How to make a bomb in Minecraft?

Minecraft has a huge world where you can do whatever you want for your entertainment. You can build cities, start a garden, hunt cubic animals and monsters. It's also always fun to create something that can destroy and then apply it to the game world. Perhaps the most popular thing among Minecraft gamers is dynamite and different kinds bombs, including the nuclear bomb. But not every novice gamer knows how to make a bomb in Minecraft.

Consider several recipes for dynamite and bombs in more detail below.

How to make dynamite

To make dynamite, you need:

1. First, create a simple TNT from sand and gunpowder. We place gunpowder in the crafting window in the form of a cross in the corners and in the center. The rest of the cells are filled with sand.
2. Then we make an improved industrial version of TNT. We place three ordinary TNT horizontally on the middle line of the crafting window. Add silicon to the rest of the cells. It will turn out four blocks of industrial TNT, which will be more powerful than usual. However, such a TNT destroys partially dropped blocks, just like a simple TNT. Therefore, it is necessary to make dynamite.
3. Dynamite is made from industrial TNT and filament. It is located randomly in the crafting window. Dynamite is great for collecting resources after the explosion, as it does not destroy the dropped blocks.

You can also make sticky dynamite. To do this, insert eight blocks of dynamite into the crafting window and rubber in the center. Such dynamite will be attached to the walls when thrown. However, in order to do big Bang, you will need a lot of dynamite and space where you put it. With a nuclear bomb, there will be no such problem.

How to make a nuclear bomb in Minecraft

The huge advantage of a nuclear bomb in Minecraft is the concentration of a huge explosive force in one block, which is convenient when blowing up large areas and fighting a boss. It is created like this:

1. Get the necessary materials: four low-enriched fuel rods, two improved electrical circuits, two uranium blocks and an improved mechanism case.
2. In the crafting window, arrange the resources as follows: four low-enriched TVELs in the corners, two microcircuits in the center in the upper and lower rows, in the center of the crafting window, the mechanism body, and in the remaining cells - uranium blocks.

After that, the bomb can be placed anywhere and activated.

Is it difficult for a country incompetent in matters of nuclear weapons to create a nuclear bomb? This question is still one of the most pressing issues of our day. 40 years ago, as part of a secret Pentagon project, the US military tried to find out. Oliver Berkiman spoke to those who have been involved in this project for 30 months.

David Dobson's past is no secret. He is 65 years old, modest, and because he has found his true calling - teaching physics at Beloit College, Wisconsin, he does not feel obliged to shroud his past in a dark veil of secrecy. However, the students who studied with him until his retirement did not even suspect that when, in his early 20s, he, an amateur, armed only with a notebook and a library card, was developing a nuclear bomb.

Today, his experience in 1964 - that's when he was included in the covert operation of the Pentagon, known as "Project N country" - is still relevant. The question to be answered during the operation is simple: can a pair of non-professionals, with brains but no access to classified research, "hack" nuclear secrets? After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the weapons debate was accompanied by panic. Only four countries had nuclear bombs: Great Britain, America, France and the USSR. The US military desperately hoped that if the nuclear bomb scheme was kept secret, then the spread of nuclear weapons - to a fifth country, to a sixth country, to country N (hence the name of the project), could be prevented.

Today, the fears of that time are back: Al-Qaeda is resurgent, out of control North Korea, there are rumors that other countries have nuclear weapons: We cling to the assumption that the secret to creating a nuclear bomb is far from being tough for any mortal. However, 40 years ago, it took the most ordinary "mere mortals" a little more than two years to construct a real nuclear bomb.

The first member of the N Country Project was David Dobson. The second was Bob Selden (at first there was also a third participant, David Pipcorn, but he very quickly refused). Both Selden and Dobson had degrees in physics - these are the people who would probably start developing nuclear weapons in country N. However, they did not have any experience in the nuclear field, not to mention access to secret research.

"It all started very strangely," recalls Selden, who was then 28 years old. He served in the army and thought about how to realize his talent. And suddenly he received an invitation to a meeting from Edward Teller himself, the father of the hydrogen bomb and main figure in the US nuclear program. “We spent the whole evening together. He asked me in detail about the physical aspects of the production of a nuclear bomb, and then I didn’t know anything. During the conversation, it seemed that I didn’t know anything at all. I left very upset. However, after two I got a phone call the other day and was told that I had to leave for Livermore."

The Livermore Radiology Laboratory is a legendary military facility in California. David Dobson was also brought there - the director of the institute himself offered him a job. The job would be "interesting," he promised, but he couldn't say more because Dobson didn't have security clearance. And he could get such a permit only by agreeing to work. When he agreed, he was told about his prospects. "Oh my God, I thought then! It looks like it won't be easy," Dobson recalls.

