Who was Shchelkin Kirill Ivanovich? Kirill Shchelkin - “godfather” of the atomic bomb

He was not a native Crimean - the peninsula accepted his family 87 years ago. But his name remained forever on the map of Crimea - in the name of the city on the coast of the Azov Sea. And school No. 1 in Belogorsk bears his name - he graduated from it in 1928. One of the creators of the Soviet atomic bomb, three times Hero of Socialist Labor Kirill Shchelkin would have turned one hundred years old.

Natives of the Smolensk and Kursk provinces, land surveyor Ivan Efimovich and elementary school teacher Vera Alekseevna Shchelkin had a chance to wander around the Russian Empire. In the center of one of its provinces, Tiflis, their son was born on May 17, 1911, named by the ancient name Kirill. Thirteen years later, the family moved to Karasubazar (now Belogorsk). Alas, even the Crimean climate did not help Ivan Efimovich defeat tuberculosis. At the age of fourteen, Komsomol member Kirill was forced to work part-time at a forge and state farm to help his mother raise his younger sister Irina. But the guy didn’t drop out of school, he studied smoothly, and was especially good at exact sciences. He chose them and entered the Crimean State Pedagogical Institute named after Frunze - the Faculty of Physics and Technology. By the way, five years earlier, Igor Kurchatov, the future scientific director of the USSR atomic project, “the father of the atomic bomb,” graduated from the Frunze Crimean University (that was the name of the educational institution at that time, now the Vernadsky Tauride National University). Graduates of Igor Kurchatov and Belogorsk school No. 1 Kirill Shchelkin will later have to work together, creating the nuclear shield of the Motherland, and relations between them will be the most friendly.

Kirill Ivanovich’s son Felix, who wrote the book “Apostles of the Atomic Age” in memory of his father and his comrades, recalled that in the last years of his studies, student Shchelkin “worked at the meteorological, optical and seismic stations of the institute,” and upon graduation he was “awarded” for his academic success trousers." But the graduate refused to work as a school director in Yalta - he chose science and left for Leningrad, in. He did not leave alone - with his classmate Lyubov Mikhailovna Khmelnitskaya, who became his wife.

In the city on the Neva, Kirill Shchelkin became a laboratory assistant at the Institute of Chemical Physics, Lyubov Mikhailovna became a school teacher. Three years before the Great Patriotic War, Kirill Ivanovich defended his candidate’s thesis “Experimental studies of the conditions for the occurrence of detonation in gas mixtures.” The scientist’s achievements have found application in industry. The preparation of the doctoral dissertation was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War. It is noteworthy that Kirill Shchelkin, who had a reservation, managed to be sent to the front. He, the grandson of a holder of two St. George's Crosses, could not engage in science when the fate of the country had to be decided with arms in hand.

The communist battalion of Leningrad volunteers, in which Kirill Shchelkin began to fight, joined the 64th Rifle Division, our fellow countryman became a Red Army soldier in the reconnaissance platoon of the division artillery chief. The first battle was near Smolensk, then the defense of Kursk. Felix Shchelkin recalled that “fate gave his father a chance to fight for the small homelands of his ancestors.” The division was renamed the 7th Guards. Guard Private Shchelkin defended Moscow and took part in the December offensive that drove the Nazis back from the capital. Like any front-line soldier, he looked death in the face more than once. Felix Shchelkin recalls one episode, known from the words of fellow soldier Father F. Svichevsky. Congratulating the family of a front-line comrade on the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory, the veteran wrote to them about the battle near the village of Bolshiye Rzhavki, from where the remains of an unknown soldier were later transferred to the Kremlin wall: “But it could have been us: me and Kirill Ivanovich. When remembering your father, you should remember this,” the front-line soldier wrote. “Heavy fighting took place in the area of ​​the 41st kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway. The units retreated from the village, while the gun crew left a cannon on the outskirts of the village and arrived at the location without it. The gun commander was shot, and the reconnaissance platoon was ordered to deliver the gun to the unit. Six people, including privates F. S. Svichevsky and K. I. Shchelkin, left for the task in a lorry. Having approached the gun, the scouts saw that at the same time a column of six German tanks was moving along the highway on the other side towards the village. The infantry followed. The commander ordered to prepare for battle; there was no time to take away the gun. Everyone said goodbye to each other. And then shots rang out. The front and rear German tanks caught fire. A little later another one. The three remaining tanks, not understanding where the fire was coming from, turned around and retreated along with the infantry. A T-34 tank emerged from behind a pile of logs piled up at the site of the destroyed hut. Having approached the artillerymen, the tankers asked for a smoke. They said that they were left in an ambush.”

The Nazis were driven away from Moscow, and already at the beginning of January 1942, Kirill Shchelkin was recalled from the front “to continue his scientific work at the Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.” It was impossible to do without a specialist in the theory of combustion and detonation when developing jet engines for aviation. In November 1946, Kirill Shchelkin defended his doctoral dissertation “Fast combustion and spin detonation of gases,” and within six months he, who knew “everything about the internal mechanisms of an explosion,” was invited to the “Atomic Project” to the position of deputy chief designer of the created KB-11 (“ Arzamas-16", now Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod region). Much can be said about the colossal work done by Kirill Shchelkin and his colleagues, but the main result: on August 29, 1949, Kirill Ivanovich placed the first detonator capsule in the first Soviet atomic bomb. Its creators did not want war; they did everything to create a nuclear shield for the Motherland, which declared that it would never be the first to use atomic weapons. Presenting awards to the employees of the “Atomic Project”, including Kirill Shchelkin the “Hammer and Sickle” Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, Joseph Stalin said:

If we had been one to one and a half years late with the atomic bomb, we would probably have tried it on ourselves.

