American project to develop the atomic bomb. The main secrets of the Manhattan Project (3 photos). Lectures here

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Basic information

Many prominent scientists who emigrated from Germany in 1933 (Frisch, Bethe, Szilard, Fuchs, Teller, Bloch and others) were connected to the secret project, which started in 1939, as well as Niels Bohr, who was taken out of Denmark occupied by Germany. As part of the project, its employees worked in the European theater of operations, collecting valuable information about the German nuclear program (see Alsos Mission).

By the summer of 1945 military department The United States managed to obtain atomic weapons, the action of which was based on the use of two types of fissile material - the uranium-235 isotope ("uranium bomb"), or the plutonium-239 isotope ("plutonium bomb"). The main difficulty in creating an explosive device based on uranium-235 was to enrich uranium - that is, to increase the mass fraction of the 235 U isotope in the material (in natural uranium, the main isotope is 238 U, the fraction of the 235 U isotope is approximately equal to 0.7%), so that make a nuclear chain reaction possible (in natural and low-enriched uranium, the isotope 238 U prevents the development of a chain reaction). Obtaining plutonium-239 for the plutonium charge was not directly related to the difficulties in obtaining uranium-235, since in this case uranium-238 and a special nuclear reactor are used.

Trinity "based on plutonium-239 (during the test, it was the implosion-type plutonium bomb that was tested) was carried out in New Mexico on July 16, 1945 (Alamogordo test site). After this explosion, Groves very revealingly responded to Oppenheimer's words: "The war is over," he said: "Yes, but after we drop two more bombs on Japan."

The Manhattan Project brought together scientists from the UK, Europe, Canada, and the USA into a single international team that solved the problem in the shortest possible time. However, the Manhattan Project was accompanied by tensions between the US and the UK. Great Britain considered itself the offended party, since the United States took advantage of the knowledge of scientists from Great Britain (the Maud Committy committee), but refused to share the results with Great Britain.

Development of the uranium bomb

Natural uranium is 99.3% uranium-238 and 0.7% uranium-235, but only the latter is fissile. The chemically identical uranium-235 must be physically separated from the more common isotope. Various methods of uranium enrichment were considered, most of which were carried out at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The most obvious technology, the centrifuge, failed, but electromagnetic separation, gaseous diffusion, and thermal diffusion were successful in the project.

Isotope separation

The first test of the Trinity nuclear explosive device based on plutonium-239 was carried out in the state of New Mexico on July 16, 1945 (Alamogordo test site).

see also

• British nuclear program: M.C. Factory Valley, Hurricane (nuclear test)

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Notes

Literature

• L. Groves

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An excerpt characterizing the Manhattan Project

Mary's cave. In the very corner of the cave stands, created by nature, a tall statue of a beautiful woman,
wrapped very long hair. Local Cathars said that the statue appeared there immediately after
the death of Magdalene and after each fall of a new drop of water, it became more and more like her ...
This cave is now called the "cave of Mary". And everyone can see the Magdalene standing there.

Turning around, a little further away Svetodar saw another miracle - in the other corner of the cave stood a statue of his sister! She clearly resembled a curly-haired girl standing over something lying... (Vesta standing over her mother's body?..) Svetodar's hair began to stir!.. It seemed to him that he had begun to go crazy. Turning quickly, he ran out of the cave.

Statue of Vesta - Svetodar's sister. Occitania did not want to forget them...
And she created her own monument - drop by drop sculpting faces dear to her heart.
They stand there for centuries, and the water continues its magical work, making
they are getting closer and more and more similar to the real ones ...

Later, slightly moving away from the shock, Svetodar asked Marsila if she knew what he saw. And when he heard a positive answer, his soul literally “sobbed” with tears of happiness - in this land, indeed, his mother, Golden Mary, was still alive! The very land of Occitania recreated this beautiful woman in itself - “revived” its Magdalene in stone ... It was a real creation of love ... Nature was only a loving architect.

