The scientist-statesman who built nuclear weapons and called for their abolition
Elected president of the international Pugwash movement in 1968, he advocated nuclear disarmament as a Soviet scientist while simultaneously directing centrifuge uranium enrichment for weapons at the Kurchatov Institute.
A Soviet physicist and science administrator. Born in Grozny, he developed gas centrifuge technology for uranium enrichment at the Kurchatov Institute, contributing decisively to the Soviet nuclear weapons program, and served as scientific director of the world's first nuclear reactor-converter 'Romashka' (1964). Elected Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1962, he chaired the Soviet Pugwash Committee from 1964 and served as president of the international Pugwash movement in 1968–1969, representing the USSR in nuclear disarmament. While directing nuclear technology as deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute, he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR in 1967, bridging science and state.
Career Timeline
- 1949–1960Deputy scientific director, Combine No. 813 · gas centrifuge enrichment
- 1960–1973Deputy director for research, Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy
- 1962–1973Vice-President, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1964Scientific director, first nuclear reactor-converter 'Romashka'
- 1964–1973Chairman, Soviet Pugwash Committee
- 1967–1973Chairman, Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR
- 1968–1969President, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs