An outstanding scientist of Russia, one of the founders and creators of domestic thermonuclear and nuclear weapons.
First Deputy Scientific Director of RFNC-VNIIEF for Advanced Research, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor.
Trutnev Yuri Alekseevich was born on November 2, 1927 in Moscow into a family of students of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy.
In February 1951, after graduating from the Physics Department of Leningrad University, Yu.A. Trutnev arrived at KB-11 (VNIIEF). Outstanding scientists D.A. Frank-Kamenetsky and N.A. Dmitriev became his teachers. Academicians Ya.B. Zel'dovich, A.D. Sakharov and Yu.B. Khariton had a great influence on his formation as a scientist. Already in 1954, Yu.A. Trutnev became one of the co-authors in the most important invention of the principles of radiation implosion, developed as a result of collective work (A.D. Sakharov, Ya.B. Zeldovich, Yu.A. Trutnev) and one of the main creators of the first thermonuclear charge based on this new principle - RDS-37. This charge served as a prototype for almost all thermonuclear charges developed in the USSR. For these works Yu.A. Trutnev was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1956. The work on the RDS-37 was a landmark event, comparable in importance to the creation of the first atomic bomb, since it opened the real road to achieving thermonuclear parity with the United States.
In 1955, Yu.A. Trutnev, together with Yu.N. Babaev, proposed a "new principle of designing thermonuclear charges" (improved radiation implosion), which they implemented in 1958 in "Project 49". This development was the most important basis for improving our country's thermonuclear arsenal. For this work in 1959 Yu.A. Trutnev and Yu.N. Babaev were awarded the Lenin Prize.
In 1961, on the initiative and with the participation of Yu.A. Trutnev, the most powerful thermonuclear charge in the world (“Project 602”) was created, tested at the suggestion of A.D. Sakharov at a half power of 50 Mt TE. The successful test of this charge led to the cessation of the build-up of the thermonuclear arsenal in the United States, and the race in this area became meaningless.
In 1958-1962. under the leadership and with the direct participation of Yu.A. Trutnev, a whole range of thermonuclear charges was developed, which became the foundation of the domestic system of nuclear missile weapons. These works were marked by awarding him in 1962 the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Under the leadership of Yu.A. Trutnev in 1962, the fundamental problem of ensuring the ignition of thermonuclear fuel under the influence of radiation implosion was solved - a prototype of the explosive thermonuclear power engineering of the future was created.
In 1964 Yu.A. Trutnev was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1965 Yu.A. Trutnev became the successor of Academicians A.D. Sakharov and Ya.B. Zeldovich, heading the combined theoretical sector of VNIIEF (sector 1 - Ya.B. Zeldovich, sector 2 - A.D. Sakharov), which was headed by until 1999.
During this time, the team under his leadership has designed hundreds of nuclear and thermonuclear charges, which became the basis for nuclear equipment for almost all types of the Armed Forces of the USSR and Russia.
In 1966, Yu.A. Trutnev became the deputy scientific director of VNIIEF Academician Yuliy Borisovich Khariton, and in 1978 he became the first deputy scientific director. Since 1999, Yuri Alekseevich has been the first deputy scientific director of RFNC-VNIIEF for advanced research.
The initiatives of Yu.A. Trutnev on the development of new "non-traditional" directions of work in the team headed by him, which made it possible to start developing charges based on new physical principles and other significant projects, seem to be extremely valuable.
Yu.A. Trutnev is a leading specialist in the fields of high energy density physics and the creation of nuclear and thermonuclear charges. His work played a decisive role in the formation of the basic ideas of these new areas of knowledge, in the development of the theoretical and computational base and the development of many specific types of weapons.
On the initiative of Yu.A. Trutnev and with personal participation in many projects, a direction was organized for the creation of industrial charges, which have an important national economic purpose. Some of them were applied to solve problems of the national economy in practice (creation of reservoirs, extinguishing gas flares, intensification of gas and oil fields, etc.). The ideological continuation of this work was the research and development in the field of nuclear power safety conducted at RFNC-VNIIEF under the leadership of Yu.A. Trutnev.
In the 70-80s. Yu.A. Trutnev made a significant contribution to the organization of work in our country on studies of the survivability of rocket and space technology and the development of means of protection against the damaging effect of a nuclear explosion. With his participation, the problem of increasing the resistance of RKT to the action of PFNV was solved.
Yuri Alekseevich is a participant, and in many cases - the head of more than 50 nuclear tests and underground unique physical experiments to study the survivability of military equipment and the effect of the damaging factors of missile defense.
An important role was played by the measures taken by Yu.A. Trutnev to improve the qualifications of VNIIEF employees: the preparation of candidates and doctors of science, the organization of lectures for students of MEPhI, the organization of the Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics at the MEPhI, the organization of a branch of the Department of Theoretical Nuclear Physics of the MEPhI at VNIIEF.
For a long time Yu.A. Trutnev is a member of a number of Scientific and Technical Councils of the Ministry and RFNC-VNIIEF, a member of academic councils for the defense of doctoral and candidate dissertations, editor and member of the editorial board of the journal "Questions of Atomic Science and Technology"
In the 1960s-1980s, Yu.A. Trutnev, as the head of theoretical and computational work at VNIIEF and one of the founders of the VNIIEF computing center, made great efforts to further develop the scientific, technical and material base of the center.
These measures laid the foundation for the creation of the Institute of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics RFNC-VNIIEF.
The activity of Yu.A. Trutnev, aimed at preserving the nuclear status of Russia during the disintegration of the USSR, was of great importance.
Yu.A. Trutnev is an active member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (academician since 1991), has great authority in the academic environment. He is a member of the Bureau of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2003, Yu.A. Trutnev was awarded the I.V. Kurchatov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences for a set of closed works of major military-strategic and national economic importance, which provided the country with a modern reliable nuclear shield. Yuri Alekseevich was personally acquainted with I.V. Kurchatov, who, with his characteristic adherence to principles, supported the new promising developments of his young colleague.
The activities of Yu.A. Trutnev in the 90s as a member of the scientific advisory committee under the Board of Directors of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) were of great importance.
Amazing features of Yu.A. Trutnev are his remarkable scientific intuition and tremendous capacity for work. Now, on the threshold of his 90th birthday, he continues to actively work (together with a team of young people) on the development of new physical methods of maintaining the operability of nuclear weapons under the CTBT (proton radiography), on the creation of modern original types of non-nuclear weapons, means of overcoming missile defense, increasing the capabilities strategic submarines and many other major problems necessary to ensure Russia's security.
Yu.A. Trutnev was formed in purely applied science, filled with unconventional content, when the main skill is required: to solve a problem to the number and bring the matter to a trouble-free, efficient serial design.
Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev belongs to those rare talents who, at the beginning of his career, stood on a par with outstanding pioneers. He picked up the baton and is extremely successfully continuing the most important work in ensuring the national security of Russia.
Yu.A. Trutnev's talent in defining the development paths on which the national security of the state depends, consistency and uncompromising approach in upholding fundamental issues are the standard for new generations of specialists in the nuclear weapons complex.
All creative, more than 66 years scientific life of Yu.A. Trutnev is an example of selfless service to the Fatherland.
He is one of the obsessed people for whom the fate of the Fatherland will forever remain the main and indisputable priority.
