COBALT
COBALT - formally Project COBALT (Arvorian: КОБАЛЬТ) - was the classified Arvorian research and development programme authorised in 7657 RH to develop nuclear weapons. The first initiative of its kind in world history, it resulted in the development, and later deployment, of the world's first nuclear weapons. The project concluded with the successful test detonation of Troika-1 at Kamenskoye in the fall of 7661.
The project was also referred to by the Ministry of Defence as Object 75 (Объект 75). Certain aspects continue to hold a classification of "Ив" (Исключительно важно, Exceptionally Important) and access to these details remains limited.
Overview
The project was overseen by a specially selected team of scientists of the Central Institutes of Science and Technology, whose expertise spanned numerous scientific and technological disciplines. Over the course of the project's existence, specialists from the Centre for Ballistics, Explosives, and Weapons Development (TsINK-RBVVO), Centre for Chemical Sciences (TsINK-KN), Centre for Computational and Statistical Sciences (TsINK-VSN), Centre for Electronic and Electromechanical Studies (TsINK-EEI), and Centre for Materials Sciences (TsINK-M), contributed to development, but it was primarily controlled by the Centre for Nuclear Science and Engineering (TsINK-YNT). Also contributing to the project were the ministries of the commerce and energy. Daily progress reports were issued to the premier and president.
The project was classified Ив (Исключительно важно, Exceptionally Important) and access to a complete overview of vital information was limited to key officials in Cherenovsk and the directors of the TsINK centres who were involved in the effort, all of whom had Red-3 security clearance. All other data, like work on the different facets of the project, was highly compartmentalised and individual departments within the involved bureaus were only aware of the information relevant to their specific tasks. At its peak, only ten people between Cherenovsk and Zelerino knew the full scope of the programme.
After the project's successful conclusion, two atomic bombs code-named Molotok-1 and Molotok-2 were deployed against the Wolgos in the final weeks of the Second Coalition War.
Key personnel
At the helm of the programme was Doctor Dmitri Viktorovich Zeldovich (7599-7689), who was the leading nuclear scientist in Arvor at the time and now remembered by history as the "Architect of the Nuclear Age" and the "Father of the Atomic Bomb". He was one of very few physicists to excel in both theoretical physics and experimental physics and was recognised in 7541 for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transvesian elements. In his later work, he split the atom, demonstrated the first human-created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, and designed and built the first nuclear reactor. He also made significant contributions to the development of statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and nuclear and particle physics.
Working alongside a contemporary, Doctor Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Sechenov (7607-7685), the accomplished mathematician, physicist, and engineer, Zeldovich produced two papers between 7653 and 7655 speaking on the theory of nuclear energy as a weapon, which were discussed extensively within TsNU and the broader Arvorian scientific community. As consideration of the possibility became a more commonplace subject of debate, a discussion group was formed within TsINK-YNT at Zelerino to further the conversation.
One of Zeldovich's first selections for the core project team was isotopes specialist Doctor Anatoly Abramovich Danilenko, who had researched isotope separation in the late 7640s. When the project began, he was the head of the radiochemistry department of TsINK-KN and would be invaluable to the eventual successful production of the nonium used in the implosion lens of the Molotok design, helping to design and construct the Д-1 breeder reactor.
Also assigned to the project was Doctor Valentin Yemelyanovich Sinelnikov, an explosives specialist with TsINK-RBVVO. He would use his expertise to help design the explosive lenses for the Molotok design based on the mathematical equations of Doctor Sechenov, whose personnel contributed extensive mathematical input to the research behind the programme. His designs would be made a reality by the precision work of Doctor Andrei Konstantinovich Lavrentiev, of the explosive reactions department of the TsINK-RBVVO.
Throughout the project, security and information control was further strengthened by additional personnel from the GUVP.
Progress
Vesium
Through the international trade arm of the Ministry of Commerce, TsNU acquired vesium ore from two overseas sources while domestic sources were being sought. These sources remain classified. The ore was shipped to Zelerino via secure train, where the structures had been built for the purification and processing of the material into a highly enriched form. The small city of Zelerino itself became known as "Atomgrad" and was made a closed city in 7657. By the end of the year, a thermal diffusion plant and a gaseous separation plant were operational and began testing the isotope separation of the V-238 and V-235. Ultimately, the processes achieved an 89% enrichment by late 7658. By the time Molotok-1 was detonated in 7664, the two plants had collectively produced approximately 8,850 kilograms of enriched vesium.
