Who is Efim Slavsky. Secret efim the great

Born into a peasant family. Ukrainian by nationality. He began to work in 1912 as a miner in the Donbass. Member of the CPSU since 1918.

In 1918-1928 in the Red Army, a participant in the Civil War of 1918-1920. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold in 1933. In 1933-1940s he worked at the Electrozinc plant in Ordzhonikidze as an engineer, shop manager, chief engineer, and plant director.

In 1940-1941 he was appointed director of the Dneprovsky aluminum plant in Zaporozhye, in 1941-1945 - the Ural aluminum plant in Kamensk-Uralsky.

In 1945-1946 he worked as Deputy People's Commissar for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy of the USSR.

In 1946-1953 he served as deputy head of the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. At the same time, in 1947-1949 he was the director of the plant number 817.

1949 - Stalin Prize. Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (together with Vannikov, Kurchatov and Khariton).

1951 - Stalin Prize.

In 1953-1957 he was the First Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

1954 - twice Hero of Socialist Labor.

In 1957-1963 and later - from 1965 he was the Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

In August 1957, he decided to build the Siberian nuclear power plant.

In 1958-1983 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1962, Slavsky strongly supported the project of launching a large-scale program of "peaceful atomic explosions" prepared by Y. Trutnev and Y. Babaev, in the same year Slavsky became three times Hero of Socialist Labor.

In 1963-1965 he was the chairman of the State Production Committee for Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

Member of the CPSU Central Committee since 1961. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 5th-9th convocations.

1980 - awarded the Lenin Prize.

November 1986 - retired (in April 1986 there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant).

Awards and prizes

Three times Hero of Socialist Labor (10/29/1949, 1/4/1954, 3/7/1962)
10 Orders of Lenin (25.07.1942, 10.02.1944, 23.02.1945, 29.10.1949, 11.09.1956, 25.10.1958, 25.10.1968, 25.10.1971, 25.10.1978, 25.10.1983)
Order of the October Revolution (10/25/1973)
The order Patriotic War I degree (11.03.1985)
2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (12.24.1953, 07.29.1966)
Medal "For Labor Valor" (08.21.1953)
Other medals
Order of the "Star of Friendship of Peoples" II degree (1978, GDR)
Lenin Prize (1980)
Stalin Prize, 1st degree (1949)
Stalin Prize, 1st degree (1951)
USSR State Prize (1984)

Perpetuation of memory

Monuments

The monument to Efim Pavlovich Slavsky was erected in his homeland in Makeevka, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
The monument was erected in Yessentuki on the territory of the "Pearl of the Caucasus" sanatorium.
A bronze bust was installed on the square in front of the entrance of the Electrozinc plant, Vladikavkaz.
The stele was installed in the Kolontaevo rest house in the Noginsk district of the Moscow region.
The monument to Efim Pavlovich Slavsky was erected in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan).

Streets

The embankment of the Irtysh river in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan) is named after Slavsky - "The embankment of the Irtysh named after E.P. Slavsky". Previously, it was simply "Irtysh Embankment";
street in Rybinsk;
street in Seversk (Tomsk region);
street in the resort town of Belokurikha (Altai Territory).
street in Stepnogorsk (Akmola region);

Efim Slavsky - Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

Born on October 26 (November 7) 1898 in the village, which is now the city of Makeevka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

He is Ukrainian by nationality.

He began to work in 1912 as a miner in the Donbass. Member of the CPSU since 1918.

In 1918-1928 in the Red Army, a participant in the Civil War of 1918-1920. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold in 1933. In 1933-1940 he worked at the Electrozinc plant in Ordzhonikidze as an engineer, shop manager, chief engineer, and plant director.

In 1940-1941 he was appointed director of the Dneprovsky aluminum plant in Zaporozhye, in 1941-1945 - the Ural aluminum plant in Kamensk-Uralsky.

In 1945-1946 he worked as Deputy People's Commissar for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy of the USSR.

In 1946-1953 he served as deputy head of the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. At the same time, in 1947-1949 he was the director of the plant number 817.

1949 - Stalin Prize. Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (together with Vannikov, Kurchatov and Khariton).

1951 - Stalin Prize.

