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The All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) (russian: Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт экспериментальной физики) is a research institute based in
Sarov Sarov (russian: Саро́в) is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It was known as Gorkiy-130 (Горький-130) and Arzamas-16 (), after a (somewhat) nearby town of Arzamas,SarovLabsCreation of Nuclear Center Arzamas-16/ref ...
(formerly Arzamas-16), Russia and established in 1947. During the Soviet era, it was known as KB-11 and All-Soviet (All-Union) Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (also abbreviated VNIIEF) (russian: Всесоюзный научно-исследовательский институт экспериментальной физики, ВНИИЭФ). It is currently part of the
Rosatom Rosatom, ( rus, Росатом, p=rɐsˈatəm}) also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that speciali ...
group. The All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics is the former Soviet Union's premier research and development center for nuclear weapons. The first Soviet atomic bomb was developed here in the late 1940s, after which the center continued as a center for nuclear weapons research. Many of the Soviet Union's best physicists were associated with Arzamas-16: Academician Andrey D. Sakharov worked here for nearly 20 years, and Academician Yuliy B. Khariton still served as the Center's scientific head in the 1990s. Before being given its current name, the facility was successively known as the Volga Office, KB-11, Object No. 550 (Site 550), "Kremlev" (Kremlyev), "Center 300, Moscow", Arzamas-75 and Arzamas-16. Other initial provisional names included Base 112 and Yasnogorsk. The researchers working there have sometimes referred to the place as "Los Arzamas" (after the American nuclear research facility Los Alamos). As of August 2019, the Research Institute of Experimental Physics is a very large research complex with these institutes: Theoretical and mathematical physics (russian: теоретической и математической физики), Gas dynamics and explosion physics (russian: Газодинамики и физики взрыва), Nuclear and radiation physics (russian: Ядерной и радиационной физики), Laser physical research (russian: Лазерно-физических исследований), and the Scientific and Technical Complex (russian: Научно-технический комплекс) also known as the KB (russian: КБ), which consists of KB-1 (nuclear charges) (russian: КБ-1 (ядерные заряды)), KB-2 (nuclear munitions) (russian: КБ-2 (ядерные боеприпасы)), KB-3 (special security) (russian: КБ-3 (специальная безопасность)), and KB-12 (special topics) (russian: КБ-12 (специальная тематика)).


History

On February 11, 1943, a resolution was adopted by the State Defense Committee to begin work on the creation of an atomic bomb. The general leadership was entrusted to the Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee
Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ;  – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...
, who, in turn, appointed the head of the atomic project
Igor Kurchatov Igor Vasil'evich Kurchatov (russian: Игорь Васильевич Курчатов; 12 January 1903 – 7 February 1960), was a Soviet physicist who played a central role in organizing and directing the former Soviet program of nuclear weapo ...
(his appointment was signed on March 10). The information received through intelligence channels facilitated and accelerated the work of Soviet scientists. Beginning at the end of 1945, a search began for a location for a secret facility, which would later be named KB-11. According to the memoirs of the academician
Yulii Khariton Yulii Borisovich Khariton (Russian: Юлий Борисович Харитон, 27 February 1904 – 19 December 1996), also known as YuB, , was a Russian physicist who was a leading scientist in the former Soviet Union's program of nuclear wea ...
, the place for the future institute was researched carefully: it had to be located at a distance from the cities, since it was required to test various explosive structures so that active plutonium could be compressed and when combined, would exceed
critical mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fi ...
. Having reviewed many locations, physicists came across a completely satisfying place in the former
Sarov Monastery The Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God (Russian: ''Свято-Успенская Саровская пустынь'') is located in Sarov, Russia. The town took its name from being the site of the monastery, next to the Sarov River. ...
(a famous saint that lived in the monastery, the
Saint Seraphim of Sarov Seraphim of Sarov (russian: Серафим Саровский; – ), born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín) ро́хор Иси́дорович Мошни́н (Машни́н) is one of the most renowned Russian saints and is venerate ...
, later became a patron saint of Russia's nuclear weapons) not far from
Arzamas Arzamas (russian: Арзама́с) is a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Tyosha River (a tributary of the Oka), east of Moscow. Population: History Arzamas was founded in 1578 by Ivan the Terrible in the lands pop ...
(hence the names Arzamas-75 and Arzamas-16), on the border with the Mordovian reserve. On the territory of the monastery, there was plant number 550 (hence the names Site 550 etc.), which produced mortar shells, guns, rockets for BM-13 "Katyusha" rocket launchers, and other types of weapons. Behind the wall of the monastery there was a protected forest (the nature reserve is still very near to the
Sarov Sarov (russian: Саро́в) is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It was known as Gorkiy-130 (Горький-130) and Arzamas-16 (), after a (somewhat) nearby town of Arzamas,SarovLabsCreation of Nuclear Center Arzamas-16/ref ...
closed city) for hundreds of square kilometers, where test explosions could be carried out unnoticed.
Boris Vannikov Boris Lvovich Vannikov (russian: Бори́с Льво́вич Ва́нников; 26 August 1897 – 22 February 1962) was a Soviet government official and three-star general. Vannikov was People's Commissar for Defense Industry from Decembe ...
commissioned a survey of the plant and on April 1, 1946
Sarov Sarov (russian: Саро́в) is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It was known as Gorkiy-130 (Горький-130) and Arzamas-16 (), after a (somewhat) nearby town of Arzamas,SarovLabsCreation of Nuclear Center Arzamas-16/ref ...
was chosen as the location of the first Soviet “nuclear center,” later famously known as “Arzamas-16.” On April 9, 1946, a resolution was adopted by the
Council of Ministers of the USSR The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...
- No. 805-327ss on the creation of KB-11 at Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Kurchatov Institute). was appointed Head of KB-11 at the suggestion of Yu.B. Khariton, and the chief designer was
Yulii Khariton Yulii Borisovich Khariton (Russian: Юлий Борисович Харитон, 27 February 1904 – 19 December 1996), also known as YuB, , was a Russian physicist who was a leading scientist in the former Soviet Union's program of nuclear wea ...
. Construction of KB-11 on the plant No. 550 base in the village of Sarov was entrusted to Glavpromstroy by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR. To carry out all the construction work, a special construction organization was created - Construction Department No. 880 of the NKVD of the USSR. Since April 1946, the entire personnel of the plant No. 550 were enlisted as workers and employees of the Construction Department No. 880. In addition to civilian workers, the main contingent consisted of prisoners. On 07/01/1947, the number of prisoners in the labor camp at SU-880 was 10,098, of which 9044 were men and 1,054 were women. In February 1947, by the decree of the
Council of Ministers of the USSR The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...
KB-11 was classified as a highly restricted enterprise and was transformed from a territory into a closed restricted zone. The settlement of Sarov was removed from the administrative structure of the
Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Мордовская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Mordovskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika'' ...
and excluded from all records. Research laboratories and design departments of KB-11 began to develop their activities directly in Sarov in the spring of 1947. At the same time, the first production shops of experimental plants No. 1 and No. 2 were created. On March 3, 1949, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted decree No. 863-327ss/op on the construction of the USSR's first plant for the industrial production of atomic bombs as part of KB-11 in 1949-1950. On June 6, 1950, KB-11 was transferred from the Laboratory of Measuring Instruments of the USSR Academy of Sciences to the direct jurisdiction of The First Main Directorate under the USSR Council of Ministers, on the basis of which, in turn, on July 1, 1953, the
Ministry of Medium Machine Building The Ministry of Medium Machine-Building Industry of the USSR (russian: Министерство среднего машиностроения СССР - Минсредмаш СССР, МСМ СССР) was the government ministry of the Soviet Unio ...
was formed. By the end of 1951, the experimental mass production plant No. 551, which came into operation in the second half of 1951 (plant No. 3 KB-11), produced 29 atomic bombs
RDS-1 The RDS-1 (russian: РДС-1), also known as Izdeliye 501 (device 501) and First Lightning (), was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph ...
. The storage of atomic bombs was also carried out on the territory of KB-11 in a specially erected underground reinforced concrete storage warehouse. In 1967, KB-11 was transformed into the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, which became part of the structure of the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building. Since February 1992, it is called the - Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF). It is a federal state unitary enterprise of the nuclear weapons complex of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (SC Rosatom).


