The History of the Soviet Atomic Industry

This book offers readers their first opportunity to learn about the pioneers of the Soviet nuclear industry, including the role of scientific supervisors at Russia's nuclear project and the statesmen who coordinated atomic industry in the former USSR. This detailed account discusses the activities of production facilities and research institutes that designed and manufactured equipment and materials. Those materials were used in various fields of atomic science and engineering, but they were used primarily to build atomic weapons. History of Soviet Atomic Industry will interest scientists and engineers in the nuclear industry as well as historians of science and the Soviet Union.

For the first time, readers can discover the numerous pioneers of the Soviet nuclear industry, including the role of scientific supervisors of Russia's nuclear project and the statesmen who coordinated the function of the atomic industry in the former USSR. This is a detailed account, translated to English for the first time, of the development of the atomic industry in the former Soviet Union. It deals with the activities of production facilities, research institutes and design bureaus that designed and manufactured equipment and materials. That material was applied in various fields of atomic science and engineering, but primarily in the construction of atomic weapons. History of Soviet Atomic Industry will be of interest to scientists and engineers in the nuclear industry, as well as historians of science and the post-war Soviet Union.

Autorentext
Arkadii Kruglov worked for over forty years in the atomic industry for the former Soviet Union, including 16 years work at the closed institute Chelyabinsk-40. He was awarded a State Prize in 1980 for his work on procedures to protect against air pollution due to radioactive releases from nuclear power stations and he later participated in the Governmental Commission to clean up after the accident in Chernobyl. He died in 1997.

Inhalt
Prewar Period (1918-1941). War Period (1941-45). Infancy of Nuclear Weapons Creation in the USSR. First Production Reactor A. First Radiochemical Plant B. First Plant for Producing Nuclear Charges (Plant V). Concluding Phase of the First Plutonium Bomb Project. Semipalatinsk Test Site. Experimental and Full-Scale Enriched T235U Production. First Soviet Heavy-Water Nuclear Reactors. Natural Uranium Resources for the Nuclear Program. First Order for Producing Items of Uranium Metal and Other Materials for Atomic Industry. Nuclear and Radiation Safety. Conclusion. References. Index.