuclear Test Site
Power: 15 kilotons
As part of Operation Upshot Knothole, a series of 11 nuclear explosions carried out by the United States in 1953.
Trial Name: George
Date: 1951
Location: Nevada Nuclear Test Site
Trial Name: Priscilla
Date: 1957
Location: Nevada Nuclear Test Site
Power: 37 kilotons
As part of the Plumbbob test series in May-October 1957.
Another photo of the nuclear explosion of Castle Romeo, which we wrote about above:
Copies of the first atomic bombs "Kid" (Little Boy) with a charge mass of 16 kilotons and "Fat Man" with a charge mass of 21 kilotons. It was the "Baby" that was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the "Fat Man" on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945:
Challenge Name: Umbrella
Date: June 8, 1958
Location: Eniwetok Lagoon in the Pacific Ocean
Power: 8 kilotons
An underwater nuclear explosion was carried out during Operation Hardtack. Decommissioned ships were used as targets.
Test Name: Seminole
Date: June 6, 1956
Location: Eniwetok Lagoon in the Pacific Ocean
Power: 13.7 kilotons
Test Name: YESO
Date: June 10, 1962
Location: Christmas Island
Power: 3 megatons
Trial Name: Rhea
Date: June 14, 1971
Location: French Polynesia
Power: 1 megaton
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima (left, atomic bomb "Kid", August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (right, atomic bomb "Fat Man", August 9, 1945) are the only example in the history of mankind of the combat use of nuclear weapons. The total death toll ranged from 90 to 166 thousand people in Hiroshima and from 60 to 80 thousand people in Nagasaki.
Trial Name: Annie
Date: March 17, 1953
Location: Nevada Nuclear Test Site
Power: 16 kilotons
As part of Operation Upshot Knothole, a series of 11 nuclear explosions carried out by the United States in 1953. A series of images showing the destruction of a house located 1 km from the explosion:
AN602 (aka "Tsar Bomba" and "Kuzkina Mother" - a thermonuclear aerial bomb developed in the USSR in 1954-1961 by a group of nuclear physicists led by Academician I.V. Kurchatov. The most powerful explosive device in the history of mankind. By various data had a capacity of 57 to 58.6 megatons:
Test Name: Tsar Bomba
Date: October 30, 1961
Location: Novaya Zemlya test site
Capacity: more than 50 megatons
(Photo from Minatom archive):
Location at the Alamogordo, New Mexico test site where the world's first atomic bomb, Trinity, was detonated on July 16, 1945.
It is one of the most amazing, mysterious and terrible processes. The principle of operation of nuclear weapons is based on chain reaction. This is a process, the very course of which initiates its continuation. The principle of operation of the hydrogen bomb is based on fusion.
Atomic bombThe nuclei of some isotopes of radioactive elements (plutonium, californium, uranium, and others) are able to decay, while capturing a neutron. After that, two or three more neutrons are released. The destruction of the nucleus of one atom under ideal conditions can lead to the decay of two or three more, which, in turn, can initiate other atoms. Etc. An avalanche-like process of destruction of an increasing number of nuclei occurs with the release of a gigantic amount of energy for breaking atomic bonds. During the explosion, huge energies are released in an ultra-short period of time. It happens at one point. That is why the explosion of the atomic bomb is so powerful and destructive.
To initiate the start of a chain reaction, it is necessary that the amount of radioactive material exceed the critical mass. Obviously, you need to take several parts of uranium or plutonium and combine them into one. However, this is not enough to cause an atomic bomb to explode, because the reaction will stop before enough energy is released, or the process will proceed slowly. In order to achieve success, it is necessary not only to exceed the critical mass of a substance, but to do it in an extremely short period of time. It is best to use several. This is achieved through the use of others. Moreover, they alternate between fast and slow explosives.
The first nuclear test was carried out in July 1945 in the United States near the town of Almogordo. In August of the same year, the Americans used this weapon against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosion of an atomic bomb in the city led to terrible destruction and the death of most of the population. In the USSR, atomic weapons were created and tested in 1949.
