Valery Legasov

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File:Legasov.jpg
Valery Legasov, MFTI Professor

Valery Alekseyevich Legasov (Russian: Валерий Алексеевич Легасов; September 1, 1936 – April 27, 1988) was a prominent Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is now mainly remembered for his work as the chief of the commission investigating the Chernobyl disaster.[1]

Biography

Legasov was born in Tula into a family of civil workers on September 1, 1936.[2][3][4] He then went to secondary school in Kursk.[2] In 1949–1954 he studied in School 56 in Moscow and graduated with a gold medal.[2] The school now bears his name and his bronze bust stands at the entrance.[citation needed]

In 1961 he graduated from the Faculty of Physicochemical Engineering at the Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemistry and Technology[5].

He worked[when?] as secretary of the Komsomol Committee of the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology.[citation needed]

In 1962 he joined graduate school in the Department of Molecular Physics of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy,[6]: 261  first as a junior then senior researcher, and finally as head of the laboratory.[citation needed] In 1967[citation needed] he defended his thesis at the Kurchatov Institute, under the supervisor Isaac Kikoin, on the synthesis of compounds of noble gases and the study of their properties[citation needed].[6]: 261  He received the degree of Candidate in 1967 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1972, a remarkable achievement for a 36-year-old scientist.[citation needed]

In 1976, he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

From 1978–1983 he was a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

In 1981, he became a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in the Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Inorganic Materials.[citation needed]

From 1983 until his death, he worked as chair of the department of Radiochemistry and Chemical Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry at Moscow State University.[citation needed] In 1983[citation needed] he became the first Deputy Director for scientific work of the Ivor Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy.[7]

Scientific achievements

Academician V.A. Legasov - a world-famous scientist in the field of using nuclear-physical and plasma methods for the synthesis and study of the properties of new compounds with elements in abnormally high oxidation states nuclear and plasma technology; energy-saving technology and hydrogen energy. Under his leadership, a scientific school was created in the newest section of inorganic chemistry - chemistry of noble gases. The results of these works in world science are known as the Bartlett - Legasov effect.[citation needed]

The concept of security is another major area of creative activity of academician V. A. Legasov. The works of V. A. Legasov are aimed at proving the need for a new security methodology. The largest catastrophes, the outcome of which is a huge human toll, is the tragic symptom of our time. He believed that it was necessary to formulate new safety criteria and have a modern methodology to ensure it [4]. The improvement of the technosphere should ensure a comfortable and safe prosperity of people. Academician V. A. Legasov was concerned about these problems.[citation needed]

Chernobyl disaster

File:Могила математика Валерия Легасова.JPG
The grave of Professor Valery Legasov at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

By the time of the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, Legasov was the First Deputy Director of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy.[8] He became a key member of the government commission formed to investigate the causes of the disaster and to plan the mitigation of its consequences. He took the most important decisions to avoid repeat accidents and informed the government of the situation in the disaster area. He did not hesitate to speak to his fellow scientists and to the press about the safety risks of the destroyed plant and insisted on the immediate evacuation of the entire population of the city Pripyat nearby. In August 1986, he presented the report of the Soviet delegation at the special meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. His report displayed a depth of analysis and honesty in discussing the extent and consequences of the tragedy.[9]

Death

Near the second anniversary of the disaster,[1] Legasov committed suicide[10] by hanging himself in his office.[11] Reportedly, before his suicide, he recorded himself on audiotape revealing previously undisclosed facts about the catastrophe.[11] According to an analysis of the recording for the BBC TV Movie "Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster" (where he was played by actor Adrian Edmondson),[12] Legasov claims political pressure censored the mention of Soviet nuclear secrecy in his report to the IAEA, a secrecy which forbade even plant operators knowledge of previous accidents and known problems with reactor design. The programme implied that his suicide was at least partly due to his distress at not having spoken out about these factors at Vienna, the suppression of his subsequent attempts to do so and the damage to his career that these attempts caused.[10] The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists also stated that Legasov had become bitterly disillusioned with the failure of the authorities to confront the design flaws.[13]

Legasov's suicide caused shockwaves in the Soviet nuclear industry. In particular, the problem with the design of the control rods in Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors was rapidly admitted and changed.[12]

On September 20, 1996, then Russian president Boris Yeltsin posthumously conferred on Legasov the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation for the "courage and heroism" shown in his investigation of the disaster.[14]

On April 27, 1988, on the second anniversary of the Chernobyl NPP accident, he was found hanged in his apartment.[11][5] A personal pistol remained in the table, but the academician chose to hang himself, the loop was tied professionally and with the help of a specific cable used by climbers. Academician Legasov was due the next day to announce his results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster.[citation needed]

Before his death, he recorded on the recorder a story about little-known facts relating to the disaster (according to some information, the main part of the message was deliberately erased). Based on these audio recordings, the BBC made the film Survive the Catastrophe: the Chernobyl Nuclear Catastrophe (Eng. Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, 2006). Also, the fact of suicide and audio recordings are featured in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl.

David R. Marples has suggested that the adversity of the Chernobyl disaster on Legasov's psychology was the factor that led to his death.[5]

He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.[15]

In media

He was portrayed by Jared Harris in the 2019 HBO Miniseries Chernobyl[16], and Ade Edmondson in the BBC docudrama Surviving Disaster[17].

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Chemist, investigator of Chernobyl nuclear accident dies at 51". AP News Archive. The Associated Press. Apr 30, 1988. Retrieved 26 April 2014. [the official Soviet news agency] Tass said Legasov made a significant contribution in the working out and realization of immediate measures aimed at liquidating the consequences of the accident.
  2. ^ a b c Template:Cite article
  3. ^ Schmid, Sonja D. (2015). Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry.
  4. ^ Template:Cite article
  5. ^ a b c Marples, David (1991). Ukraine under Perestroika: Ecology, Economics and the Workers’ Revolt. p. 21.
  6. ^ a b Josephson, Paul R. (2005). Red Atom: Russia's Nuclear Power Program from Stalin to Today.
  7. ^ Template:Cite article
  8. ^ Template:Cite article
  9. ^ Template:Cite articleArchived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ a b "Legasov suicide leaves unanswered questions". Nuclear Engineering International. July 1988. Soviet nuclear industry sources have said that domestic problems played a role, but the timing, 27 April, exactly two years after the Chernobyl accident, is clearly of major significance. His death was first officially announced on 29 April, but without any mention of the cause. Subsequently it emerged that he had taken his own life.
  11. ^ a b c Neef, Christian (24 March 2011). "'This Reactor Model Is No Good': Documents Show Politburo Skepticism of Chernobyl". Der Spiegel. Translated by Sultan, Christopher. But he did not die of radiation sickness, even though he spent four months in Chernobyl after the explosion there. Legasov hanged himself in his office on April 27, 1988, almost two years to the day after the reactor accident in present-day Ukraine.
  12. ^ a b Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl Nuclear DisasterBBC
  13. ^ Marples, David (September 1993). Chernobyl's Lengthening Shadow. p. 40. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Paulo Emilio V. de Miranda, Science and Engineering of Hydrogen-Based Energy Technologies
  15. ^ "Valeri Alekseevich Legasov," findagrave.com
  16. ^ "IMDB Chernobyl (2019) Full Cast & Crew".
  17. ^ "IMDB Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster".

External links

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