Then there were new tests, new bombs. For thermonuclear (August 12, 1953) Kirill Shchelkin became a Hero of Socialist Labor three times.
And soon he headed the second nuclear center “Chelyabinsk-70” created on his initiative (Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region, Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics).

For six years, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of three Stalin Prizes, the Lenin Prize, the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, and the Red Star, he worked in the Urals. And suddenly he left all his posts, was excommunicated from work on creating nuclear weapons, went to Moscow and became a teacher, head of department at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Kirill Shchelkin, Igor Kurchatov (he died in February 1960), other creators of the country’s first atomic bomb opposed the creation of megaton bombs with powerful charges, “nuclear madness”, when the USSR, led by Nikita Khrushchev, was trying hard to prove its superiority over the United States and The world found itself on the brink of World War III - nuclear war. The authorities did not forgive Kirill Shchelkin, who argued that it was necessary to have only small nuclear charges; after his death, all his awards were taken away from his relatives and they were told that he should not be kept in the family. He died in 1968; his faithful life partner, Lyubov Mikhailovna, survived him by ten years. And the city appeared on the map of Crimea in 1982.

A man of word and deed, Kirill Shchelkin was very fond of the circus and opera; in everyday life he was modest and unpretentious. Felix Shchelkin recalled that “outwardly, in his clothes, in his behavior, my father looked very simple.” He never wore all his awards; he thought there was no need to stand out. But there is a photograph in which on Kirill Shchelkin’s jacket there are three Stars of the Hero of Socialist Labor, a medal of the Lenin Prize laureate and three medals of the Stalin (State) Prize laureate (there are not enough orders and other medals. - Ed.). The photo was born as a result of a joke among friends. Felix Shchelkin in his book “Apostles of the Atomic Age” recalls:

The scientific director and chief designer of Chelyabinsk-70, Kirill Shchelkin, was a delegate to the CPSU Congress from the Chelyabinsk region.

On the first day of the congress, Boris Vannikov (head of the First Main Directorate under the Council of People's Commissars (Council of Ministers) of the USSR, which organized all research and work on the creation of an atomic bomb, and then the production of nuclear weapons. - Ed.), and Igor Kurchatov put on the Stars of Heroes and signs of laureates, and father, as always, came without awards.

During the break, Vannikov and Kurchatov began to “sternly” reprimand him: they say, you were awarded, chosen for such a solemn event as the congress, and you came without awards, neglected everyone, we did not expect this from you. The father took these reproaches at face value, the next day he came with awards, and Vannikov and Kurchatov, having agreed, removed the awards. Seeing their father, they both began to scold him: you were chosen to work at the congress, why are you bragging about the Stars, they didn’t expect you to be so immodest. On the same day, a photojournalist photographed my father in the conference room.

To the point

In August 1969, a decision was made to build a Crimean nuclear power plant on the Kerch Peninsula. Soon the town of nuclear power engineers began to emerge, which became a republican Komsomol, and then an All-Union shock construction site. In April 1982, it received the name Shchelkino. Nowadays, the Shchelkinsky City Council has issued an anniversary medal “In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin.”

On the memorial sign at the Belogorsk secondary school No. 1 named after Shchelkin, the words of the scientist are inscribed: “I am happy that I was able to benefit my Motherland, my people.”

Natalya Pupkova, "

Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin(May 17, 1911, Tiflis - November 8, 1968, Moscow) - first scientific director and chief designer of the Chelyabinsk-70 nuclear center (Snezhinsk, since 1992 RFNC-VNIITF - Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics), three times Hero Socialist Labor.

Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since October 23, 1953, Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences). A specialist in the field of combustion and detonation and the role of turbulence in these processes (it was he who formulated the theory of spin detonation), the term “turbulent flame zone according to Shchelkin” is known in the scientific literature.

Shchelkin Kirill Ivanovich was born on May 17, 1911 in Tbilisi. Mother - Vera Alekseevna Shchelkina, teacher. Father - Ivan Efimovich Shchelkin, land surveyor.

In 1924-1928 he studied in Karasubazar, where there is a memorial in his honor. In 1932 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Crimean State Pedagogical Institute. He defended his dissertation (topic - gas dynamics of combustion) for the degree of Candidate of Technical Sciences in 1938, his doctorate in 1945 (opponents were future academicians - the founder of the theory of air-jet engines B. S. Stechkin, the outstanding theoretical physicist L. D. Landau and the largest aerodynamicist S. A. Khristianovich), became a professor of physical and mathematical sciences in 1947.