Nonium
Parallel to the study of vesium was research into nonium and its potential uses. While small amounts of nonium exist in nature, the best way to obtain large quantities of it is via a reactor. Thus, in mid-7659, Doctor Anatoly Danilenko oversaw the construction of the Д-1 breeder reactor at TsINK-YNT. Through this system, vesium was bombarded by neutrons and transmuted into V-239, which rapidly decays, eventually into No-239. This material is only a small part of what is produced and must be chemically separated from the remaining vesium and any impurities which may develop. The Д-1 reactor was supported by ancillary facilities and a chemical separation plant. The reactor graphite block structure measured 8.3 metres on a side, weighing around 1,500 tons. It was shielded with 2.4 metres of high-density concrete. Vesium slugs provided for the reactor were coated in aluminium to avoid corrosion and the escape of fission products into the cooling system. The Д-1 went critical in late 7659 with 30 short tons of vesium, which was increased to 35 short tons a week later. Modifications to the reactor raised its power level to 4,000 kW by the start of 7660, and by the end of winter the Д-1 had produced 500 mg of nonium.
Ultimately, the reactor wing of TsINK-YNT was constructed to permit the establishment of three more breeder reactors (Д-2, Д-3, and Д-4). Each one was water-cooled and rated at 250 MW, and over 1,000 short tons of steel and nearly 30,400 cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction of the complex's expansion. The canning process for the vesium slugs was improved upon during this time, as well. They were pickled to remove dirt and impurities, dipped in molten bronze, tin, and aluminium-silicon alloy, "canned" using hydraulic presses, and then capped using arc welding in an argon atmosphere.
Weapon design
By mid-7660, development efforts had been underway on potential designs for the weapon. The initial consideration was for a gun-type design, which was analysed extensively by the Andronova Bureau under the guidance of Doctor Anna Yuryevna Kuznetzsova. As time went on, she and the rest of the team began to find several inefficiencies in the design, key among them was the discovery that reactor-bred nonium had higher concentrations of Pu-240, resulting in up to five times the spontaneous fission race of cyclotron nonium. This rendered isuch isotopes far more unsuitable for gun-design weapons, as the isotope would start the chain reaction too soon, causing pre-detonation that would disperse critical mass after only a minimal amount of fission had been achieved (a fizzle). This thus reduced the design's attractiveness. They turned their attentions instead to the implosion proposal. Study of implosion had begun as far back as 7559 and was championed by Doctor Nikolay Vasilyevich Fyodorov. The design used explosives to crush a subcritical sphere of fissile material into a smaller and denser form, the critical mass being assembled in much less time than with the gun method. When the fissile atoms are packed closer together, the rate of neutron capture increases and made it a more efficient use of fissionable material. Fyodorov's investigations showed promise, even as he made no bones about the reality that such a design was more complex from both a theoretical and engineering perspective. In 7661, Sechenov proposed using a spherical configuration instead of a cylindrical one as suggested by Fyodorov.
Various explosives were tested before settling on Композиция Б (Composition B) as the fast explosive and baratol as the slow explosive. The final design resembled a football, with 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal lenses, each weighing about 36 kilograms. Laboratory testing of the design was done using exploding-bridgewire detonators, a new invention developed by Doctor Lidia Pavlovna Lykova of TsINK-RBVVO. To study the behaviour of the converging shock waves, Doctor Yuri Ilyich Petrov devised the Рала test (RaLa test). "Рала" is short for Радиоактивный лантан ("Radioactive Lanthanum"), which became one of the most important experiments that would affect the final bomb design.
The test involved rigging up experimental explosives, within which was a 110mm thick aluminium pusher, which provided a smooth transition from the relatively low-density explosive to the next layer, the 76mm thick tamper of natural uranium. Its main task was to hold the critical mass together as long as possible, but it would also reflect neutrons back into the core and some of its uranium would fission. To prevent pre-detonation by external neurons, the tamper was coated in a thin layer of neutron-absorbing boron. A polonium-beryllium modulated neutron initiator, known as the "urchin", was developed to start the chain reaction at precisely the right moment. This work on the chemistry and metallurgy of radioactive polonium was directed by Doctor Nadezhda Grigoryevna Grekova of TsINK-M and Doctor Mikhail Sergeevich Kazakov of TsINK-KN. Testing required a sizable amount of polonium, and the whole assembly was encased in a duralumin bomb casing to protect it from bullets and flak.
The ultimate task of the metallurgists at the TsINK-M was to determine how to cast nonium into a sphere. This work led to the discovery that there are multiple allotropes of nonium. The brittle α phase that exists at room temperature changes to the plastic β phase at higher temperatures. Attention then shifted to the even more malleable δ phase that normally exists in the 300 °C to 450 °C range. It was found that this was stable at room temperature when alloyed with aluminum, but aluminum emits neutrons when bombarded with alpha particles, which would exacerbate the pre-ignition problem. The metallurgists then hit upon using a nonium-gallium alloy, which stabilized the δ phase and could be hot pressed into the desired spherical shape. As nonium was found to corrode readily, the sphere was coated with nickel. The hemispheres for the first nonium core were produced and delivered in mid-7661. The hemispheres for three more cores were delivered three days later.