H-bomb
It is a weapon with very high destructive power. The principle of its operation is based on which is the synthesis of heavy helium nuclei from lighter hydrogen atoms. This releases a very large amount of energy. This reaction is similar to the processes that take place on the Sun and other stars. Thermonuclear fusion is most easily accomplished using isotopes of hydrogen (tritium, deuterium) and lithium.
The test of the first hydrogen warhead was carried out by the Americans in 1952. In the modern sense, this device can hardly be called a bomb. It was a three-story building filled with liquid deuterium. The first explosion of a hydrogen bomb in the USSR was carried out six months later. The Soviet thermonuclear munition RDS-6 was blown up in August 1953 near Semipalatinsk. The largest hydrogen bomb with a capacity of 50 megatons (Tsar Bomba) was tested by the USSR in 1961. The wave after the explosion of the ammunition circled the planet three times.
2000 nuclear explosions
The creator of the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, said on the day of the first test of his brainchild: “If hundreds of thousands of suns rose at once in the sky, their light could be compared with the radiance emanating from the Supreme Lord ... I am Death, the great destroyer of worlds, bringing death to all living things ". These words were a quotation from the Bhagavad Gita, which the American physicist read in the original.
Photographers from Lookout Mountain stand waist-deep in dust raised by the shock wave after a nuclear explosion (photo from 1953).
Challenge Name: Umbrella
Date: June 8, 1958
Power: 8 kilotons
An underwater nuclear explosion was carried out during Operation Hardtack. Decommissioned ships were used as targets.
Test name: Chama (as part of the Dominic project)
Date: October 18, 1962
Location: Johnston Island
Capacity: 1.59 megatons
Test Name: Oak
Date: June 28, 1958
Location: Eniwetok Lagoon in the Pacific Ocean
Capacity: 8.9 megatons
Upshot-Knothole project, Annie test. Date: March 17, 1953; project: Upshot-Knothole; test: Annie; Location: Knothole, Nevada Proving Ground, Sector 4; power: 16 kt. (Photo: Wikicommons)
Challenge Name: Castle Bravo
Date: March 1, 1954
Location: Bikini Atoll
Explosion type: on the surface
Capacity: 15 megatons
The explosion of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb was the most powerful explosion ever carried out by the United States. The power of the explosion turned out to be much higher than the initial forecasts of 4-6 megatons.
Challenge Name: Castle Romeo
Date: March 26, 1954
Location: On a barge in Bravo Crater, Bikini Atoll
Explosion type: on the surface
Capacity: 11 megatons
The power of the explosion turned out to be 3 times more than the initial forecasts. Romeo was the first test made on a barge.
Project Dominic, Test Aztec
Trial Name: Priscilla (as part of the Plumbbob trial series)
Date: 1957
Power: 37 kilotons
This is exactly what the process of releasing a huge amount of radiant and thermal energy during an atomic explosion in the air over the desert looks like. Here you can still see military equipment, which in a moment will be destroyed by a shock wave, captured in the form of a crown that surrounded the epicenter of the explosion. You can see how the shock wave was reflected from the earth's surface and is about to merge with the fireball.
Test name: Grable (as part of Operation Upshot Knothole)
Date: 25 May 1953
Location: Nevada Nuclear Test Site
Power: 15 kilotons
At a test site in the Nevada desert, photographers from the Lookout Mountain Center in 1953 took a photograph of an unusual phenomenon (a ring of fire in a nuclear mushroom after an explosion of a projectile from a nuclear cannon), the nature of which has long occupied the minds of scientists.
Upshot-Knothole project, Rake test. As part of this test, a 15 kiloton atomic bomb was detonated, launched by a 280 mm atomic cannon. The test took place on May 25, 1953 at the Nevada test site. (Photo: National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office)
A mushroom cloud formed by the atomic explosion of the Truckee test carried out as part of Project Dominic.
Project Buster, Test Dog.