They worked at the intersection of the world of military secrets and what was available to everyone and everyone. In Livermore they had their own office, but they had no right of passage to other rooms and labyrinths of corridors. They were forbidden to get acquainted with the results of secret research, but what was created in their office - diagrams on a notebook sheet, notes on the back of an envelope - automatically received a secrecy stamp. Even though the bomb they created on paper was never destined to be built and detonated, they were required to follow the ritual of checking every step of their work. They had to explain in detail in writing which part they wanted to test, and through special employees of the laboratory to transmit their reports and diagrams to some higher authorities. After some time, they received the test results - although they could not determine with accuracy whether these were the results of real tests, or hypothetical calculations.

The goal of the project participants is to create an explosive device that is useful from a military point of view, emphasized in the rules of the project, which recently managed to get acquainted with nuclear historian Dan Stober. The results of his research are published in The Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences. "The working conditions may be that participants may be asked to build a nuclear bomb, which, if produced in small quantities, should help a small country influence international relationships", it was said there.

Dobson's knowledge of nuclear weapons was elementary. "I thought that in order to create a nuclear bomb, it was enough to somehow quickly connect fissile material," he smiles.

Dobson and Selden's office was located in a former army barracks on the outer edge of the laboratory. Bob Selden found a book about the Manhattan Project, which was the culmination of American nuclear development. "This book became a blueprint for us," says Dobson. "However, we knew it was missing important information because it was secret. And that's just one of the things that made us paranoid."

From the very beginning, the project participants had to make a choice what type of bomb to develop: whether it was the one dropped on Hiroshima - it used a sawed-off howitzer to connect the fissile material; or a more sophisticated device like the one dropped on Nagasaki. Upon further reflection, it was discovered that the first type of bomb requires a large amount of materials and produces an insufficiently strong explosion, while the second type requires less material, and the explosion is stronger.

Dobson and Selden assumed that their country N had already acquired the required amount of plutonium - a bold assumption, given that in reality this is the most hard part efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Ironically, the two amateurs were greatly helped by the publications that came out as part of Eisenhower's "Peaceful Atom" program, which discussed the benefits and benefits of civilian nuclear power.

By the end of 1966, two and a half years after the start, the project was completed. “We put together a document that described in precise engineering terms how we propose to build a nuclear bomb and what materials would be required,” says Selden.

For two weeks they were kept in the dark about whether they succeeded in building the bomb or not. For two weeks they were dragged across the country to lecture, introduced in Washington's top echelons, cross-examined by the security services and academia.

Finally, at the "prom" at the lab, where Edward Teller was also in attendance, Dobson and Selder were approached by Senior Researcher Jim Frank. "I bet you guys want to know how it all ended," he said. "Yes," the guys replied. Frank informed them that if the bomb were built according to their plans, it could produce a fairly large explosion, similar to the one in Hiroshima.

“On the one hand, it was terrible to find out that in fact everything turned out to be so simple,” notes Dobson. “On the other hand, it is much better to know the truth.” And today's truth, in his opinion, is that terrorists - with luck and, crucially, the availability of the right materials - can easily produce a nuclear bomb.

"There were two schools in the past. Representatives of one school argued that ideas should be kept secret, representatives of the second insisted on the need to close access to materials. And now? I hope access to materials can be kept locked, but everyone has doubts about this "Getting the right amount of enriched uranium may be difficult, but building a bomb, as the Pentagon project showed, is elementary. Plus, a lot has already been published. And if you're an outstanding student and have looked through all the necessary literature, the scattered pieces of the mosaic fall into place."

It turned out to be so simple that both Selden and Dobson were amazed at their own abilities. Selden remained in the army, and ended up at another major research base - in Los Alamos. He is still a member of the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and is involved in planning for the defense of the US against nuclear strike terrorists. We talked about Dobson above. As Einstein said, if he only knew that his theories would lead to the creation atomic bomb he would become a locksmith. David Dobson, who created such a bomb, became a teacher.

The exact number of nuclear weapons and munitions that are in the world's arsenals today is not exactly known. Well-known, perhaps, only one figure. The total capacity of nuclear weapons now stands at 5,000 megatons - about 1 ton for every inhabitant of the Earth. "Nuclear suitcases" would not attract so great attention, were it not for the threat that they would fall into the hands of terrorists. And the likelihood of such a development of the event cannot be discounted. So, what is the mechanism for the underground production of this terrible weapon of the twentieth century? What are the options for purchasing it? And who today can boast of possessing nuclear weapons?

