Editing Soviet atomic bomb project (section)

{{Short description|Russian program to develop nuclear weapons during and after World War II}}{{Expand Russian|Создание_советской_атомной_бомбы|date=March 2025|topic=hist}}{{Infobox operational plan
| name          = Soviet atomic bomb project
| partof        = 
| image         = {{multiple image|border=infobox|perrow=1/2/2/3|total_width=300
| image1 = Alihanov_Kurchatov_Ioffe.jpg
| image2 = 
| image3 = Model of F-1 reactor 01.jpg 
| image4 = RBMK reactor from Ignalina ArM.jpg  
| image5 = Greenglass_bomb_diagram.png  
| image6 = A-bomb (RDS-1).jpg 
| image7 = Joe-1 location prediction 1949.jpg
| image8 = Semipalatinsk crater and lake.jpg
}} From top to bottom, left to right: {{flatlist|
*  [[Abram Ioffe]], [[Abram Alikhanov]], and [[Igor Kurchatov]]
* Model of the [[F-1_(nuclear_reactor)|F-1]] reactor
* [[RBMK]] reactor similar to [[Mayak]] plutonium production reactors
* Diagram of an [[implosion-type nuclear weapon|implosion bomb]] passed by [[atomic spy]] [[David Greenglass]]
* Replica of [[RDS-1]]
* US estimations of RDS-1 location, 1949
* Test crater at the [[Semipalatinsk Test Site]]
}}
| caption       = 
| scope         = [[Science and technology in Russia|Operational R&D]]
| type          = 
| location      = {{plainlist|
* [[Kurchatov Institute]], Moscow
* [[KB-11|Design Bureau 11]], [[Arzamas-16]]
* [[Semipalatinsk Test Site]], Kazakhstan
}}
| coordinates   = 
| map_type      = 
| map_size      = 
| map_caption   = 
| map_label     = 
| planned       = 
| planned_by    = [[File:Emblema NKVD.svg|10px]] [[NKVD]], [[People's Commissariat for State Security|NKGB]], [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]] [[First Chief Directorate|PGU]]<br />[[File:Red star.svg|10px]] [[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]]
| commanded_by  = 
| objective     = 
| target        = 
| date          = 1942–1949
| time          = 
| time-begin    = 
| time-end      = 
| timezone      = 
| executed_by   = {{USSR}}
| outcome       = * Successful development of a plutonium implosion weapon
* United States accelerates development of the [[hydrogen bomb]]
| fatalities    = 
| injuries      = 
}}

The '''Soviet atomic bomb project''' was authorized by [[Joseph Stalin]] in the [[Soviet Union]] to develop [[nuclear weapon]]s during and after [[World War II]].<ref name="nuclearweaponarchive, part I">{{cite web|last1=Sublette|first1=Carey|title=The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Sovwpnprog.html|website=nuclearweaponarchive.org|publisher=nuclearweaponarchive, part I|access-date=21 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="History Today">{{cite web|last1=Swift|first1=John|title=The Soviet-American Arms Race|url=http://www.historytoday.com/john-swift/soviet-american-arms-race|website=www.historytoday.com|publisher=History Today|access-date=21 April 2017}}</ref>

Russian physicist [[Georgy Flyorov]] suspected that the [[Allies of World War II|Allied powers]] were secretly developing a "[[Weapon of mass destruction|superweapon]]"<ref name="History Today" /> since 1939. Flyorov urged Stalin to start a nuclear program in 1942.<ref name="Yale University Press, Holloway">{{cite book|last1=Holloway|first1=[by] David|title=Stalin and the bomb : the Soviet Union and atomic energy|date=1994|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0300066647|page=421|edition=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICO6aUnQ2KcC&pg=PA78 |access-date=21 April 2017 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|78–79}} Early efforts mostly consisted of research at [[Kurchatov Institute|Laboratory No. 2]] in [[Moscow]], and intelligence gathering of Soviet-sympathizing [[atomic spies]] in the US [[Manhattan Project]].<ref name="nuclearweaponarchive, part I"/> Subsequent efforts involved plutonium production at [[Mayak]] in [[Chelyabinsk Oblast|Chelyabinsk]] and weapon research and assembly at [[KB-11]] in [[Sarov]].