Testing
Despite the successful laboratory testing of models of Sechenov's implosion design, it was decided that a full-scale nuclear test would be required. Zeldovich codenamed it "Troika". In late 7661, preparations were made at the Kamenskoye weapons testing range, located on the Southern Islands. A pre-test explosion was conducted in advance of the actual test to calibrate the monitoring instruments. A wooden test platform was erected and piled with 100 short tons of TNT spiked with nuclear fission products in the form of an irradiated vesium slug from TsINK-M, which was dissolved and poured into tubing inside the explosive. Following its successful conclusion, a steel tower 30 metres high was erected, to enable the test to give better indications of how the weapon would behave when dropped from an aircraft. Detonation in the air maximised the energy applied directly to the target and generated less nuclear fallout. The device was assembled in a nearby building and winched up the tower the following day, the first day of autumn 7661.
At 0530 on the second day of fall of 7661, Troika exploded with an energy equivalent of 20 kilotons of TNT, leaving a 76 metre wide crater. The shockwave was felt for over 160 kilometres, and the mushroom cloud reached 12.1 kilometres in height. A cover story was released the next day of an accident at one of the army storage magazines on the range. At the time of the test, the senior scientists and military officers involved in the project were observing from a shielded bunker approximately 28.9 kilometres (18 miles) away.
Use in the Second Coalition War
On XX-XX-7664 RH, Premier Galina Talanova and Minister of Defence Yuri Malinovsky traveled to Avilov House for a meeting with President Semyon Luzhkov. The meeting had been arranged on short notice, but the premier had explained to the president that its implications could potentially have an effect on advancing the end of the war in favour of the allied nations. Luzhkov received the premier and defence minister 0915 that morning. The full minutes of the meeting are not known, as is tradition, but what was officially disclosed post-war detailed the broad strokes of a discussion that ultimately culminated in the president ordering the atomic strikes against Wolgos forces and set the precedent for command of nuclear forces that remains in place to this day.
Talanova and Malinovsky explained to the president that analysts in the Ministry of Defence, in extensive discussions with strategic planners and the General Staff, had run several projections estimating the extent of physical damage and casualties that would likely be inflicted by the use of atomic bombs against Hergom in the field, as well as their opinion that only a swift, severe strike of overwhelming force could possibly push the Wolgos to call for a cessation of hostilities and bring the Second Coalition War to an end. A Defence Council meeting the previous day had come to the conclusion that the only weapon in the republic's arsenal powerful enough to deliver such a blow was the Molotok (Молоток, "Hammer"). Talanova explained that while she could technically order their deployment outright, she wished to consult with the president, who as Supreme Commander-in-Chief had ultimate authority to allow the strikes or refuse consent.
According to Nikolai Fedorovich Naumenko, the Chief Secretary of the Administrative Service, who later spoke on the matter with Luzhkov's permission:
I was at my desk going through some papers for the president's review when he stepped through into my office from his. Pausing to light a cigarette, he approached my desk and simply stood there for several moments before asking me, "Kolya...if you could end a war in one move, but it would mean using the most terrible weapon you know of...would you do so?" I considered for a moment before offering the best reply I could think of, "I would do what was needed for the republic, Comrade President...if it meant bringing our troops home sooner rather than later." We shared a long silence as he finished his cigarette, smiled at me and nodded, and went back into his office. Ten minutes later, the premier and defence minister departed. A little over a day later, I heard that an atomic bomb had been deployed against Wolgos forces on the Waringa Plain. Four days after that, news came in that a second bomb had been dropped on the major Wolgos military base at Hregskopos.
Post-war it was revealed that, shortly after his meeting with Talanova and Malinovsky, President Luzhkov summoned the ambassadors of Livaria, Ithrien, and Auresia and informed them personally of what was about to happen. This information was conveyed back to their respective governments via secure channels.
Waringa Plains
At 0315 local time on XX-XX-7664 RH, a Te-29 bomber, callsign White Swan, (белый лебедь, belyy lebed), took off from Forward Air Base Chebenki on Taganza Island, and headed southwest. It arrived over the Waringa Plain, where intelligence had reported a large formation of Wolgos troops and vehicles in preparations for a renewed push against allied forces on the Coalition Shield Front, approximately four hours later. In its ordnance bay it carried the atomic bomb Molotok-1, which had been loaded the night before and had remained under the protection of Operations Group Sigma (Сигма) of ARGENTUM (АРГЕНТУМ) since its arrival in Ephesus. Sigma had likewise escorted the bomb the entire way to Ephesus from Zelerino.