It was Shchelkin who signed for the “receipt” of the first Soviet atomic explosive device RDS-1 from the assembly shop. Then they made fun of him: where did you put the bomb you signed for? The landfill documents still state that K.I. Shchelkin is responsible for the “product” (followed by the number and code). It was he who, on August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk test site, placed the initiating charge into the plutonium sphere of the first Soviet atomic explosive device RDS-1 (This name comes from a government decree where the atomic bomb was encrypted as a “special jet engine,” abbreviated RDS. The designation RDS- 1 came into widespread use after the testing of the first atomic bomb and was deciphered in different ways: “Stalin’s jet engine”, “Russia makes it itself”, etc.; the “American version” of the design was used). It was he who came out last and sealed the entrance to the tower with RDS-1. It was he who pressed the “Start” button.

This was followed by RDS-2 and RDS-3. Based on the results of testing the first Soviet nuclear device, a group of scientists, designers and technologists were awarded the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor (I.V. Kurchatov, V.I. Alferov, N.L. Dukhov, Ya.B. Zeldovich, P.M. Zernov, Yu. B. Khariton, G. N. Flerov, K. I. Shchelkin) and a laureate of the Stalin Prize of the first degree, plus dachas and cars for each, as well as the right to educate children at the expense of the state in any educational institutions of the USSR. Nuclear veterans joked (the joke is quite in the style of life) that when submitting for awards, they proceeded from a simple principle: those who, in case of failure, were destined to be shot, were awarded the title of Hero if successful; those doomed in case of failure to maximum imprisonment in case of a successful outcome are given the Order of Lenin, and so on downwards.

In total, in October 1949, 176 scientists and engineers were awarded Stalin Prizes, and in December 1951, after the second successful test on September 24, 1951 (of a uranium charge), another 390 participants in the atomic project were awarded. In 1954, K. I. Shchelkin received the Hero for the third time together with I. V. Kurchatov, Ya. B. Zeldovich, Yu. B. Khariton, B. L. Vannikov and N. L. Dukhov for the creation of a series of Soviet atomic charges.

In 1960, Shchelkin moved to Moscow, worked as a professor, head of the combustion department at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and gave lectures to students and popular lectures to a wide audience. His popular essays “Physics of the Microworld” went through several editions and received first prize at the All-Union competition of popular science books.

Family

• The son, Felix, is also a nuclear physicist and was involved in the development of nuclear weapons.
• Daughter - Anna, biophysicist.

It should be noted that the scientist’s relatives do not recognize the version of his Armenian origin. In the metric book of the archival fund of the Spiritual Consistory of the Assumption Church in the city of Krasny, Smolensk province, record No. 9 was discovered about the birth on February 24 and the baptism on February 26, 1881 of the baby Ivan (the future father of the nuclear physicist). Ivan’s father is listed there as a tradesman of the city of Krasny, Evfimy Fedorovich Shchelkin, and his mother is Anastasia Trofimovna. This confirms that the scientist’s family had Russian roots.

At the same time, despite denial from his relatives, the National Archives of Armenia also contains information about his Armenian origin. A letter addressed to the author of a biographical book about Shchelkin indicates that there are no grounds to refute his Armenian origin... inappropriate. Here is the text of the letter.

"Russian Academy of Sciences INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS named after N.N. Semenov.

Dear Grigory Khachaturovich! The Institute staff expresses its deep appreciation and gratitude to you for publishing a popular science, biographical book about the life and scientific activities of three times Hero of Socialist Labor, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Shchelkin (Metaksyan) Kirill Ivanovich, who achieved outstanding results in the field of combustion and explosion and, in particular , the creation of nuclear weapons in our country. A significant part of the scientific activity of K.I. Shchelkina is associated with the Institute of Chemical Physics named after. N.N. Semenov. That is why we are especially grateful to you for your work to perpetuate the memory of our colleague and the person who glorified our Institute, Soviet science and our country. We hope that in the future your book will find its reader in the Russian Federation.

Director of the Institute, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.A. Berlin"

Shchelkin K.I. born in Tbilisi in the family of a land surveyor. He and his family moved to his father’s homeland - the city of Krasny, Smolensk province (1918). In 1924, due to the father’s illness, the family moved to the Crimea, to the city of Karasu-bazaar, where the father died in 1926.

In 1928 K.I. Shchelkin entered the physico-technological department of the Crimean Pedagogical Institute (1928), and at the same time worked as an assistant to the head of the optical station of the USSR Academy of Sciences and as a preparator at the Department of Physics of the Pedagogical Institute.

After graduating from the institute in 1932, he moved to Leningrad and went to work at the Institute of Chemical Physics as a laboratory assistant in the gas explosions group.

In May 1934, Shchelkin published his article in the journal Experimental and Theoretical Physics, which attracted the attention of domestic and foreign scientists. The Institute Council nominated his work for the All-Union competition, where it was awarded a diploma and a prize.

In 1938 Shchelkina K.I. after completing graduate school and defending a candidate's thesis on the topic “Experimental study of the conditions for the occurrence of detonation in gaseous media”, they are approved as a senior researcher.

In 1940, Kirill Ivanovich entered doctoral studies and began writing a doctoral dissertation based on the systematization of material collected during trips to the mines of Donbass.

