Employees of the institutes spoke about the possible affiliation with Kurchatovsky

“The reactor in Gatchina still hasn’t started working”

The Institute of Oceanology, the Institute of Nuclear Research, the Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems… I decided to join these and other strong scientific organizations to its National Research Center «Kurchatov Institute» its president Mikhail Kovalchuk. In addition to the thirty institutes that were previously annexed… And he has already submitted a request for their transfer to President Vladimir Putin. «MK» learned the consolidated opinion about this of scientists from the new «seven» scientific organizations, over which the possibility of moving to Kurchatnik hangs.

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

As MK previously reported, in a letter (a copy of which is available to the editors), Mikhail Valentinovich explains that he needed new institutes “for the development of nature-like technologies,” genetics, agriculture and nuclear energy. And if earlier he “collected” under his wing weak institutions that needed to be strengthened, now he asks to join seven more of the above-mentioned, rather strong scientific organizations to “close the technological chains created at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center.”

So, what institutions are we talking about? This is the Troitsk Institute of Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems named after. Gorbatov RAS, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS, Crimean All-Russian Research Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking «Magarach» RAS, North Caucasus Federal Scientific Center for Horticulture, Viticulture and Winemaking, Federal Rostov Agrarian National Center and Institute for Problems of Microelectronics Technology and Highly Pure Materials RAS.

The President of the Kurchatov Institute calls in his letter to Putin the “Kurchatov Institute” as the leading scientific organization providing scientific leadership in key areas of scientific and technical development of Russia in the field of nature-like technologies, synchrotron and neutron research, research in the field of nuclear energy, genetic and agricultural technologies. To be honest, the expression “carrying out scientific leadership” seemed strange to me, because, as we know, the scientific leadership of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” itself has recently been carried out by the Russian Academy of Sciences…

It should be noted that Vladimir Putin responded to the request quickly, the very next day. He instructed Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and assistant Andrei Fursenko to “develop and submit proposals” regarding Mikhail Valentinovich’s request. The instruction of the President of the country has already reached the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Russian Academy of Sciences, which must make their proposals by July 12.

Well, while the Ministry and the Academy are developing “proposals,” we asked the representatives of the above-mentioned scientific teams themselves for their opinion. 

— We are working fruitfully today with the Kurchatov Institute, but merging our institute into the NRC means breaking many ties between scientists and the crews of research vessels. This will bring unpredictable losses to science. I see no reason for this. Mikhail Valentinovich (Kovalchuk)'s words that seven institutes are needed to strengthen the existing cluster are incomprehensible to me. He already has 30 institutes…

— The Kurchatov Institute has already absorbed many other scientific organizations. And I don’t know a single colleague (and 15 years have passed since the first wave of acquisitions) who would say that these mergers were beneficial. Moreover, we see that large installations that Mikhail Kovalchuk promised to put into operation, for example, PIK in Gatchina (PIK is a research nuclear reactor on the territory of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics named after B.P. Konstantinov” — author), still not working! The accelerator in Protvino also does not work. Honestly, I tried to find at least one reason why we should move to the Kurchatov Institute, but I never found it. 

I remembered here a very instructive story by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy “How much land does a man need?”  His main character Pakhom found out that the Bashkirs were selling land: take as much as you can run around for only 1000 rubles! Pakhom swung at such an area that he barely ran around it before sunset and… died. He eventually got a plot of three arshins for a grave. This story was written down for the edification of greedy people back in 1886, but the world, as we see, has not changed much two centuries later.