Layer Cake

Known as Sloika (“Layer Cake”), the design was refined by Ginzburg in 1949 through the substitution of lithium-6 deuteride for the liquid deuterium. When bombarded with neutrons, lithium-6 breeds tritium, which can fuse with deuterium to release more energy. Ginzburg and Sakharov’s design was tested on August…

…design—was called Sloika, or “Layer Cake” as it is usually translated. Sakharov referred to it as the “First Idea.” Sakharov credits Ginzburg for the “Second Idea.” In 1949 Ginzburg published reports proposing substituting lithium deuteride for the liquid deuterium. When bombarded with neutrons, the lithium yields tritium, which when…

…known as the Sloika (“Layer Cake”), was successfully tested on Aug. 12, 1953. Tamm was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences in October 1953 and the same year was awarded a Hero of Socialist Labour. On Nov. 22, 1955, the Soviet Union successfully tested a more…

Known as Sloika (“Layer Cake”), the design was refined by Ginzburg in 1949 through the substitution of lithium-6 deuteride for the liquid deuterium. When bombarded with neutrons, lithium-6 breeds tritium, which can fuse with deuterium to release more energy.