Protecting knowledge: scientists honored the memory of Academician Kurchatov

A solemn ceremony of laying flowers was held on Red Square near the Kremlin Wall, where Academician Igor Kurchatov is buried. The event was attended by representatives of the country's leading scientific organizations. As Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, noted, it is Igor Vasilyevich to whom Russia owes not only its nuclear shield, but also many other projects that have made our country one of the world's leading high-tech powers. The participants noted that the achievements of the "father" of the Soviet atomic bomb still set the agenda in science and the nuclear industry, and the personality of Igor Kurchatov remains an example for young scientists.

Laying flowers at Kurchatov's tomb

A solemn ceremony of laying flowers at the burial place of the urn with the ashes of Igor Kurchatov, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, took place near the Kremlin wall. January 8 marked the 122nd anniversary of his birth. The event was attended by representatives of the Kurchatov Institute, the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rosatom, the Ministry of Education and Science and other organizations. Speakers talked about the significance of the outstanding scientist's achievements for our country and his role as a reference point for the modern generation of scientists.

"We have come to honor the memory of our outstanding compatriot Igor Kurchatov. He has been gone for more than 60 years. Today, from the height of the past decades, we can appreciate the contribution of this man. After all, we have survived as a sovereign great country thanks to what was done by Kurchatov. It was our nuclear shield that made Russia one of the world's greatest powers and allowed us to survive in the most difficult transition period," said Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute.

Monument to I.V. Kurchatov in Kurchatov

Photo: RIA Novosti/Ilya Pitalev

According to the head of the scientific organization, Igor Kurchatov and his colleague and associate Anatoly Alexandrov, who headed the Kurchatov Institute for a long time , not only created nuclear weapons, but also launched a huge number of peaceful projects that turned Russia into a high-tech power.

On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb was tested, and a few years later, in 1953, the world's first hydrogen bomb was tested. In 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant was launched. In 1958, the first Soviet nuclear submarine "Leninsky Komsomol" was commissioned, and in 1959, the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin" left the slipway of the Baltic Plant. Thanks to this, today Russia has 60 icebreakers and the only nuclear icebreaker fleet on the planet, said Mikhail Kovalchuk.

Nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin"

Photo: RIA Novosti/Yuli Akhromeev

Today the Arctic with its colossal riches is becoming the most important region of the world. Thanks to nuclear technologies, such as icebreakers, low-power nuclear power plants (for example, the Elena project), Russia will be able to develop these territories and become a leader in this field, emphasized the President of the Kurchatov Institute.

The significance of Kurchatov's achievements for modern science

"Igor Kurchatov and Anatoly Alexandrov, who were engaged in the 1940s in creating our nuclear shield, took on a huge responsibility. And not only in the field of science, but also for the fate of the country and the entire civilization. Today, young people who work in science have no less responsibility. Let us be worthy of those people whom we remember today," said Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko.

Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov after the pre-launch inspection of the research atomic reactor, created on his initiative, at the Institute of Nuclear Research

Photo: TASS/M. Kuznetsov

Kurchatov needed great courage to take on the colossally difficult task of creating an atomic bomb, said Gennady Krasnikov, president of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Igor Kurchatov left behind a great legacy. This is a large scientific school and teams of outstanding people who continued his work. These are Anatoly Alexandrov and Evgeny Velikhov. Today the future of our country and the Kurchatov Institute is in good hands. And young scientists should learn from the example of our outstanding predecessor," he said.

Viktor Ilgisonis, Director of Scientific and Technical Research and Development of Rosatom State Corporation, emphasized that the results of Academician Kurchatov's work still determine the agenda of modern scientific activity and the nuclear industry.

Igor Kurchatov remains a point of reference for young scientists, added Denis Sekirinsky, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.