Yu.A. Trutneva:
1956 - Order of Lenin;
1959 - laureate of the Lenin Prize;
1962 - Hero of Socialist Labor (Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal);
1970 - medal "For Valiant Labor" (to the 100th anniversary of VI Lenin);
1971 - Order of the October Revolution;
1975 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor;
1984 - Laureate of the State Prize;
1987 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor;
1997 - medal "850th anniversary of Moscow";
1997 - the title of "Honorary Citizen of the Nizhny Novgorod Region";
1998 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree;
2002 - Medal of FSUE TsKB MT “Rubin” For raising the agro-industrial complex “Kursk”;
2003 - gold medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after I.V. Kurchatov for a set of closed works of major military-strategic and national-economic importance, providing the country with a modern, reliable nuclear shield;
2003 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree;
2006 - Certificate of Honor of the President of the Russian Federation;
2007 - badge of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency “Academician I.V. Kurchatov "I degree;
2010 - badge “E.P. Slavsky "State Corporation" Rosatom ";
2011 - awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of Sarov";
2012 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree;
2012 - badge of distinction "For outstanding achievements in science and technology RFNC-VNIIEF", Gratitude of the Government of the Russian Federation, Medal of the Security Council of the Russian Federation "For services in ensuring national security";
2016 - laureate of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology.
On November 2, 2012, the outstanding theoretical physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev turned 85 years old. Trutnev, together with Dmitry Sakharov and Yakov Zeldovich, created the first thermonuclear charge. He has many titles and awards that the newspapers did not write about. Academician Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev recently came out of the shadows, most of his life and creative biography are still inaccessible, closed.
Today at 85 years old, just like 60 years ago, when the most important discoveries were made, Yuri Alekseevich is full of creative strength and is ready to come up with new ideas. Trutnev is the first deputy scientific director of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics. He is a laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes, Hero of Socialist Labor. In 2002 he was awarded the I.V. Kurchatov "for a set of closed works of the most important scientific, military-strategic and national economic importance and provided the country with a modern reliable nuclear shield."
The world's first thermonuclear bomb RDS-37 was tested on November 22, 1955 at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.Ammunition of unimaginable power was created
For Trutnev, this triumph was nothing more than a prelude to an even more remarkable idea. Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev and Yuri Nikolaevich Babaev became the developers of the physical scheme of the new charge. The tests took place on February 23, 1958, on the Day of the Red Army. New the design fully justified itself, after which the work at the institute was completely re-planned, which not only provided the country with a full arsenal of nuclear weapons, but laid the foundations of the very parity that made their use impossible.
In the period 1958 and 1961-1962. Yu. A. Trutnev was the most active and effective developer of thermonuclear weapons. Of 73 nuclear tests of thermonuclear two-stage charges carried out during this period, 45 were tested by the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, while in 28 tests these were developments with the personal participation of Yu. A. Trutnev, and 27 of them were successful. Nothing like this happened either before or after. 
Over time, the future academician Yu. A. Trutnev took a direct part in the program of using nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. Creation of an artificial lake in the Kazakh steppe and underground storage of hydrocarbon fuel, extinguishing gas and oil fountains, geophysical research and geological exploration and much more - all this made it possible to say that the "peaceful professions" of atomic weapons are quite real.
The development of technology for the use of thermonuclear explosions for peaceful purposes was considered the most realistic way in the problem of mastering thermonuclear reactions, since the problem of releasing thermonuclear energy and neutrons has already been solved in the charges. The task of localizing explosions, though difficult, is not of a fundamental nature.
For example, one of the works performed by Yu. Trutnev, Yu. Babaev and A. Pevnitskiy in 1963 was called "Stationary installation for obtaining active substances and electricity using nuclear and thermonuclear explosions." In it, the authors wrote: 
"A different approach to the problem of mastering nuclear energy is possible - the use of explosive processes for industrial purposes. Specially designed atomic and thermonuclear charges can be used in many branches of science and technology. The most tempting use of nuclear explosions for the production of electricity and fissile substances seems to us ..." Yuri Alekseevich is one of the brightest and most prominent creators of domestic nuclear weapons. Co-author of the ideas that formed the basis for the design of modern thermonuclear charges and their "clean" options for peaceful use. One of the initiators of the development of super-powerful thermonuclear charges. Initiator and participant in the development of a 50-megaton thermonuclear bomb, known throughout the world as "Kuzkina's Mother", and its tests on October 30, 1961. In preparation for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the country's nuclear industry, the organizers of the exhibition in Moscow asked Trutnev if he would recommend any exhibit. And in response they heard: “In the capital there is the Tsar Cannon, which never fired, and the Tsar Bell, which never rung. Take the model of our superbomb ... Then there will be Tsar Bomba in Moscow, which has never been in service with the army. " But this proposal was never implemented.
Congratulations to Alexander Nikolaevich Shcherbina Congratulating my dear senior friend, leader and participant in many pioneering work on the creation of the country's nuclear shield, colleague and ally, an opponent in scientific and technical discussions, on this day I recall a small life episode from our everyday life that occurred during one of the irradiation experiments, in
adit 156 in February 1975 at the Degelen site of the Semipalatinsk test site. The scientific supervisor of the experiment was Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev.
The experiment used a charge - an irradiator developed by Snezhinsk (V.Z. Nechai). The charge has already been tested in several experiments carried out on autonomous programs by both institutes, and showed stable characteristics.
I note that starting from this experience, the program of work of the Snezhinsky VNIITF was presented in the program of all educational experiments conducted by the Sarov VNIIEF. That is, in fact, these were joint works of two nuclear centers. The above experience was the first in which the implemented measures to increase the resistance to a given level in the structure transferred to service were tested.
The physical installation was opened, the adit was blown through, Yuri Alekseevich and I have to go through the pipe of the physical installation to the irradiated positions before starting to dismantle them.
Yuri Alekseevich is already in the adit, wearing an old fur coat that has seen the best of times. The weather, although sunny, but with wind and minus 25C.
For me, the financially responsible expedition ("obscene") hardly picked up a fur coat and lamented that he had something underloaded when sending.
They put on rubber boots. Trutnev looked critically at my new fur coat, but I did not guess to put on any plastic hoodie, I decided - a pipe with a diameter of more than two meters - I will go carefully.
We went to the position, examined, agreed on the sequence of operations. We went out, we were met by dosimetrists, a "ritual" bonfire for contaminated waste was already burning to the side. They check us and offer to throw fur coats into the fire, and hats too.
Yuri Alekseevich calmly fulfills the proposal. He is immediately served with a fur coat and a new hat from the van. And the dosimetrists won't let me go anywhere. They took me aside and offered to ride in a fur coat in the snow, but it didn't help. The hat had to be turned over to the fire, Someone found a bundle on my head, rented it.
After about a couple of hours, a replacement was brought to me, and the contaminated new fur coat was agreed: it was packed in a plastic bag, then in a box, sealed and put into storage. The ban was lifted six months later. This is how I helped preserve the workwear. While I was waiting for a replacement, I froze to death, called myself an asshole many times, in general, I suffered through it.
An interesting continuation of this episode took place during the preparation of the experiment at the 200ASM adit. One morning a delegation from VNIIEF came to me: "Shcherbina, you need a nth ration of alcohol." For what? “At night, the installers installed (welded) an additional blast shutter to reduce the likelihood of seepage. We pay for the urgency of the execution of the unplanned work in the project ”. I ask, well, what have I to do with it? And then they reminded me how the dosimetrists did not let me out on the 156th, how I rode in the snow? Instructed to pay immediately.
Dear colleagues and associates, test participants. We have been and remain a single polygon brotherhood.
Dear Yuri Alekseevich!
Congratulations on your 85th birthday! Health, well-being, success and implementation of ideas.
I hug.