In July 1941, Shchelkin volunteered for the people's militia. Six months later, at the request of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was returned from the army to the institute, which by this time had been evacuated to Kazan. While working on the problems of jet engines, Shchelkin proposed a new technique, describing it in the article “Combustion in a Turbulent Flow” (1943). Shchelkin's conclusions still form the basis of the understanding of the processes occurring during the forced combustion of combustible mixtures.

In the fall of 1943, the institute moved to Moscow. There Shchelkin K.I. appointed head of the laboratory (1944). He continues to work on his doctoral dissertation “Fast combustion and spin detonation of gases” and already in November 1946 it was publicly defended. Kirill Ivanovich was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and then the academic title of professor.

In November 1947, Shchelkina K.I. sent to work at KB-11 as deputy chief designer and scientific supervisor. At KB-11, he headed work on gas-dynamic testing and physical research within the framework of the Soviet nuclear project.

For participation in the creation and experimental testing of the elements of the first atomic bomb, K.I. Shchelkin. awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize (1949).

In 1951, for the development and testing of new types of nuclear weapons, K.I. Shchelkina. awarded the second Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize. And ahead of him was a new job - the hydrogen bomb. For the creation of domestic nuclear weapons K.I. Shchelkin. in 1953 he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and awarded the third Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, he was awarded the Stalin Prize.

In 1955, Kirill Ivanovich was transferred to NII-1011 (VNIITF, Snezhinsk) to the position of chief designer and scientific director for the creation of new types of atomic weapons. In 1957, together with Y.K. Troshin in the Izvestia of the Academy of Sciences publishes an article “On the back at the limits of gas detonation.”

In 1960, due to health reasons, Shchelkin retired. But he continues to work on his topic - combustion. His new works are being published, including the article “Detonation Processes” and many others. Kirill Ivanovich gave lectures and spoke at enterprises.

Together with Y.K. Troshin writes a monograph “Gas Dynamics of Combustion”, which is based on the scientist’s last works, completed from 1953 to 1962.

In 1963, his popular science book “Physics of the Microworld” was published, which gave simple answers to complex questions of modern nuclear physics.

Since 1965, he worked at MIPT, in the department of combustion of condensed systems as a senior researcher.

The main works of K.I. Shchelkin are devoted to the physics of combustion and explosion. He developed the direction of the transition of slow combustion to detonation and experimentally studied combustion in a turbulent flow, and proposed the theory of spin detonation. He made a significant contribution to the solution of the atomic problem in the USSR as the leader of work at the intersection of various branches of science and technology.

Proceedings

Books

1. Shchelkin K.I. Physics of the microworld. Popular essays. – Ed. 3rd, add. – M.: Atomizdat, 1968. – 248 p.

Articles from books

2. Chronicle of the first test of RDS-1 (from the report of K.I. Shchelkin) // Completely open. – 1996. – No. 8 (3). – P. 12: photo.

Other publications

3. Shchelkin K.I. Inspired life: 70th anniversary of the birth of academician. I.E. Tamma // Nature. – 1965. – No. 11. – P. 113-114: portrait.

Book Reviews

4. Shchelkin F.K. Apostles of the Atomic Age. Memories and reflections [about I.V. Kurchatov, A.D. Sakharov, Yu.B. Kharitone, Ya.B. Zeldovich, N.L. Dukhov and K.I. Shchelkine]. – M.: DeLi print, 2004. – 152 p.

Retz.: A folk hero, about whom the people do not yet know / A. Mikhailovsky.

// Nature. – 2006. – No. 2. – P. 89-92.

Literature about the person

Articles from books

5. Astashenkov P.T. Flame and explosion. – 2nd ed., add. – M.: Politizdat, 1978. – 112 p., 2 p. – (Heroes of the Soviet Motherland).

6. [Biography of K.I. Shchelkina] // Soviet atomic project. The end of the nuclear monopoly. How it was... - 2nd ed., rev. and additional – Sarov: RFNC-VNIIEF, 2000. – P. 159 – 160.

7. VNIIEF. Historical essay / author. - comp. G.D. Kulichkov. – Sarov: RFNC-VNIIEF, 1998. – 227 p. : ill.

8. Gerasimov V.M. About the history of the laboratory of K.I. Shchelkina // If you want peace, be strong!: Sat. materials of the conference on the history of the development of the first samples of atomic weapons. – Arzamas-16: RFNC-VNIIEF, 1995. – P. 203-214.

9. Heroes of Socialist Labor: Shchelkin K.I. : [biography] // Heroes of the atomic project. – Sarov: FSUE RFNC-VNIIEF, 2005. – P. 431-432: photo.

10. Gubarev V. From a plow to a nuclear baton: “You can hide it among the Ural mountains”: [Snezhinsk = Chelyabinsk-70 and the work of K.I. Shchelkina and others] // Star showers: The fate of science and scientists in Russia / V. Gubarev. - M.: Akademkniga, 2005. - P. 507-523.

11. Gubarev V.S. Chelyabinsk-70. – M.: Publishing House, 1993. – 96 p. – (“Russian sensations”).

The book was created based on the memories of scientists about scientific supervisors K.I. Shchelkine and E.I. Zababakhine.

12. Zhuchikhin V.I. Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin // If you want peace, be strong! : Sat. materials of the conference on the history of the development of the first samples of atomic weapons. – Arzamas-16: RFNC-VNIIEF, 1995. – P. 183 – 192.

