Why do we have to develop a hydrogen bomb, he said -

He is the recipient of the "Medal of the Republic" and the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Medal of Merit.

He built a nuclear shield for the country and lived in anonymity for more than 20 years, but he was unwilling to be called the "father of the hydrogen bomb."

Yu Min, a name that remained top secret for 28 years, made outstanding contributions to my country's hydrogen bomb breakthrough.

At that time, only Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union had successfully developed hydrogen bombs. Truman and Eisenhower both said bluntly: China must not be allowed to develop hydrogen bombs.

Yu Min said: "This is intolerable. I can throw away everything I learned in the past. I must go all out to make it happen."

today

It is the 96th birthday of Yu Min, a famous nuclear physicist in my country.

Let us pay tribute together

This national backbone dedicated his life to the motherland!

This is Yu Min at work (photographed in 1980). Xinhua News Agency

Don't tell your parents, don't tell your wife and children

Name and career become top state secrets

In 1950, the Korean War broke out and the United States threatened China with nuclear weapons. At this time, Yu Min, who was studying at Peking University, did not know that his fate had begun to change with the war situation and the needs of national development.

In 1951, Yu Min began his scientific research career at the Institute of Modern Physics, where the famous physicist Qian Sanqiang was the director. He and his collaborators proposed a nuclear coherence structure model, filling the gap in my country's nuclear theory.

On November 1, 1952, the world's first hydrogen bomb developed by the United States exploded on a small island in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean; in 1961, the Soviet Union tested the hydrogen bomb "Tsar Bomb", which was 3,846 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Japan...

In 1961, Qian Sanqiang talked to Yu Min and gave him the task of exploring the theory of hydrogen bomb. At that time, Yu Min, who was in his thirties, had been working in the field of nuclear theory research in China for ten years and was about to make some discoveries and achievements. The sudden decision of the organization to let him change his career caught him by surprise.

After communicating with Qian Sanqiang, Yu Min did not hesitate to obey the assignment and change his career. From then on, he began a 28-year career of hiding his identity.

He did not tell his parents, nor his wife and children. From the moment he accepted this assignment, Yu Min's name and his career became the country's top secret. He seemed to have disappeared without a trace and never published a paper publicly again.

At that time, only Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union had successfully developed hydrogen bombs. Truman and Eisenhower both said bluntly: China must not be allowed to develop hydrogen bombs.

Yu Min said: "This is intolerable. I can throw away everything I learned in the past. I must go all out to make it happen."

"Yu Min Plan"

Shock the world with a loud bang

China started from scratch when developing the hydrogen bomb. Researchers only knew that the release equivalent of a hydrogen bomb was dozens or even hundreds of times that of an atomic bomb, but no one could clearly explain how to make a hydrogen bomb or what the core issue was.

On October 16, 1964, my country's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated. Zhou Enlai immediately deployed to conduct a hydrogen bomb device explosion test before 1968.

Time was running out, and there had been no key breakthroughs in hydrogen bomb research. Yu Min and his team of researchers were immersed in mountains of data calculations almost all the time. It was not until 1965 that the hydrogen bomb development plan finally had some clues. In order to verify whether the plan was feasible, Yu Min led dozens of researchers to Shanghai for the "Hundred Days Battle".

The "Hundred Days' Battle" is unforgettable. Shanghai had the only computer in China at that time that could perform 50,000 operations. However, 95% of the time had to be spent on atomic bomb design. Yu Min and his team used this 5% of computing time, and even used tools such as abacus and slide rule.

For more than 100 days and nights, Yu Min first buried himself in mountains of computer paper tapes, and then made intensive reports. He led everyone to discover the key to the self-sustaining thermonuclear combustion of the hydrogen bomb, found the technical path to break through the hydrogen bomb, and formed a complete physical design plan for the hydrogen bomb from principles, materials to configuration.

In less than five years, Yu Min and his researchers independently broke through the nuclear powers' blockade of hydrogen bomb theory and technology, and opened the door for China to develop hydrogen bombs with the "Yu Min Plan" that shocked the world...

On June 17, 1967, a mushroom cloud rose from the heart of the Lop Nur Desert, and my country successfully tested its hydrogen bomb. From the first atomic bomb explosion to the first successful hydrogen bomb test, it took the United States more than seven years, the Soviet Union four years, and China only two years and eight months.

Since the 1980s, Yu Min has led his team to break through key technologies in the development of second-generation nuclear weapons, bringing the development of my country's nuclear weapons technology to a new level.

The people will never forget!

After his retirement in 1988, Yu Min's name was no longer banned.

The "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Medal of Merit, the National Highest Science and Technology Award... Yu Min remained humble as always despite all the high honors he received. He declined the title of "Father of the Hydrogen Bomb". A calligraphy scroll hangs in the living room of Yu's home: "Indifference leads to clarity of ambition, tranquility leads to far-reaching goals."

"Everything is for the needs of the country!" "A person's name will disappear sooner or later. It is enough to comfort oneself if one can integrate one's meager strength into the prosperity of the motherland," said Yu Min.

Do something earth-shattering

Become an anonymous person

Let us remember Yu Min together

Remember his name

Thank you for his contribution!

Source: Science and Technology Daily, CCTV News, China News Network, People's Daily, Guangming Online, Xinhuanet, etc.

◎ Comprehensive report by Zhang Shuang of Science and Technology Daily

Editor: Wang Chengyue

Review: Yue Liang

Final judge: Wang Tingting