My meetings with Yuri Alekseevich
It was a year full of physical experiences. 1983 or 1984. In preparation for the next test, the heads of the VNIIEF divisions were received in the adit Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev and Alexander Ivanovich Pavlovsky. These representatives are great
sciences more often than other venerable scientists appeared at the Test Site as part of the testers. This time, choosing free time, the academicians decided to get acquainted with the unique data obtained by the testers of the Test Site when examining the condition of the driving complex and the boiler cavity of adit No. 103, where two nuclear explosions were carried out simultaneously. The survey participants chose me as the speaker. I was the initiator of the second visit to the adit, when Ivan Moskovskikh managed to penetrate the blast cavity through the hammering cracks and thereby open the way for the rest of the stalkers. All materials of the survey were concentrated with me, since I was the responsible performer of the section of the research topic related to this adit.
The report took place in the office of the Deputy Head of the Polygon for NIIR, Major General Malunov Albert Vladimirovich. Malunov was sitting at his workplace and going about his business - flipping through some documents, making notes in them, signing obliquely. Yuri Alekseevich and Aleksandr Ivanovich sat down at a long table adjoining the general's table, closer to its end, apparently not wanting to interfere with the work of the cabinet owner. I sat in front of them, spreading sheets of not yet stitched report and a stack of stereo photographs masterfully made by Lesha Solomonov on the table. During my report, Yuri Adlekseevich carefully examined the table, peered at the photographs that aroused his interest, but did not ask a single question. The results were discussed with Alexander Ivanovich. Sometimes he made interesting comments and paid attention to the nuances that I missed while working on the report.
When I was exhausted, and Pavlovsky satisfied his interest in our research, Yuri Alekseevich asked Malunov a question: - Albert Vladimirovich, how did you encourage the guys for this, you can safely call it, a feat? - I did not punish them for arbitrariness. His distinguished guests only shrugged their shoulders.
The last meeting with Yuri Alekseevich took place on the last day of my last trip to Arzamas-16 in 1986. I don’t remember what issue the meeting was devoted to, that the deputy chief for NIIR, Major General Shidlovsky German Georgievich, took part in it from the Polygon, and I, as a specialist, from the 12th GU MO, Colonel Yura Shipko.
On the morning of departure, Shidlovsky called me to his hotel room and asked, using the car provided to him, to go to the airport for plane tickets to Moscow. I took his massive general's certificate and was about to leave, when after a short knock the door opened and Yuri Alekseevich, dressed in a ski suit, burst into it sideways, holding skis and ski poles with both hands. Poking his skis into the corner, he opened his wide sports jacket and from somewhere from his heart took out a bottle of cognac: - We have a massive ski race dedicated to the end of the season, so I decided to run to you to say goodbye! Noticing my attempt to leave the room, Trutnev held me by the sleeve: - Wait, let's drink for the road! I think your commander won't mind? Shydlovsky nodded his head in agreement. What is good about the general's room is that it had a refrigerator, TV and a sideboard. I took glasses from the sideboard, German Georgievich from the refrigerator a lemon. A minute - and the table for the road was laid. After the first glass, I still went to get tickets.
Returning, I found an empty bottle in the general's room and drinking companions at a lively conversation. After listening, I realized that between them, even from the meeting, there were still agreed terms for preparing for some kind of test.
Seeing me, Yuri Alekseevich interrupted the conversation and suggested: There is an opinion to continue! To which Shydlovsky waved his hands resolutely: - We have no time, just over half an hour left before takeoff! On this and said goodbye.
I am proud that my military destiny brought me to the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site and allowed me to make some, albeit insignificant, contribution to the implementation of the plans of the great scientist Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev and honored at least a brief acquaintance with him. I wish you health, Yuri Alekseevich, and creative longevity.
I am sure that all the veterans of the Test Site will join my wishes!
Vladimir GUBAREV.
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov left a legacy to each of us. One - his understanding of the world and society, the other - conscientiousness, the third - courage and ability to fight, and all together - the same "Sakharov's world", which has already become an exciting page in the history of not only our Motherland, but also the life of mankind of the 20th century. Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev also inherited responsibility for the fate of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, which were created under the leadership of Academician Sakharov. Still, one should not forget that he was not only a great humanist, but also an equally great theoretical physicist. Trutnev is not just Sakharov's colleague, his comrade-in-arms (they worked together for many years and the last time they met a few days before the death of Andrei Dmitrievich), but most importantly - a like-minded person. Yes, they did not always agree, yes, they argued, but they always found a common point of view. Both in science and in politics. That is why Yuri Trutnev today holds the same position at the Federal Nuclear Center (All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics) and the same position that previously belonged to Sakharov.
Academician Trutnev looks tired. He has just returned from Moscow. A regular meeting was held in the Russian government at which disarmament problems were discussed, and again - for the umpteenth time! - I had to listen to different opinions about the fate of nuclear weapons. It is difficult for Yuri Alekseevich, because his views are unusual, and some colleagues and members of the public are critical of them. You can, of course, give in to either one or the other, but this is not in Trutnev's character - we remember whose inheritance fell on his shoulders!
- Do you, Yuri Alekseevich, as far as I know, have a special point of view on nuclear disarmament?
Why "special"? I just think as a citizen and a specialist. The fact is that already familiar words are heard in our address: "And they would only blow up!" They attribute to us the fear of losing our jobs and so on. We will never lose our jobs, even if we stop dealing with weapons. Our specialty is of such a wide profile - it is connected with various fields of physics, technologies, structures, that we will always find the use of our forces, and partly this is already happening. It is important to understand that arms reduction is a completely natural process. So talk about losing a job and "wanting to blow up" is often not just incompetence, but a desire to gain political capital. It is fashionable to scold nuclear weapons, those who dealt with military issues. But we must not forget that in our world - a complex, crisis-ridden - the country still needs defense. And nuclear weapons, from my point of view, are the cheapest way to prevent any threats, any difficulties. Nuclear weapons are weapons and political. It makes a possible aggressor think seriously before starting a conflict with the country where it is. For us, nuclear weapons are of particular importance - this is the country's geopolitical position. The Americans are good - they sit across three oceans, and we are in the very center of the mainland. And who said that it is calm on it ?! Let's remember the borders, territorial claims. I am not speaking from the point of view of any imperial ambitions, but simply stating the reality.
- Are you worried about the current state of affairs in Russia?
Of course. The crisis is deep. In addition, one must live not only for today. And what to expect in the future is still unknown. At least the Americans are not going to give up their nuclear weapons, it is only about reduction. And I think this is correct. Why was there an arms race, why so many nuclear weapons were accumulated? These questions should not be answered by scientists. Claims should be made to politicians, because the development of events depended primarily on them.
- Were you only performers? Or did they to some extent determine the country's nuclear strategy?
Of course, we did not define it, but our work influenced the behavior of politicians. I'm not going to make excuses, moreover, I do not regret at all that I took part in the creation of weapons. We worked to strengthen the country's defense capability, and we did not spare ourselves. Together with the whole country, because nuclear weapons are the work of many thousands of people. And our conscience is clear, since we did not have Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And accidents with weapons never happened ... Where is the tree, I'll knock ...
I know that recently a group of Russian specialists was invited to the United States, where they were shown the ways and methods of dealing with such accidents. So to speak, the Americans shared their own sad experiences.
Fortunately, we did not have such serious accidents ... Well, what now? It seems to me that nuclear weapons will exist for a long time to come. They say: "weapons of mass destruction". What happened to Dresden? How many people died there as a result of "carpet bombing"? About forty thousand ... This is without any atomic bomb. And in Iraq? ... Of course, nuclear weapons have special properties, multi-factor impact, but modern types of weapons too, I would say ...
