B. P. Nikolskii, participation in the USSR’s atomic project (in honour of the 95th Anniversary of the founding of the Radium Institute)

Abstract

The article reflects upon the most important work carried out by B.P.Nikolskii within the framework of the USSR’s atomic project. It gives an account of the development of the process of dissolving uranium blocks in nitric acid and introducing them into the Chelyabinsk Plant’s operations, setting in operation the “peroxide” scheme of acetate uranium and plutonium precipitation at the factory, and bringing on line the second radiochemical factory in Chelyabinsk. It also discusses the development of uranium dissolution using oxygen feeding and incorporating it into the Chelyabinsk Plant’s operations. Development of anion-exchange plutonium and neptunium refinement and its implementation in all radiochemical complexes made it possible to increase by several times the factories’ productivity. Carrying out plutonium mass-balance operations at the Chelyabinsk factory, which showed the absence of plutonium losses unregistered in the radiochemical processing of the blocks is also described in the article. Refs 3. Figs 2.