Vladimir Aleksandrovich Malykh is a Soviet nuclear physicist who made a significant contribution to the creation of the world's first nuclear power plant in Obninsk.
Biography
Vladimir was born in the Sverdlovsk region on January 23, 1923. He coped well with the secondary school program, combining study with teaching, taught courses for machine operators.
Father Alexander Georgievich before the 1917 revolution belonged to the class of middle peasants. In Soviet times, he was the chairman of a collective farm, then held various positions. He went through the war, died in 1952.
Mother Anna Andreevna worked as a teacher. In addition to Vladimir, who was the oldest, the family had three more children: Larisa, Valery, Evgeny.
After graduating with honors from the school course, Vladimir received the right to enroll in a university without exams. This was prevented by family difficulties and Vladimir had to work at the Turin school for two years. There he taught physics and mathematics for high school students.
In 1942, he nevertheless became a student - he entered Moscow State University. Study again has to be combined with work, since the financial situation of the family was rather modest. To be able to exist for himself and those close to him, he works as a laboratory assistant at the Research Institute of Physics of Moscow State University.
In 1943, Malykh was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet army and served as a motor electrician in a tank brigade. A little later he will receive a combat wound, he will be shell-shocked. After treatment, he was declared unfit for combat service, so from 1944 Vladimir worked at the headquarters of the Tula NKVD regiment. Demobilized in 1946, Vladimir Alexandrovich continues his studies and work at Moscow State University, but not for long. A series of illnesses, then marriage and the ensuing material difficulties forced him to leave the university and look for another job.
In the spring of 1949 Malykh was invited to the laboratory headed by O. D. Kazachkovsky. She was a member of the IPPE in Obninsk. Scientists were engaged in the creation of a ring accelerator, and then fast power reactors. Here Vladimir Aleksandrovich proved himself to be an excellent specialist - he put forward many interesting ideas, was not afraid to perform complex work on his own. This is where his career begins.
Career
Soon Malykh was nominated for the degree of candidate of technical sciences. This was not prevented even by his lack of higher education - the Academic Council sent a petition to the attestation commission for his admission.
The world's first nuclear power plant was commissioned in Obninsk. It was V. A. Malykh who in 1951 was instructed to develop fuel elements (fuel elements) for it - this task was one of the most difficult in the design.
In 1953, Malykh became the Head of the Technological Department, and in the same year his fuel rod designs were put into production at the machine plant in Elektrostal. For this purpose, a special workshop was created, and Malykh received unlimited powers - he could independently attract plant personnel and dispose of equipment. By April 1954, the required number of fuel rods, namely 514 pieces, had been created. In June of this year, the first nuclear power plant in the world was launched.
In 1956, Malykh received admission to defend his dissertation. His work was devoted to solving not one problem, as in most cases, but a whole complex. Therefore, the Academic Council voted unanimously to award the degree of a candidate and immediately a doctor. So V. A. Malykh became a doctor of technical sciences.
In the 1960s, Malykh worked on the creation of a new type of fuel rods for nuclear submarines. The work was difficult, at some point, complaints began to sound against Vladimir Alexandrovich. But after a thorough analysis of the developments and the causes of the malfunctions, Malykh was able to prove the efficiency of the fuel element under the given conditions. In 1977, the Project 705 nuclear submarine was transferred to the Navy and was recognized as the fastest at that time.
The outstanding nuclear physicist also took part in the development of fuel elements for the space industry - they designed a small-sized fast neutron reactor, which became the basis of the BUK nuclear power plants.
Personal life
Malykh has always been distinguished by incredible energy. Companions called him "damn quick-witted and shrewd." His instinct compensated for the never received higher education, and his golden hands allowed him to conduct almost any experiment. He always joked, even if the circumstances did not dispose of it.
Like any scientist of this level, Vladimir Malykh was assessed ambiguously. Someone admired his efficiency, erudition, dedication. Others were afraid of him or envied him, noted assertiveness, toughness and exactingness. However, it is difficult to deny his merits in the field of atomic physics and technology.
Vladimir Alexandrovich was married to Larisa Alexandrovna Geraseva. The couple raised their son Dmitry.
Awards
- 1956 - Order of Lenin for the creation of the Obninsk nuclear power plant
- 1957 - laureate of the Lenin Prize
- 1962 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor
- 1964 - gold medal of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements 1966 - the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the hammer and sickle gold medal
Malykh died in 1973, the cause of early death is the consequences of concussion and wounds received during the Second World War. Buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery (Moscow).
