Igor Kurchatov, who was the key—and absolutely crucial—figure in the development of nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union bar none, never accepted the title of “father of the H-bomb.” On the front page of a 2017 biography of Kurchatov by Raisa Kuznetsov, the curator of the Kurchatov museum, there are beside a photo of Kurchatov, one of a nuclear (perhaps thermonuclear) explosion, and another showing the initial construction of a tokamak. It should be remembered that the Soviet Union, that is, Igor Kurchatov, developed the world’s first nuclear power plant in Obninsk which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.
In 1950, while working on the hydrogen bomb, he was told of an idea from Andrei Sakharov about a design for a thermonuclear fusion reactor, described as a bagel with a current running through it. Kurchatov was curious about the idea and called in Sakharov to discuss his conception. After the discussion Kurchatov told him, “Put it on paper.” That was then incorporated into the overall plans for nuclear energy. On New Year’s Eve, Kurchatov told his colleagues, “Let’s start the New Year not with a weapon, but with the magnetic thermonuclear reactor!” Thus was born the tokamak.
