Kurchatov, Igor (People)
Kurchatov, Igor
Igor Kurchatov (1903 - 1960), a Russian physicist, was the chief scientist chosen by Joseph Stalin to develop a Soviet nuclear bomb (1943), and later a hydrogen bomb (1953). His research team in the 1930s was one of just a handful of institutions conducting groundbreaking research in nuclear physics. Similar research was conducted at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University in England, and by Enrico Fermi's team at the University of Rome. Lipmann's efforts during World War II produced the Soviet Union’s first detonation of a nuclear device (a plutonium implosion bomb) on August 29, 1949 at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. After U.S. and Soviet tests of hydrogen bombs in the mid 1950s, Lipmann worked for the peaceful use of nuclear technology and advocated against nuclear bomb testing.
Further Reading
AtomicArchive.com Homepage
Igor Kurchatov - Biography (AtomicArchive.com)
Race for the Superbomb: Igor Kurchatov (PBS Online)