-… not a gift!
That's it! So it is necessary to think much more broadly, not resting only on nuclear weapons. In my opinion, the future of nuclear weapons is, first of all, a reduction in the number of ammunition, an increase in the safety of its storage, especially in our country, and the creation of new, more reliable types of it.
- In that case, tests are necessary?
Weapons cannot exist without them. I sometimes hear that, they say, you can create a weapon and not test it. And they refer to Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov. I spoke with him about this three days before his death. He did not change his point of view, although I tried to convince him, recalled several cases from our joint work. I treat Andrei Dmitrievich with deep respect, I am his student, but in this case he is wrong. If one approaches weapons as a technical means, then one cannot do without testing ... By the way, the most curious thing is that those who have nothing to do with the creation of weapons start talking about this ... In fact, the question of testing is highly politicized. Yes, there were air tests. This is one thing. The underground is completely different. Even in that memorable conversation, Andrei Dmitrievich admitted that underground nuclear explosions are safe. I say this for those who are used to referring to authorities.
- But this is if there are security guarantees?
We have a technology that provides that there will be no emissions at all. For some reason, it is still classified. I believe that all this data should be brought to the public, which leads the discussion about the tests. Why hide the new ?!
I want to emphasize that a professional army should deal with nuclear weapons, and responsibility is necessary when handling them. And a strategy of flexible containment and flexible response must be chosen. These goals will be met by troops equipped with nuclear weapons ... It is often said: who is going to attack us? If we follow this logic, then neither the army nor the weapons are needed. The weaker we become, the more temptations - in my opinion, this is clear.
Yuri Alekseevich, there are rumors that the idea of \u200b\u200bretargeting our missiles from targets in the United States, which Yeltsin announced, belongs to you? This proposal, as you know, caused a lot of misinterpretation in the world, moreover, some considered the idea to be adventurous.
I can only say one thing. In that statement of the President, it was about the elimination of anti-American orientation, that is, the removal of flight missions from missiles aimed at the United States. And the press turned everything upside down, they say, let's redirect from cities to military targets. This is nonsense, because shooting at cities or military targets is the same thing, radioactive contamination will be everywhere. But excluding the possibility of shooting altogether is a completely different matter! I believe it was a political step, a step of goodwill. It was necessary to show that we are not opponents. And to be honest, one could expect a response, but, unfortunately, it did not follow - American missiles are still aimed at us.
- You mentioned that "we must deal with the safety of weapons, especially with us." What exactly did you mean?
Not the weapon itself, but the situation in Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union. The fall in discipline, the possibility of accidents during transportation, and so on.
- Because of the collapse in the country, is there a danger of a "careless" attitude to weapons?
No, you can't say that. On the contrary, today the measures to prevent such accidents are being tightened. The military is doing a lot of work, and we support them with technical means.
- Did you come to the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics as an ordinary engineer?
Laboratory assistant.
- And now?
First Deputy Academic Supervisor.
- I know that in Arzamas-16 they don't pursue titles and awards - they are given. What are yours?
Academician. Ph.D. I never got the title of "professor" - there was no time, and I don't attach any importance to it. Laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes. Hero of Socialist Labor ... And so on. Why ask this?
- To ask the next question: what is the most expensive award for you?
When you get what you intend. I do not mean an award, but the implementation of a scientific idea.
- When did you first feel it?
Really for the first time in 1958 ... No, sorry, earlier ... in 55! .. Then we had a real technological breakthrough - we implemented one idea, to which I was directly related.
- Sometimes nuclear scientists are called "blind hawks". Is it insulting to read and hear this?
Not so much offensive for myself - we worried and not that. But for speculation around weapons, for the atmosphere in the country and in science - it is bitter. Everyone is looking for a reason why they began to live worse: who is to blame? And immediately the answer: the military-industrial complex. He, they say, ate everything ... And from here comes anger, ill will, even meanness. But this is not so! There is a substitution of concepts - "effect" is swapped with "cause". Political games again.
- What do you think, the creation of nuclear weapons made it possible to break into new areas of natural science?
Certainly. We have to deal with physical phenomena that cannot be reproduced in laboratory conditions. Temperatures - tens, hundreds of millions of degrees, pressures - billions of atmospheres, densities - hundreds of thousands of grams per cubic centimeter, times - hundred millionths of a second ... Here completely new areas of physics appeared.
- What is "one hundred millionth of a second"? How to understand, comprehend?
It is necessary to comprehend in order to make calculations. But, of course, it is impossible to feel.
- When you immerse yourself in calculations, you do not have the feeling that you live in another world?
Probably not. Psychology doesn't change.
Although, probably, we all live in a world that is difficult to understand. Here the Sun is shining, and inside it is about the same temperatures ...
Not really ... Now I will calculate ... No, there are only millions of degrees in the center of the Sun. Not tens, not hundreds of millions ...
- So the sun is a relatively simple device compared to an atomic bomb?
No it is not! The sun is still a completely unknown object. It is too complex a system ... Everything is simple when you understand how it works ... You will talk to physicists who deal with elementary particles, vacuum and so on. The abstraction there is so great that it's hard to imagine! Compared to their constructions, our millions of degrees and billions of atmospheres are simple, because they are understandable. We are still capable of creating models, but even this is impossible for them - you cannot explain anything on your fingers ...
Let's do a little experiment: fast forward 500 years. Do you think the current work in physics, in particular on nuclear weapons, will be useful to the scientists of that time?
And what was 500 years ago is needed today?
- There was a Renaissance ...
And now is the era of the scientific and technological revolution! ... They will simply look at our affairs with different eyes, understanding the incompleteness of our knowledge ... Different historical conditions, people, tasks, interests ... Each time has its own ...
You have been in Arzamas-16 for a long time. Obviously, there were different periods - once better, then worse. When was it the hardest for you personally?
At the beginning. At the university, they taught schoolchildren, but here knowledge had to be applied in practice. Yes, even now young people come, and it turns out that they must be retrained immediately ... At different times it was hard and good, easy and difficult - always in different ways ... Life is life, it is difficult to single out anything from it ... Now, of course, more difficulties. And sometimes you don't know how to overcome them. You are looking for a solution, you find it, you are mistaken, you look again - there are no recipes.
Only facts: During the period of "thermonuclear fever" 1956-1958. 59 nuclear tests were carried out in the USSR. In 1958, a new type of thermonuclear charge "item 49" was tested. The ideologists of this project and the developers of the physical charging circuit were Yu. A. Trutnev and Yu. N. Babaev. For the creation of "product 49" they were awarded the Lenin Prize ...
In the period 1958 and 1961-1962. Yu. A. Trutnev was the most active and effective developer of thermonuclear weapons. Of 73 nuclear tests of thermonuclear two-stage charges carried out during this period, 45 were tested by the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, while in 28 tests these were developments with the personal participation of Yu. A. Trutnev, and 27 of them were successful. Nothing like this happened either before or after.
In 1965, two theoretical sectors led by Ya. B. Zel'dovich and A. D. Sakharov were united. Yu. A. Trutnev became the head of theoretical physicists. In 1964 he was elected Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
- You are Sakharov's student ...
Not only him, but also Zeldovich, Frank-Kamenetsky, Khariton - many had to learn from many.
- Which of them had the greatest influence on you?
At the earliest stage, when I just arrived here, - David Albertovich Frank-Kamenetsky. An exceptionally educated person, an intellectual. Very kind. An excellent physicist. He helped me a lot ... We were cramped then, small rooms, and he sat me down opposite. And he just started to quietly teach how to work. At the same time he brought books that were not directly related to our business, he could read Gumilyov's poems at the height of the working day ... He treated us like a father, I learned a lot from him in the scientific and everyday sense.