How to make a bomb?

Although nuclear weapon- nothing more than a mechanism for "intimidating" the enemy, which hardly anyone dares to use, today's rules of the game in the international arena are as follows: if you want to have influence in the "major league" - and at the same time make it clear to "some" countries that it is better not to mess with you - you will need nuclear weapons. There are three main ways to get it.

The "Just do it!" method. The most common opinion of specialists is that it is easier to make a nuclear bomb than many people think. Making a bomb is even easier than stealing a finished bomb. To make a nuclear explosive device, you need a material that gives explosive splitting of atoms, plus experts, equipment and means of delivery. So, the material - a nuclear device can also be built from materials not directly intended for this (so as not to disturb the "atomic experts" who are always ready to go out with a check) - highly enriched uranium in metallic form will do. Delivery of the device to the target, by many accounts, seems to be the easiest task. Experts ridicule the mythologized "suitcase with a bomb", but seriously talk about the "bomb in a large shipping container" (the so-called "conex bomb", after the standard steel shipping containers in which most cargo is imported into the United States). In practice, less than 2% of containers are opened for inspection and most containers do not pass through X-ray detectors. So the chances of importing a "suitcase" are very high. Former US nuclear chief Eugene Habiger says "the US is not yet capable of defending itself against this." According to him, it is quite possible to deliver a nuclear device to Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and kill tens of thousands of people. Apparently, therefore, Habiger himself lives in San Antonio, far from the river transport routes.

In order to become an "expert" in the difficult task of making a bomb, you will have to look into the library and pretty much climb the World Wide Web. The basic methods for making an atomic bomb have been known for 50 years, and the recipes are described in detail in numerous works on physics. The simplest way- take a small part of enriched uranium, the size of a small melon and shoot inside the barrel of a big gun at another uranium "melon". Theodore Taylor, a nuclear physicist and creator of both the largest and smallest American nuclear warhead and now a staunch opponent of any nuclear devices, notes that the attentive reader can get enough information about a nuclear bomb in a public encyclopedia - even sizes and workings are indicated there. characteristics.

However, the business of building a bomb is a risky gamble. David Albright, who served as UN weapons inspector in Iraq, notes that Saddam Hussein's failed attempt at a nuclear weapons program in 1990 shows how one mistake can lead to failure. Iraq received highly enriched uranium in a research reactor, almost enough to build a nuclear bomb. However, the caster, for fear of spilling or contaminating the uranium, decided to mix the materials in small quantities. As a result, most of the uranium was still lost and the material obtained was not enough to create a nuclear bomb. Albright notes: "It is theoretically possible to make a bomb, but good organizers are needed to carry out the whole process, and in this case mistakes are possible."

The way to "borrow a semi-finished product." There is, however, another way to manufacture our own nuclear weapons: they can be produced from weapons-grade uranium or plutonium purchased in another country. In this case, the amount of fissile materials required for each charge will be very small. In 2002, the UN suggested that the following amounts of fissile components of nuclear weapons be adopted as the initial standard: uranium-233 - one kilogram, uranium-235 - three kilograms, and plutonium - one kilogram. This amount can be carried in an ordinary suitcase.

So, the task of manufacturing a nuclear weapon is greatly simplified. The time for its manufacture is also reduced. Pentagon experts call the terms: if there is uranium or plutonium with an enrichment degree of less than 20%, the required period is about a year. If highly enriched plutonium or uranium is used in metallic form, then the manufacturing time of a nuclear weapon will be only 7-10 days. In addition, it is possible to do without the laborious creation of a highly complex complex that would mine uranium and bring it to the appropriate degree of purification. It is enough just to get weapons materials in another country - buy or steal.

Hot Deal method. Finally, the third way is to obtain the nuclear weapons themselves in combat readiness. In this case, the bet can be made on the purchase or theft of only small-sized tactical ammunition - artillery shells, engineering land mines or sabotage backpack mines. And this is even easier to do. Every year, the IAEA registers more than 200 attempts to acquire nuclear weapons on the "black market". One of the potential "sellers" is considered to be Russia, since there are about 15,000 of the 25,000 nuclear warheads existing on Earth. These warheads start at 500 kilotons, enough to devastate most of Manhattan. Every year the Russian press writes disturbing stories. For example, a 19-year-old sailor massacred a Akula-class nuclear submarine, killing eight people and threatening to blow up the boat and its nuclear reactor. Another story: five soldiers at a Russian nuclear facility killed a security guard and took a hostage while trying to take over the plane. Indirectly, this information was confirmed by the statements of Alexander Lebed and about a dozen and a half examples when various special services discovered nuclear materials stolen from Russian facilities.

