Georgii Nikolaevich Flerov

Born Feb. 17 (Mar. 2), 1913, in Rostov-on-Don. Soviet physicist. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1968; corresponding member, 1953). Hero of Socialist Labor (1949). Member of the CPSU since 1955.

Flerov graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute in 1938. From 1938 to 1941, he was on the staff of the Physicotechnical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where he began research in nuclear physics under the direction of I. V. Kurchatov. From 1941 to 1943, Flerov served in the Soviet Army. From 1943 to 1960, he was on the staff of the Institute of Atomic Energy. In 1960 he became the director of the Nuclear Reactions Laboratory of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna.

In 1940, Flerov, together with L. I. Rusinov, showed that more than two neutrons are emitted during the fission of a uranium nucleus. In the same year Flerov, together with K. A. Petrzhak, discovered the spontaneous fission of heavy nuclei. In 1951, methods and equipment for neutron and gamma-ray logging of oil-bearing beds were developed under Flerov’s supervision. Beginning in 1953, Flerov investigated the interactions of complex nuclei and the synthesis of new elements. Isotopes of new transfermium elements with atomic numbers of 102, 103, 104, 105, and 106 (seeTRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS) were synthesized in Flerov’s laboratory, and the physical and chemical properties of the new elements were studied. Researchers at the laboratory also discovered spontaneously fissioning isomers and the emission of delayed protons, developed methods of obtaining and accelerating multiply charged ions of heavy atoms, and initiated experiments on the synthesis of superheavy elements in reactions with heavy ions.

Flerov received the Lenin Prize in 1967 and the State Prize of the USSR in 1946, 1949, and 1975. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four other orders, and various medals.