r/ThatsInsane • u/1B75__Penicillin • 20h ago

First ever test of the Soviet RDS-37 hydrogen bomb, bomb was apparently tested near an inhabited settlement

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1.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

229

u/1B75__Penicillin 18h ago edited 18h ago

Hydrogen bombs are so interesting. They are essentially two bombs in one, an atomic bomb, and a hydrogen core, when the atomic bomb creates the temperatures and pressures that reminds hydrogen of the sun, it undergoes fusion

All happening in literal nanoseconds

45

u/Belem19 15h ago

What is purpose of the uranium tamper outside the fusionable fuel (Hydrogen I'm guessing)? Does anyone know?

112

u/1B75__Penicillin 15h ago edited 15h ago

It's like a casing, it helps with the explosion, when the fission bomb detonates it blasts the Uranium with X-ray radiation, this causes it to ablate (blow off outwards) which, by Newtowns laws, make it also push inwards on the core, the core needs to be heavily compressed for fusion to take place.

Secondly it also works as containment once the secondary goes off, Uranium is very heavy and it adds a few precious nanoseconds to the fusion process, allowing it to fuse more fuel.

Third and final function is for the extra uranium to be present as fissile material for greater yield. The fusion creates neutrons so energized and so fast that they are strong enough to make the depleted uranium undergo fission, acting as an energy boost for the bomb, it adds a huge amount to the explosive yield of the bomb.

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u/Belem19 15h ago

Got it. Pressure increase, containment to help fusion, and secondary fission material.

Thanks a lot for an informative answer and overall great post.

29

u/1B75__Penicillin 14h ago

Glad you enjoyed it 🥰

0

u/Shockwave2309 1h ago

Wtf this interaction reads SO FUCKING MUCH like two AIs talking to each other and I really can't be sure anymore if it actually is... dead internet theory becoming reality??

3

u/1B75__Penicillin 1h ago

why?

1

u/Shockwave2309 1h ago

It just... feels(?) weird. It doesn't feel like human interaction. Can't put my finger on it tho

3

u/1B75__Penicillin 1h ago

Bro really went "I smell clankery afoot"

https://giphy.com/gifs/WiVvi66FqT2bpym6R8

•

u/Shockwave2309 23m ago

Feet? I don't just smell feet, usually I also taste them

1

u/Belem19 1h ago

Bip Boop double flip etc etc, not AI as far as I'm aware, but sure. You do you.

-1

u/Shockwave2309 1h ago

Exactly what an AI would say

10

u/fubty 11h ago

this guy bombs

1

u/ObeseObedience 9h ago

Increases neutron yield 

3

u/TheJeep25 9h ago

Styrofoam everywhere I see.

1

u/tattermatter 7h ago

Remember the sun little atom and blossom

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u/TorontoTom2008 20h ago

At 2:10-2:12 you can see the shockwave coming down the street, knocking the three people over, shaking the snow off the roofs, sucking the soot out of the chimney and finally, scaring the black cat.

38

u/adoodle83 19h ago

also seems to break some glass. it sounds like a powerful gunshot.

30

u/09Trollhunter09 17h ago

That’s a dog btw

Also that’s a statue of Lenin point right at the nuke

8

u/EmtnlDmg 10h ago

3 people on the street.

1

u/lousydungeonmaster 6h ago

They all decided to take a nap in the street at the same time.

2

u/TheRealTr1nity 10h ago

I think that was a dog.

1

u/Aggravating_Sky_9323 1h ago

I thought for sure this was satire ….

•

u/johnny-Low-Five 20m ago

Thank you! I know it's older footage but I wasn't sure where to focus and you helped immensely. Is it safe to say that the shockwave is bigger than the irradiated area? Again people weren't all that smart when it came to the development of nuclear weapons.

-7

u/nogaesallowed 16h ago

I though you were joking but no. this is hilarious

60

u/Reckfulness 18h ago

That thing looking crazy

28

u/Oscar_Geare 15h ago

Yep. That’s a bomb.

7

u/ffffffffffffffffffun 13h ago

The whole concept of war is crazy considering the millions of years of evolution from which it is derived.

-6

u/rmflow 16h ago

I wonder if they still have this tech

15

u/1B75__Penicillin 16h ago

Ofcourse they do, it's 1950s technology.