Tears shone in my eyes... And I was absolutely not ashamed of it. I would give a lot to meet one of them alive! .. Especially Magdalene. What wondrous, ancient Magic burned in the soul of this amazing woman when she created her magical kingdom?! A kingdom in which Knowledge and Understanding ruled, and whose backbone was Love. Only not the love about which the “holy” church screamed, having worn out this wondrous word to the point that I didn’t want to hear it any longer, but that beautiful and pure, real and courageous, unique and amazing LOVE, with the name of which powers were born ... and with the name of which the ancient warriors rushed into battle ... with the name of which the new life... by whose name our world changed and became better... This Love was carried by Golden Mary. And it is this Mary that I would like to bow to... For everything that she carried, for her pure bright LIFE, for her courage and courage, and for Love.
But, unfortunately, it was impossible to do this... She lived centuries ago. And I couldn't be the one who knew her. An incredibly deep, bright sadness suddenly overwhelmed me, and bitter tears poured down in a stream...
- What are you, my friend!.. Other sorrows await you! Sever exclaimed in surprise. - Please, calm down...
He gently touched my hand and gradually the sadness disappeared. Only bitterness remained, as if I had lost something bright and dear ...
– You mustn't relax... War awaits you, Isidora.
– Tell me, Sever, was the teaching of the Cathars called the Teaching of Love because of Magdalene?
– Here you are not quite right, Isidora. The uninitiated called it the Teaching of Love. For those who understood, it carried a completely different meaning. Listen to the sound of words, Isidora: love sounds in French - amor (amour) - right? And now divide this word, separating the letter “a” from it ... It turns out a'mor (a "mort) - without death ... This is the true meaning of the teachings of Magdalene - the Teachings of the Immortals. As I told you before - everything it's simple, Isidora, if you only look and listen correctly... Well, for those who do not hear, let it remain the Teaching of Love... it is also beautiful.
I stood completely dumbfounded. The Teachings of the Immortals!.. Daaria... So that was the teachings of Radomir and Magdalena!.. The North surprised me many times, but never before had I felt so shocked!.. magic power, and I could not forgive myself for not talking about this with the North before.
- Tell me, Sever, is there anything left of the records of the Cathars? There must have been something left? Even if not the Perfect Ones themselves, then at least just students? I mean something about them real life and teaching?
– Unfortunately, no, Isidora. The Inquisition destroyed everything and everywhere. Her vassals, by order of the Pope, were even sent to other countries to destroy every manuscript, every remaining piece of birch bark that they could find ... We were looking for at least something, but we could not save anything.
Well, what about the people themselves? Could there be something left with people who would keep it through the centuries?
– I don’t know, Isidora... I think even if someone had some kind of record, it was changed over time. After all, it is human nature to reshape everything in its own way ... And especially without understanding. So it is unlikely that anything has been preserved as it was. It's a pity... True, we still have the diaries of Radomir and Magdalena, but that was before the creation of the Cathars. Though I don't think the doctrine has changed.
– Forgive me for my chaotic thoughts and questions, Sever. I see that I lost a lot by not coming to you. But still, I'm still alive. And while I breathe, I can still ask you, can't I? Can you tell me how Svetodar's life ended? Sorry for interrupting.
North smiled sincerely. He liked my impatience and my thirst to "find out in time". And he gladly continued.
After his return, Svetodar lived and taught in Occitania for only two years, Isidora. But these years became the most expensive and happiest years of his wandering life. His days, illuminated by the merry laughter of Beloyar, passed in his beloved Montsegur, surrounded by the Perfect, to whom Svetodar honestly and sincerely tried to convey what long years the distant Stranger taught him.
They gathered in the Temple of the Sun, which multiplied tenfold the Living Force they needed. And also protected them from unwanted "guests" when someone was going to secretly enter there, not wanting to appear openly.
The Temple of the Sun was called a tower specially built in Montsegur, which at certain times of the day let direct sunlight through the window, which made the Temple truly magical at that moment. And this tower also concentrated and strengthened energy, which for the Qatari working there at that moment eased the tension and did not require too much effort.

