How many explosions were In the USSR, nuclear charges were secretly detonated near large cities. Polygon on Novaya Zemlya
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive and absolute in the world. Beginning in 1945, the largest nuclear test explosions in history were carried out, which showed the horrific consequences of a nuclear explosion.
Since the first nuclear test on July 15, 1945, more than 2,051 other nuclear weapons tests have been recorded worldwide.
No other force embodies such absolute destructive action as nuclear weapons. And this kind of weapon quickly becomes even more powerful in the decades after the first test.
The test of a nuclear bomb in 1945 had a yield of 20 kilotons, that is, the bomb had an explosive force of 20,000 tons of TNT. Over the course of 20 years, the US and the USSR tested nuclear weapons with a total mass of more than 10 megatons, or 10 million tons of TNT. For scale, that's at least 500 times more powerful than the first atomic bomb. In order to bring the size of the largest nuclear explosions in history to scale, the data was inferred using Nukemap Alex Wellerstein, a tool for visualizing the horrific effects of a nuclear explosion in the real world.
In the maps shown, the first explosion ring is a fireball followed by a radiation radius. In the pink radius, almost all the destruction of buildings and with a fatal outcome of 100% are displayed. In the gray radius, stronger buildings will withstand the explosion. In the orange radius, people will suffer third-degree burns and combustible materials will ignite, leading to possible firestorms.
The largest nuclear explosions
Soviet tests 158 and 168
On August 25 and September 19, 1962, less than a month apart, the USSR conducted nuclear tests over the Novaya Zemlya region of Russia, an archipelago in northern Russia near the Arctic Ocean.
No video or photo footage of the tests remains, but both tests involved the use of 10-megaton atomic bombs. These explosions would incinerate everything within 1.77 square miles at ground zero, causing third-degree burns to victims in an area of 1,090 square miles.
Ivy Mike
On November 1, 1952, the United States conducted a test of Ivy Mike over the Marshall Islands. Ivy Mike is the world's first hydrogen bomb and had a yield of 10.4 megatons, 700 times more powerful than the first atomic bomb.
Ivy Mike's explosion was so powerful that it vaporized the island of Elugelab where it was blasted, leaving a 164-foot deep crater in its place.
Castle Romeo
Romeo was the second in a series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1954. All of the explosions took place in Bikini Atoll. Romeo was the third most powerful test of the series and had a yield of around 11 megatons.
Romeo was the first to be tested on a barge in open waters rather than on a reef, as the US quickly ran out of islands on which to test nuclear weapons. The explosion will burn everything within 1.91 square miles.
Soviet Test 123
On October 23, 1961, the Soviet Union conducted nuclear test No. 123 over Novaya Zemlya. Test 123 was a 12.5 megaton nuclear bomb. A bomb this size would incinerate everything within 2.11 square miles, causing third-degree burns to people in an area of 1,309 square miles. This test also left no records.
Castle Yankee
Castle Yankee, the second most powerful of a series of tests, was carried out on May 4, 1954. The bomb had a yield of 13.5 megatons. Four days later, its decay fallout reached Mexico City, a distance of about 7,100 miles.
Castle Bravo
Castle Bravo was carried out on February 28, 1954, was the first of a series of Castle tests and the largest U.S. nuclear explosion of all time.
Bravo was originally envisioned as a 6-megaton explosion. Instead, the bomb produced a 15-megaton explosion. His mushroom reached 114,000 feet in the air.
The US military's miscalculation had consequences in terms of the exposure of about 665 Marshall Islanders and the death from radiation exposure of a Japanese fisherman who was 80 miles from the site of the explosion.
Soviet tests 173, 174 and 147
From August 5 to September 27, 1962, the USSR conducted a series of nuclear tests over Novaya Zemlya. Test 173, 174, 147 all stand out as the fifth, fourth, and third worst nuclear explosions in history.
All three explosions produced had a yield of 20 Megatons, or about 1,000 times stronger than Trinity's nuclear bomb. A bomb of this force will destroy everything in its path within three square miles.
Test 219, Soviet Union
On December 24, 1962, the USSR conducted Test No. 219, with a capacity of 24.2 megatons, over Novaya Zemlya. A bomb of this strength can burn everything within 3.58 square miles, causing third-degree burns in an area up to 2250 square miles.