Excuse me, what Gumilyov was at that time ?! You live in a closed city, you are bugged not only at work, but also at home ?!
Whether they listened or not, I don't know. This did not affect us. Moreover, we discussed political issues much more frankly than on the "mainland". We worked on a problem of national importance, and therefore the attitude towards us was different than towards the rest. Freedom of thinking in physics is inevitably associated with free thinking in everything, including politics. We were not afraid, did not think "with an eye". And besides everything else, a lot of intelligent people worked here - scientists of world renown, and therefore the atmosphere was both friendly and creative. She forced to show initiative, ingenuity - everyone tried to give a fresh idea. First of all, a person was appreciated for ideas, for their development.
- Was it difficult to make a career here?
We didn't think about it. I have employees who have done a lot, and they are not even candidates of sciences, not doctors, although they can be immediately elected to academics. They just live by work. I believe that Arzamas-16, our institute, is not inferior, for example, to the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences. By the number of qualified personnel, by the variety of topics.
- What do you spend more time on: scientific work or walking around the offices?
I have to think about working for employees due to the reduction of the main topic and raise money. We need contracts, we have to look for them.
- Is the brain drain problem far-fetched?
Much will depend on how events unfold. I personally think that our people are unlikely to leave, although I cannot rule it out. After all, many of those who worked in Arzamas-16 now found themselves "abroad" - I mean Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus ... But this is not the main thing.
- Isn't the fate of weapons outside Russia important?
Politicians will solve this problem. I am concerned about something else. Over the decades, we have developed a unique scientific and technical team that brings together professionals of various specialties. This is the specificity of nuclear weapons, the creation of which has united theoretical physicists, experimenters, technologists, designers, chemists, and so on. I am afraid that this conglomerate will fall apart in today's environment. And this will be a loss not only for Russia, but for the entire world science.
- Do Americans think so?
Arzamas-16, now Sarov, is the world's largest science center. Our American colleagues fully agree with this and highly appreciate our work.
Who do you think understands each other better: Russian and American politicians or you, nuclear weapons specialists?
I don’t know about politicians, but we always find a common language with American specialists. We talk like colleagues who know each other's work well.
- Isn't it strange that you are released to America? Trust, perhaps, have become more, they say, do not run away ?!
They have always trusted us, otherwise they simply cannot. But times have changed, “at the top” they understood that scientific contacts need to be developed, but there is no need for us to run away ... Finally, they understood it!
- Let's go back to the past. You told about Frank-Kamenetsky. Now it's Yakov Borisovich's turn.
Zeldovich is an exceptional person and an outstanding physicist. He knew how to explain the most complex phenomena in a simple, understandable, literal way. We treated him as a great scientist, but there was no "wall" between us. At work, everyone is equal. And when you feel the benevolence of a leader, when you come to him with an idea or everyday question and you know that he will definitely help, support, then this creates a special atmosphere ... Yakov Borisovich was a very witty person, he loved Saltykov-Shchedrin, often quoted him. Always to the point and to the point.
- Did he change when he left the "object"?
Not. Congratulations very warmly when I was fifty. He helped if we turned to him. And we never forgot about him. Remember, he had troubles? Purely political ...
In part, I was also guilty of them. After all, I published a conversation with Zeldovich in Komsomolskaya Pravda. The party's Central Committee did not like the headline very much, and from there an order soon came "to condemn Zeldovich as an idealist." And I myself came up with the name of our conversation at the last moment and did not agree on it with Yakov Borisovich. The headline was: “When the Universe didn’t exist yet ...” And the party ideologists found fault with it.
Then we wrote letters to Kommunist in his defense, but they were not published.
- And what was Sakharov like?
At first we did not know what was going on in the neighboring departments, and therefore we did not suspect what Sakharov and his group were doing. And then, in 1953 or even earlier, they began to interact ... Andrei Dmitrievich was then a completely different person than the one everyone knows. It can be seen even from the photographs ... We cooperated very closely and fully felt the happiness of communicating with him. We had a trusting relationship. They talked about everything: from nuclear charges to political issues ... What is typical for him? He knew how to see the essence of the question, and he already had a ready answer. It's amazing! Was inventive, ideas - a huge amount! Many of our divisions still live on his ideas and develop them. Suffice it to say that together with Tamm he proposed the Tokamak. Laser thermonuclear fusion, the ideas associated with it - it was just being born before my eyes ... Well, and the first hydrogen, thermonuclear bomb - he was one of those who invented it ... Sakharov largely supported our undertakings. I had a friend, Yuri Nikolaevich Babaev. We managed to look a little differently at what happened before - and a new design appeared, which underlies a number of products. Andrey Dmitrievich supported us immediately! Of course, we did not think that he could leave Arzamas - how without him ?! But starting from a certain moment he wanted to leave ... And his wife, too, I mean Klavdia Alekseevna ... As I understand it, he felt that he had solved major problems and that the field of activity had to be changed. I was looking for a new application of strength ... I am not belittling his role in the democratization of society, his political activity, but still it is a pity that he could not fully engage in science.
- I am tormented by one question: why did the physicists in Arzamas-16 not protest when Sakharov was exiled to Gorky?
Indeed, there were no protests, although everyone perfectly understood that something was wrong. That is why they did not sign letters against Andrei Dmitrievich, moreover, when he was in disgrace in Moscow, they came to him, talked, communicated ... No, there was no civil cowardice. After all, we have always lived under the burden of responsibility, we realized that the country's nuclear defense rests on our shoulders, regardless of what political storms occur on the "mainland". And, by the way, Sakharov understood this. I remember he returned from Gorky. There was a general meeting of the Academy. We - several people - stood and talked. All worked at different times in Arzamas-16. Suddenly someone takes my hand and says: "Yura". I turn around. I didn't recognize him at first! Aged, gray-haired ... "Lord, Andrei Dmitrievich, dear!" We hugged, talked ...
- Did you hide your offense?
He understood everything, and he understood us well ... You asked a difficult question. Honestly, there is no answer to it ...
And one more thing. The house where you live is opposite Sakharov's house - the street divides. NKVD officers with dogs led the columns of prisoners along it. Every morning to work, and back in the evening. Did it affect you? In his memoirs, Sakharov only mentions the very fact - the participation of prisoners in the creation of the "object".
One evening I left my friends and began to cross the street. I walked between the prisoners and the escort, and suddenly he attacked me with a carbine, completely brutal ... I remember these columns, the prisoners worked here until 1957. I understand Sakharov, he did not want to talk and write about it in detail - this is a tragic part of our history, all of us, without exception. It is necessary to know and remember, but you cannot savor… They don’t talk about it, but they think… Everyone has something purely personal, their own. When Sakharov's 70th birthday was being held, I refused to speak with memories, because too many today like to talk about their closeness to him ... By the way, he knew how to sign with both hands - "A. Sakharov" ... I remember once came to work in minor mood, this happened often. I went up to the blackboard, started writing something, walked away and suddenly began to read Pushkin's "Traffic Complaints" ... It struck me. This is one of my favorites: "How long can I walk in the world ..." Andrei Dmitrievich was a great man, I mean - not a specialist, not a physicist, not a humanist, but a person. He reminded me of a knight of conscience - the last instance that could resolve any disputes. If Sakharov said so, then it is so ...
- And Khariton? What is typical for Yuliy Borisovich?