Soon, an unforeseen and rather funny incident occurred, after which the nearest Perfects (and then the rest of the Cathars) began to call Svetodar "fiery". And it began after Svetodar, having forgotten, completely revealed his high energy Essence to them during one of the usual classes ... As you know, all the Perfect Ones without exception were seers. And the appearance of the essence of Svetodar flaming with fire caused a real shock to the Perfect Ones... Thousands of questions poured down, many of which even Svetodar himself did not have answers. Probably only the Stranger could answer, but he was inaccessible and distant. Therefore, Svetodar was forced to somehow explain himself to his friends ... Whether he succeeded or not is unknown. Only from that very day did all the Cathars begin to call him the Fiery Teacher.
(The existence of the Fiery Teacher is indeed mentioned in some modern books about cathars, only, unfortunately, not about the one that was real ... Apparently, the North was right when he said that people, not understanding, remake everything in their own way .. As they say: “they heard the ringing, but they don’t know where it is”... For example, I found the memories of the “last cathar” Deod Roche, who says that a certain Steiner (?!) was the Fiery Teacher (?!)... Again, to the Pure and the Light One is forcibly “taken root” by the people of Israel .... which has never been among the real Qatar).
Two years have passed. Peace and tranquility reigned in the tired soul of Svetodar. Days ran after days, taking old sorrows farther and farther ... Little Beloyar seemed to grow by leaps and bounds, becoming smarter and smarter, surpassing all his older friends in this, which greatly pleased grandfather Svetodar. But on one of these happy, calm days, Svetodar suddenly felt a strange, nagging anxiety... His Gift told him that trouble was knocking on his peaceful door... Nothing seemed to change, nothing happened. But Svetodar's anxiety grew, poisoning pleasant moments of complete peace.
Once, Svetodar was walking around the neighborhood with little Beloyar (whose worldly name was Frank) not far from the cave in which almost his entire family died. The weather was wonderful - the day was sunny and warm - and Svetodar's legs themselves carried him to visit the sad cave ... Little Beloyar, as always, plucked near the growing wild flowers, and the grandfather and great-great-grandson came to bow to the place of the dead.
Probably, someone once put a curse on this cave for his family, otherwise it was impossible to understand how they, so extraordinarily gifted, for some reason, suddenly completely lost their sensitivity, just getting into this cave, and like blind kittens , headed straight for someone's trap.
Cheerfully chirping his favorite song, Beloyar suddenly fell silent, as it always happened, as soon as he entered the familiar cave. The boy did not understand what made him behave that way, but as soon as they went inside, all his cheerful mood evaporated somewhere, and only sadness remained in his heart ...
“Tell me, grandfather, why was it always killed here?” This place is very sad, I "hear" it... Let's get out of here grandfather! I don't like it very much... It always smells of trouble here.
The kid timidly twitched his shoulders, as if, indeed, sensing some kind of trouble. Svetodar smiled sadly and hugged the boy tightly, he was about to go outside, when four strangers suddenly appeared at the entrance to the cave.
“You were not invited here, uninvited. This is a family sadness, and outsiders are not allowed to enter here. Leave in peace, - Svetodar said quietly. He immediately bitterly regretted that he had taken Beloyar with him. The kid frightened huddled up to his grandfather, apparently feeling bad.
“Well, this is just the right place!” one of the strangers laughed insolently. You don't have to look for anything...
They began to surround the unarmed couple, obviously trying not to get close yet.
- Well, servant of the Devil, show us your strength! - the "holy wars" braved. - What, your horned master does not help?
The strangers deliberately angered themselves, trying not to succumb to fear, because apparently they had heard enough about the incredible power of the Fiery Teacher.
With his left hand, Svetodar easily pushed the baby behind his back, and extended his right hand to those who came, as if blocking the entrance to the cave.
“I warned you, the rest is up to you…” he said sternly. "Go away and nothing bad will happen to you."
The four chuckled defiantly. One of them, the tallest, pulled out a narrow knife, brazenly brandishing it, went to Svetodar ... And then Beloyar, squeaking in fright, wriggled out of his grandfather's hands holding him, and darting like a bullet towards the man with the knife, began to beat painfully on his knees caught on I run like a heavy stone. The stranger roared in pain and, like a fly, threw the boy away from him. But the trouble was that the "comers" were still standing at the very entrance to the cave... And the stranger threw Beloyar exactly in the direction of the entrance... Shouting thinly, the boy rolled over his head and flew into the abyss like a light ball.. It took only a few short seconds, and Svetodar did not have time ... Blinded from pain, he extended his hand to the man who had hit Beloyar - he, without making a sound, flew a couple of steps in the air and crashed his head against the wall, with a heavy bag slid down onto a stone floor. His "partners", seeing such a sad end to their leader, retreated in a bunch into the inside of the cave. And then, Svetodar made a single mistake... Wanting to see if Beloyar was alive, he moved too close to the cliff and turned away from the killers only for a moment. Immediately, one of them, jumping up from behind with lightning, struck him in the back with a sharp kick with his foot ... Svetodar's body flew into the abyss after little Beloyar ... It was all over. There was nothing else to look at. Vile "little men", pushing each other, quickly got out of the cave...

The Manhattan Project is the code name for the US program to develop nuclear weapons, the implementation of which began on September 17, 1943. Before that, research was conducted in the "Uranium Committee" (S-1 Uranium Committee, since 1939). Scientists from the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany and Canada took part in the project.

As part of the project, three atomic bombs were created: the plutonium "Thing" (Gadget) (exploded at the first nuclear test), the uranium "Kid" (Little Boy) (dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945) and the plutonium "Fat Man" (dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945).

The project was led by American physicist Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves.

In order to hide the purpose of the newly created structure, the Manhattan Engineering District (Manhattan Engineering District) was formed as part of the military engineering forces of the US Army, and Groves (until then a colonel) was promoted to brigadier general and appointed commander of this district, by name which the whole project got its name.

So, what were the reasons for creating such a large-scale complex? In the yard 1939 - Nazi Germany preparing to start a war in Europe. Some people have bad ideas about making weapons of universal mass destruction. Naturally, such a statement cannot be ignored.

A letter dated August 2, 1939 and signed by Albert Einstein is placed on the desk of then US President Franklin Roosevelt. In it, several scientists - Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller - express their concern about the possibility of developing in Germany "an extremely powerful new type of bomb." In their message, they also say that thanks to new research in the field of atomic physics it became possible to create atomic bomb.

We must pay tribute to Roosevelt - he treated this letter with great attention. By his order, a uranium committee (S-1 Uranium Committee) was created. That's just a little missed with the management. Lyman Briggs, appointed head of the committee, did not really let the project unfold in all its might. At a meeting held on October 21, 1939, it was only decided to use uranium and plutonium as the main raw materials for creating an atomic bomb. In fact, until 1941, the project was purely research in nature, without affecting the defensive part of the issue.

