80 years of the Russian nuclear industry

In 2025, Russian atomists celebrate 80 years since the creation of the nuclear industry.

The starting point of the official history is August 20, 1945, when a Special Committee was created to manage work on the use of uranium atomic energy.

The history of the development of peaceful atoms includes many unique discoveries and achievements. In a short time, in just four years, they created an atomic bomb. In this achievement, we became the second: our country got a nuclear shield in response to the threat from the United States, which in the summer of 1945 bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, showing the world the destructive power of the new weapon.

We became pioneers in the peaceful use of nuclear technologies and remain global industry leaders to this day. Domestic specialists launched the world's first nuclear power plant in Obninsk, opening up access to a new powerful source of clean energy for people. The first nuclear icebreaker, the first tokamak also appeared in our country, and these are the main milestones of only the first 15 years of the USSR nuclear industry. The following decades became the time of development of the peaceful atom era and strengthening of our positions in this direction.

These victories were forged by the heroes of the atomic project — the founding fathers of the atomic industry Igor Kurchatov and Yuli Khariton, the legendary leaders Boris Vannikov and Efim Slavsky and a number of scientists, engineers, and leaders who forever inscribed their names in the history of the atomic industry of our country.

ROSATOM remains the world leader in the field of atomic technologies today. Thanks to the accumulated knowledge and potential of industry specialists, the state corporation successfully develops a number of new areas: additive and quantum technologies, nuclear medicine, global logistics, etc.

Three key words define the meaning and scale of the industry — “pride”, “inspiration”, “dream”. The atomic industry of the USSR began as a response to the challenges of the post-war period, and peaceful achievements inspired generations and expanded the boundaries of the possible. Nowadays, the nuclear industry has a big new dream - a long and healthy life for humanity thanks to clean nuclear energy, advanced nuclear medicine, new materials and modern digital technologies.