Soviet physicist who linked fusion science, Chernobyl, and nuclear disarmament
Less than a month after absorbing radiation at Chernobyl, Velikhov chaired an international meeting on nuclear test-ban verification — turning disaster into a disarmament opening.
Soviet physicist who pioneered plasma physics for controlled fusion and MHD power. His 1959 thesis discovered magnetorotational instability, now foundational to astrophysics; in 1962 he identified electrothermal instability. He led the Soviet controlled-fusion program from 1973 and was Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1978–1991), bridging the Kurchatov Institute and the Academy. During Chernobyl (1986) he served as Gorbachev's science advisor for reactor containment, then led science diplomacy for nuclear disarmament. After the Soviet collapse he sustained the Kurchatov Institute and became founding chairman of ITER, building the framework for joint US-Soviet-European-Japanese fusion research.
Career Timeline
- 1958Graduated from Moscow State University, Physics
- 1961Joined the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy
- 1971–1978Director, Magnetic Laboratory, Troitsk branch
- 1973–1991Scientific head, Soviet controlled-fusion program
- 1978–1991Vice-President, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1986Science advisor to Gorbachev for Chernobyl cleanup
- 1989–1990Member, CPSU Central Committee
- 1989–2015Director → President → Honorary President, Kurchatov Institute