Valeri Legasov
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Valeri Alekseevich Legasov (Валерий Алексеевич Легасов; September 1, 1936, Tula, USSR — April 27, 1988, Moscow, USSR) was a prominent Soviet scientist in the field of inorganic chemistry, a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is most famous for his work as the chief of the investigation committee of the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986.
[edit] Early life and schooling
Valeri Legasov was born in Tula into a family of civil workers. He graduated from the Mendeleev, (Moscow Institute of Chemistry and Technology) and did his graduate studies in the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. He received the degree of Candidate in 1967 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1972, a remarkable achievement for a 36-year-old scientist. From 1983 until his death he was the chair of the department of Chemical Technology at the Chemistry Department of Moscow State University. He became a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1981.
[edit] Chernobyl
After the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, Legasov became a key member of the government commission formed to investigate the causes of the catastrophe and to plan the liquidation of its consequences. He took the most important decisions to avoid bigger explosions and informed the government of the situation in the zone. He did not hesitate to speak to his fellow scientists and to the press about security risks of the destroyed plant and insisted on immediate evacuation of the entire population of Pripyat. In August, 1986 he presented the report of the Soviet delegation at the special meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. His report struck Western colleagues with its depth of analysis and full honesty in discussing the extent and consequences of the tragedy.
Legasov's open and firm stance, however, caused a lot of trouble for him at home: the Soviet government was very uncomfortable with the frankness and rigor of his position. As a result, when in 1986-1987 his name was twice entered into the list for those to be awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor in recognition for his work, both times it was rejected: the second time his name was crossed out by Gorbachev himself[citation needed].
Having exposed himself to radiation at the "ground zero", the scientist began to feel the effects on his health, along with suffering from depression which stemmed from lack of recognition. On the second anniversary of the disaster, Legasov committed suicide. Reportedly, before his suicide, he recorded himself on audiotape, explaining all the unknown facts about the catastrophe, attributing the cause to a design problem. This recording was analyzed in the BBC TV series Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.
On September 20, 1996 Russian President Yeltsin posthumously conferred to Legasov the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation for his "courage and heroism" shown in the course of winding up the after-effects of the Chernobyl disaster.
