when did the soviet union explode its first atomic bomb
29 August 1949
title: RDS-1 text: RDS-1 The RDS-1 (), also known as Izdeliye 501 (device 501) and First Lightning (), was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was detonated on 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m., at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after top-secret research and development as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project. The weapon was designed at the Kurchatov Institute — at the time officially known as "Laboratory № 2", but designated as the "office" or "base" in internal documents — starting in April title: RDS-1 text: to be in possession of the atomic bomb, pressure mounted to develop the first hydrogen bomb. RDS-1 The RDS-1 (), also known as Izdeliye 501 (device 501) and First Lightning (), was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was detonated on 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m., at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after top-secret research and development as part of the Soviet atomic bomb project. The weapon was designed at the Kurchatov Institute — at the time officially known as "Laboratory title: Soviet atomic bomb project text: was performed with the torpedo on September 21, 1955. The first Soviet test of a "true" hydrogen bomb in the megaton range was conducted on November 22, 1955. It was dubbed "RDS-37" by the Soviets. It was of the multi-staged, radiation implosion thermonuclear design called "Sakharov's "Third Idea"" in the USSR and the Teller-Ulam design in the USA. Joe 1, Joe 4, and RDS-37 were all tested at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. The Tsar Bomba (Царь-бомба) was the largest, most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated. It was a three-stage hydrogen bomb with a yield of about 50 megatons. title: Soviet atomic bomb project text: weapon project and the American Manhattan Project. The Soviet efforts also rounded up captured German scientists to join their program, and relied heavily on knowledge passed by spies to Soviet intelligence agencies. On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union secretly conducted its first successful weapon test ("First Lightning", based on the American "Fat Man" design) at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. As early as 1910 in Russia, independent research was being conducted on radioactive elements by several Russian scientists. Despite the hardship faced by the Russian academy of sciences during the national revolution in 1917, followed by the violent title: George Koval text: on Japan on August 6 and 9, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. The Soviet Union responded by increasing efforts to develop its own atomic bomb. While the American Central Intelligence Agency estimated the Soviets would not succeed until 1950–53, the first Soviet atomic bomb was detonated on August 29, 1949. The initiator for the plutonium bomb was, according to Russian military officials, "prepared to the 'recipe' provided by military intelligence agent Delmar [Koval]". After World War II, Koval was discharged from the Army. He returned to New York and CCNY, where he received his