Roosevelt listened to the opinion of the brilliant physicist, and appointed Lyman Briggs of the National Bureau of Standards to head the Uranium Committee to investigate the issues raised in the letter. And when the scientists of the committee confirmed that uranium can be used to create super-powerful weapons, the secret Manhattan Project unfolded in the United States. He brought together scientists from Germany, Great Britain, Europe, Canada, the USA into a single international team, says Doctor of Technical Sciences Igor Ostretsov:

“Germany had rather large reserves of uranium. And they fell into the hands of the United States. In addition, there was some kind of documentation. That is, the situation formally boils down to this: the American program went much more smoothly, because such a giant worked there, like Heisenberg (a German physicist). My personal point of view is that, judging by the fact that the Manhattan Project went quite smoothly in the early stages, the Americans had some additional information. And it could only be from Germany. "

Leading American physicists, as well as scientists from other countries who emigrated to the United States, were involved in the implementation of the project.

Work on "atomic projects" was carried out in a number of countries, but in a war only the United States had sufficient funds to confidently move forward.

The implementation of the project required the creation of several new military factories, around which cities with increased secrecy were formed. At the same time, American intelligence efforts were focused on obtaining information about how the German nuclear project was progressing. German research stalled without the necessary support from the state - Hitler needed a weapon that could be used immediately, and not in a few years.

In July 1942, the American atomic bomb program received additional fuel - Roosevelt obtained from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill the consent to move to the United States the main participants in the British atomic project Tube Alloys.

The Manhattan Project started on September 17, 1942. But the work related to the study of radioactive substances was carried out long before that. In particular, since 1939 experiments have been carried out at the "Uranium Committee". Works of this kind were classified from the very beginning and remained secret for a long time after the end of the war.

The main reason that the creation of a nuclear bomb has become one of the priority scientific directions, was the interest of Nazi Germany in the creation the latest weapons mass destruction. April 24, 1939 - the authorities of this country received a letter from a professor at the University of Hamburg, Paul Harteck. The letter discussed the fundamental possibility of creating a new type of highly effective explosive. At the end, Harteck writes: “The country that can be the first to practically master the achievements of nuclear physics will gain absolute superiority over others.”

General Groves was engaged in the selection and placement of the leaders of individual areas of the project. In particular, Groves' perseverance made it possible to enlist Robert Oppenheimer for the scientific direction of the entire project.
Before joining the atomic project, Groves was not involved in physics, in addition to administrative activities in the US military, he was a construction specialist. Under his skillful leadership, the Pentagon building was built, which attracted the attention of the authorities, both military and civilian.
The experience of building the Pentagon showed that Groves is an excellent organizer, can get along with people and, most importantly, is able to solve tasks in a short time with high efficiency.
On his appointment as project manager, Groves insisted on being promoted to the rank of brigadier general, stating, "I have often observed that symbols of power and rank work more strongly on scientists than on the military."
After the successful completion of the project, many American funds mass media accused the general of the lack of humanity and loyalty to his subordinates, which caused numerous conflicts with the learned fraternity, who, having world fame, was not always inclined to obey military discipline set by the project manager.

The first experiment on artificial irradiation of living people as part of the Manhattan Project was carried out at the University of Rochester in November 1944. Then they used volunteers. Four men and one middle-aged woman agreed to be injected with radioactive polonium-210. All of them were treated for cancer, and they were inspired that such "therapy" would give them a chance at life. The first of these unfortunates died six days later. His body was immediately and carefully examined. Scientists, as it turned out, were by no means interested in the patient's health, but in the effect of a radioactive element on human biological tissues.

During his visit to Berkeley, Groves began to think about appointing Oppenheimer to this position. The week before, Groves called Oppie and asked him to join him in Chicago. On October 15, Oppenheimer squeezed his way into the cramped compartment where Groves, Nichols, and an army officer were already seated to discuss the new laboratory. As the train was heading east, somewhere between Chicago and Detroit, Groves suggested that Oppenheimer be the new director of the lab. Lansdale had already warned the general that Oppie had had trouble getting security clearance in the past. Groves later stated that he personally read the FBI file on Oppenheimer and did not find anything in it that would change his opinion. In addition, it seemed to Groves that Oppenheimer's problems with the security service were safely behind them. Less than a month earlier, on September 20, the Presidio Office of Inquiry dropped the case against Oppenheimer after one of the agents spoke to Birge, who described his colleague as "one of the world's two greatest physico-mathematicians." As before, no final decision was made regarding Oppenheimer's admission, but the army command advised that he be kept under observation. Before finally settling on Oppie, Groves asked the opinion of the others about him. Ernest, they say, was extremely surprised and discouraged that for such work the army command chose a theorist, and not an experimenter. "He can't even make a hamburger," was one of Oppenheimer's Berkeley colleagues. Compton also expressed doubts about Oppie's organizational skills. "None of those I spoke to were particularly enthusiastic about Oppenheimer as a possible director," Groves later wrote in an admirable understatement. But the general was sure that, if necessary, he himself would be able to cope with the administrative part of the work. In the end, Compton and Lawrence agreed to Oppenheimer's candidacy, but on one condition: if Oppie failed, Groves would hand over the lab to them. McMillan was given a supporting role, and his office at LeConte became headquarters during the organization of the laboratory. Just five days before Groves opted for Oppenheimer, the FBI received disturbing new evidence of the physicist's "left ferment".