In 1953-1957 he was the First Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

1954 - twice Hero of Socialist Labor.

In 1957-1963 and later - from 1965 he was the Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

In August 1957, he decided to build the Siberian nuclear power plant.

In 1958-1983 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

1962 - Three times Hero of Socialist Labor.

In 1963-1965 he was the chairman of the State Production Committee for Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

Member of the CPSU Central Committee since 1961. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 5th-9th convocations.

At the industry conference in Obninsk:

1980 - awarded the Lenin Prize.

Slavsky Efim Pavlovich (1898-1991)

Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR from July 1957 to November 1986. Three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1949, 1954, 1962), laureate of Lenin (1980) and three State (1949, 1951, 1984) awards of the USSR.

Born in the village of Makeevka, Donetsk region (Ukraine). Metallurgical engineer. Member of the Civil War. After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold, he worked in the aluminum industry. In 1946, he was transferred from the People's Commissariat of Nonferrous Metallurgy of the USSR, where he worked as Deputy People's Commissar - Head of the Main Aluminum Office, to the first main directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

Working as Deputy, First Deputy Head of the First Main Directorate under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR-SM USSR (1946-1947, 1949-1953), Chief Engineer - Deputy Director of Combine No. 817 (1947-1949), Deputy, First Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR (1953- 1957), Head of the Main Directorate for the Use of Atomic Energy under the USSR Council of Ministers (1956-1957), Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR (1957-1963, 1965-1986), Chairman of the State Production Committee for Medium Machine Building of the USSR (1963-1965), made a great contribution in the development of the industry.

Under his leadership and with his direct participation, atomic science and technology developed in the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe and Asia, the country's nuclear shield was strengthened, nuclear power plants and installations for various purposes were put into operation, unique technologies for the extraction of uranium, gold, and the production of minerals were developed and implemented. fertilizers, the use of isotopes in medicine, agriculture and other sectors of the national economy, new modern atomic cities were built.

CHRONOLOGY OF LIFE

1898 - October 26. Born in the village of Makeevka, Taganrog District, Don Region, the son of a peasant 1912 - Slavsky Efim Pavlovich began working as a miner 1918 - Entered the Red Army and the RCP (b), commissar of the cavalry brigade in the 1st Cavalry 1933 - Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold 1933 - plant "Electrozinc" (Ordzhonikidze) 1940 - Plant Director"Electrozinc" (Ordzhonikidze) 1941 - Director of the Dnepropetrovsk aluminum plant, for the evacuation of which he receives his first Order of Lenin 1941 - Director of the Uralaluminum plant, where he received two more Orders of Lenin 1945 - deputy. People's Commissar (Minister) of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy of the USSR (People's Commissar - Lomako P.F.) 1946 - 09 April. deputy. early 1st Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Head - B.L. Vannikov 1946 - December. At the reactor, built in four (!) Months, a chain reaction was carried out 1946 - Chelyabinsk Region, Kyshtym. Construction of the 1st plutonium plant 1949 - Stalin Prize 1949 - August 28. The first atomic explosion. US monopoly on possession of atomic weapons ceased to exist 1949 - Hero of Socialist Labor. Together with Vannikov, Kurchatov and Khariton 1951 - Stalin Prize 1953 - early. Main Directorate, 1st Deputy. Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR 1953 - March 05. Death of Stalin 1953 - June. The Ministry of Medium Machine Building was established. Minister and Deputy Prime Minister - V.A. Malyshev 1953 - August 12. Semipalatinsk. The first thermonuclear explosion of a hydrogen bomb 1954 - Obninsk. The first nuclear power plant was put into operation 1954 - Twice Hero of Socialist Labor 1957 - July. Minister (Committee Chairman) of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building - the forge of the USSR nuclear shield 1958 - Deputy of the USSR Armed Forces for the next 25 years 1959 - The nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin" was launched 1961 - Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU 1962 - Three times Hero of Socialist Labor 1963 - The first nuclear submarine missile carriers were adopted by the Navy 1976 - The triad of strategic nuclear forces of the USSR was created. Achieved stable parity with the United States in offensive weapons 1977 - August 17. icebreaker "Arktika" under the command of Yu.S. Kuchieva for the first time in the world in active swimming reached the North Pole 1980 - USSR Lenin Prize 1986 - April 26. The accident at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant 1986 - November. Retirement 1991 - November 28. Died in Moscow

The visit to the Novosibirsk Academgorodok of the Minister of Medium Machine Building E.P. Slavsky, whose introduction was the organization "Sibakademstroy". In the center, explanations are given by Academician A.N. Skrinsky (3rd from right), Minister E.P. Slavsky (2nd from right), V.A. Koptyug (1st from right). 1981 year

Legendary head of the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building (1957-1986)
E.P. Slavsky gives an interview to V.V. Kharitonov (photo 1989)

From the book of Academician Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov

( Sakharov A. D. Memories. - T. 1 New York: Publishing house im. Chekhov, 1990.)

Instead of Pervukhin, Efim Pavlovich Slavsky was appointed to the post of Minister of the Council of Ministers - and remains so today, after a quarter of a century! Slavsky is an engineer by education, I think a metallurgist. A person of undoubtedly great abilities and efficiency, decisive and courageous, thoughtful enough, intelligent and striving to form a clear opinion on any subject, at the same time stubborn, often intolerant of other people's opinions; a person who can be gentle, polite, and quite rude.

In terms of political and moral attitudes, a pragmatist who, it seems to me, sincerely approved of Khrushchev's de-Stalinization and Brezhnev's “stabilization”, is ready to “waver along with the party” (an expression from an anecdote), with contempt for whiners, reasoners and doubters, sincerely passionate about the cause at the head of which he was delivered - both by its military aspects and by various peaceful applications, deeply in love with technology, machines, construction and without sentimentality referring to such trifles as radiation diseases of the personnel of nuclear enterprises and mines, and even more so to nameless and unknown victims who care Sakharov.

In the past, Slavsky was one of the commanders of the First Cavalry; in my presence he loved to recall episodes from this period of his life. His appearance matches the character of Slavsky - a tall powerful figure, strong arms and broad sloping shoulders, large features of a bronze-red face, a loud, confident voice. Once I saw his wife and was struck by the contrast of their looks - she looked like an intelligent, already middle-aged, quiet woman, in some old-fashioned hat. He treated her with emphasized attention and extraordinary gentleness.

During one of our last meetings, when I was not yet a “renegade,” Slavsky said:

- Andrey Dmitrievich, you are worried about military use nuclear weapons... Dedicate Your Ingenuity to Peaceful Applications nuclear explosions... What a huge, noble field of activity for the benefit of people. One Udokan * is worth it! And the laying of canals, the construction of giant dams that will change the face of the Earth? ...

Having become the Minister of the Council of Ministers in 1957, Slavsky did not, however, automatically become the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, like Malyshev, Zavenyagin, Pervukhin before him. Perhaps he did not have enough position in the party hierarchy for this, or maybe Khrushchev did not want to concentrate such power in one hand; one way or another, some of the functions that were previously associated with this post have now passed to a new person in the central apparatus whom Khrushchev had demanded from his former place of work (it seems, in Kazakhstan) - LI Brezhnev.

Brezhnev had already been closely associated with Khrushchev and enjoyed his full confidence (probably, Brezhnev's direction to the virgin lands was also connected with this). And in the spring of 1958, Yu. B. Khariton and I had to go to the Kremlin for the first meeting with the new leadership.

We, the scientific management of the facility, it became known that either the Defense Department of the Central Committee, or the KOT (Defense Technology Committee) was preparing a certain resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (now it was no longer a pure form, as in the time of Beria), which seemed to us completely wrong from the military-technical and military-economic points of view.

If approved by the Council of Ministers, the resolution would acquire the force of law, and this, as we thought, would lead to the diversion of large intellectual and material forces from more important things (it meant - in the military-industrial sphere; it was not about redistribution with peaceful affairs). Khariton decided to turn to Brezhnev, who oversaw, among other areas, the development of a new military equipment... Khariton took me with him “for reinforcement,” as a young force.

Brezhnev received us in his new small office in the same building where I once saw Beria. When we entered, Brezhnev exclaimed:

- Ah, the bombers have come!