Like "old men" - the owners are trying to curb the ardor of the young

Today there is an allegedly irrefutable thesis: nuclear weapons are a means of "deterring" the enemy, and not as a means of waging war. I deter you from using nuclear weapons by threatening to retaliate, and you restrain me accordingly. You only hope that the enemy will not attack, because he knows that in return you will destroy him. However, in reality, the "system of mutual intimidation" does not work.

First, there may be states that possess nuclear weapons, and there may not be mutual nuclear deterrence relations between them, because they are beyond the reach of their nuclear weapons from each other. For example, Great Britain and China, or Great Britain and India are nuclear powers, but they simply cannot strike, fight or "intimidate" each other.

The next exception is when there is a huge nuclear superiority of one state over another, as a result of which the "deterrence" is one-sided. The state that has the upper hand can do whatever it wants with the other state, even if it has a certain amount of nuclear weapons. And in reverse side it doesn't work. Example: China and the United States of America. Only recently, China has manufactured several missiles that are capable of reaching the territory of the United States of America. And the United States of America for 60 years could destroy China with both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, and they keep and will keep this possibility for the entire foreseeable period. China, of course, will most likely build up its nuclear weapons, and gradually deterrence will become more equitable, more mutual. But for the time being, it is impossible to say that there is a relationship of nuclear deterrence between the US and China.

Another exception is India and Russian Federation. Indian missiles reach the territory of Russia, and accordingly, even more so Russian - to India. But Russia does not aim its funds at India, because they know that Indian nuclear missiles are directed against China and against Pakistan. And so Russia is not worried about this. The same can be said about France and Israel. They are not allies, they "get" each other, but quite clearly their missiles are intended for other purposes. The same can be said about China and Pakistan. China helped Pakistan develop nuclear weapons. China is not an ally of Pakistan. But China is confident that Pakistan is aiming its funds at India, not at China. Thus, the system of nuclear "checks and balances" does not work.

Where did the "newbies" get their nuclear weapons from?

It is known that today eight countries have nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, France, India, Pakistan and Israel.

The explosion at the top of Alamogordo in New Mexico on July 16, 1945 heralded the beginning of the era of nuclear weapons. Four years later, in August 1949, Soviet Union tested his bomb. In October 1952, the British tested their nuclear device on the island of Monte Bello, in 1960 the French detonated their bomb in the Sahara desert, and in 1964, the Chinese at the test site near Lop Nor Lake. Here they legally own nuclear weapons, they are, as it were, "thieves in law", they have nuclear weapons, which were handed over to them by international law and sanctioned by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty says so directly that nuclear powers (that is, legitimate ones) are those that "created nuclear weapons before 1967", and this is exactly the top five. But all the rest are already illegal owners. It's so simple: who did not have time - he was late. And that's all. "Legal production" became "illegal distribution". But then there were misunderstandings, incomprehensible things.

Israel is a "bomb in the basement by someone else's hands." The first country to unofficially put these weapons into service with its combat assets was Israel. Israel created its own nuclear weapons without conducting a single test at all, which is why Israel's model of joining the nuclear club is called a "bomb in the basement", conditionally. Israel's nuclear program was launched in 1956 in cooperation with France and with the tacit approval of the United States. France assisted Israel in the construction of a secret nuclear reactor in Dimon. Although Israel has not officially conducted the test, there is a suspicion that he, along with Republic of South Africa there, in southern Africa or the South Atlantic, did a test to see if his device worked or not. But formally, there was not a single nuclear explosion that could be directly attributed to Israel, for which it would take responsibility. He holds his weapon, content with the fact that the Arabs know that he has it, that is, this weapon performs a deterrent function, but on the other hand, no one can find fault with him and accuse him, and cannot point a finger at him.

Africans - "denied, but gave." South Africa is a good example of how nuclear weapons were secretly created. They hid, they denied, they seemed to be a member of the nuclear club, and seemingly not members of the nuclear club. And everything was revealed only when the black majority came to power. Then the white ex-leadership of South Africa, fearing that nuclear weapons would pass to the black majority, admitted that they had them, and destroyed them under international control. But by 1989, South Africa was the owner of six ammunition with a capacity of 10-18 thousand tons of TNT equivalent. The seventh warhead was under construction in 1991, when the South African government decided to abandon nuclear weapons. South Africa became the first country in the world to unilaterally destroy its nuclear potential.

