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Russia Releases Previously Classified Film Documenting "Tsar Bomba"

posted by martyb on Tuesday August 25 2020, @09:37PM   
from the Царь-бо́мба dept.

takyon writes:

Russia Releases "Tsar Bomba" Test Footage Of The Most Powerful Nuclear Bomb Blast Ever

The nuclear bomb, codenamed "Ivan," that was dropped by the Soviet Union over Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean on October 30, 1961, was the largest device of its kind ever detonated. The monstrous weapon had a yield of around 50 megatons — equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT. Until now, the available imagery of that test has been strictly limited, consisting of short, grainy clips and poor-quality stills.

The colossal Ivan device was developed under a program known as izdeliye 202 (meaning "product 202", otherwise known simply as "V"). Years later, when more details became known about it in the West, the weapon would be dubbed "Tsar Bomba."

On August 20, 2020, the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation — the Russian state concern responsible for nuclear enterprises, including nuclear weapons — released a 30-minute documentary film on its official YouTube channel showing the test in unprecedented detail, from the initial transport of the device itself to the mushroom cloud that later rose some 6.2 miles over the Arctic archipelago. The release of the film coincides with the 75th anniversary of Russia's nuclear industry — although a thermonuclear bomb popularly described in the West as a "doomsday weapon" was perhaps an unusual choice for the commemoration. Regardless, it was a remarkable technological achievement.

Test of a clean hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50 megatons (40m28s video). Detonation footage starts after 22:40, with more footage after the end of the documentary starting at 29:32.

Wikipedia entry for Tsar Bomba.

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Original Submission

• 'cause they said this bomb was clean 'cause they said this bomb was clean (Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Tuesday August 25 2020, @10:56PM (3 children)

  by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Tuesday August 25 2020, @10:56PM (#1041828) Journal

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XPzICHxXoQ [youtube.com]

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• Re:'cause they said this bomb was clean Re:'cause they said this bomb was clean (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @08:47AM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @08:47AM (#1042036)

  Because they wanted to make a 100MT bomba in the first place that would have been considered "dirty". But it was deemed too excessive and the plane would not have survived that dropped it. So imagine how much shit it have spewed then.

  So yes, the 50MT was "clean"

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  • Re:'cause they said this bomb was clean (Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 26 2020, @04:02PM

    by Freeman (732) on Wednesday August 26 2020, @04:02PM (#1042203) Journal

    Interestingly enough, they also said there was insignificant amounts of radiation at the site, shortly after detonation.

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• Re:'cause they said this bomb was clean (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 27 2020, @06:58AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 27 2020, @06:58AM (#1042581)

  It was relatively clean as over 97% of the energy released came from nuclear fusion, with a comparatively insignificant amount of energy coming from the fission primaries that triggered the fusion. That also meant very little fallout for a bomb of such size. The original bomb design called for a natural uranium casing, which would have had itself fissioned thanks to the high-energy neutrons generated by the fusion, producing a 100 megaton yield. However, that would have also produced a tremendous amount of dangerously radioactive fallout that would have largely fallen upon heavily populated swaths of the Soviet Union even if they did detonate the bomb over isolated Novaya Zemlya. So instead they used a lead casing, which did not produce dangerously radioactive fallout on neutron irradiation.

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