// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did RDS-2 say to its date? You're a blast.
| RDS-2 РДС-2 | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Test site | Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan |
| Date | September 24, 1951 |
| Test type | Atmospheric |
| Device type | Plutonium implosion fission |
| Yield | 38.3 kt (160 TJ) |
| Test chronology | |
The RDS-2 (Russian: РДС-2) was a second nuclear bomb developed by the Soviet Union as an improved version of the RDS-1. It included new explosive lenses along with a new core design to decrease the probability of pre-detonation or 'fizzle'.[1] The levitated core increased implosion efficiency by allowing for an empty space between the "flying layer" and the core, thereby allowing rapid acceleration of the shock wave before it impacted the core.[2]: 25
The RDS-2 weighed approximately 3,200 kilograms (7,055 lb) and had a diameter of 1.25 m.[a][3] The RDS-2 was tested on September 24, 1951 and produced a 38.3 kiloton yield. It was detonated from the top of a tower thirty meters high. The detonation was initiated by a bomber flying over the testing site instead of the detonation being initiated by a ground control center.
See also
[edit source]Notes
[edit source]- ↑ RDS-2 and RDS-3 differed only in nuclear core, hence similar weight and diameter
References
[edit source]Citations
[edit source]- ↑ Bukharin & Von Hippel 2001.
- ↑ Zhang, Hui (2025). The Untold Story of China's Nuclear Weapon Development and Testing: A Technical History. Belfer Center Studies in International Security. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-05182-8.
- ↑ RDS-27 2013.
Bibliography
[edit source]- Bukharin, Oleg; Von Hippel, Frank (2001). Podvig, Pavel Leonardovich (ed.). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Cambridge Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 9780262162029.
- Andryushin, I.A.; Chernyshev, A.K.; Udin, Yu.A. (2003). УКРОЩЕНИЕ ЯДРА [Nuclear taming] (PDF) (in Russian). Sarov: Red October. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 31, 2018.
- "РДС-27" [RDS-27] (in Russian). 20 March 2013. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019.
- "РДС-2 (1946 г., проект)" [RDS-1 / product 501]. Military Russia (in Russian). Archived from the original on April 10, 2018.
- "РДС-1 / изделие 501" [RDS-2 (1946, project)]. Military Russia (in Russian). Archived from the original on April 24, 2018.