First nuclear explosion brought not too many memorable statements. Only one was included in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. After the successful test of a plutonium bomb on July 16, 1945, at Jornado del Muerto, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, Robert Oppenheimer, the scientific director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, quoted, somewhat altered, a verse from the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am Death, destroyer of worlds!" Other words uttered by the specialist in charge of the test, Kenneth Bainbridge, should have been forever remembered. As soon as the explosion sounded, he turned to Oppenheimer and said: "Now we are all sons of bitches ...". Later, Oppenheimer himself believed that nothing more precise and expressive was said at that moment.

In 1939, Fermi did not yet believe in the reality of the atomic bomb. Laura Fermi, in her memoir Atoms in the Family: My Life with Enrico Fermi, cites her husband's phrase in this connection: "we pursued the chimera." Everything rested on the enthusiasm of one Szilard, who closely followed what was happening in Germany and, especially, at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. The information coming from his home institute was disturbing. In this regard, on March 7, 1940, he writes another “Einstein letter” to Roosevelt, in which he reports: “Since the beginning of the war, interest in uranium has increased in Germany. Now I have learned that in Germany, in an atmosphere of great secrecy, research work, in particular at the Physical Institute, one of the branches of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. This institute has been taken over by the government, and at present a group of physicists led by K. F. von Weizsäcker is working there on uranium problems in collaboration with the Institute of Chemistry. The former director of the institute was removed from leadership, apparently until the end of the war.

The next meeting of the Uranium Committee was held on April 28, 1940. By that time, scientists already knew that the fission of uranium caused by neutrons occurs only in uranium-235. In addition, it became known that scientists in Germany are used for research on uranium Institute of Physics Kaiser Wilhelm Society. Therefore, the question was raised about more effective support for the work and their better organization. However, research work, due to managerial bureaucracy, rivalry between different militaries, and the shortsightedness of politicians, unfolded very slowly.

When an atom fissions, it usually splits into two smaller atoms and along with that, emits several neutrons as waste. These junk neutrons can hit nearby atoms and cause them to fission. A nuclear fission type bomb explodes when the essentially uranium or plutonium fuel becomes supercritical. This means that there are enough fissile (fissile) atoms for the neutrons to maintain a constant fission chain reaction. This requires a certain mass and volume of material (the so-called critical mass). One of the key studies of the Manhattan Project was to determine the exact controlled conditions under which one could take an ordinary radioactive piece of uranium or plutonium and make it supercritical - thus creating an atomic bomb.

While you might think that such supercriticality studies should be carried out by chemists and physicists who are a kilometer away from the bomb in a shelter and move fissile material with long metal armatures, the Los Alamos scientists were big extremes. To determine the critical mass of plutonium nuclei that would be used for the Trinity experiment and the Fat Man bomb detonation, Los Alamos scientist Louis Slotin developed a procedure that Richard Feynman himself called "pulling the dragon's tail." In the course of this technique, Slotin - wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots, apparently - lowered a beryllium hemisphere onto a plutonium charge. Beryllium is a neutron reflector, so if close enough to the nucleus, the neutrons bounce back to the plutonium, causing a supercritical state. Slotin almost completely covered the charge with a beryllium hemisphere, and the only thing that prevented her from completely covering it was the sting of a flathead screwdriver.

He pulled the dragon's tail almost a dozen times until the screwdriver finally popped off - on May 21, 1946 - causing the plutonium charge to gain supercritical mass and emit a massive burst of neutron radiation. Slotin spoke of a flash of blue light and a wave of heat that traveled through his skin, before literally half a second later he was able to flip the beryllium reflector, stopping the chain reaction. But it was too late: he received about 1000 sieverts of radiation and died nine days later from acute radiation sickness.

The Manhattan Project is the largest and most secret nuclear weapons testing project of the twentieth century. To this day, it is not known how the experiments were carried out, the experience of which was used to nuclear strikes for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We tried to collect everything that is known about the project at the moment.

In that locality and a county in the state of New Mexico that does not have the status of a city or town and is a statistically separate territory, the Los Alamos National Laboratory was created. It was the main, but not the only city in which work was carried out on the Manhattan Project. Several secret cities were created throughout the country. One of them, called Site W in Washington state, was in fact a giant factory producing plutonium needed to make bombs.

About environmental impact the ongoing work and the dangers of radioactive dust then one could only guess. There was only one way to find out how it affects the body - to test it on experimental pigs. Coyotes were chosen as them. Preferring them to other inhabitants, scientists proceeded from the fact that they eat hares, whose diet consists of leaves contaminated with radiation. The soldiers caught the coyotes, pulled out their thyroid gland and measured the level of iodine.

toxic apple

While studying at Cambridge, physicist Robert Oppenheimer decided to commit murder. The victim was one of the teachers, for whom the physicist prepared a toxic apple. He pumped the fruit with toxic substances and left it among the things of the teacher, hoping that he would have a bite to eat during the break. However, Robert could not bring the plan to the end: before the arrival of the intended victim, he returned and took the apple. Despite the dark spot in his biography, Robert Oppenheimer was appointed head of the most expensive and secret project in history at that time - Manhattan.

