- Title: RUSSIA-NUCLEAR/BOMB EXHIBIT Russia exhibits mega H-bomb replica in Moscow
- Date: 1st September 2015
- Summary: PORTRAIT OF SOVIET NUCLEAR PHYSICIST IGOR KURCHATOV
- Embargoed: 16th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2CGNFKNPEYZ7IUKGNWWKLGY8O
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A replica of the most powerful nuclear bomb ever to be blasted has gone on display in the heart of the Russia capital.
The Soviet named 'Tsar Bomb' is the main attraction at an exhibition celebrating 70 years of Russia's atomic achievements at an exhibition centre near the Kremlin.
The AN-602 hydrogen bomb casing was placed proudly at the centre of Manezh exhibition hall as visitors milled about and guides outlined its history on Tuesday (September 1).
The 'Tsar Bomb' had the equivalent of ten times the explosives used in the World War Two bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Pavel Struchalin a postgraduate student at Russia's National Research Nuclear University said the replica was exact and not a simple model.
"It is a real engineering structure, so it is not a dummy, it even has an inventory number on it, but naturally the charge, all the electronics and break parachutes have been removed. So this is just a visual demonstration," said Struchalin.
The bomb is often referred to as 'Kuzma's Mother' in Russia, an idiomatic expression that translates as 'we will teach you a lesson'. Struchalin says the nickname became a reference to the bomb after Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev's outburst at the 1960 United Nations General Assembly, promising to show 'Kuzma's Mother' to the United States.
"This is the name given to it by Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev at the United Nations Security Council meeting. And his phrase 'we will show you Kuzma's Mother' he said these words, knocking a shoe on the tribune. Since then people started calling this bomb 'Kuzma's Mother'."
The model was brought to Moscow from the city of Sarov, a closed nuclear research area some 400 kilometres east of the Russian capital.
The exhibition also put on display for the first time documents outlining the development of nuclear weapons in Russia.
In 1961 the Soviet Union exploded the 58-megaton H-bomb at a testing range in the Arctic. The specially modified Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber dropped the 26.5-tonne bomb from a height of 10.5km.
The exhibition staged by Moscow's state-owned nuclear-energy company, Rosatom, is set to run until September 29. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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