The ability to get into the most delicate things. He often paid attention to what others did not notice. It seemed that he was doing a little thing! And then it turned out that this "trifle" grows into a huge problem. His motto: "We need to know ten times more than we do!" And he is undoubtedly right ... One can only marvel at his courage: a man devoted himself to work. One of the main features is the ability to persistently achieve a solution to the task that he has set. And we owe a lot to Khariton for the creation of nuclear weapons in our country.
Yuri Trutnev. A few words about the future: "If cohesion prevails in the world and the desire to jointly overcome the gigantic problems facing humanity (depletion of raw materials, lack of food, environmental crisis, spiritual impoverishment), then the need for many types of national weapons will naturally disappear. civilization will be overwhelmed by the chaos of all kinds of conflicts, then the ideas of national (bloc) salvation will dominate, and in this case it is possible to foresee the emergence of a new arms race, specific to the conditions of a multipolar world. It can be predicted that the United States will retain its nuclear forces for a long time, at least until until real life shows which path world development will take. It would be appropriate for Russia to adhere to this approach, especially since it has everything it needs for this. "
- Do you regret your past?
Not. In the life of our generation, there were both bad and good. I try to remember the best.
In 2002, the 75th anniversary of the birth of Academician Yu. A. Trutnev was celebrated. A monograph was released for the anniversary, in which the scientist spoke about his work. For many decades, they have been highly classified. Some of them are amazing ...
For example, one of the works performed by Yu. Trutnev, Yu. Babaev and A. Pevnitskiy in 1963 was called "Stationary installation for obtaining active substances and electricity using nuclear and thermonuclear explosions." In it, the authors wrote:
"A different approach to the problem of mastering nuclear energy is possible - the use of explosive processes for industrial purposes. Specially designed atomic and thermonuclear charges can be used in many branches of science and technology. The most tempting use of nuclear explosions for the production of electricity and fissile substances seems to us ..."
It won't be long before the future Academician Yu. A. Trutnev will take a direct part in the program of using nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. The creation of an artificial lake in the desert and underground storage facilities, extinguishing gas and oil fountains, geophysical research and exploration and much more - all this made it possible to say that the "peaceful professions" of atomic weapons are quite real.
But the project proposed in 1963 was more daring:
"The explosion is carried out in such conditions that the released energy is concentrated in a limited volume of a substance and then taken by gradually cooling this substance. It is possible to create a special charge in which the neutrons released during the explosion will be almost completely absorbed by uranium-238 or thorium-232 . When neutrons are absorbed, uranium-238 is converted into plutonium-239, and thorium-232 into uranium-233 ... "
In essence, we are talking about the production of "main" explosives, that is, the reproduction of unique materials. We explode the plutonium and ... we get the same plutonium in even larger quantities!
By the way, immediately after our first bomb test in August 1949, two great physicists G. Flerov and D. Frank-Kamenetsky proposed to detonate atomic charges deep underground. It was assumed that the rocks will melt and for a long time there will be a temperature of the order of three thousand degrees. If you drill wells and pump water through this "atomic furnace", you can bring energy to the surface. And when the rock completely cools down, a new deposit of artificial elements - plutonium and uranium-233 - is formed underground.
"In our opinion, conducting explosions in a stationary installation (chamber) is a more realistic way of using nuclear and thermonuclear charges in order to obtain electricity and active substances ...
The use of thermonuclear charges is especially interesting. They use cheap deuterium as a "combustible" material. Fissile substances are used only as a fuse for thermonuclear reactions ...
The use of thermonuclear explosions, apparently, is the most realistic way in the problem of mastering thermonuclear reactions, since the problem of releasing thermonuclear energy and neutrons has already been solved in charges. The problem of localizing explosions, though difficult, is not of a fundamental nature. "
What is an installation for the production of fissile substances and electricity? This is a special chamber filled with heating gas. A charge explodes in its center. The gas temperature rises to almost one and a half thousand degrees, and the pressure to 300 atmospheres. In the heat exchanger, the gas gives up energy - after an hour, the temperature drops three times, and the pressure drops sharply. You can make the next explosion ...
The walls of the chamber are made of very durable material. Steel is best suited for this. The wall is about five meters thick. The chamber diameter is 120 meters. In such a chamber, you can detonate a charge of approximately the same power that was dropped on Hiroshima.
The authors of the project studied different options for the coolant that can be used in such a supercamera. Even water sprayed into small particles filling the entire volume was investigated. However, it had to be abandoned: the creation of such tiny drops is difficult to implement technically. Still, the primacy remains with hydrogen.
It is rather difficult to inject new nuclear charges into the chamber - you cannot break its tightness. Therefore, the authors have developed a special airlock device that allows the charge to be lowered on a cable into the very center of the explosion chamber. And this is done every hour. The creation of such a device is already unique in itself.
A lot of ingenuity was required from scientists in the development of a heat exchanger, filter device, compressors, piping systems and even a power plant. According to calculations, it turned out that the power plant's capacity would be about four million kilowatts.
Fantastic project! Of course, many technical problems arise. Thermonuclear charges as fuel - nothing like this has ever existed. But even quite recently nothing was known about thermonuclear weapons themselves! Moreover, physicists were convinced that it was impossible to reproduce the processes going on the Sun under terrestrial conditions ... However, artificial suns lit up at nuclear test sites, why can't they be used for the benefit of people, and not for destruction ?!
From Yu. Trutnev and A. Pevnitsky they demanded to conduct an economic feasibility study of the project. And in 1964, another secret work appears, in which scientists give economic assessments to their proposals.
Specifically, they state:
"Attempts to carry out a controlled thermonuclear reaction run up against a number of fundamental difficulties, and it is unlikely that an industrial power plant will be created on its basis in the near future. Much more progress has been made on the way of creating systems in which expanded reproduction of nuclear fuel is carried out. Already designed and successfully operating fast breeder reactors with a breeding ratio noticeably greater than unity.
In our opinion, it is quite realistic and, possibly, promising, especially during the period of gradual transition of energy to nuclear fuel, is the production of electricity and active substances by repeated explosions of thermonuclear charges in a stationary installation ... "
Economic calculations of the operation of the HTR show that when using special charges, it is possible to achieve that the active substance will be fully replenished, and in this case the price of the generated electricity will be comparable to the cost of energy generated at the nuclear power plant.
In the 1960s, the project proposed by scientists at Arzamas-16 was not implemented. Soon all nuclear explosions, both military and peaceful, fell under an international ban. The Americans, who lagged far behind our scientists and designers in this direction, did everything possible to first slow down, and then completely stop such work in Russia. And now the audacious and original projects of our scientists fell into the category of "fantastic".
Maybe we will learn to light the earthly stars that we need so much ?!
On November 2, the legendary nuclear physicist academician celebrated his 90th birthday Yuri Trutnev, a scientist who stood at the origins of the design of modern Russian nuclear weapons. Largely thanks to his work, nuclear parity between the Soviet Union and the United States became possible and, ultimately, security on the entire planet.
VGTRK correspondent Maria Saushkina became the first among journalists who managed to visit Yuri Alekseevich's home and ask him about his work on secret projects.
One of the creators of the hydrogen bomb is 90, and he is all like a boy: youthfully cheerful, cheerful and, as before, stubborn. Hardening and straightening - a genius physicist, on whose shoulders lay the burden of responsibility for world peace and on whose discoveries and research depended the balance of the world, is not slowing down even today.
Explosion. Chain reaction. All over the world the connection is cut off. The all-consuming energy of force acts, incinerating everything in its path. In 1955, the Russians established a new world order, bringing the world into balance. The nuclear race has stopped. The United States has to change its plans - the blow that they wanted to inflict on the Soviets becomes meaningless. Overseas from now on they can show that very "Kuzkin's mother".