13. Zhuchikhin V.I. The first nuclear one. - M.: Publishing House, 1993. - 112 p. : ill. - (Ser. “Russian sensations”).

14. Here they live with this name: [Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin] // Shchelkino is a city of positive energy. – Simferopol: Thesis, 2011. – P. 24-65.

15. Klopov L.F. Outstanding scientists, leaders, colleagues: [Shchelkin K.I., Zababakhin E.I., Khariton Yu.B., Sakharov A.D., Slavsky E.P.] // Klopov L.F. Memories of the past. – M., 2000. – P.107-128: photo.

16. Kocharyants S.G., Gorin N.N. Pages of the history of the nuclear center. Arzamas-16. - Arzamas-16: VNIIEF, 1993. - (On the title page “KB-11 (Arzamas-16): Several pages of the history of the creation of the ATOMIC CENTER”).

17. Awards of the Fatherland. 1949-2004 / under general ed. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences R.I. Ilkaeva; [comp. Sh.N. Smakov, G.D. Kulichkov, O.A. Pogodina, V.T. Solgalov]. – Sarov: FSUE RFNC-VNIIEF, 2006. – 170 p. : ill. – Here: about K.I. Shchelkine.

18. Kurbakova Z.M. Three times Heroes of Socialist Labor. Shchelkin K.I. // Sarov – the city of Heroes / Z.M. Kurbakova. – Sarov: FSUE “RFNC-VNIIEF”, 2013. – P. 49-53: photo.

19. Sarov: The Past. Present: Album / auto comp. A.A. Agapov. - Sarov - Saransk: Red October, 1999. - 152 p.

20. Soviet atomic project. - N. Novgorod - Arzamas-16, 1995. - 207 p.

21. Three times Heroes of Socialist Labor: Shchelkin K.I. : [biography] // Creators of nuclear weapons / author. V.T. Solgalov, E.A. Astafieva, O.A. Weather; edited by R.I. Ilkaeva. – Sarov: RFNC-VNIIEF, 2004. – T. 1. – P. 61 – 65: photo.

22. If you want peace, be strong! : Sat. materials of the conference on the history of the development of the first samples of atomic weapons. – Arzamas-16: RFNC-VNIIEF, 1995. – 393 p. – Here: about K.I. Shchelkine.

23. Chernyshev Yu.K. We were given only 5 years: On the history of the creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb: Memoirs. – Izhevsk: Alphabet, 1999. – 174 p.

Articles from periodicals

24. Antropov G. Apostle of the atomic age: [on the 95th anniversary of his birth] // New City no. – 2006. – No. 20 (May 17). – P. 8: photo.

25. Basova O. Who are they, our left-handers? : [Scientists of our city: I.V. Kurchatov, V.A. Tsukerman, K.I. Shchelkin, L.V. Altshuler, G.N. Ledenev and others] // City. courier. - 1994. - February 24. — P. 5.

28. Vzorov V. Pages of the history of the atomic shield of the Motherland / V. Vzorov, O. Basov // City Courier. - 1994. - February 24. — P. 5.

29. The gas-dynamic department of the RFNC-VNIIEF is 50 years old: [articles] // Atom. - 2002. - No. 2. - (Entire issue).

30. Gastello V. Three times a hero: [Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin - one of the founders of the “uranium project”] // Liter. Russia. – 1996. – No. 44 (November 1). – P.14.

31. Gubarev V. He controlled the atomic explosion. And the world didn’t explode: [about Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin] // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. - 1995. - September 12. – P. 7: photo.

32. Gubarev V. “You can’t get under the circus dome using connections…”: [about K.I. Shchelkin - first deputy chief designer and scientific director of the creation of atomic weapons Yu. B. Khariton] // Rodina. – 2011. – No. 6. – P. 73-75.

33. Gubarev V. Three stars of Kirill Shchelkin // Russian Federation today. – 2007. – No. 12. – P. 73-75: photo.

34. Gubarev V. Guardian of the atomic bomb: New unknown pages of the “Atomic Project of the USSR”: a chapter from the story “White Archipelago”: [about the first scientific director of the RFNC “Chelyabinsk-70” K. I. Shchelkine] // Science and life. – 2002. – No. 5. – P. 68-73.

36. Zhuchikhin V.I. Scientist, worker, soldier: [About K.I. Shchelkine] // Atom. - 1996. - No. 1. - P. 3-5.

38. Ivanovsky L.D. This was him: [memories of working with Yu.B. Khariton, as well as with V.F. Grechishnikov, E.I. Zababakhin, N.I. Pavlov, D.A. Fishman, K.I. Shchelkin and others] // Atom. - 1997. - No. 9. - P. 39.

40. Maksimenko P. About the anniversary of K.I. Shchelkina // New city. – 2011. – No. 23. – P. 3, 5.

41. Stamp of Russia and special cancellation for the 100th anniversary of the birth of K.I. Shchelkina // Atom. – 2012. – No. 2 (55). – P. 48.

42. Mikhailov A.L. There is no Shchelkin Street in Sarov. Why? : [to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin] // New City. - 2011. - No. 19. - P. 4-5.

44. Feats in the workplace: [On the title of Hero of Socialist Labor] / Prep. M. Shpagin // Man and the Law. - 2002. - No. 11. - P. 29-33.