Top secret

All life in the city of X, surrounded by barbed wire, was like under a microscope. Checkpoints, censorship of letters, wiretapping of phones - literally every step was controlled. People lived in houses with cardboard walls, so everyone knew about each other's lives in the smallest detail. Work on the project remained within the walls of the "offices", it was strictly forbidden to talk about it outside, and even more so to discuss something with the family. The vast majority of the inhabitants did not even know what city X was built for, until in August 1945 they heard on the radio that two cities in Japan were practically wiped off the face of the earth.

Trinity

The world's first test of a nuclear weapon technology called Trinity as part of the Manhattan Project was conducted at the Alamogordo test site in New Mexico. Eastman Kodak decided to tell the world about him by filming documentary. After the release of the film, a flurry of complaints hit the studio. Viewers of the picture did not just learn about how and where it began nuclear age, but also to some extent became part of it. As it turned out later, the boxes in which the film was packed were made from corn husks grown in Indiana, the fields of which were contaminated with radioactive fallout from the Trinity tests.

mouse bombs

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Pennsylvania dentist Little S. Adams was in the Carlsbad Caverns area. In them he saw bats, a meeting with which prompted the dentist to a crazy idea - to make bombs with bats. His good friend was Eleanor Roosevelt, and despite the absurdity of the project, through her, Adams was able to promote the idea and get financial support. The mice were planned to be armed with time bombs and dropped in a container over Japanese cities. After a detachment of winged suicide bombers was caught in the caves, tests began. Some of them were surprisingly successful, and several buildings were destroyed with the participation of mice, but the project was soon curtailed in favor of a more predictable atomic bomb in action.

In order to hide the purpose of the newly created structure, the Manhattan Engineering District was formed as part of the military engineering forces of the US Army, and Groves (until then a colonel) was promoted to brigadier general and appointed commander of this district.

More than 130,000 people took part in the Manhattan Project and cost nearly US$2 billion (about US$22 billion in 2016). More than 90% of the costs were for the construction of factories and the production of fissile material, and less than 10% for the development and production of weapons. Research and production took place at over 30 sites in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The project was also accused of gathering intelligence from a German nuclear weapons project. As part of the Alsos mission, Manhattan Project personnel worked in Europe, sometimes behind enemy lines, where they collected nuclear materials and documents, and also collected German scientists. Despite strict security inside the Manhattan Project, the Soviet " atomic spies successfully infiltrated it and gathered intelligence.

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Basic information

Many prominent scientists who emigrated from Germany in 1933 (Frisch, Bethe, Szilard, Fuchs, Teller, Bloch and others) were connected to the secret project, which started in 1939, as well as Niels Bohr, who was taken out of Denmark occupied by Germany. As part of the project, its employees worked in the European theater of operations, collecting valuable information about the German nuclear program (see Alsos Mission).

By the summer of 1945, the US military department managed to obtain atomic weapons, the action of which was based on the use of two types of fissile material - the uranium-235 isotope ("uranium bomb"), or the plutonium-239 isotope ("plutonium bomb"). The main difficulty in creating an explosive device based on uranium-235 was to enrich uranium - that is, to increase the mass fraction of the 235 U isotope in the material (in natural uranium, the main isotope is 238 U, the fraction of the 235 U isotope is approximately equal to 0.7%), so that make a nuclear chain reaction possible (in natural and low-enriched uranium, the isotope 238 U prevents the development of a chain reaction). Obtaining plutonium-239 for the plutonium charge was not directly related to the difficulties in obtaining uranium-235, since in this case uranium-238 and a special nuclear reactor are used.

The first test of the Trinity nuclear explosive device based on plutonium-239 (during the test, it was the implosion-type plutonium bomb that was tested) was carried out in New Mexico on July 16, 1945 (Alamogordo test site). After this explosion, Groves very revealingly responded to Oppenheimer's words: "The war is over," he said: "Yes, but after we drop two more bombs on Japan."

Groves initially proposed four sites for the atomic bombing: the cities of Kokura, Hiroshima, Niigata and, most importantly, the center ancient culture, former capital Japan - Kyoto. When assigning these objects, Groves was guided by considerations that were very far from humanity. When the audience raised objections to Kyoto, he gave two arguments to prove his point: firstly, the population of this city has more than a million inhabitants, which, therefore, promises good effect explosion; secondly, it occupies a huge area, on which the estimated diameter of the destruction zone will fit perfectly, and therefore the picture of the explosion will be very indicative for experts.

When, in the end, Kyoto was still rejected as a goal by politicians, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were approved as goals, it turned out that there were prison camps for Americans and their allies near them, but even then Groves did not hesitate to instruct not to take this factor into account .