Tsar bomb
On October 30, 1961, the USSR detonated the largest nuclear weapon ever tested and created the largest man-made explosion in history. The result of an explosion that is 3,000 times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The flash of light from the explosion was visible 620 miles away.
The Tsar bomb eventually had a yield of between 50 and 58 megatons, twice the size of the second largest nuclear explosion.
A bomb this size would create a 6.4 square mile fireball and be capable of inflicting third-degree burns within 4,080 square miles of the bomb's epicenter.
First atomic bomb
The first atomic explosion was the size of the Tsar Bomb, and the explosion is still considered to be of almost unimaginable size.
This 20-kiloton weapon produces a fireball with a radius of 260m, roughly 5 football fields, according to NukeMap. It is estimated that the bomb would emit lethal radiation 7 miles wide and produce third-degree burns over 12 miles away. If such a bomb were used in lower Manhattan, more than 150,000 people would be killed and the fallout would extend into central Connecticut, according to NukeMap's calculations.
The first atomic bomb was tiny by the standards of a nuclear weapon. But its destructiveness is still very large for perception.
A nuclear explosion is an uncontrolled process. During it, a large amount of radiant and thermal energy is released. This effect is the result of a nuclear chain reaction of fission or thermonuclear fusion, which takes place over a short time period.
Brief general information
A nuclear explosion in its origin can be a consequence of human activity on Earth or in near-Earth space. This phenomenon also in some cases arises as a result of natural processes on some types of stars. An artificial nuclear explosion is a powerful weapon. It is used to destroy large-scale ground and underground protected objects, accumulations of equipment and enemy troops. In addition, this weapon is used to completely destroy and suppress the opposing side as a tool that destroys small and large settlements with civilians living in them, as well as industrial strategic facilities.
Classification
As a rule, nuclear explosions are characterized by two features. These include the power of the charge and the location of the charge point directly at the disruptive moment. The projection of this point onto the earth's surface is called the epicenter of the explosion. Power is measured in TNT equivalent. This is the mass of trinitrotoluene, the detonation of which releases the same amount of energy as the estimated nuclear one. Most often, when measuring power, units such as one kiloton (1 kt) and one megaton (1 Mt) of TNT are used.
Phenomena
A nuclear explosion is accompanied by specific effects. They are characteristic only for this process and are not present in other explosions. The intensity of the phenomena that accompany a nuclear explosion depends on the location of the center. As an example, we can consider the case that was the most frequent before the ban on tests on the planet (under water, on earth, in the atmosphere) and, in fact, in space - an artificial chain reaction in the surface layer. After the detonation of the fusion or fission process in a very short time (about fractions of microseconds), a huge amount of thermal and radiant energy is released in a limited volume. The completion of the reaction, as a rule, is indicated by the expansion of the structure of the device and evaporation. These effects are due to the influence of elevated temperature (up to 107 K) and huge pressure (about 109 atm.) in the epicenter itself. From a great distance, visually, this phase is a very bright luminous point.
Electromagnetic radiation
Light pressure during the reaction begins to heat up and displace the surrounding air from the epicenter. The result is a fireball. Along with this, a pressure jump is formed between the compressed radiation and undisturbed air. This is due to the superiority of the speed of movement of the heating front over the sound speed in the environment. After the nuclear reaction enters the decay stage, the release of energy stops. The subsequent expansion is due to the difference in pressures and temperatures in the zone of the fireball and the immediate surrounding air. It should be noted that the phenomena under consideration have nothing to do with the scientific research of the hero of the modern series (by the way, his name is the same as the famous physicist Glashow - Sheldon) "The Big Bang Theory".
penetrating radiation
Nuclear reactions are a source of electromagnetic radiation of various types. In particular, it manifests itself in a wide spectrum ranging from radio waves to gamma rays, atomic nuclei, neutrons, and fast electrons. The emerging radiation, called penetrating radiation, in turn produces certain consequences. They are peculiar only to a nuclear explosion. High-energy gamma quanta and neutrons in the process of interaction with the atoms that make up the surrounding matter undergo a transformation of their stable form into unstable radioactive isotopes with different periods and half-lives. As a result, the so-called induced radiation is formed. Together with fragments of atomic nuclei of fissile material or with products from thermonuclear fusion that remain from an explosive device, the resulting radioactive components rise into the atmosphere. Then they disperse over a fairly large area and form an infection on the ground. The unstable isotopes that accompany a nuclear explosion are in such a spectrum that the spread of radiation can continue for thousands of years, despite the fact that the intensity of the radiation decreases over time.