45. Simonenko V.A. First scientific director and chief designer [VNIITF, Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-40)] // Atom. – 2006. – No. 31 (November). – P. 22-25: photo.

47. Pages of history: // Atom. - 2002. - No. 18 (March). — P. 4-10: photo.

49. Three times Heroes of Socialist Labor who worked in our city // City. courier. – 1992. – September 9. – P. 2.

Illustrative material

50. Brilliant constellation of Heroes! : [Founders of the Soviet atomic project: I.V. Kurchatov, Yu.B. Khariton, Ya.B. Zeldovich, K.I. Shchelkin, N.L. Spirits: photo] // Atom. -1996. - No. 2. - 2nd page of the region.

51. [Khariton Yu.B, Shchelkin K.I. and Kurchatov I.V. : photo from the archives of RFNC-VNIIEF] // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – 2005. – July 8. – P. 11.

		Tombstone (front view)
		Tombstone (back view)
		Bust in Tbilisi
		Bust in Snezhinsk
		Annotation board in Snezhinsk
		Memorial plaque in Snezhinsk
		Memorial plaque in Simferopol
		Memorial plaque in Shchelkino

Shchelkin Kirill Ivanovich – Deputy Chief Designer and Scientific Director of Design Bureau No. 11 of the USSR Ministry of Medium Engineering, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Chelyabinsk Region.

Born on May 4 (17), 1911 in the city of Tiflis, Tiflis province, now Tbilisi - the capital of Georgia, in the family of a land surveyor. Russian. In 1918, he and his family moved to his father’s homeland - to the urban village of Krasny, now in the Smolensk region, but in 1924, due to his father’s illness, the Shchelkin family moved to Crimea. After the death of his father in 1926, Kirill Shchelkin had to combine his studies at school with work on the state farm. In 1928, he entered the physico-technological department of the Crimean Pedagogical Institute and at the same time worked as an assistant to the head of the optical station of the USSR Academy of Sciences and as a preparator at the Department of Physics of the Pedagogical Institute.

In 1932, after graduating from the institute, the young specialist came to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and began working as a laboratory assistant at the Institute of Chemical Physics. In 1938 he defended his Ph.D. thesis, in 1938 he became the head of the department, and in March 1939 - a senior researcher. In 1940 he began writing his doctoral dissertation. But all his plans were mixed up by the Great Patriotic War that began on June 22, 1941.

In July 1941, he volunteered for the communist battalion. He took part in battles on the outskirts of Moscow, fought near Leningrad in the 64th (which later became the 7th Guards) Rifle Division, and was a reconnaissance computer for an artillery battery. In January 1942, by order of the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR E.A. Shchadenko, he was recalled from the active army to continue scientific work at the Institute of Chemical Physics, which was evacuated to the capital of Tatarstan - the city of Kazan.

In the fall of 1943, the institute returned to Moscow. In 1944, Kirill Shchelkin was appointed head of the laboratory. He continued to work on his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Fast combustion and spin detonation of gases.” In November 1946, he defended his dissertation and was awarded the academic degree “Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences”, and then the academic title “Professor”.

In 1947, he was sent to work at KB-11 (Arzamas-16, in 1991–1995 - the city of the Kremlin, now - Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod region) as Deputy Chief Designer and Scientific Director. At KB-11, he headed work on gas-dynamic testing and physical research within the framework of the Soviet nuclear project.

In April 1947, he took part in a meeting of the Special Committee No. 1 under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (USSR Council of Ministers) under the leadership of the head of the First Main Directorate under the USSR Council of Ministers, established and controlled to resolve issues related to the creation of atomic weapons, at which, among others, the issue of creating testing site "Mountain Station".

An outstanding result of the efforts of not only the first Soviet nuclear weapons center - KB-11, but also the entire then young nuclear industry of the USSR was the successful test of the first Soviet atomic bomb on August 29, 1949. It was K.I. On this historic day at the Semipalatinsk test site, Shchelkin placed an initiating charge into the plutonium sphere of the first Soviet atomic explosive device RDS-1 (“Jet Engine of Stalin”, also known as “Russia Makes Itself”), which used the American version of the design).

This first explosion of a Soviet atomic bomb ended the nuclear monopoly of the United States of America (USA), which by that time possessed nuclear weapons, which they had already repeatedly tested by detonating a plutonium bomb on July 16, 1945, and then using these deadly weapons at the end of World War II , dropping a uranium bomb on Japanese cities: on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Now the whole world has learned that the Soviet Union also has this super-powerful weapon to deter any aggressive plans.

By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (“closed”) of October 29, 1949, for exceptional services to the state when performing a special task Shchelkin Kirill Ivanovich awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

When presenting high state awards after the first test of the atomic bomb, he said: “If we had been one to a year and a half late with the atomic bomb, we probably would have tried it on ourselves.”.

Continuing the work begun, the Deputy Chief Designer and Scientific Director of KB-11, with his characteristic dedication, made a significant personal contribution to the development and testing of the next, but uranium charge, the tests of which were successfully carried out on September 24, 1951.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (“closed”) of December 8, 1951, for exceptional services to the State while carrying out a special task of the Government, he was awarded the second gold medal “Hammer and Sickle”.