Project "Dominic", test "Yeso". Trial: Yeso; date: June 10, 1962; project: Dominik; location: 32 km south of Christmas Island; test type: B-52, atmospheric, height - 2.5 m; power: 3.0 mt; charge type: atomic. (Wikicommons)
Test Name: YESO
Date: June 10, 1962
Location: Christmas Island
Power: 3 megatons
Test "Licorn" in French Polynesia. Image #1. (Pierre J./French Army)
Test name: "Unicorn" (fr. Licorne)
Date: July 3, 1970
Location: atoll in French Polynesia
Power: 914 kilotons
Test "Licorn" in French Polynesia. Image #2. (Photo: Pierre J./French Army)
Test "Licorn" in French Polynesia. Image #3. (Photo: Pierre J./French Army)
Test sites often have entire teams of photographers working to get good shots. In the photo: a nuclear test explosion in the Nevada desert. To the right are the missile plumes that scientists use to determine the characteristics of the shock wave.
Test "Licorn" in French Polynesia. Image #4. (Photo: Pierre J./French Army)
Project Castle, test Romeo. (Photo: zvis.com)
Hardtack project, Umbrella test. Challenge: Umbrella; date: June 8, 1958; project: Hardtack I; Location: Eniwetok Atoll Lagoon test type: underwater, depth 45 m; power: 8kt; charge type: atomic.
Project Redwing, Seminole test. (Photo: Nuclear Weapons Archive)
Riya test. Atmospheric test of an atomic bomb in French Polynesia in August 1971. As part of this test, which took place on August 14, 1971, a thermonuclear warhead, codenamed "Riya", with a capacity of 1000 kt, was detonated. The explosion occurred on the territory of the Mururoa atoll. This picture was taken from a distance of 60 km from zero. Photo: Pierre J.
Mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right). In the final stages of World War II, the United States launched two atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first explosion occurred on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. This was the only time that nuclear weapons were used for military purposes. By order of President Truman, on August 6, 1945, the US Army dropped the "Baby" nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, followed by the nuclear explosion of the "Fat Man" bomb on Nagasaki on August 9. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people died in Hiroshima within 2-4 months after the nuclear explosions, and between 60,000 and 80,000 died in Nagasaki. (Photo: Wikicommons)
Upshot-Knothole project. Landfill in Nevada, March 17, 1953. The blast wave completely destroyed Building No. 1, located at a distance of 1.05 km from the zero mark. The time difference between the first and second shot is 21/3 seconds. The camera was placed in a protective case with a wall thickness of 5 cm. The only source of light in this case was a nuclear flash. (Photo: National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office)
Project Ranger, 1951. The name of the test is unknown. (Photo: National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office)
Trinity test.
Trinity was the code name for the first nuclear test. This test was conducted by the United States Army on July 16, 1945, at an area approximately 56 kilometers southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, at the White Sands Missile Range. For the test, an implosion-type plutonium bomb was used, nicknamed "Thing". After the detonation, there was an explosion with a power equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT. The date of this test is considered the beginning of the atomic era. (Photo: Wikicommons)
Challenge Name: Mike
Date: October 31, 1952
Location: Elugelab ("Flora") Island, Eneweita Atoll
Power: 10.4 megatons
The device detonated in Mike's test, dubbed the "sausage", was the first true megaton-class "hydrogen" bomb. The mushroom cloud reached a height of 41 km with a diameter of 96 km.