electromagnetic pulse
Formed from a nuclear explosion, high-energy gamma quanta in the process of passing through the environment ionize the atoms that make up its composition, knocking out electrons from them and giving them quite a lot of energy to carry out cascade ionization of other atoms (up to thirty thousand ionizations per gamma quantum). As a result, a "spot" of ions is formed under the epicenter, having a positive charge and surrounded by an enormous amount of electron gas. This configuration of carriers, which is variable in time, forms a powerful electric field. It, together with the recombination of ionized atomic particles, disappears after the explosion. In the process, strong electric currents are generated. They serve as an additional source of radiation. The entire described complex of effects is called an electromagnetic pulse. Despite the fact that it takes less than 1/3 of a ten-billionth of the explosive energy, it occurs within a very short period. The power that is released in this case can reach 100 GW.
Ground type processes. Peculiarities
In the process of chemical detonation, the temperature of the soil adjacent to the charge and attracted to the movement is relatively low. A nuclear explosion has its own characteristics. In particular, the ground temperature can reach tens of millions of degrees. Most of the energy generated from heating during the first moments is released into the air and goes additionally to the formation of a shock wave and thermal radiation. In a conventional explosion, these phenomena are not observed. In this regard, there are sharp differences in the impact on the soil massif and the surface. In a ground explosion of a chemical compound, up to half of the energy is transferred to the ground, and in a nuclear explosion, just a few percent. This causes the difference in the size of the funnel and the energy of seismic vibrations.
Nuclear winter
This concept characterizes the hypothetical state of the climate on the planet in the event of a large-scale war with the use of nuclear weapons. Presumably, due to the removal of a huge amount of soot and smoke into the stratosphere, the results of numerous fires, provoked by several warheads, the temperature on Earth will drop everywhere to Arctic levels. This will also be due to a significant increase in the number of solar rays reflected from the surface. The probability of global cooling was predicted a long time ago (during the existence of the Soviet Union). Later, the hypothesis was confirmed by model calculations.
On October 30, 1961, the most powerful bomb in the world was tested - the thermonuclear Tsar Bomba, later called Kuzkina's Mother, was dropped on the Dry Nose test site. Today we remember this and other explosions of enormous destructive power.
Mankind spends a lot of money and gigantic efforts to create weapons that are most effective in destroying their own kind. And, as science and history show, it succeeds in this. About what will happen to our planet if a nuclear war suddenly breaks out on Earth, many films have been made and more than a dozen books have been written. But the dryest description of the conducted tests of weapons of mass destruction, reports formulated in a stingy clerical military language, remains the most terrible.
A projectile of incredible power was developed under the guidance of Kurchatov himself. As a result of seven years of work, the most powerful explosive device in the history of mankind was created. According to various sources, the bomb had from 57 to 58.6 megatons of TNT equivalent. For comparison, the explosion of the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki was equivalent to 21 kilotons of TNT. How many troubles she has done, many know.
"Tsar Bomba" served as a demonstration of the power of the USSR to the Western community
The explosion resulted in a fireball with a radius of about 4.6 kilometers. The light radiation was so powerful that it could cause third-degree burns at a distance of about 100 kilometers from the explosion site. The seismic wave resulting from the tests circled the globe three times. The nuclear mushroom rose to a height of 67 kilometers, and the diameter of its "cap" was 95 kilometers.
This is not the sun. This is a flash from the explosion of the "Tsar Bomba"
Tests of the "Mother of all bombs"
Until 2007, the American high-explosive aerial bomb, affectionately known as Mother Of All Bombs by the US military, was considered the largest non-nuclear bomb in the world. The projectile is over 9 meters long and weighs 9.5 tons. Moreover, most of this weight falls precisely on the explosive. The force of the explosion is 11 tons of TNT. That is, two "Moms" are enough to smash the average metropolis into dust. However, the fact that so far bombs of this type have not been used in the course of hostilities is encouraging. But one of the "Moms" was sent to Iraq just in case. Apparently, counting on the fact that peacekeepers cannot do without weighty arguments.