In response to Soviet nuclear weapons testing, the United States began a thermonuclear race, fearing that the USSR would overtake them. The Americans were driven to this by the desire to achieve superiority in nuclear weapons. In November 1952, on the Eniwetak Atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, the United States tested the Mike thermonuclear device, which was a bulky experimental installation.

The threat of an unanswered nuclear strike once again loomed over the USSR, but now of a super-powerful strike. But Soviet scientists and engineers accepted this challenge. Work in KB-11 and in the entire nuclear industry as a whole began to accelerate. A series of atomic charges were created. The result was that on August 12, 1953, the first thermonuclear bomb was tested in the Soviet Union. Thus, the hopes of American politicians and scientists to increase the nuclear gap from the USSR turned out to be unrealistic.

For the creation of domestic thermonuclear weapons in 1953, he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (“closed”) of January 4, 1954, “for exceptional services to the state while carrying out a special task of the Government, he was awarded the third gold medal “Hammer and Sickle.”

In 1955, K.I. Shchelkin was transferred to Research Institute No. 1011 - NII-1011 (Russian Federal Nuclear Center - RFNC; All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics - VNIITF, with the location of Chelyabinsk-70, now the city of Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region) to the position of Chief Designer and scientific supervisor. Headed by Shchelkin, the still very young institute, from the first days of its existence, strived for major successes. And the results were not long in coming. In 1957, the first thermonuclear charges of its own design were tested at NII-1011. Thus, the newly created institute convincingly confirmed both its viability and its potential. Moreover, the first thermonuclear charge adopted by the Soviet Army was developed and tested precisely in Chelyabinsk-70. For these colossal successes, a group of specialists from NII-1011, together with K.I. Shchelkin was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1958.

And another significant event occurred during the period when, under the leadership of K.I. Shchelkin developed a unique thermonuclear munition, which included the most powerful thermonuclear charge of that time, the body of an aircraft bomb carrying it, an activation system and a unique parachute system. But full-scale tests were not carried out due to the unpreparedness of the test site for such work. And in 1961, a number of the main elements of this unique development were used by KB-11 in Arzamas-16 when testing the most powerful thermonuclear charge. And the parachute system later found its wide application in the Soviet space program.

After some time, periods of intensive work in the new center alternated for K.I. Shchelkin with no less intense trips to Moscow and other cities. He traveled throughout the Soviet Union in search of new employees, established the necessary scientific and technical connections, and organized orders for unique equipment for the experimental base of NII-1011.

The intense, wear-and-tear work could not pass without leaving a mark on the health of the scientist, whose body began to malfunction, and illnesses followed one after another, becoming protracted and debilitating. In 1960, K.I. Shchelkin was forced to retire due to disability. And since 1965, he continued to work at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in the department of combustion of condensed systems as a senior researcher, and while retired, he did not stop, but, on the contrary, expanded his scientific research and range of scientific interests. The frequency of his publications increased, his work received worldwide recognition, was read and cited. In 1963, the monograph “Gas Dynamics of Combustion” was published, which he prepared together with Y.K. Troshin. At the same time, he continued to work on a book on the physics of the atom, nucleus and subnuclear particles, “Physics of the Microworld.” It was published in 1965.

He paid great attention to the popularization of science, publishing his articles in many magazines and giving lectures. He took care of the scientific shift, organized the Department of Combustion at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and himself lectured there. Paying tribute to his comrades in the atomic epic, K.I. In the mid-1960s, Shchelkin wrote an introductory article and edited the collection “Soviet Atomic Science and Technology,” dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Soviet power (November 1967).

Died on November 8, 1968 in Moscow. One of the first three times Heroes of Socialist Labor, K.I. Shchelkin, unfortunately, remained practically unknown to the general public... He was buried on November 12, 1968 in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery, to the left of the main entrance (section 6).

Awarded 4 Orders of Lenin (including: 10/29/1949; 09/11/1956), Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (08/21/1953), Red Star (06/10/1945), medals.

Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1958), three times laureate of the Stalin Prize (1949, 1951, 1954).

Bronze bust of three times Hero of Socialist Labor K.I. Shchelkin was installed and inaugurated in 1982 in his homeland - Tbilisi (dismantled by the Georgian authorities in 2009). In honor of K.I. Shchelkino was named the city of Shchelkino in the Leninsky district of the Crimean region (now the Republic of Crimea), founded in October 1978 as a settlement for builders of the Crimean nuclear power plant; A memorial plaque was erected in the city in his honor. In the city of Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region, a bust of the Hero was erected, a street was named after him, and a memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived. In the city of Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod region, a memorial plaque was installed on the VNIIEF building.

Essays:
Gas dynamics of combustion, M., 1963 (together with Y.K. Troshin);
Physics of the Microworld, M., 1965.

Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin(May 4, 1911, Tiflis, - November 8, 1968, Moscow) - first scientific director and chief designer of the Chelyabinsk-70 nuclear center (Snezhinsk, since 1992 RFNC-VNIITF - Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics), three times Hero of Socialist Labor.

Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since October 23, 1953, Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences). A specialist in the field of combustion and detonation and the role of turbulence in these processes (it was he who formulated the theory of spin detonation), the term “turbulent flame zone according to Shchelkin” is known in the scientific literature.