AN602 (aka Tsar Bomba, aka Kuzkina Mother) is a thermonuclear aerial bomb developed in the USSR in 1954-1961. a group of nuclear physicists under the leadership of Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR IV Kurchatov. The most powerful explosive device in the history of mankind. According to various sources, it had from 57 to 58.6 megatons of TNT equivalent. The bomb tests took place on October 30, 1961. (Wiki media)
Explosion "MET", carried out as part of Operation "Teepot". It is noteworthy that the MET explosion was comparable in power to the Fat Man plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki. April 15, 1955, 22 ct. (Wiki media)
One of the most powerful explosions of a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb on the account of the United States is Operation Castle Bravo. The charge power was 10 megatons. The explosion took place on March 1, 1954 in Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. (Wiki media)
Operation Castle Romeo is one of the most powerful thermonuclear bomb explosions carried out by the United States. Bikini Atoll, March 27, 1954, 11 megatons. (Wiki media)
The Baker explosion, showing the white surface of the water disturbed by the air shock wave and the top of the hollow column of spray that formed the hemispherical Wilson cloud. In the background is the coast of Bikini Atoll, July 1946. (Wiki media)
The explosion of the American thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb "Mike" with a capacity of 10.4 megatons. November 1, 1952 (Wiki media)
Operation Greenhouse is the fifth series of American nuclear tests and the second of them in 1951. During the operation, designs of nuclear charges were tested using thermonuclear fusion to increase the energy yield. In addition, the impact of the explosion on structures, including residential buildings, factory buildings and bunkers, was studied. The operation was carried out at the Pacific nuclear test site. All devices were blown up on high metal towers, simulating an air explosion. Explosion of "George", 225 kilotons, May 9, 1951. (Wiki media)
A mushroom cloud that has a column of water instead of a dust leg. On the right, a hole is visible on the pillar: the battleship Arkansas blocked the spray. Test "Baker", charge capacity - 23 kilotons of TNT, July 25, 1946. (Wiki media)
A 200-meter cloud over the territory of Frenchman Flat after the MET explosion as part of Operation Tipot, April 15, 1955, 22 kt. This projectile had a rare uranium-233 core. (Wiki media)
The crater was formed when a 100 kiloton blast wave was blasted under 635 feet of desert on July 6, 1962, displacing 12 million tons of earth. 
Time: 0s. Distance: 0m. Initiation of the explosion of a nuclear detonator.
Time: 0.0000001c. Distance: 0m Temperature: up to 100 million °C. The beginning and course of nuclear and thermonuclear reactions in a charge. With its explosion, a nuclear detonator creates the conditions for the start of thermonuclear reactions: the thermonuclear combustion zone passes by a shock wave in the charge substance at a speed of the order of 5000 km / s (106 - 107 m / s) About 90% of the neutrons released during the reactions are absorbed by the bomb substance, the remaining 10% fly out out.
Time:< 10−7c. Расстояние: 2м Temperature: 30 million°C. The end of the reaction, the beginning of the expansion of the bomb substance. The bomb immediately disappears from sight and a bright luminous sphere (fireball) appears in its place, masking the spread of the charge. The growth rate of the sphere in the first meters is close to the speed of light. The density of the substance here drops to 1% of the density of the surrounding air in 0.01 seconds; the temperature drops to 7-8 thousand °C in 2.6 seconds, it is held for ~5 seconds and further decreases with the rise of the fiery sphere; pressure after 2-3 seconds drops to slightly below atmospheric.
Time: 1.1x10−7c. Distance: 10m Temperature: 6 million °C. The expansion of the visible sphere up to ~10 m is due to the glow of ionized air under the X-ray radiation of nuclear reactions, and then through the radiative diffusion of the heated air itself. The energy of radiation quanta leaving the thermonuclear charge is such that their free path before being captured by air particles is on the order of 10 m and is initially comparable to the size of a sphere; photons quickly run around the entire sphere, averaging its temperature, and fly out of it at the speed of light, ionizing more and more layers of air, hence the same temperature and near-light growth rate. Further, from capture to capture, photons lose energy and their path length is reduced, the growth of the sphere slows down.
Time: 1.4x10−7c. Distance: 16m Temperature: 4 million °C. In general, from 10−7 to 0.08 seconds, the 1st phase of the glow of the sphere goes on with a rapid drop in temperature and an output of ~ 1% of the radiation energy, mostly in the form of UV rays and the brightest light radiation that can damage the vision of a distant observer without formation skin burns. The illumination of the earth's surface at these moments at distances up to tens of kilometers can be a hundred or more times greater than the sun.
Time: 1.7x10-7c. Distance: 21m Temperature: 3 million °C. Bomb vapors in the form of clubs, dense clumps and jets of plasma, like a piston, compress the air in front of them and form a shock wave inside the sphere - an internal shock, which differs from the usual shock wave in non-adiabatic, almost isothermal properties and at the same pressures several times higher density: compressing shock the air immediately radiates most of the energy through the ball, which is still transparent to radiation.
At the first tens of meters, the surrounding objects before the fire sphere hits them, due to its too high speed, do not have time to react in any way - they even practically do not heat up, and once inside the sphere under the radiation flux, they evaporate instantly.