"Mother of all bombs" was the most powerful non-nuclear weapon until "Dad of all bombs" appeared
According to the official description of the ammunition, "the power of the MOAB explosion is enough to destroy tanks and people on the surface within a few hundred meters and demoralize the troops in the vicinity who survived the explosion."
Explosion at the tests of the "Dad of all bombs"
This is our answer to the Americans - the development of an increased power aviation vacuum bomb, unofficially called the "Dad of all bombs." The ammunition was created in 2007 and now it is this bomb that is considered the most powerful non-nuclear projectile in the world.
Bomb test reports say that the area of destruction of the "Papa" is so large that it allows to reduce the cost of production of ammunition by reducing the requirements for accuracy. Indeed, why a targeted hit if it blows everything around within a radius of 200 meters. And even at a distance of more than two kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion, a person will be knocked down by a shock wave. After all, the power of the "Papa" is four times greater than the "Mom" - the power of the explosion of a vacuum bomb is 44 tons of TNT. As a separate achievement, the testers argue that the projectile is environmentally friendly. “The test results of the created aviation munition showed that it is commensurate in its effectiveness and capabilities with a nuclear munition, at the same time, I want to emphasize this in particular, the action of this munition absolutely does not pollute the environment compared to a nuclear munition,” the report says. and about. Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Alexander Rukshin.
"Daddy of all bombs" is about four times more powerful than "Mom"
"Kid" and "Fat Man": Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The names of these two Japanese cities have long been synonymous with a massive disaster. The US military actually tested atomic bombs on humans, dropping shells on Hiroshima on August 6, and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Most of the victims of the explosions were not military at all, but civilians. Children, women, old people - their bodies instantly turned into coal. There were only silhouettes on the walls - this is how light radiation acted. Birds flying nearby burned up in the air.
"Mushrooms" of nuclear explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Until now, the number of victims has not been accurately determined: many died not immediately, but later, as a result of developed radiation sickness. "Kid" with an approximate capacity of 13 to 18 kilotons of TNT, dropped on Hiroshima, killed from 90 to 166 thousand people. In Nagasaki, "Fat Man" with a capacity of 21 kilotons of TNT cut off the lives of 60 to 90 thousand people.
"Fat Man" and "Baby" exhibited in the museum - as a reminder of the destructive power of nuclear weapons
This was the first and so far the only case when the force of a nuclear weapon was used in the course of hostilities.
The fall of the Tunguska meteorite: the most powerful miraculous explosion
The Podkamennaya Tunguska River was of no interest to anyone until June 17, 1908. On this day, at about seven o'clock in the morning, a huge fireball swept over the territory of the Yenisei basin and exploded over the taiga near Tunguska. Now everyone knows about this river, and versions of what exploded over the taiga have since been published for every taste: from the invasion of aliens to the manifestation of the power of angry gods. However, the main and generally accepted cause of the explosion is still the fall of a meteorite.
The explosion was so powerful that trees were knocked down over an area of more than two thousand square kilometers. Windows were shattered in houses located hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. A few days after the explosion in the territory from the Atlantic to central Siberia, people saw the sky and clouds glow.
Scientists have calculated the approximate power of the explosion - from 40 to 50 megatons of TNT. That is, comparable to the power of the Tsar Bomba, the most destructive man-made bomb. It remains only to be glad that the Tunguska meteorite fell in the remote taiga, far from villages and villages.
On October 30, 1961, the USSR exploded the most powerful bomb in world history: a 58-megaton hydrogen bomb ("Tsar Bomba") was detonated at a test site on the island of Novaya Zemlya. Nikita Khrushchev joked that the 100-megaton bomb was originally supposed to be detonated, but the charge was reduced so as not to break all the windows in Moscow.
Explosion AN602 according to the classification was a low air explosion of extra high power. His results were impressive:
- The fireball of the explosion reached a radius of approximately 4.6 kilometers. Theoretically, it could grow to the surface of the earth, but this was prevented by a reflected shock wave that crushed and threw the ball off the ground.
- The light radiation could potentially cause third-degree burns at distances up to 100 kilometers.
- Atmospheric ionization caused radio interference even hundreds of kilometers from the test site for about 40 minutes
- The tangible seismic wave resulting from the explosion circled the globe three times.
- Witnesses felt the impact and were able to describe the explosion at a distance of a thousand kilometers from its center.
