Kovalchuk called Velikhov an integral part of the life of the Kurchatov Institute

The scientific activity of Academician Evgeny Velikhov had a civilizational scale, President of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk has said Mikhail Kovalchuk. His comment was published on December 6 on the institute's website.

"There are very few people whose life, activity - we can say, of civilizational scale. They always have a goal "beyond the life" of one generation, aimed at the future. And Evgeny Pavlovich was undoubtedly one of them," Kovalchuk noted.

He emphasized that the academician was always an integral part of the "Kurchatov Institute" and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

"His departure is an irreplaceable loss for his loved ones, his students - all of us who were lucky enough to work and communicate with this outstanding person," said the president of the research center.

Recalling Velikhov's ideas and projects, Kovalchuk pointed to the scientist's ability to "look into the future" and the ability to make "nontrivial moves."

Labors and days: Academician Evgeny Velikhov passed away

The eminent scientist came to science through books and the example of his father

Velikhov's death became known the night before. The outstanding expert in the field of thermonuclear fusion died at the 90th year of life. Commenting on this, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice-President of SIC "Kurchatov Institute", Academician Vladislav Panchenko noted that Velikhov was a great man who could think broadly and was passionate about his work.

Velikhov was the scientific director of research on controlled thermonuclear fusion in the USSR (since 1973), as well as the initiator (in 1977) and one of the leaders (since 1992) of the international project on the development of thermonuclear energy ITER.

In 1977-1996, Velikhov was vice-president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, then of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and also initiated the creation of the Department of Informatics and Computer Science, or the Department of Nanotechnology and Information Technology at the moment.

In addition, Velikhov is a participant in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation and the holder of many other state awards.