Temperature: 2 million °C. Speed 1000 km/s. As the sphere grows and the temperature drops, the energy and density of the photon flux decrease, and their range (of the order of a meter) is no longer enough for near-light speeds of the fire front expansion. The heated volume of air began to expand and a stream of its particles is formed from the center of the explosion. A thermal wave at still air at the boundary of the sphere slows down. The expanding heated air inside the sphere collides with the stationary air near its boundary, and somewhere from 36-37 m a density increase wave appears - the future external air shock wave; before that, the wave did not have time to appear due to the huge growth rate of the light sphere.
Time: 0.000001s. Distance: 34m Temperature: 2 million °C. The internal shock and vapors of the bomb are located in a layer of 8-12 m from the explosion site, the pressure peak is up to 17,000 MPa at a distance of 10.5 m, the density is ~ 4 times the air density, the velocity is ~100 km/s. Hot air area: pressure at the boundary 2.500 MPa, inside the area up to 5000 MPa, particle velocity up to 16 km/s. The bomb vapor substance begins to lag behind the internal. jump as more and more air in it is involved in movement. Dense clots and jets maintain speed.
Time: 0.000034c. Distance: 42m Temperature: 1 million °C. Conditions at the epicenter of the explosion of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb (400 kt at a height of 30 m), which formed a crater about 50 m in diameter and 8 m deep. A reinforced concrete bunker with walls 2 m thick was located 15 m from the epicenter or 5–6 m from the base of the tower with a charge. To accommodate scientific equipment, it was destroyed from above, covered with a large mound of earth 8 m thick.
Temperature: 600 thousand ° C. From this moment, the nature of the shock wave ceases to depend on the initial conditions of a nuclear explosion and approaches the typical one for a strong explosion in air, i.e. such wave parameters could be observed in the explosion of a large mass of conventional explosives.
Time: 0.0036s. Distance: 60m Temperature: 600 thousand ° C. The internal shock, having passed the entire isothermal sphere, catches up and merges with the external one, increasing its density and forming the so-called. a strong shock is a single front of the shock wave. The density of matter in the sphere drops to 1/3 atmospheric.
Time: 0.014c. Distance: 110m Temperature: 400 thousand ° C. A similar shock wave at the epicenter of the explosion of the first Soviet atomic bomb with a power of 22 kt at a height of 30 m generated a seismic shift that destroyed the imitation of metro tunnels from various types fastenings at depths of 10 and 20 m 30 m, animals in tunnels at depths of 10, 20 and 30 m died. An inconspicuous dish-shaped depression about 100 m in diameter appeared on the surface. Similar conditions were at the epicenter of the Trinity explosion of 21 kt at a height of 30 m, a funnel 80 m in diameter and 2 m deep was formed.
Time: 0.004s. Distance: 135m
Temperature: 300 thousand ° C. Max Height air burst of 1 Mt to form a noticeable crater in the ground. The front of the shock wave is curved by the impacts of the bomb vapor clots:
Time: 0.007s. Distance: 190m Temperature: 200k°C. On a smooth and, as it were, shiny front, oud. waves form large blisters and bright spots (the sphere seems to be boiling). The density of matter in an isothermal sphere with a diameter of ~150 m falls below 10% of atmospheric density.
Non-massive objects evaporate a few meters before the fire arrives. spheres ("Rope tricks"); the human body from the side of the explosion will have time to char, and completely evaporate already with the arrival of the shock wave.
Time: 0.015s. Distance: 250m Temperature: 170 thousand ° C. The shock wave strongly destroys rocks. The shock wave speed is higher than the speed of sound in metal: the theoretical tensile strength of the entrance door to the shelter; the tank collapses and burns out.
Time: 0.028c. Distance: 320m Temperature: 110 thousand ° C. A person is dispersed by a stream of plasma (shock wave speed = speed of sound in the bones, the body collapses into dust and immediately burns out). Complete destruction of the most durable ground structures.
Time: 0.073c. Distance: 400m Temperature: 80 thousand ° C. Irregularities on the sphere disappear. The density of the substance drops in the center to almost 1%, and at the edge of the isotherms. spheres with a diameter of ~320 m to 2% atmospheric. At this distance, within 1.5 s, heating to 30,000 °C and falling to 7000 °C, ~5 s holding at ~6.500 °C and decreasing temperature in 10–20 s as you leave fireball up.
Time: 0.079c. Distance: 435m Temperature: 110 thousand ° C. Complete destruction of highways with asphalt and concrete pavement The temperature minimum of the shock wave radiation, the end of the 1st phase of the glow. A subway-type shelter, lined with cast-iron tubing and monolithic reinforced concrete and buried 18 m, is calculated to be able to withstand an explosion (40 kt) at a height of 30 m at a minimum distance of 150 m (shock wave pressure of the order of 5 MPa) without destruction, 38 kt RDS- 2 at a distance of 235 m (pressure ~1.5 MPa), received minor deformations and damage. At temperatures in the compression front below 80 thousand ° C, new NO2 molecules no longer appear, the nitrogen dioxide layer gradually disappears and ceases to screen the internal radiation. The shock sphere gradually becomes transparent and through it, as through darkened glass, for some time, clubs of bomb vapors and an isothermal sphere are visible; in general, the fiery sphere is similar to fireworks. Then, as the transparency increases, the intensity of the radiation increases and the details of the flaring up sphere, as it were, become invisible. The process resembles the end of the era of recombination and the birth of light in the Universe several hundred thousand years after the Big Bang.
Time: 0.1s. Distance: 530m Temperature: 70 thousand ° C. Separation and moving forward of the front of the shock wave from the boundary of the fiery sphere, its growth rate noticeably decreases. The 2nd phase of the glow begins, less intense, but two orders of magnitude longer, with the release of 99% of the explosion radiation energy mainly in the visible and IR spectrum. At the first hundreds of meters, a person does not have time to see the explosion and dies without suffering (a person's visual reaction time is 0.1 - 0.3 s, the reaction time to a burn is 0.15 - 0.2 s).
Time: 0.15s. Distance: 580m Temperature: 65k°C. Radiation ~100 000 Gy. Charred fragments of bones remain from a person (the speed of the shock wave is of the order of the speed of sound in soft tissues: a hydrodynamic shock that destroys cells and tissues passes through the body).
Time: 0.25s. Distance: 630m Temperature: 50 thousand ° C. Penetrating radiation ~40 000 Gy. A person turns into charred debris: a shock wave causes traumatic amputationsa coming up in a fraction of a second. a fiery sphere chars the remains. Complete destruction of the tank. Complete destruction of underground cable lines, water pipes, gas pipelines, sewers, manholes. Destruction of underground reinforced concrete pipes with a diameter of 1.5 m, with a wall thickness of 0.2 m. Destruction of the arched concrete dam of the HPP. Strong destruction of long-term reinforced concrete fortifications. Minor damage to underground metro structures.
Time: 0.4s. Distance: 800m Temperature: 40 thousand ° C. Heating objects up to 3000 °C. Penetrating radiation ~20 000 Gy. Complete destruction of all protective structures of civil defense (shelters) destruction of the protective devices of entrances to the subway. Destruction of the gravitational concrete dam of the hydroelectric power station Pillboxes become incapable of combat at a distance of 250 m.
Time: 0.73c. Distance: 1200m Temperature: 17 thousand ° C. Radiation ~5000 Gy. At an explosion height of 1200 m, the heating of surface air at the epicenter before the arrival of beats. waves up to 900°C. Man - 100% death from the action of the shock wave. Destruction of shelters rated at 200 kPa (type A-III or class 3). Complete destruction of reinforced concrete bunkers of prefabricated type at a distance of 500 m under the conditions of a ground explosion. Complete destruction railway tracks. The maximum brightness of the second phase of the glow of the sphere by this time it released ~ 20% of the light energy
Time: 1.4c. Distance: 1600m Temperature: 12k°C. Heating objects up to 200°C. Radiation 500 Gr. Numerous burns of 3-4 degrees up to 60-90% of the body surface, severe radiation injury, combined with other injuries, lethality immediately or up to 100% on the first day. The tank is thrown back ~ 10 m and damaged. Complete destruction of metal and reinforced concrete bridges with a span of 30-50 m.