Once these missile warheads served as a shield for our Motherland, and the world's most powerful bomb played a huge political role - it was after it was detonated at the test site that the Moscow Treaty was signed to stop testing in three environments at once: in space, in the air and in water.
Akademgorodok in Sarov is one of the most secret places in the world. The genius physicist Trutnev meets us in his wooden mansion. All his life he did not need anything except science. Having experienced the hardships and deprivations of war in his youth, he longed for only one thing - so that this would not happen again. With this fuse, the young physicist, leaving everything, moved from St. Petersburg to the secret city of Arzamas-16.
"On Isaac's Square, opposite my father's institute, is the former German embassy. I saw a colossal red flag with a swastika. For me it was a blow to the heart. That is why I went so that such things do not happen again. Evil can only be defeated by evil. You are bad. you behave, let's make peace with you - this is all for the children, "says Yuri Trutnev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, First Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center.
In the Soviet Union, the hydrogen bomb was created in every sense in spite of. In the hungry post-war years, when the country was just getting on its feet, they began to work almost from scratch on a thermonuclear bomb. Created in the image and likeness of the American, intelligence reported, but firmly following the principle of "catch up and overtake."
What was inside the bomb had to be solved. The principle of radiation implosion that Soviet scientists did not know about. It was Trutnev who understood how this principle works. The American hydrogen bomb was bulky - about a three-story building - and ours, exceeding all expectations, could be delivered by bombers anywhere in the world.
“We knew that the Americans did it. It made us think and think. As a result, in 1955 we discovered this principle and this thermonuclear charge,” Trutnev recalls.
Today all over the world there is a new race for the most efficient use of thermonuclear energy in a peaceful way. The Federal Nuclear Center under the leadership of the Rosatom Corporation in Sarov is confidently leading in this competition of powers.
A project to create a powerful laser, with the help of which a thermonuclear reaction will be used in production.
"The developments that were made 50-60 years ago, including those associated with the name of Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev, are now and will be used, among other things, to obtain thermonuclear energy for industrial purposes. And the project that is now being implemented here, is a project that can ensure the leadership of our country in the field of thermonuclear energy ", - noted the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev.
Scientific centers of France, China, Russia and the USA are currently working on the creation of a powerful laser of this class. Who will be the first in obtaining this peaceful energy of thermonuclear fusion, scientists will give an answer in just a few years.
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Legendary Russian scientist Academician Yuri Trutnev turns 90 on Thursday. He made a decisive contribution to the development of the foundations of modern Russian nuclear weapons and the achievement of strategic parity with the United States.
Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev refers to people whose services to the homeland are invaluable. For obvious reasons, it is far from always possible to talk widely about his work. But even those of his brilliant ideas, which are already known from open publications, would probably be enough for more than a dozen specialists. Here, not only the main, military theme of his work, but also peaceful nuclear explosions, and atomic energy.
"All modern thermonuclear weapons are primarily associated with the name of Yuri Trutnev. Very talented people have always gathered in our nuclear center in Sarov. Among them were geniuses. So Trutnev belongs to the category of such geniuses,"
The writer told RIA Novosti Vladimir Gubarev, which at one time "opened" for the general reader many leading developers of the domestic nuclear missile shield.
In order to understand the uniqueness of what Trutnev has done, it is necessary to take into account the military-political context that developed during the development of thermonuclear weapons in the USSR and the USA by the mid-1950s.
As a rule, in articles designed for the general public on the topic of the Soviet atomic project, August 29, 1949, when the first domestic atomic charge RDS-1 was successfully detonated at the Semipalatinsk test site, is named as its only significant date, after which it is reported that the Soviet Union thus became the owner of nuclear weapons.
But this is an oversimplified view of history. At that time there was no talk about the existence of a full-fledged nuclear weapon in the USSR. The results of the first Soviet atomic explosion meant two other fundamentally important things. First, the US monopoly on the possession of the atomic bomb was broken. Second, it was proved that in the Soviet Union, in the incredibly difficult conditions of the first post-war years, through a colossal exertion of forces and means, a scientific basis for the development and improvement of nuclear charges was successfully formed and the foundations of their industrial production appeared.
The main goal of further work was to achieve parity with the United States, to prevent the Americans from inflicting a unilateral and unpunished preemptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union, because Washington developed such plans one after another on an ever larger scale.
But there was no opportunity for parity at that time - the gap in the number of atomic bombs that the USSR and the USA had was too great. For example, in 1950, the USSR had a few of them, and the USA had several hundred. In addition, the capabilities of their delivery vehicles were incomparable. In the early 1950s, the United States had strategic bombers, while the USSR did not yet have reliable means of delivering nuclear weapons to US territory.
And most importantly, in response to the successful test of the first Soviet atomic charge, US President Harry Truman at the end of January 1950 announced the launch in America of a full-scale program to create thermonuclear (hydrogen) weapons, the first samples of which were a thousand times more powerful than the already available atomic bombs.
Thus, six months after the test in Semipalatinsk, the threat of a new US monopoly arose - on the possession of thermonuclear weapons. Without the creation of a similar type of weapon in the USSR, the danger of a strike from the Americans would probably become inevitable. Therefore, the Soviet leadership, already at the end of February 1950, decided to begin the creation of domestic thermonuclear weapons.
In the United States, the idea of \u200b\u200ba "superbomb" began to be discussed at the end of 1941. Work on the study of the possibility of creating thermonuclear weapons in the USSR began by the end of 1945, when from the materials of Soviet intelligence and publications in the American media it became known about the work in America in this direction.
Work on thermonuclear topics was concentrated in the first Soviet nuclear center - Design Bureau-11 (KB-11), located in Sarov (now part of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics RFNC-VNIIEF) ... Specialists from institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences - the Physical Institute (FIAN), the Institute of Chemical Physics, and the Institute of Physical Problems - were involved in the research.
The general management of the development of the thermonuclear charge, which received the code name RDS-6 (from "special jet engine"), was led by Igor Kurchatov. The direct supervisor of the work, including in the design part, was the chief designer of KB-11, Julius Khariton.
The principal feature of those works was the attraction of the best theorists of the country - not only physicists, but also mathematicians. The point is that thermonuclear reactions cannot be studied in laboratory conditions. As the scientists themselves, working on the thermonuclear program, noted, the problems they had to solve surpassed in their complexity all scientific problems that humanity has ever faced.
Therefore, it was extremely important at first to accurately understand the physical processes occurring during the explosion of a hydrogen bomb, then to create their mathematical models (that is, to clothe them in the form of a huge number of equations), and then to solve them using calculation methods (and this is in the practical absence then in the country necessary in a sufficient amount of powerful electronic computers).
The most important stage of the Soviet thermonuclear program was the development and successful testing of the first domestic hydrogen charge RDS-6s on August 12, 1953. The bomb (or, as the developers themselves say, the product) was based on the original principle of the so-called "puff" (hence the "c" index in RDS-6s), put forward by FIAN employee Andrei Sakharov, - a spherical atomic charge surrounded by several layers of alternating thermonuclear "fuel "and uranium-238, and" compressed "from above with chemical explosives.
In the design of the RDS-6s, another brilliant idea was used, which belonged to another scientist from FIAN, Vitaly Ginzburg - a solid chemical compound, deuteride of the lithium-6 isotope, was used in the "puff", which made it possible to "produce" another thermonuclear "fuel" - tritium - directly in the process explosion. At the same time, a certain proportion of tritium was also used initially in RDS-6s.
Finally, another fundamental feature of the RDS-6s charge was that it was developed in a transportable version, suitable for equipping bombers.
