Kovalchuk spoke about Russia's success in the nuclear space project

Russia has succeeded in the nuclear space project because specialists have learned to create materials capable of working in extreme conditions. This statement was made on November 27 by Mikhail Kovalchuk, president of the National Research Center (NRC) Kurchatov Institute. Mikhail Kovalchuk.

"Here is the atomic-space project, why were we successful in it? A lot of reasons, but the main thing is that we have learned to create materials that work <...> in extreme conditions, ensure our success and leadership in the atomic-space project," he said at the session "New Materials and Chemistry: an essential component of ensuring Russia's technological leadership" of the IV Congress of Young Scientists.

According to Kovalchuk, these materials are capable of operating under radiation load and ultra-high temperatures in a reactor, at ultra-low temperatures in outer space, at high pressures from the inside in space and from the outside in a submarine.

There, Kovalchuk called Russia the only country that has an icebreaker fleet. According to him, the Russian Federation also owns more than 50% of the world's icebreakers. At the same time, he emphasized that any state that wants to build a nuclear-powered icebreaker will not be able to do it quickly, as it "requires decades of experience."

Prior to that, on November 11, the head of the Kurchatov Institute drew attention to the fact that Russian science has huge potential and the country has achieved technological power that "grew out of the atomic project." Kovalchuk emphasized that Russia remains strong in all sectors where it has achieved leadership, for example, in hypersonic technologies.