The secret of the Soviet hydrogen bomb

Alex Wellerstein, Edward Geist

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Was the first Soviet thermonuclear device really a step in the wrong direction? No bomb design has been as much maligned or otherwise disparaged as the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon. Detonated in August 1953, the bomb, officially tested under the name RDS-6s but usually known as Sloika or "layer cake" (the name Andrei Sakharov coined for it), was nothing to sneeze at. Shown in Figure 1 and able to be dropped from aircraft, it released the explosive equivalent, or yield, of almost half a megaton of TNT. The result was a blazing fireball with 20 times the power of the bomb that leveled Nagasaki, Japan.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNuclear Weapons and Related Security Issues
EditorsPierce Corden, Allison Macfarlane, Tony Fainberg, David Hafemeister
ISBN (Electronic)9780735415867
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Nov 2017
Event5th Nuclear Weapons and Related Security Issues - Washington, United States
Duration: 21 Apr 201722 Apr 2017

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1898
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

Conference5th Nuclear Weapons and Related Security Issues
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington
Period21/04/1722/04/17

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