Biography

Shchelkin Kirill Ivanovich was born on May 17, 1911 in Tbilisi. Russian. Father - land surveyor Ivan Efimovich Shchelkin, a native of the Smolensk province of the city of Krasny. Mother - Vera Alekseevna Shchelkina (maiden name Zhikulina), a native of the Kursk province, a teacher. There was a version about the Armenian origin of the scientist, since he had several Armenian friends in Crimea and he understood the Armenian language. This was due to the work of Ivan Efimovich in Tbilisi among the Armenians. At the request of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, supported by the Department of Information Policy of the Smolensk Regional Administration, employees of the State Archives of the Smolensk Region (GASO) conducted an operational search and found evidence that Kirill Shchelkin’s paternal roots, as he himself claimed in all his autobiographical documents, go to the serfs of the Krasninsky district of the Smolensk province. GASO director Nina Emelyanova reported that the “needle in a haystack” we were looking for was found in the funds of the Spiritual Consistory, where metric books are kept. It was in such a book of the Assumption Church in the city of Krasny, Smolensk province for 1881 that entry No. 9 was discovered about the birth on February 24 and the baptism on February 26 of the baby Ivan. His father is a Krasny townsman Efim Fedorovich Shchelkin, his mother is Anastasia Trofimovna. Which confirms Russian ethnic roots. And he refutes the arguments about the Armenian origin of the scientist.

In 1924-1928 he studied in Karasubazar, where there is a memorial in his honor. In 1932 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Crimean State Pedagogical Institute. He defended his dissertation (topic - gas dynamics of combustion) for the degree of Candidate of Technical Sciences in 1938, his doctorate in 1945 (opponents were future academicians - the founder of the theory of air-jet engines B. S. Stechkin, the outstanding theoretical physicist L. D. Landau and the largest aerodynamicist S. A. Khristianovich), became a professor of physical and mathematical sciences in 1947.

It was Shchelkin who signed for the “receipt” of the first Soviet atomic explosive device RDS-1 from the assembly shop. Then they made fun of him: where did you put the bomb you signed for? The landfill documents still state that K.I. Shchelkin is responsible for the “product” (followed by the number and code). It was he who, on August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk test site, placed the initiating charge into the plutonium sphere of the first Soviet atomic explosive device RDS-1 (This name comes from a government decree where the atomic bomb was encrypted as a “special jet engine,” abbreviated RDS. The designation RDS- 1 came into widespread use after the testing of the first atomic bomb and was deciphered in different ways: “Stalin’s jet engine”, “Russia makes it itself”, etc.; the “American version” of the design was used). It was he who came out last and sealed the entrance to the tower with RDS-1. It was he who pressed the “Start” button.

This was followed by RDS-2 and RDS-3. Based on the results of testing the first Soviet nuclear device, a group of scientists, designers and technologists were awarded the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor (I.V. Kurchatov, V.I. Alferov, N.L. Dukhov, Ya.B. Zeldovich, P.M. Zernov, Yu. B. Khariton, G. N. Flerov, K. I. Shchelkin) and a laureate of the Stalin Prize of the first degree, plus dachas and cars for each, as well as the right to educate children at the expense of the state in any educational institutions of the USSR. Nuclear veterans joked (the joke is quite in the style of life) that when submitting for awards, they proceeded from a simple principle: those who, in case of failure, were destined to be shot, were awarded the title of Hero if successful; those doomed in case of failure to maximum imprisonment in case of a successful outcome are given the Order of Lenin, and so on downwards.

In total, in October 1949, 176 scientists and engineers were awarded Stalin Prizes, and in December 1951, after the second successful test on September 24, 1951 (of a uranium charge), another 390 participants in the atomic project were awarded. In 1954, K. I. Shchelkin received the Hero for the third time together with I. V. Kurchatov, Yu. B. Khariton, B. L. Vannikov and N. L. Dukhov for the creation of a series of Soviet atomic charges.

In 1960, Shchelkin moved to Moscow, worked as a professor, head of the combustion department at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and gave lectures to students and popular lectures to a wide audience. His popular essays “Physics of the Microworld” went through several editions and received first prize at the All-Union competition of popular science books.

Family

• The son, Felix, is also a nuclear physicist and was involved in the development of nuclear weapons.
• Daughter - Anna, biophysicist.

Awards

• Three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1949, 1951, 1954).
• Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1958) and the Stalin Prize (1949, 1951, 1954).
• He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Red Star, as well as medals.

Memory

• The city of Shchelkino in the Leninsky district of Crimea, founded in October 1978 as a settlement for construction workers of the Crimean Nuclear Power Plant and an avenue in the city of Snezhinsk, is named in honor of Shchelkin. In Snezhinsk, two memorial plaques were also installed at the addresses: Shchelkina Ave., 17/42 and st. Lenina, 12.
• On May 24, 2011, the first monument in Russia to K. I. Shchelkin, sculptor K. A. Gilev, was unveiled in Snezhinsk.
• In 2011, a Russian postage stamp dedicated to Shchelkin was issued.
• City school No. 1 of Belogorsk (Karasubazar) in Crimea is named after K. I. Shchelkin.