The Khlopin Radium Institute is part of the state corporation Rosatom. It belongs to the world leaders in the field of studying the problems of nuclear energy. Within its walls, for the first time, they began to study radioactive phenomena, the properties of radioactive materials.
Purpose of the Institute
Conducts research in various areas of nuclear physics, radiochemistry, geochemistry. Actively takes part in federal programs, in projects at the international level related to nuclear physics.
The main building is located in the city of St. Petersburg. 2nd Murinsky Prospekt, 28 – the address of the Radium Institute. The ancestor, a historical building, stands in the central part of the city, at the address: X-ray street, house 1. At present, it houses the institute's museum, the first cyclotron, and some research laboratories. The Gatchina Scientific and Experimental Complex also belongs to the Institute.
The Radium Institute has a unique experimental base. It allows high-level fundamental research in many areas of atomic science. The base of the scientific and experimental center in the city of Gatchina is a system of completea cycle of research that starts from an idea and ends with a specific technology.
Origins
V. Khlopin Radium Institute is the first Russian organization that stood at the origins of the development of domestic nuclear science. Within its walls, for the first time, fundamental research on radioactivity began to be carried out. It was here that the first European cyclotron was built.
The Institute begins its biography at the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of 1915, a radium department of KEPS (Commission for the Study of Natural Productive Forces) was formed in St. Petersburg.
In early 1922, the head of KEPS - Academician V. Vernadsky - in cooperation with V. Khlopin, A. Fersman and I. Bashilov united three structures that were engaged in the study of radioactive substances. As a result, the State Radium Institute (SRI) was formed. It was included in the list of institutions that had their own budget and the ability to receive loans from the state. January 23, 1922 was the date of its formation.
Getting Started
GRI consisted of three departments: radiochemical (headed by V. Khlopin); physical (L. Mysovsky); geochemical (V. Vernadsky).
The main and first main task was to take over the management of the enterprise, which was located in the city of Bondyug (Tatarstan). On it, at the end of 1921, V. Khlopin, in a group with other scientists, obtained the first radium preparations from Ferghana ore. In the first yearThe work of the traffic police actively developed methods of physical and chemical control of the processes of obtaining natural radioactive materials.
In this institute, G. Gamow formalized the theory of alpha decay of the atomic nucleus. It was at his suggestion that a decision was made to start construction of a cyclotron, the first in Europe, which was put into operation in 1937.
This unique tool became the basis for very important experiments. I. Kurchatov became the first head of the cyclotron department. With its help, in 1939, K. Petrzhak and G. Flerov made a discovery about the spontaneous fission of uranium.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the institute moved to Kazan. There, work on the development of new technologies in the field of uranium research continued.
Atomic Project
Returned to Leningrad Radium Institute in the middle of 1944. Immediately after the war, he was involved in the atomic project of the USSR.
The Institute was instructed to:
- continue to study the chemical characteristics of plutonium;
- develop and test technologies for separating plutonium, including from irradiated uranium;
- issue technological solutions for plutonium production before July 1, 1946.
The indicated work was carried out by the Institute team. The main work was completed by the end of May 1946. At the same time, the institute created a new plutonium separation scheme, different from that used in the USA. It was based on the discovery made by V. Khlopin when using acetate technology in this process. For the extraction of plutonium, it was decided to build a plant, which was put into operation in the spring of 1949.
This is a technology from the Radium Institute that has since been improved.
Representatives of the Radio Institute participated in nuclear tests (explosions) from 1949 to 1962. Also, representatives of the Institute provided the preparation and implementation of 55 underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes from 1965 to 1984. They were carried out to obtain information about the radio-chemical and geological-mineralogical consequences of nuclear explosions.
Explosive theme attracted more than 200 employees of the institute to the tests. Its scientists actively participated in the first test of a thermonuclear charge in 1953. They created a monitoring station for radioactive contamination of the area.
The results of this work led to the fact that at the end of the fifties of the last century, the institute staff prepared a collection of articles united under the title "Determination of biosphere pollution by nuclear test products." This collection has become official in the UN.
Institute Achievements
Currently, the Khlopin Radium Institute provides scientific support for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Among the merits of the institute are the following, namely:
- In cooperation with colleagues (US Idaho National Laboratory), scientists of the Institute have developed a universal technology,allowing to isolate long-lived radionuclides from nuclear waste and convert them into low-active ones.
- Directly participated in the development of REMIX fuel, which allows multiple recycling of uranium and plutonium, extracting it from spent nuclear fuel.
- Together with the structures of RosRAO, employees of the Radium Institute manufactured a waste detritus plant at the emergency nuclear power plant Fukushima (Japan).
- Universal complexes, which have no analogues, designed to control radioactive gases and aerosols, have been developed and put into operation. This equipment is located in many regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in Argentina.
- The Institute took an active part in the implementation of the agreement on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. As part of this program, he developed equipment for the relevant control stations.
- Institute specialists are involved in the search for promising geological structures that can be used for underground disposal of highly toxic nuclear waste.
- Radium Institute. Khlopina is the only manufacturer of reference radionuclide sources in the Russian Federation. After appropriate certification, they become exemplary metrological tools.
- The Institute manufactures and delivers radiological and pharmaceutical products to clinics in St. Petersburg and other cities, which are used in the diagnosis of oncological and heart diseases, the detection of disorders in the endocrine system, the study of kidney diseases, as well as a number of other diseases.
- Specialists of the institutedeveloped and put into production prototypes of equipment designed to detect explosives, drugs, chemicals hidden behind significant obstacles (in walls, in deep voids, luggage, containers, etc.).
- The Institute has developed and manufactured a portable high-energy neutron spectrometer, which has found application on the ISS.
And many more achievements.
Awards, discoveries, works
For contribution to the development of science, to the defense of the country, the Radium Institute of St. Petersburg was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of the Badge of Honor.
3 discoveries of world significance were made within the walls of the Institute:
- L. Mysovsky - discovery of nuclear isometry:
- K. Peterzhak, G. Flerov - spontaneous fission of uranium;
- A. Lozhkin, A. Rimsky-Korsakov - superheavy nuclide He-8.
The Khlopin Radium Institute constantly publishes its own works, it is one of the founders of the international journal Radiochemistry.
