KURCHATOV, Kazakhstan—A few years ago, the nuclear research center here
was dying. Its once thriving population of 40,000 was reduced to 5,000
and appeared to be headed to zero. The town of Kurchatov,
where much of the Soviet Union's nuclear research was carried out
during the Cold War in preparation for more than 400 nuclear test
explosions, was returning to its origins as a place of oblivion, just
another spot on the desolate steppe where little more than feather grass
grows.Long gone were the town's famous nuclear scientists—Igor Kurchatov, the director of the Soviet nuclear bomb projects and after whom the town is named; Yuli Khariton, father of the Soviet atomic bomb; and Andrei Sakharov, who originated the Soviet H-bomb. Gone, too, was Soviet secret police chief Lavrenti Beria, whose brutally efficient administrative management of the nuclear program delivered the bombs on time.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Former Soviet State Incubating High-Tech Businesses at Former Nuclear Weapons Site [Slide Show]: Scientific American
Author: W. David Gardner