Supercomputer

On March 9, 2011, a supercomputer was officially put into operation at RFNC-VNIIEF - the most powerful supercomputer at that time in Russia. By 2018-2020, it is planned to increase the capacity of the supercomputer to 1
exaflop In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
.


Members

Directors: * (1946) * Anatoly Sergeevich Aleksandrov * Boris Glebovich Muzrukov (1955—1974) * Lev Dmitrievich Ryabev (1974—1978) * Evgeny Arkadevich Negin (1978—1987) * Vladimir Alexandrovich Belugin(1987—1996) * Radiy Ivanovich Ilkayev(1996—2008) * Valentin Efimovich Kostyukov (с 2008) Scientific advisers: *
Yulii Borisovich Khariton Yulii Borisovich Khariton (Russian language, Russian: Юлий Борисович Харитон, 27 February 1904 – 19 December 1996), also known as YuB, , was a Russian physicist who was a leading scientist in the former Soviet Union's prog ...
(1952—1992) * Viktor Nikitovich Mikhaylov (1993—2008) * Radiy Ivanovich Ilkayev (2008—2016) * Vyacheslav Petrovich Soloviev (с 2017) As of March 2005, about 24 thousand people worked in the Nuclear Center, of which over 44% were women. VNIIEF has 527 candidates of sciences, of whom 36 are women. Of the 102 doctors of sciences, three are women: Galina Vladimirovna Dolgoleva, Vera Vladimirovna Rasskazova, and Lyudmila Valentinovna Fomicheva.


See also

*
All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Of Technical Physics All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Of Technical Physics (VNIITF) (russian: Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт технической физики) is a research institute based in Sn ...
*
NL Dukhov All-Russian Research Institute of Automation Federal State Unitary Enterprise "NL Dukhov All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Automation" (VNIIA) – is an enterprise of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom. Located in Moscow, the main sphere of activity is the development o ...
*
Soviet atomic bomb project The Soviet atomic bomb project was the classified research and development program that was authorized by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union to develop nuclear weapons during and after World War II. Although the Soviet scientific community disc ...
*
Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
* Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory *
Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...


References


External links


Official website

RFNC-VNIIEF Scientific electronic library

Sarov. An amazing journey to a closed city.
Report in the newspaper «Private Correspondent», published 02.28.2009. {{authority control Nuclear research institutes in Russia Research institutes in Russia Companies based in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Rosatom Federal State Unitary Enterprises of Russia 1947 establishments in the Soviet Union Ministry of the Atomic Energy Industry (Soviet Union) Research institutes in the Soviet Union Nuclear technology in the Soviet Union Research institutes established in 1947