India - and again "pancha-sila". India carried out a nuclear explosion in 1974, but said: this is not a weapon, this is a peaceful nuclear explosion. And thus, India cannot be blamed for taking the path of nuclear proliferation. And how to distinguish peaceful from non-peaceful, especially since no one was there and did not control? It was not until 1998 that India joined the "nuclear club" when it officially declared that it had nuclear weapons. At present, India has 9 industrial and 8 research reactors, and not a single nuclear facility in India "for some reason" passed the inspection of the IAEA.

"Oriental bazaar - sometimes truth, sometimes deceit." There are other, more recent examples of states adopting nuclear programs "under the roof" of legal developments. This refers to the so-called "dual-use materials", when it is impossible to check whether they are used for military or peaceful purposes. In fact, many states seeking to acquire nuclear weapons are completely unwilling to develop any peaceful nuclear power industry. They don't need her. For example, why would Iraq or Iran need peaceful energy? They have a huge amount of their own oil - in order to provide their energy needs, and still bring them a huge income from the trade in this oil. That is, they need nuclear power only to create nuclear weapons. They can enter into the Non-Proliferation Treaty, use assistance in the development of peaceful nuclear energy, and then themselves, having acquired materials, equipment and intellectual experience, create nuclear weapons on this basis.

What should we "finish" ourselves? Nuclear technology is now a market where the buyer dictates the rules, but later "not always right." A state that has money to pay for nuclear materials and nuclear technology can choose from suppliers - everyone tends to rush to it in order to offer it their services, and under these conditions to put pressure on it within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty "look, nothing like that do not do what is forbidden, otherwise we will not give anything." But then the buyer starts downloading the rights. The experience with North Korea in this sense, by the way, is very indicative. The Soviet Union, and then Russia, were building a light water reactor there, which is relatively safer in terms of using material technology for military purposes, and the United States pressed hard on the Soviet Union to stop this cooperation. And when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the new leadership coming to power in Russia, everyone suddenly forgot about North Korea, North Korea faced the prospect that no one would finish building this reactor. And then suddenly the United States came. And to the same leader, and to the same regime, they said: "We will build you the exact same station instead of the Soviet Union, but you, of course, should not create nuclear weapons." They said: "Okay, let's build." True, then the United States stopped this cooperation, and in response to this, North Korea was offended and said: "If so, we will produce nuclear weapons - we have plutonium." There was a reactor, rods, it was possible to recycle spent fuel. And now North Korea is probably going down this path.

Islamic Dirty Bomb. The Pakistani nuclear program, according to most experts, was built precisely on the use of "black market" technologies. The fact is that the radioactive filling of a "dirty bomb" can be used nuclear fuel or isotopes released during the purification of nuclear fuel. There are many such materials, and they are much less secure than highly enriched materials suitable for a real bomb. A dirty bomb could be cobalt-60, which is often found in hospitals for use in radiation therapy and in food preparation to kill bacteria in fruits and vegetables. The "dirty bomb" could also contain caesium-137, which is commonly used in medical instruments and radiation therapy machines. Also, the filling can be the americium isotope, which has properties similar to plutonium and is used in smoke detectors and oil exploration. Finally, plutonium is found in many US research labs.

"How Gaddafi Bargained". Libya began working in this area in the 1970s, when it first tried to acquire nuclear weapons from China. However, for unknown reasons, the deal fell through. In 1977, Libya offered Pakistan financial assistance and a supply of uranium from neighboring Niger (which is heavily influenced by Libya) in exchange for nuclear and missile technology. Pakistan accepted Libyan aid, but did not fulfill its obligations in full. As a result, Libya began the independent development of nuclear weapons. At the end of 2002, Libya announced its intention to cooperate with the international community and allowed international inspectors to visit secret nuclear facilities. Then it turned out that Libya has the equipment and technologies necessary for the enrichment of uranium and the production of plutonium. In January 2004, 25 tons of documents relating to secret Libyan programs in the field of weapons of mass destruction of ballistic missiles were delivered from Libya to the United States. According to preliminary information, it was the "Libyan dossier" that convincingly proved that Pakistan was transferring its nuclear secrets to third countries.

"Intimidation" weapon threats

The real threats of using nuclear weapons today hypothetically can be realized according to two scenarios. The least likely, but most devastating, is a real nuclear explosion, which will cause massive destruction and spread toxic smoke and radiation. This requires a nuclear warhead purchased on the black market from the already existing arsenal of some country. The explosive can also be homemade: it can cause significant casualties, but its power will be less than that of a factory nuclear charge.

The second category is a radiological attack, which would consist of distributing radioactive materials in a public place using a "dirty bomb" or releasing such materials into the air or water. In addition, there may be sabotage at nuclear power plants. Compared to carrying out a real fission nuclear explosion, such diversions may look quite simple, but they can lead to panic evacuations, an increase in cancers, costly clean-up efforts, and possibly the preventive destruction of entire residential areas. Al-Qaeda has claimed to have a "dirty bomb": this has not been confirmed, but it is possible.

