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

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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  • (Score: 2) by legont on Thursday August 27 2020, @03:54AM

    by legont (4179) on Thursday August 27 2020, @03:54AM (#1042540)

    Actually this one was made by a Jew, dissident, Nobel laureate, activist for disarmament, peace and human rights
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov [wikipedia.org]
    Yes, he did make it himself for as much as it is possible to be made by one person. He did design and built the "flavor" as well which would increase the yield to 100 and make the device dirty, but the management decided to remove it before the test.

    His wife, also Jew, dissident and so on, was a pediatrician. I was always wondering how their evening after work conversations would look like.

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