Kurchatov: the year of the three jubilees
29 Apr 2013
Founded 70 years ago, the Kurchatov Institute has played a key role in ensuring national security and development of important strategic branches of the Soviet and Russian science and industry.© Yuri Makarov
This year has become the Year of the Jubilee for the world-famous Kurchatov Institute, which has played a key role in ensuring national security and the development of important strategic branches of Soviet and Russian science and industry since its founding in 1943 in Moscow.
In 2013, the Kurchatov celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding, the 110th anniversary of the birth of institute founder academician Igor Kurchatov, and also the 110th anniversary of the birth of academician Anatoly Alexandrov, who became the second Kurchatov Institute director and headed it for 25 years.
Igor Kurchatov's visit to the UK's atomic research centre at Harwell, in 1956, marked a turning point in the history of fusion research. The lecture he gave (''on the possibility of producing thermonuclear reactions in a gas discharge'') opened the way to declassification of the ongoing fusion research worldwide and to a free and open international collaboration.
The Kurchatov today possesses a unique research and technological base, performing R&D in a wide range of science and technology areas, from power engineering, convergent technologies and elementary particle physics to high technology medicine and information technologies.
The Institute's role in the development of thermonuclear fusion research is hard to overestimate. Under the scientific guidance of Igor Golovin, the first tokamak was assembled in 1955—in fact, he coined the term TOKAMAK that is now widely acknowledged by the world community.
Read more about the Kurchatov Institute here.