Source: Military Industrial Courier, Nonproliferation Research Institute, National Institute Strategic Studies, Center for Arms Control, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies, Internationale Politik, Washington ProFile, Finacial Times, Economist.

Hi all! Today I will tell you how to make a nuclear bomb in Minectaft without special mods, cheats and other miscellaneous tricks.

First, of course, we turn on the game, then I advise you to try to start in creative mode, because it's best to experiment where there are endless materials. So, you entered the game, from the inventory we take the material we need. The materials we need include: any block (smooth sandstone, stone, clay, sand, etc.), an ordinary rail (you can use an energy rail), a minecart with dynamite and a red torch - all the necessary materials. Then we choose a territory convenient for us (a nuclear bomb will not take up much space). After that, we put one rail, and on both sides the block that you have chosen. Only these two blocks should stand opposite each other. After, above the (energy) rail we place another block so that the two blocks that are on the sides should hold it. And we get some kind of mini-turret of three blocks, and under this tower there is a rail. So, why did we take the dynamite cart? And we took it in order to put this trolley on the rail. We put as many carts with dynamite under the blocks as possible (the more, the more our nuclear bomb will thunder and the less will remain around). After all these actions, you should have got: a lot of minecarts with dynamites, surrounded by blocks on both sides and one block above the minecarts. Then, on any side with which we have blocks (except the top block), we will put our red torch at a distance of one block. Well, we are almost at the end, then we break all the blocks and we should be left with dynamite carts and a red torch. And we approach the trolleys and push them towards the red torch, while we ourselves move as far as possible to observe this spectacle.

I hope you did everything as I explained to you. If you did everything as I explained to you, then you should have left a big hole. Just imagine how long it would take you to dig this hole, and then you built a nuclear bomb and you're done! Good luck!

Video how to make a nuclear bomb in Minecraft without mods

North Korea threatens US with super-powerful hydrogen bomb tests pacific ocean. Japan, which could suffer from the tests, called North Korea's plans absolutely unacceptable. Presidents Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un swear in interviews and talk about open military conflict. For those who do not understand nuclear weapons, but want to be in the subject, "Futurist" has compiled a guide.

How do nuclear weapons work?

Like a regular stick of dynamite, a nuclear bomb uses energy. Only it is released not in the course of a primitive chemical reaction, but in complex nuclear processes. There are two main ways to extract nuclear energy from an atom. IN nuclear fission the nucleus of an atom splits into two smaller fragments with a neutron. Nuclear fusion - the process by which the Sun generates energy - involves combining two smaller atoms to form a larger one. In any process, fission or fusion, large amounts of thermal energy and radiation are released. Depending on whether nuclear fission or fusion is used, bombs are divided into nuclear (atomic) And thermonuclear .

Can you elaborate on nuclear fission?

Atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima (1945)

As you remember, an atom is made up of three types of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. The center of the atom is called core , is made up of protons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged, and neutrons have no charge at all. The proton-electron ratio is always one to one, so the atom as a whole has a neutral charge. For example, a carbon atom has six protons and six electrons. Particles are held together by a fundamental force - strong nuclear force .

The properties of an atom can vary greatly depending on how many different particles it contains. If you change the number of protons, you will have a different chemical element. If you change the number of neutrons, you get isotope the same element that you have in your hands. For example, carbon has three isotopes: 1) carbon-12 (six protons + six neutrons), a stable and frequently occurring form of the element, 2) carbon-13 (six protons + seven neutrons), which is stable but rare, and 3) carbon -14 (six protons + eight neutrons), which is rare and unstable (or radioactive).

Most atomic nuclei are stable, but some are unstable (radioactive). These nuclei spontaneously emit particles that scientists call radiation. This process is called radioactive decay . There are three types of decay:

Alpha decay : The nucleus ejects an alpha particle - two protons and two neutrons bound together. beta decay : the neutron turns into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino. The ejected electron is a beta particle. Spontaneous division: the nucleus breaks up into several parts and emits neutrons, and also emits momentum electromagnetic energy- gamma ray. It is the latter type of decay that is used in the nuclear bomb. Free neutrons emitted by fission begin chain reaction which releases an enormous amount of energy.

What are nuclear bombs made of?