On August 6, 1945, the Little Boy uranium bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. As a result of the bombing, about 140 thousand people died. The world first encountered nuclear threat. On August 9, a plutonium bomb was scheduled to drop "Fat Man" (eng. Fat Man) on the city of Kokura, but due to heavy cloud cover, the target was changed. The second Japanese city of Nagasaki was bombed, killing about 74 thousand people.

Members

In June 1944, about 129,000 employees were involved in the Manhattan Project, of which 84,500 were involved in construction work, 40,500 were operators (?) and 1,800 military. Later, the number of military personnel increased to 5600. Important role the project was played by human calculators.

The Manhattan Project brought together scientists from the UK, Europe, Canada, and the USA into a single international team that solved the problem in the shortest possible time. However, the Manhattan Project was accompanied by tensions between the US and the UK. Great Britain considered itself the offended party, since the United States took advantage of the knowledge of scientists from Great Britain (the Maud Committy committee), but refused to share the results with Great Britain.

Development of the uranium bomb

Natural uranium is 99.3% uranium-238 and 0.7% uranium-235, but only the latter is fissile. The chemically identical uranium-235 must be physically separated from the more common isotope. Various methods of uranium enrichment were considered, most of which were carried out at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The most obvious technology, the centrifuge, failed, but electromagnetic separation, gaseous diffusion, and thermal diffusion were successful in the project.

Isotope separation

electromagnetic separation

Gas diffusion

US-UK agreement. Things were different in the USA. America was wealthy enough to encourage the scientific and engineering development of all kinds of weapons. The most powerful industry in the world easily coped with the production of products of any complexity in any quantities. For scientists working in the United States, the State Department paid for experiments of any cost. Exceptionally wide opportunities allowed to try any options and choose the best. Besides, The White house could put pressure on dependent coalition partners, in particular on the British, so that the latter would share the results already achieved. Which is what was done.

In July 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was visiting Washington, where Frank the Great gently, without pressure, proposed to the "English Bulldog" to transfer the main forces of the Tube Alloys program to American soil. The proposal was carefully argued. They explained to Churchill that overseas is safer, more free in terms of technical and raw materials, and so on. The Honorable Sir Winston had no opportunity to refuse a comrade-in-arms, since American participation was desperately required in a major operation planned for the autumn of that year in North Africa. Britain wanted to save the empire. To do this, we needed american tanks, guns, planes and a blow to the rear of Rommel's army from Algeria and Morocco. Roosevelt promised to help, but in exchange he asked to give America the English atomic project. The leader of the crackling empire had no choice. And although Churchill was tormented by suspicions that the Allies might appropriate the fruits of English labors, he agreed. The premier's torment was not in vain; a year later, at a conference in Quebec, he had to agree with the recognition of American primacy in the nuclear research of the allies. Thus, to some extent, justice was restored. The British, who "purged" the French scientists with the appropriation of all patents for discoveries, themselves found themselves in the position of being robbed by a stronger partner. What can you do - "the bestial grin of the market", as they say, "who had time, he ate it."

August 13, 1942 The White House considered that the preparatory phase was completed, it was necessary to proceed directly to the creation of weapons. On August 13, 1942, all work on nuclear energy was brought into the system. On this day, the organization was given the code name "Manhattan". The budget was set at $2 billion. They appointed leaders: sapper Leslie Groves, who was hastily promoted to general, was in charge of the administrative part, and Robert Oppenheimer, who was in charge of science. With excellent financial "lubrication", the car started working quickly and confidently. American scientists did not face the question of which path to choose: to extract explosives by separating uranium isotopes, or to accumulate plutonium in reactors - there was enough money to move both ways. In the state of Washington, the city of Hanford was founded, where 3 nuclear reactors were laid, entrusted to the care of the Italian emigrant Enrico Fermi.

The second nuclear city is located in Tennessee, it was named Oak Ridge. There, the isotope selection plant became the city-forming enterprise. What turned out to be beyond the capacity of the British and the Nazis was done effortlessly in America. Chemistry and metallurgy of the United States produced an isotope sieve through which a semi-finished uranium product was passed, trapping the active particles of the 235th. Over all this mass of factories and a constellation of local and foreign scientists reigned Oppenheimer, who calculated the critical mass of explosives suitable for detonating a bomb. However, it would be more accurate to say that he did not calculate, but checked the work of his British colleagues. However, the level of this plagiarist work caused a certain amount of respect. Work on the mistakes of the British was carried out using state-of-the-art computers.

First results. On December 2, 1942, an experimental reactor built at the University of Chicago was first heated by a controlled nuclear reaction. Fermi realized in practice the self-sustaining chain decay of uranium nuclei. Interestingly, the British were not allowed to carry out the experiment. The first reaction was soon followed by others, and then the plutonium-producing boilers started up. America began to accumulate bombs, with the expectation that by 1945 they would have enough of them to equip three munitions.