After Stalin learned of the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], the nuclear program was accelerated through intelligence gathering about the Manhattan Project and [[German nuclear weapon project]].<ref name="US DOE">{{cite web |publisher=US Dept of Energy |title=Manhattan Project: Espionage and the Manhattan Project, 1940–1945 |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1942-1945/espionage.htm |website=www.osti.gov |access-date=21 April 2017}}</ref> Espionage coups, especially via [[Klaus Fuchs]] and [[David Greenglass]], included detailed descriptions of the [[Implosion-type nuclear weapon|implosion-type]] [[Fat Man]] bomb and plutonium production. In the final months of the war, the Soviet "[[Russian Alsos]]" task force competed against the Western Allies' [[Alsos Mission]] to capture German and Austrian nuclear scientists and material, including refined uranium and [[cyclotrons]].<ref name="Lulu.com, Strickland">{{cite book|last1=Strickland|first1=Jeffrey|title=Weird Scientists: the Creators of Quantum Physics|date=2011|publisher=Lulu.com|location=New York|isbn=978-1257976249|page=549|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivDBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA242 |access-date=21 April 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|242–243}} The Soviet project utilized [[East German]] industry for further uranium mining, refinement, and instrument manufacture. [[Lavrentiy Beria]] was placed in charge of the atomic project, and the replication of the Nagasaki [[plutonium]] [[Implosion-type nuclear weapon|weapon]] was prioritized.<ref name="d168">{{cite journal |last=Oleynikov |first=Pavel V. |date=2000 |title=German scientists in the Soviet atomic project |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10736700008436807 |journal=The Nonproliferation Review |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1080/10736700008436807 |issn=1073-6700 |access-date=2025-04-29}}</ref>

The Manhattan Project had [[Combined Development Agency|established a monopoly]] on the global [[uranium market]]. The Soviet project relied on [[SAG Wismut]] in East Germany and the development of the [[Taboshar]] mine in Tajikistan. Domestic large-scale production of [[Nuclear graphite|high purity graphite]] and high purity uranium metal, to construct plutonium production reactors, was a significant challenge.

In late 1946, [[F-1 (nuclear reactor)|F-1]], the first [[nuclear reactor]] outside North America, achieved criticality at Laboratory No. 2, led by [[Igor Kurchatov]]. In mid-1948, the [[A-1 (nuclear reactor)|A-1]] plutonium production reactor became operational at the [[Mayak Production Association]], and in mid-1949, the first plutonium metal was separated.<ref name="m543">{{cite journal |last=Diakov |first=Anatoli |date=2011-04-25 |title=The History of Plutonium Production in Russia |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08929882.2011.566459 |journal=Science & Global Security |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=28–45 |doi=10.1080/08929882.2011.566459 |issn=0892-9882 |access-date=2025-04-29}}</ref> The first nuclear weapon was assembled at the [[KB-11]] design bureau, led by [[Yulii Khariton]], in the [[closed city]] of [[Arzamas-16]] (Sarov).<ref name="h802">{{cite journal |last=Il’kaev |first=R. I. |year=2007 |title=60 years of scientific exploits |journal=Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics |publisher=Allerton Press |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=289–298 |doi=10.3103/s106287380703001x |issn=1062-8738}}</ref>

On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union secretly and successfully conducted its first weapon test, [[RDS-1]], at the [[Semipalatinsk Test Site]] of the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]].<ref name="nuclearweaponarchive, part I" /> Simultaneously, project scientists had been developing conceptual [[thermonuclear weapons]]. The US detection of test, via anticipatory atmospheric [[Nuclear fallout|fallout]] monitoring, led to a more rapid US program to develop thermonuclear weapons, and marked the opening of the [[nuclear arms race]] of the [[Cold War]].

Following RDS-1, the Soviet nuclear program rapidly expanded. [[Boosted fission]] and multi-stage thermonuclear weapons were developed during the 1950s, testing expanded to [[Novaya Zemlya]] and [[Kapustin Yar]], and [[fissile material]] production sites grew, including the invention of the [[gas centrifuge]]. The program created demand for [[nuclear weapons delivery]], influencing the [[Soviet space program]].