They can be made from uranium-235 and plutonium-239. Uranium occurs in nature as a mixture of three isotopes: 238U (99.2745% of natural uranium), 235U (0.72%) and 234U (0.0055%). The most common 238 U does not support a chain reaction: only 235 U is capable of this. To achieve the maximum explosion power, it is necessary that the content of 235 U in the "stuffing" of the bomb is at least 80%. Therefore, uranium falls artificially enrich . To do this, the mixture of uranium isotopes is divided into two parts so that one of them contains more than 235 U.

Usually, when isotopes are separated, there is a lot of depleted uranium that cannot start a chain reaction - but there is a way to make it do this. The fact is that plutonium-239 does not occur in nature. But it can be obtained by bombarding 238 U with neutrons.

How is their power measured?

The power of a nuclear and thermonuclear charge is measured in TNT equivalent - the amount of trinitrotoluene that must be detonated to obtain a similar result. It is measured in kilotons (kt) and megatons (Mt). The power of ultra-small nuclear weapons is less than 1 kt, while super-powerful bombs give more than 1 Mt.

The power of the Soviet Tsar Bomba, according to various sources, ranged from 57 to 58.6 megatons of TNT, the power of the thermonuclear bomb that the DPRK tested in early September was about 100 kilotons.

Who created nuclear weapons?

American physicist Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves

In the 1930s, an Italian physicist Enrico Fermi demonstrated that elements bombarded with neutrons could be converted into new elements. The result of this work was the discovery slow neutrons , as well as the discovery of new elements that are not presented on periodic table. Shortly after Fermi's discovery, German scientists Otto Hahn And Fritz Strassmann bombarded uranium with neutrons, resulting in the formation of a radioactive isotope of barium. They concluded that low-speed neutrons cause the uranium nucleus to break into two smaller pieces.

This work excited the minds of the whole world. At Princeton University Niels Bohr worked with John Wheeler to develop a hypothetical model of the fission process. They suggested that uranium-235 undergoes fission. Around the same time, other scientists discovered that the fission process led to the formation of more more neutrons. This prompted Bohr and Wheeler to ask an important question: could the free neutrons created by fission set off a chain reaction that would release an enormous amount of energy? If so, then weapons of unimaginable power could be created. Their assumptions were confirmed by the French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie . His conclusion was the impetus for the development of nuclear weapons.

The physicists of Germany, England, the USA, and Japan worked on the creation of atomic weapons. Before the outbreak of World War II Albert Einstein wrote to the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt that Nazi Germany plans to purify uranium-235 and create an atomic bomb. Now it turned out that Germany was far from conducting a chain reaction: they were working on a "dirty", highly radioactive bomb. Be that as it may, the US government threw all its efforts into creating an atomic bomb in as soon as possible. The Manhattan Project was launched, led by an American physicist Robert Oppenheimer and general Leslie Groves . It was attended by prominent scientists who emigrated from Europe. By the summer of 1945, an atomic weapon was created based on two types of fissile material - uranium-235 and plutonium-239. One bomb, the plutonium "Thing", was detonated during tests, and two more, the uranium "Kid" and the plutonium "Fat Man", were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

How does a thermonuclear bomb work and who invented it?

The thermonuclear bomb is based on the reaction nuclear fusion . Unlike nuclear fission, which can take place both spontaneously and forcedly, nuclear fusion is impossible without the supply of external energy. Atomic nuclei are positively charged, so they repel each other. This situation is called the Coulomb barrier. To overcome repulsion, it is necessary to disperse these particles to crazy speeds. This can be done at very high temperatures - on the order of several million kelvins (hence the name). There are three types of thermonuclear reactions: self-sustaining (take place in the interior of stars), controlled and uncontrolled or explosive - they are used in hydrogen bombs.

The idea of ​​a thermonuclear fusion bomb initiated by an atomic charge was proposed by Enrico Fermi to his colleague Edward Teller back in 1941, at the very beginning of the Manhattan Project. However, at that time this idea was not in demand. Teller's developments improved Stanislav Ulam , making the idea of ​​a thermonuclear bomb feasible in practice. In 1952, the first thermonuclear explosive device was tested on Enewetok Atoll during Operation Ivy Mike. However, it was a laboratory sample, unsuitable for combat. A year later, the Soviet Union exploded the world's first thermonuclear bomb, assembled according to the design of physicists. Andrey Sakharov And Julia Khariton . The device resembled a layer cake, so the formidable weapon was nicknamed "Sloika". In the course of further development, the most powerful bomb on Earth, the "Tsar Bomba" or "Kuzkin's Mother", was born. In October 1961, it was tested on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.

What are thermonuclear bombs made of?