In November 1942, in the desert state of New Mexico, the construction of another secret city of Los Alamos began, where the first American atomic monsters with the nicknames "Kid" and "Fat Man" were to be born. Engineers already knew the approximate weight of the "babies" and the industry ordered carriers for atomic death. They were excellent bombers strategic purpose B-29. Giant aircraft had performance characteristics that were record-breaking for their years, for which they were called "super-fortresses". The ceiling of the 29th product of the Boeing company was 11-12 km, the speed was almost fighter, about 570 km / h. With such altitude and speed, the fortresses were not threatened by fighters and anti-aircraft fire. In a rarefied atmosphere high altitudes the engines of the interceptors stalled without oxygen, and the shells of conventional caliber anti-aircraft guns exploded 1 km below. The Germans, in principle, could get such an enemy, the Japanese did not even have the illusion of such a possibility.

"Superfortresses" for bombs. It was the “superfortresses” that they decided to adapt for the delivery of atomic bombs to the target. On specialized vehicles, the bomb bays were somewhat expanded to receive overall nuclear products, and some of the defensive weapons were removed to compensate for the overload that occurs when transporting heavy "kids" and "fat men". 15 of these aircraft were ordered, bringing them to the 509th Special Air Regiment, which was to be trained under a special program. The pilots of the regiment endlessly worked out the same technique: reaching the target in normal weather, dropping, and then there was a “zest” of tactics - a rapid turn and leaving to a safe distance so that the carrier would not be destroyed by powerful air currents. Such tasks as repelling an attack by interceptors or overcoming an enemy air defense zone were not assigned to pilots. When the regiment began training, it became clear to the command of the US Air Force that by the time the regiment was put into action, the opponents would not be able to resist, and the “killer fortresses” would work without risk. The American air generals had more reason to assess the situation in this way than they needed.

At the end of 1944, when a special regiment was being formed, the superiority of the Allies over the Luftwaffe was already estimated at 20-24 to one. armies anti-Hitler coalition already stood on the Vistula and the approaches to the Rhine. The case was clearly coming to an end. By the way, having entered Europe, the Americans received accurate information that the Nazi nuclear scientists were at an impasse, and the Germans would not have bombs until the end of the war under any circumstances.

Nuclear race at the end of World War II. Already in 1944, the “Manhattan product” turned into a weapon not of today, but of tomorrow. The haste with which work was carried out on the US atomic project clearly indicated that the bomb would have to work after the triumph of the anti-Hitler forces. The demonstration of their new capabilities, as in the case of Dresden, was to be carried out as quickly as possible. In 1945, it became clear to the Americans that the Russians were working in the same direction, and they had everything they needed to create their own bomb. Thus, the nuclear race at the end of World War II was not between actual opponents, but among formal allies.

By the way, the version that is rooted in our days that the Soviet nuclear weapons program was based solely on copying the American one is a fake. There have always been enough talents in our country. The technological potential and scientific capabilities of the USSR allowed a lot, including nuclear design. Without going into details of such a historical phenomenon as the Russian bomb, I will point out only one indisputable aspect that proves our independence. Nowadays, the secret of making atomic weapons no longer exists. How a bomb is made is known to scientists of all countries and peoples. Its schematic diagrams are placed almost in physics textbooks. However, only about a dozen states possess such weapons. The objection that the rest are held back by international obligations can only be answered with a smile. Such bans are indifferent to the leaders of the DPRK, and to some others in the world. However, neither Korea nor Iraq have even the most primitive "Hiroshima" type bombs to this day. So, not everything is so simple - I wrote off the scheme, and the order. Both teachers and students know well when a loser cheats from an excellent student, do not expect good, the same result will still not be. But, if the cheating succeeded, obviously, the student who borrowed someone else's problem or phrase in the essay is able to figure out the aspect that is turned to his own benefit. If both have “excellent”, then their academic success is approximately identical. Just one was distracted at the moment of explaining the material, but, looking at a neighbor, he quickly made up for the omission.

The possibilities of the USSR. Perhaps the Soviet Union really "distracted". Being 10-14 times weaker than America in the economy, the financial sector, in technology, it produced almost as many tanks, guns and aircraft as the overseas giant, whose territory was inviolable, on whose factories not a single bomb fell, where they did not know what is hunger and work in a workshop without a roof at -20 o C. Our country worked and fought with unprecedented tension, based on the current situation. The USSR did not have free resources, they were completely absorbed by the front passing through our land and adjacent territories. Therefore, we fell behind. But, barely recovering, they managed to catch up with the American “excellent students” in four years. Perhaps the assistance of a number of American scientists saved some time. However, any information received from intelligence required mandatory analysis and verification. The very fact that Soviet scientists coped with this work speaks of the comparability of our capabilities with the Americans.

But the Americans have nothing to be proud of. If dozens of representatives of their scientific elite informed Moscow about the secret aspects of their activities, it means that they did not believe much in American good intentions and tried to work on creating an alternative power pole, which alone could save the world from the US nuclear monopoly with its unpredictable consequences.