First director of the nuclear weapons design bureau KB-11, who built the administrative foundation of the Soviet atomic bomb
When Beria pressured him over missed deadlines for the atomic bomb, Zernov pushed back: "It is not that the scientists are lazy: the problem is simply too hard."
An engineer by training from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University who became a military-industrial organizer. Appointed first director of KB-11 (Arzamas-16) in April 1946, he built the administrative foundation of the closed city and the design bureau, working alongside chief designer Yulii Khariton to deliver the first Soviet atomic bomb, RDS-1, in 1949. During the war, as deputy commissar for the tank industry, he directed factory evacuations and the restart of production; afterwards, as deputy minister of Medium Machine Building, he oversaw the nuclear weapons industry and was twice named Hero of Socialist Labor.
Career Timeline
- 1919–1926Worker at Kolchugino plant, Komsomol district secretary
- 1929–1937Graduated Bauman MVTU, Candidate of Technical Sciences
- 1938–1940Deputy Commissar of Medium Machine Building, then Tank Industry
- 1940–1942Chairman, All-Union Committee for Standards
- 1941–1945Deputy Commissar for Tank Industry: directed factory evacuations and production restarts
- 1946–1951First director of KB-11 (Arzamas-16)
- 1951–1964Head of department, First Main Directorate; Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building