If you thought that hydrogen and thermonuclear bombs are different things, you were wrong. These words are synonymous. It is hydrogen (or rather, its isotopes - deuterium and tritium) that is required to carry out thermonuclear reaction. However, there is a difficulty: in order to detonate a hydrogen bomb, it is first necessary to obtain a high temperature during a conventional nuclear explosion - only then atomic nuclei will start to react. Therefore, in the case of a thermonuclear bomb, design plays an important role.

Two schemes are widely known. The first is the Sakharov "puff". In the center was a nuclear detonator, which was surrounded by layers of lithium deuteride mixed with tritium, which were interspersed with layers of enriched uranium. This design made it possible to achieve a power within 1 Mt. The second is the American Teller-Ulam scheme, where the nuclear bomb and hydrogen isotopes were located separately. It looked like this: from below - a container with a mixture of liquid deuterium and tritium, in the center of which there was a "spark plug" - a plutonium rod, and from above - a conventional nuclear charge, and all this in a shell of heavy metal(for example, depleted uranium). Fast neutrons produced during the explosion cause atomic fission reactions in the uranium shell and add energy to the total energy of the explosion. Adding additional layers of lithium uranium-238 deuteride allows you to create projectiles of unlimited power. In 1953 the Soviet physicist Viktor Davidenko accidentally repeated the Teller-Ulam idea, and on its basis Sakharov came up with a multi-stage scheme that made it possible to create weapons of unprecedented power. It was according to this scheme that Kuzkina's mother worked.

What other bombs are there?

There are also neutron ones, but this is generally scary. In fact, a neutron bomb is a low-yield thermonuclear bomb, 80% of the explosion energy of which is radiation (neutron radiation). It looks like an ordinary low-yield nuclear charge, to which a block with a beryllium isotope is added - a source of neutrons. When a nuclear weapon explodes, a thermonuclear reaction starts. This type of weapon was developed by an American physicist Samuel Cohen . It was believed that neutron weapons destroy all life even in shelters, however, the range of destruction of such weapons is small, since the atmosphere scatters fast neutron fluxes, and the shock wave is stronger at large distances.

But what about the cobalt bomb?

No, son, it's fantastic. No country officially has cobalt bombs. Theoretically, this is a thermonuclear bomb with a cobalt shell, which provides a strong radioactive contamination of the area even with a relatively weak nuclear explosion. 510 tons of cobalt can infect the entire surface of the Earth and destroy all life on the planet. Physicist Leo Szilard , who described this hypothetical design in 1950, called it the "Doomsday Machine".

Which is cooler: a nuclear bomb or a thermonuclear one?

Full-scale model of "Tsar-bomba"

The hydrogen bomb is much more advanced and technologically advanced than the atomic bomb. Its explosive power far exceeds that of an atomic one and is limited only by the number of components available. In a thermonuclear reaction, for each nucleon (the so-called constituent nuclei, protons and neutrons), much more energy is released than in a nuclear reaction. For example, during the fission of a uranium nucleus, one nucleon accounts for 0.9 MeV (megaelectronvolt), and during the synthesis of a helium nucleus from hydrogen nuclei, an energy equal to 6 MeV is released.

Like bombs deliverto the target?

At first, they were dropped from aircraft, but air defenses were constantly improved, and delivering nuclear weapons in this way proved unwise. With the growth in the production of rocket technology, all rights to deliver nuclear weapons were transferred to ballistic and cruise missiles of various bases. Therefore, a bomb is no longer a bomb, but a warhead.

It is believed that the North Korean H-bomb too big to be mounted on a missile - so if the DPRK decides to make the threat come true, it will be taken by ship to the site of the explosion.

What are the consequences of a nuclear war?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are only a small part of the possible apocalypse. For example, the well-known hypothesis of "nuclear winter", which was put forward by the American astrophysicist Carl Sagan and the Soviet geophysicist Georgy Golitsyn. It is assumed that with the explosion of several nuclear warheads (not in the desert or water, but in settlements) there will be many fires, and a large amount of smoke and soot will be thrown into the atmosphere, which will lead to global cooling. The hypothesis is criticized by comparing the effect with volcanic activity, which has little effect on the climate. In addition, some scientists note that global warming is more likely to occur than cooling - however, both sides hope that we will never know.

Are nuclear weapons allowed?

After the arms race in the 20th century, countries changed their minds and decided to limit the use of nuclear weapons. The UN adopted treaties on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the prohibition of nuclear tests (the latter was not signed by the young nuclear powers India, Pakistan, and the DPRK). In July 2017, a new treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted.

"Each State Party undertakes never, under any circumstances, to develop, test, manufacture, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess, or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," reads the first article of the treaty. .

However, the document will not enter into force until 50 states ratify it.