Time: 1.6s. Distance: 1750m Temperature: 10 thousand ° C. Radiation ok. 70 Gr. The crew of the tank dies within 2-3 weeks from extremely severe radiation sickness. Complete destruction of concrete, reinforced concrete monolithic (low-rise) and seismic-resistant buildings 0.2 MPa, built-in and free-standing shelters rated at 100 kPa (type A-IV or class 4), shelters in the basements of multi-storey buildings.
Time: 1.9c. Distance: 1900m Temperature: 9 thousand ° C Dangerous damage to a person by a shock wave and rejection up to 300 m with an initial speed of up to 400 km / h, of which 100-150 m (0.3-0.5 of the path) is free flight, and the rest of the distance is numerous ricochets about the ground. Radiation of about 50 Gy is a lightning-fast form of radiation sickness [, 100% lethality within 6-9 days. Destruction of built-in shelters designed for 50 kPa. Strong destruction of earthquake-resistant buildings. Pressure 0.12 MPa and above - all dense and rarefied urban development turns into solid blockages (individual blockages merge into one continuous blockage), the height of the blockages can be 3-4 m. The fiery sphere at this time reaches its maximum size (D ~ 2 km), is crushed from below by a shock wave reflected from the ground and begins to rise; the isothermal sphere in it collapses, forming a fast upward flow in the epicenter - the future leg of the mushroom.
Time: 2.6c. Distance: 2200m Temperature: 7.5 thousand ° C. Severe injury to a person by a shock wave. Radiation ~ 10 Gy - extremely severe acute radiation sickness, according to a combination of injuries, 100% mortality within 1-2 weeks. Safe stay in a tank, in a fortified basement with a reinforced reinforced concrete floor and in most shelters G. O. Destruction of trucks. 0.1 MPa is the calculated pressure of the shock wave for the design of structures and protective devices of underground structures of shallow subway lines.
Time: 3.8c. Distance: 2800m Temperature: 7.5 thousand ° C. Radiation 1 Gy - in peaceful conditions and timely treatment, non-dangerous radiation injury, but with the unsanitary conditions and severe physical and psychological stress, lack of medical care, nutrition and normal rest, up to half of the victims die only from radiation and concomitant diseases, and by the amount of damage ( plus injuries and burns) much more. Pressure less than 0.1 MPa - urban areas with dense buildings turn into solid blockages. Complete destruction of basements without reinforcement of structures 0.075 MPa. The average destruction of earthquake-resistant buildings is 0.08-0.12 MPa. Severe damage to prefabricated reinforced concrete pillboxes. Detonation of pyrotechnics.
Time: 6c. Distance: 3600m Temperature: 4.5 thousand ° C. Average damage to a person by a shock wave. Radiation ~ 0.05 Gy - the dose is not dangerous. People and objects leave "shadows" on the pavement. Complete destruction of administrative multi-storey frame (office) buildings (0.05-0.06 MPa), shelters of the simplest type; strong and complete destruction of massive industrial facilities. Almost all urban development has been destroyed with the formation of local blockages (one house - one blockage). Complete destruction cars, complete destruction of the forest. An electromagnetic pulse of ~3 kV/m strikes insensitive electrical appliances. Destruction is similar to an earthquake of 10 points. The sphere turned into a fiery dome, like a bubble floating up, dragging a column of smoke and dust from the surface of the earth: a characteristic explosive mushroom grows with an initial vertical speed of up to 500 km / h. The wind speed near the surface to the epicenter is ~100 km/h.
Time: 10c. Distance: 6400m Temperature: 2k°C. The end of the effective time of the second glow phase, ~80% of the total energy of light radiation was released. The remaining 20% are safely illuminated for about a minute with a continuous decrease in intensity, gradually getting lost in the puffs of the cloud. Destruction of shelters of the simplest type (0.035-0.05 MPa). In the first kilometers, a person will not hear the roar of the explosion due to the damage to the hearing by the shock wave. Rejection of a person by a shock wave of ~20 m with an initial speed of ~30 km/h. Complete destruction of multi-storey buildings brick houses, panel houses, strong destruction of warehouses, average destruction of frame administrative buildings. The destruction is similar to an earthquake of 8 points. Safe in almost any basement.