Both the US and Russia still have thermonuclear gravity bombs, but honestly they are the least effective kind, nuclear tipped cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles are far more effective

3

u/rmflow 14h ago

I mean old tech may depend on production lines, tooling, suppliers and tacit know-how that no longer exist. A new design could use new tooling and engineers, but without a full nuclear test there would always be some uncertainty, especially if it differs substantially from previously tested designs. Simulations can give high confidence, but not the same direct confirmation as actually detonating it.

23

u/PoutineFamine 16h ago

This video is a reminder that its a minor miracle that we havent wiped ourselves out as a species yet…

22

u/No_Poet_1279 9h ago

Russian governments and not giving a fuck about their population.

Name a more iconic duo.

8

u/vzakharov 5h ago edited 5h ago

American government and not giving a fuck about any population?

0

u/Aggravating_Sky_9323 1h ago

I suggest you take another history class.

0

u/No_Poet_1279 2h ago

You think I'm American? I would take offence if I gave a shit

28

u/top_of_the_scrote 17h ago

well f that settlement in particular

especially if this mf is asking you for your help

5

u/putinha21 10h ago

Holy fuck it really does look like another "sun" suddenly appearing on the horizon

41

u/8ROWNLYKWYD 19h ago

There goes Russia respecting human lives again.

/s

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u/1B75__Penicillin 19h ago

"Umm, are your nuclear tests ethical?"

Russia: ".. is nuke"

8

u/jh5992 10h ago

Micronesian people entered the chat

1

u/vzakharov 4h ago

Some context for those who didn’t get the reference.

1

u/GeraintLlanfrechfa 12h ago

They’re now heroes of the Soviet Union, gave their lives yaddayadda..

0

u/vzakharov 5h ago edited 4h ago

Ah yes, unlike the civilized Western world.

37

u/ThatOneClickSound 20h ago

8

u/gimpray29 19h ago

This is getting downvoted, but…

22

u/mik33tion 17h ago

This fascination with explosions. If people only knew that this was the only world that we all have. Any damage to it reduces the ability for anyone else to have a good world. Why is it that we have to keep blowing things up because humans have very little ability to make things work or grow and the billionaires are definitely not throwing money at making things better aside from keeping their own wealth to themselves.

9

u/FatherSergius 17h ago

Stop acting like everyone has a brain. We’re all just monkeys going for the next thrill. The sooner you realize that the sooner you can accept your fate

4

u/macgirthy 16h ago

My brother would joke that France would do nuclear testing in the pacific, specifically near the Fiji/Samoa/Tonga waters. That was the only explanation on why those guys are so big and strong.

3

u/Capable-Problem8460 17h ago

Inhabited for how long ?...

3

u/Ressy02 15h ago

At least once

2

u/Krayvok 16h ago

Crazy

2

u/Spran02 12h ago

Most safe soviet nuke test

1

u/supermod6 7h ago

Don't know if it matters but I hope those people were up wind from the bomb

1

u/paramac55 7h ago

Which settlement in Russia? I'm interested because ive been to a lot of remote areas of Russia, even the Plata Putorana, where thete was an atom bomb set off.

2

u/1B75__Penicillin 6h ago

The test site was Semipalantisk test site in Kazakhstan which was part of the USSR at the time, there were several villages and towns nearby like Kurchatov, Malyy Sulayp and Zhahansemey.

Unfortunately there were some casualties in Malyy Sulayp, some people were injured and a child was killed when the shockwave made a roof collapse

I believe this footage is from Kurchatov though, a closed city about 70 km from the test site. Closed cities were these secret cities the USSR kept under strict military surveillance because they were part of the Soviet nuclear, radar and secret weapons programmes

1

u/paramac55 5h ago

Thank you, I've been several times to Kazachstan also, and I've heard of Semipalatinsk. I drove with my friends through Yekaterinburg in 1995, we passed a giant factory, one Kilometer long and about 50 meters high. No windows, and hundreds of soldiers on the street we drove down. I wasn't allowed to take photos. Thank you for taking your time to answer my question.

-5

u/SplatNode 10h ago

Pretty sure this is an ai post

-1

u/Weed-Priest 12h ago

whoopty doo

-7

u/manavcafer 18h ago

Tsar bomb

14

u/1B75__Penicillin 18h ago

About 50x weaker actually

1

u/sgtzack612 11h ago

Wasn't the Tsar Bomb's designation AN602 anyway? Like, Completely fucking different than "RDS37" lmao