- Nuclear mushroom explosion rose to a height of 67 kilometers; the diameter of its two-tier "hat" reached (near the upper tier) 95 kilometers.
- The sound wave generated by the explosion reached Dixon Island at a distance of about 800 kilometers. However, sources do not report any destruction or damage to structures, even in those located much closer (280 km) to the landfill, the urban-type settlement of Amderma and the settlement of Belushya Guba.
- The radioactive contamination of the experimental field with a radius of 2-3 km in the area of the epicenter was no more than 1 mR/hour, the testers appeared at the site of the epicenter 2 hours after the explosion. Radioactive contamination posed little to no danger to test participants
All nuclear explosions produced by the countries of the world in one video:
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 greater 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, imprinted 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.
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 about 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. Distance: 0m. Up to 80% or more of the energy of the reactant is transformed and released in the form of soft X-ray and hard UV radiation with great energy. The X-rays form a heat wave that heats up the bomb, escapes and begins to heat the surrounding air.
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 air in front of them and form a shock wave inside the sphere - an internal shock that differs from a conventional shock wave in non-adiabatic, almost isothermal properties and at the same pressures several times higher density: compressing with a 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. With the growth of the sphere and the drop in temperature, the energy and density of the photon flux decrease, and their range (about a meter) is no longer enough for the near-light speeds of the expansion of the fire front. 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 - a 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 surge and bomb vapors 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 speed 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. At 15 m from the epicenter or 5-6 m from the base of the tower with the charge, there was a reinforced concrete bunker with walls 2 m thick. For placing scientific equipment on top, covered with a large mound of earth 8 m thick, it was destroyed.
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 jump 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 an imitation of metro tunnels with various types of 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. The maximum height of an air burst is 1 Mt for the formation of a noticeable funnel 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: 0.01s. Distance: 214m Temperature: 200k°C. A similar air shock wave of the first Soviet atomic bomb at a distance of 60 m (52 m from the epicenter) destroyed the tips of the trunks leading to the simulated metro tunnels under the epicenter (see above). Each head was a powerful reinforced concrete casemate, covered with a small earth embankment. Fragments of the heads fell into the trunks, the latter were then crushed by a seismic 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 the fireball goes up.
Time: 0.079c. Distance: 435m Temperature: 110 thousand ° C. Complete destruction of highways with asphalt and concrete pavement. Temperature minimum of shock wave radiation, the end of the 1st glow phase. A subway-type shelter lined with cast-iron tubing and monolithic reinforced concrete and buried by 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 of railroad 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 ~ 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 fungus.
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 - design pressure of the shock wave for designing 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 heavy physical and psychological stress accompanying the disaster, the 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 structures. Almost all urban development has been destroyed with the formation of local blockages (one house - one blockage). Complete destruction of 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 brick houses, panel houses, severe destruction of warehouses, moderate 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 of 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 up 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 a stream of warm air, which is drawn like a fan by a cloud into the cold upper layers 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 - death is possible in beach clothes. Destruction of reinforced glazing. Uprooting large trees. The zone of individual 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 it "leans" 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 trace.
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)
In the section on the question How many nuclear explosions have been carried out on earth since the invention of nuclear weapons? given by the author Friend #1 the best answer is According to official figures, between July 16, 1945 and September 23, 1992, the United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests and 2 nuclear attacks. The exact number of explosions is more difficult to determine, because in some tests the attempt to produce an explosion was not successful, and in some tests several devices were tested at once.
(link listing U.S. atmospheric test series)
In the USSR, 130 nuclear tests were conducted at the test site on Novaya Zemlya, of which 91 were in the atmosphere and under water, and 39 were underground. At the Semipalatinsk test site from 1958 to 1962, about eighty atomic and thermonuclear devices were detonated on the ground and in the air .
From 1945 to 1998, more than 2,000 tests were conducted worldwide, according to the website link.
Answer from New[guru]
Awful, I don't know. But I know that as of the 90th year, nuclear stocks were enough to destroy all life on earth 17 times 🙁
Answer from Vladimir Kuznetsov[guru]
A lot, and it doesn't matter. But the fact that the Earth will be destroyed precisely by nuclear explosions can be assumed. And here is the confirmation of this from the Bible:
10The day of the Lord will come, like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, the elements, having flared up, will be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will burn.
The word "elements" is translated into German and English as "elements".