The glow of the fiery dome ceases to be dangerous, it turns into a fiery cloud, growing in volume as it rises; incandescent gases in the cloud begin to rotate in a torus-shaped vortex; hot explosion products are localized in the upper part of the cloud. The flow of dusty air in the column moves twice as fast as the “mushroom” rises, overtakes the cloud, passes through, diverges and, as it were, winds up on it, like on a ring-shaped coil.
Time: 15c. Distance: 7500m. Light damage to a person by a shock wave. Third-degree burns on exposed parts of the body. Complete destruction wooden houses, strong destruction of brick multi-storey buildings 0.02-0.03 MPa, average destruction of brick warehouses, multi-storey reinforced concrete, panel houses; weak destruction of administrative buildings 0.02-0.03 MPa, massive industrial buildings. Car fires. Destruction is similar to a 6 magnitude earthquake, a 12 magnitude hurricane. up to 39 m/s. The "mushroom" has grown to 3 km above the center of the explosion (the true height of the mushroom is greater by the height of the warhead explosion, by about 1.5 km), it has a "skirt" of water vapor condensate in the stream warm air, fanned by a cloud into the cold upper atmosphere.
Time: 35c. Distance: 14km. Second degree burns. Paper ignites, dark tarpaulin. A zone of continuous fires, in areas of dense combustible buildings, a fire storm, a tornado are possible (Hiroshima, "Operation Gomorrah"). Weak destruction of panel buildings. Decommissioning aircraft and missiles. The destruction is similar to an earthquake of 4-5 points, a storm of 9-11 points V = 21 - 28.5 m/s. "Mushroom" has grown to ~5 km fiery cloud shines ever weaker.
Time: 1min. Distance: 22km. First-degree burns - in beachwear, death is possible. Destruction of reinforced glazing. Uprooting large trees. The zone of separate fires. The “mushroom” has risen to 7.5 km, the cloud stops emitting light and now has a reddish tint due to the nitrogen oxides it contains, which will stand out sharply from other clouds.
Time: 1.5min. Distance: 35km. The maximum radius of destruction of unprotected sensitive electrical equipment by an electromagnetic pulse. Almost all ordinary and part of the reinforced glass in the windows were broken - actually in a frosty winter, plus the possibility of cuts by flying fragments. "Mushroom" climbed up to 10 km, climbing speed ~ 220 km/h. Above the tropopause, the cloud develops predominantly in width.
Time: 4min. Distance: 85km. The flare is like a large unnaturally bright sun near the horizon, can cause retinal burns, a rush of heat to the face. The shock wave that arrived after 4 minutes can still knock a person down and break individual panes in the windows. "Mushroom" climbed over 16 km, climbing speed ~ 140 km / h
Time: 8min. Distance: 145km. The flash is not visible beyond the horizon, but a strong glow and a fiery cloud are visible. The total height of the "mushroom" is up to 24 km, the cloud is 9 km high and 20-30 km in diameter, with its wide part "leaning" on the tropopause. The mushroom cloud has grown to its maximum size and is observed for about an hour or more, until it is blown away by the winds and mixed with the usual cloudiness. Precipitation with relatively large particles falls out of the cloud within 10–20 hours, forming a near radioactive trail.
Time: 5.5-13 hours Distance: 300-500km. The far boundary of the zone of moderate infection (zone A). The level of radiation at the outer boundary of the zone is 0.08 Gy/h; total radiation dose 0.4-4 Gy.
Time: ~10 months. The effective half-time of radioactive substances settling for the lower layers of the tropical stratosphere (up to 21 km), the fallout also occurs mainly in middle latitudes in the same hemisphere where the explosion was made.
Monument to the first test of the Trinity atomic bomb. This monument was erected at White Sands in 1965, 20 years after the Trinity test. The memorial plaque of the monument reads: "On this site, on July 16, 1945, the world's first test of the atomic bomb took place." Another plaque below indicates that the site has been designated a National Historic Landmark. (Photo: Wikicommons)