The power of the RDS-6s explosion was 400 kilotons in TNT equivalent - 20 times more than in the explosion of the first Soviet atomic charge.
But again, as in the case of the atomic bomb, neither Soviet scientists nor the military-political leadership of the USSR had any reason for complacency - the fact is that tests of thermonuclear charges of megaton power have already begun in the United States. The first such test, tentatively called Ivy Mike, took place on November 1, 1952, at Enewetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The explosion power exceeded ten megatons - an unprecedented record.
It should be noted that the thermonuclear device exploded then by the Americans was an installation the size of a two-story house. But the main feature of the new approach of US physicists was that these new devices were two-stage - after the explosion of an atomic charge in the first stage, the thermonuclear "fuel" of the second stage was "ignited". This ignition was due to radiation implosion, a very efficient way of compressing thermonuclear "fuel" by means of X-rays emitted from the explosion of a primary atomic charge. Soviet scientists did not know this yet.
Experts at KB-11 tried to increase the power of the "puff" without changing its fundamental design, but it soon became clear that it would not be possible to raise such a charge to the megaton level.
The climax came in the spring of 1954. On March 1, the United States tested a new, more powerful (15 megaton) device and at the same time a more compact thermonuclear device on the Bikini Atoll. It became clear that the United States had once again stepped forward threateningly, finding a way to significantly improve the efficiency of hydrogen bomb designs.
And almost immediately, in response, KB-11 had its own idea of \u200b\u200bhow best to use the principle of radiation implosion. It is symbolic that the breakthrough approach was proposed by Yuri Trutnev, a representative of the young generation of physicists who came to Sarov.
"Yuri Alekseevich from a young age had a great curiosity about everything. This is a quality that should be characteristic of any real researcher. It was clear that this person would become a great scientist. Moreover, this curiosity has remained with him to this day,"
The President of the Russian Academy of Sciences said in an interview with RIA Novosti Alexander Sergeev.
“Of course, the fact that Yuri Alekseevich ended up in the nuclear complex, perhaps, had some element of chance. But this accident became lucky for our country,” he added.
Yuri Trutnev was born in Moscow into a family of students of the Agricultural Academy. My father was a soil scientist, and my mother was a housewife. Upon graduation, the parents first moved to Kostroma, and then to Leningrad.
As the scientist himself recalls, reading was his main passion during his school years, and most of the books were popular science literature on a variety of topics - not only in physics, but also in mineralogy and paleontology. After some time, he began to read popular things on the then completely new atomic physics. But soon the war broke into the life of the country.
After the blockade of Leningrad was lifted in 1944, the Trutnev family returned to Leningrad. After graduating from school, Yuri entered the Faculty of Chemistry of Leningrad University, but after a while he realized that chemistry was not his vocation, and transferred to the Faculty of Physics. He himself explained the reason for the transfer as follows - they say, chemists study the properties of substances, "crawling" over the surface of atoms, and he wants to deal with the atomic nucleus.
He studied successfully and attracted the attention of those who selected young personnel for the atomic project. Yuri Trutnev was summoned to Moscow, where he was offered to do "interesting work" in the middle zone of the country. Moreover, the design took place in one of the buildings that belonged to the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR - the "headquarters" of the domestic atomic project. In this building (probably for conspiracy purposes) it was necessary to pass through the janitorial.
The exact place where to go was not reported. But, as Trutnev recalled, already on the plane, looking at the landscape under the windows, he realized that he was flying to Sarov. It was 1951.
"I was able to propose a method for concentrating the energy of X-ray radiation in material pressure, which made it possible to effectively carry out radiation implosion."
So shortly, much later in the spring of 1954, he will write Trutnevabout his discovery, which was decisive for the Soviet thermonuclear program.
In KB-11, the new approach was perceived as a sensation. It became clear that the key to solving the problem of creating powerful hydrogen charges had been found. The RDS-37 thermonuclear charge was developed on the basis of a new principle. The design capacity of the RDS-37 was three megatons, but the Semipalatinsk test site was not designed for it, so the charge had to be "halved". Its successful test took place on November 6, 1955. The final explosion power was 1.6 megatons. The Soviet breakthrough to full-fledged thermonuclear weapons took place.
But further - more: while in KB-11 new charges began to be offered, but not always suitable for combat use, Trutnev already had an idea for a more perfect, more compact and at the same time more powerful charge, which went down in history under the index 49.
"The peculiarity of the new charge was that when using the basic principles of the RDS-37, it was possible to significantly reduce the overall parameters due to a bold new solution,"
Trutnev wrote already in the 2000s. It was product 49, which was first successfully tested on Novaya Zemlya on February 23, 1958, that was put into service and became the basis for the creation of modern nuclear weapons in Russia. For this work, Yuri Trutnev and his colleague and friend Yuri Babaev were awarded the Lenin Prize.
Dry lines about work on RDS-37 and project 49 are the maximum that can be reported about what was done then. Until now, specific data on those works, as they say, refer to information constituting a state secret.
At the turn of the 1960s, the Americans were actively testing their powerful thermonuclear charges against the backdrop of increasing international tension. In order to compensate to some extent for the then lag of the USSR from the United States in the volume of the thermonuclear arsenal, according to Trutnev's idea, in 1961 they set the task of creating a superbomb with a capacity of up to 100 megatons.
This work went very quickly - until October 1961. The test of the most powerful hydrogen bomb in history, which received the official index AN602, and in everyday life called the "Tsar Bomb" and "Kuz'kina's Mother", was successfully held on Novaya Zemlya on October 30, 1961. For safety reasons, a half power charge was also used here. The energy release during the explosion was 58 megatons. The blast wave circled the Earth three times.
Of course, such a bomb had no military use - it simply could not be put on intercontinental missiles, and it was not suitable for bombers either. But that test had a colossal political result: it became clear that the USSR could create thermonuclear charges of any power. And it was then that the United States ended the race for the ever-increasing power of its hydrogen bombs. Thus, the balance of mutual containment, in essence, still ensuring peace, became obvious. And Trutnev in 1962 was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
On the initiative of Trutnev and with his personal participation, the direction of creating industrial charges for peaceful purposes, which had national economic significance, appeared. The peculiarity of these charges was that they practically did not pollute the environment - the release of radioactive "fragments" during their explosions was extremely small.
Some of these charges were used in practice - for example, in the 1960s to create an artificial lake Chagan in Kazakhstan with a volume of 20 million cubic meters. It is noteworthy that Trutnev himself then swam in this lake - and completely without harm to health.
Industrial charges have found other practical applications, for example, extinguishing a burning torch in a gas field.
Yuri Trutnev's great contribution to protecting Russia's nuclear weapons complex from collapse in the early 1990s.
Immediately after the collapse of the USSR in January 1992, Trutnev wrote a report to President Boris Yeltsin, in which he substantiated the need to preserve Russia as a nuclear power for which nuclear weapons can serve as the only guarantor of military security.
That call was heard. A few days later, at the end of January 1992, the Ministry of Atomic Energy appeared. Now its legal successor is Rosatom, the main priority of which is the fulfillment of the state defense order and the reliable provision of the nuclear weapons complex.
Yuri Alekseevich Trutnev, who now holds the post of First Scientific Deputy of the Sarov Nuclear Center, is working on new tasks. In the summer of 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin came to Sarov to congratulate the RFNC-VNIIEF team on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the nuclear center. Rogozin then addressed special words of gratitude to Yuri Trutnev.
"I serve Russia as I used to serve the Soviet Union",
The scientist answered to a standing ovation from the crowded hall.