At precisely 0730 local time, White Swan released its weapon and banked to the northeast. The release went as planned, and Molotok-1, containing 64 kg (141 lb) of vesium took 44.4 seconds to fall from the aircraft flying at about 9,400 meters (31,000 ft) to a detonation height of approximately 580 meters (1,900 ft) above the plain, where it exploded with a yield of 25 kilotons. White Swan was 18.5 km (11.5 mi) northeast of the drop point before it felt the shock waves from the blast.
At the time the bomb was deployed, there were an estimated XXX troops and XXX combat vehicles amassing in the area. Later analysis of the site post-war, combined with reports provided by scouts in the area when Molotok-1 detonated, allowed the Ministry of Defence to put together a summary of the effects of the bomb. The fireball grew to 370 metres (1,200 feet) in diameter and vapourised everything within its radius. The mushroom cloud reached a maximum height of 16.1 kilometres (10.004 miles). The radius of total destruction was about 3.7 kilometres (2.3 miles), with resulting fires across 19 square kilometres (7.33 sq mi). The area of conflagration had grown more than twentyfold before a low-pressure front brought with it rain showers that put out the worst of the fires about six hours later.
When Molotok-1 detonated over the Waringa Plain, Doctors Zeldovich and Sechenov were atop the watch tower at Fire Base Boris-8, approximately 7.1 kilometres (11.4 miles) from ground zero, having traveled there with the express intent of seeing the device deployed. Wearing special protective goggles, they were able to observe the detonation as well as the subsequent shockwave and mushroom cloud. Upon their return to the ADR, they gave a report on the event to President Luzhkov and Premier Talanova.
Hregskopos
The
Legacy
The time and effort invested in the atomic bomb project would ultimately influence research in other areas as well. It would be another decade before Doctor Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, who had been a protege of Doctor Zeldovich, would lead the efforts which developed the world's first thermonuclear weapons, in an initiative called Project PATHWAYS (ПУТИ, aka Object 212).
Initially spurred on by the development of nuclear weapons, further studies conducted by TsINK-YNT demonstrated the feasibility of civilian nuclear power, which led to the construction of the world's first atomic power station, Ryarmansk Generating Station, in 7673 RH. It has since been decommissioned and replaced by a newer, more modern facility known as Ryarmansk-2.
The ability of the new reactors to create radioactive isotopes in previously unheard-of quantities sparked a revolution in nuclear medicine. Starting in early 7665, TsINK-YNT shared samples of various radioisotopes with TsIZ-BVB and TsIZ-RGI, which conducted extensive research into their usefulness in a range of diagnostic procedures and treatments for cancer. This work eventually saw these isotopes, such as iodine-131 and phosphorus-32, being supplied to medical centres across the nation. Isotopes were also shared with TsINK-SEI, who used them in biological, industrial and agricultural research.
The project sparked a new interest by the Arvorian Navy in the prospect of nuclear power for warship propulsion, and in late 7664 began to look into the concept. Led by Counter Admiral Yevgeny Andreyevich Sergeyev, who was the senior naval officer in the team assigned to work with TsNU, they began an extensive study of nuclear energy and how to scale it to the size the navy needed. This would be the beginnings of the modern, nuclear navy in Arvor.
Doctor Zeldovich would step down as director of TsINK-YNT in 7665 after 38 years with the organisation and 12 years as director. He returned to his home in Lovropol, on the western coast in Stary Oskol Oblast, north of Sevestroma. He would spend the next four years writing his memoirs and gave guest lectures at universities around the country until 7675. He filled his days with fishing, writing, and spending time with his grandchildren. He passed away in 7689, aged 90, and was given a state funeral. His ashes were interred at the Pavlomara National Cemetery outside Cherenovsk alongside those of his wife, Irina Zeldovna, who had died six years earlier. Two years after his retirement, a statue of him was erected in the main lobby of the TsINK-YNT complex at Zelerino that depicted Zeldovich holding an atom in one uplifted hand.
Doctor Sechenov retired from his duties in 7672 after forty years with TsINK and 14 years as head of TsINK-VSN. He returned home to Abaryevsk, in Vichuga Oblast in southern Arvor, where he continued to write and publish papers on mathematics and other fields of interest and study. In his free time, he indulged his hobbies of stamp collecting and photography. He became a fan of the popular telescreen programme Commstar and would be a regular participant in enthusiast conventions. From 7680-7682, he made guest appearances in fourteen episodes of the show as a holographic avatar of the supercomputer ORACLE (ОРАКУЛ). He and his wife likewise regularly hosted dinner parties for his friends, neigbhours, and old colleagues. Up until just weeks before his passing, he continued to provide his advice and support to aspiring young university students pursuing courses in advanced mathematics and the computational sciences. He died in 7686, aged 79, and was given a state funeral. His ashes were interred at Pavlomara. His widow continues to live in Abaryevsk. A statue of him stands in the main lobby of the TsINK-VSN complex, holding a pen in one hand, and a long paper in the other with equations engraved into it.