The last chairman of Soviet state science policy and a uranium geologist
Receiving the Global Energy Prize in 2009 he observed: "The Earth has always alternated between cold and warm periods, and humans have lived through only a very short moment on the geological time scale."
Soviet geologist and science administrator. His work on uranium deposits across Central Asia and Russia established the resource base for the Soviet nuclear fuel cycle, and in the final perestroika years he served simultaneously as chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology (GKNT) and Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers: the last person to direct Soviet science and technology policy. As Vice President of the Soviet and then Russian Academy of Sciences from 1988 to 2013, he led the Earth sciences section and became a leading authority on radioactive waste disposal and Arctic research. He authored over 700 scientific papers and 28 monographs.
Career Timeline
- 1958–1966IGEM uranium deposits lab, researcher → head
- 1966–1972Deputy Chief, Administration of Scientific Research Organizations, USSR Ministry of Geology
- 1968–1972Director, All-Union Geological Fund (VGF)
- 1972–1983Chief, Administration of Scientific Research Organizations, USSR Ministry of Geology
- 1979Corresponding Member, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1987–1989President, Academy of Sciences of the Kirghiz SSR
- 1987Full Member (Academician), USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1988–2013Vice President, USSR / Russian Academy of Sciences
- 1989–1991Deputy Chairman, USSR Council of Ministers
- 1989–1991Chairman, USSR State Committee for Science and Technology (GKNT)
- 1991Deputy Prime Minister of the USSR and Minister for Science and Technology
- 1991–2016Director → Scientific Supervisor, IGEM RAS
Related historical events
Radioactive Waste Geological Disposal and Nuclear Safety
Laverov institutionalized radioactive waste geological disposal research in Russia immediately after the dissolution of the USSR, building on his expertise in uranium geology. In 1993 he was appointed the first chairman of the Russian Federation Government Commission on Geological Safety of Radioactive Waste Disposal, a position he held for 23 years until his death in 2016. Under his leadership, the commission launched Russia's first systematic geological surveys for deep disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, evaluating candidate sites across the Kola Peninsula, Novaya Zemlya, and other regions before selecting the Nizhnekansk granitoid massif near Krasnoyarsk as the final site.
Laverov pioneered the field of "radiogeoecology" (the study of radionuclide migration through groundwater and geochemical environments) and led research into synthesizing highly durable ceramic matrices for immobilizing long-lived actinides. From 2001 to 2003 he co-chaired a joint committee with the US National Academy of Sciences, producing the report End Points for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in Russia and the United States. His 1993 leadership in signing a memorandum of understanding between the Russian Academy of Sciences and the US Department of Energy launched over 20 joint research projects spanning radiation chemistry, depleted uranium utilization, and nuclear facility risk assessment. Through his initiative, IGEM collaborated with Schlumberger to develop next-generation probes for real-time radiation monitoring at nuclear sites, and he played a key role in the safe decommissioning of Soviet nuclear legacy sites such as the Karachay Lake radioactive waste reservoir at the Mayak facility.