Valeri Legasov

Valeri Legasov

Valeri Alekseevich Legasov (Валерий Алексеевич Легасов; September 1, 1936, Tula, USSR — April 27, 1988, Moscow, USSR) was a prominent Soviet scientist in the field of inorganic chemistry, a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is most famous for his work as the chief of the investigation committee of the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986.

Valeri Legasov was born in Tula in the family of civil workers. He graduated from the Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemistry and Technology and did his graduate studies in the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. He received the degree of Candidate in 1967 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1972, a remarkable achievement for a 36-year-old scientist. From 1983 until his death he was the chair of the department of Chemical Technology at the Chemistry Department of the Moscow State University. He became a full member of Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1981.

After the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, Legasov became a key member of the government commission formed to investigate the causes of the catastrophe and to plan the liquidation of its consequences. He took the most important decisions to avoid bigger explosions and informed the government of the situation in the zone. He did not hesitate to speak to his fellow scientists and to the press about security risks of the destroyed plant and insisted on immediate evacuation of the entire population of Pripyat. In August, 1986 he presented the report of the Soviet delegation at the special meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. His report struck the Western colleagues with the depth of analysis and full honesty in discussing the extent and consequences of the tragedy.

Legasov's open and firm stance, however, caused a lot of trouble for him at home: the Soviet government was very uncomfortable with the frankness and rigor of his position. As a result, when in 1986-1987 his name was twice entered into the list for those to be awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor in recognition for his work, both times it was rejected: the second time his name was crossed out by Gorbachev himself.

Having exposed himself to radiation at the "ground zero", the scientist began to feel the effects on his health, along with the suffering from depression which stemmed from lack of recognition. On the second anniversary of the disaster, Legasov committed suicide. Reportedly, before his suicide, he recorded himself on audiotape, explaining all the unknown facts about the catastrophe, attributing the cause to a design problem. This recording was analyzed in the BBC TV series Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.

On September 20, 1996 Russian President Yeltsin conferred to Legasov the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) for his "courage and heroism" shown in the course of the liquidation of the after-effects of Chernobyl disaster.

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Москв? (Russian)

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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (abbreviated USSR, Russian: (help info ) ; tr.
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Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds (compounds containing C-H bonds), which are the subjects of organic chemistry.
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Russian Academy of Sciences (Russian: Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к,
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reactor accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the worst in history, resulting in a severe nuclear meltdown. On 26 April 1986 at 01:23:40 a.m. reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located in the former Soviet Union near Pripyat in Ukraine exploded.
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April 26 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

It is the first day following the spring equinox which cannot be Easter Sunday in Western Christianity.
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Places named Tula include:

Tula, Tula Oblast, Russia
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Tula, Mississippi
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Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev listen (help info ) ) (8 February [O.S. 27 January] 1834 in Tobolsk – 2 February [O.S. 20 January] 1907 in Saint Petersburg), was a Russian chemist.
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The Kurchatov Institute (Russian: Роcсийский научный центр
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Kandidat nauk or Candidate of Science (Russian: Кандидат наук
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doctorate is an academic degree of, in many countries, the highest level, second only to the habilitation in those (primarily Central and Eastern European) countries that grant the latter. The term doctorate comes from the Latin doctor, meaning "teacher.
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M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russian: Московский государственный
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