While we were sitting down and “getting used to” the situation, Brezhnev said that his father, a hereditary worker, considered everyone who creates new tools for the destruction of people to be the main villains and said that all these evil inventors should be brought to a large mountain so that from all sides could be seen and hung up to ostracize.

- Now I myself, - finished Brezhnev, - I am engaged in this black business, just like you, and also with a good purpose. So, I'm listening to you.

We told Brezhnev what worried us. He listened to us very carefully, writing something down in a notebook. Then he said:

- I quite understand you. I will consult with my comrades; you will find out what will be decided.

He got up from his seat and kindly walked us to the door, shaking hands with everyone.

The resolution was not adopted.

In 1959, 1960 and the first half of 1961, none of the nuclear powers that possessed thermonuclear weapons performed tests (I am confidently talking about the USSR, the USA and Great Britain; whether France and the PRC performed tests at that time, I don’t remember). This was the so-called moratorium - a voluntary refusal to test, based on some informal agreement or de facto.

In 1961, Khrushchev made a decision, as always unexpected for those to whom he had the most direct relation, to break the moratorium and conduct tests. In July, I was with my wife and children in a sanatorium, or rather a boarding house, of the Council of Ministers "Miskhor" on the southern coast of Crimea. We got a ticket there for the second time and were very pleased with the sea, the sun, and the conditions in this privileged institution; however, our term was already over. On the evening of the 7th I received a call from the Ministry, and the next day we were on our way to Moscow.

On the eve of the meeting, I met with Yu. B. Khariton. I told him that, perhaps, as a result of tomorrow's and subsequent meetings, we will have an understanding with the top leadership, with Nikita Sergeevich. Yu. B. chuckled at my naivety and remarked rather caustically that mutual understanding could not be counted on. He was right.

On July 10 at 10 am I entered the same Oval Hall where I had seen Khrushchev two years ago - to the “Meeting of Party and Government Leaders with Nuclear Scientists” (that was the name of the event to which we were summoned by order of Khrushchev).

Khrushchev immediately announced to us his decision - in connection with the change in the international situation and due to the fact that the total number of tests conducted by the USSR is significantly less than that carried out by the United States (especially together with Great Britain) - to resume nuclear tests in the fall of 1961, to achieve in their course a significant increase in our nuclear power and to demonstrate to the imperialists what we are capable of.

Although Khrushchev did not mention either the Vienna meeting with Kennedy, or the upcoming construction of the Berlin Wall (which I did not yet know about), it was quite clear that the decision to resume testing was motivated by purely political considerations, and technical motives play an even lesser role. than in 1958. Of course, it was not proposed to discuss the decision. After Khrushchev's speech, the leading workers were supposed to speak with brief reports, for 10-15 minutes, no more, and report on the main directions of work.

I spoke in the middle of this "parade-alle", very fluently spoke about the work on the development of weapons and said that, in my opinion, we are in a phase when the resumption of testing will give us little in principle.

This phrase was noticed, but did not cause any reaction from anyone. Then I began to talk about such exotic works of my department as the possibility of using nuclear explosions to move spaceships (an analogue of the American project "Orion", in which, as I learned from the aforementioned book by F. Dyson, he was busy at that time), and about several other projects of the same "sci-fi" genre.

Sitting down in my place, I asked my neighbor (he turned out to be E. Zababakhin) for several leaves from a notebook, since I had no paper with me. I wrote (unfortunately, not leaving a draft for myself) a note to NS Khrushchev and passed it along the rows. In a note, as far as I can reconstruct its contents from memory after 20 years, I wrote:

“To Comrade NS Khrushchev. I am convinced that the resumption of testing is now inexpedient from the point of view of the comparative strengthening of the USSR and the USA. Now, after our satellites, they can take advantage of testing to ensure that their products meet higher requirements. They underestimated us before, but we proceeded from the real situation. (A phrase followed, which I must omit for reasons of secrecy.)

Don't you think that the resumption of tests will cause hard-to-fix damage to the negotiations on the termination of tests, the whole cause of disarmament and ensuring peace in the world? "

I put my signature - A. Sakharov.

Nikita Sergeevich read the note, glanced at me and folded it up and down, stuffed it into the outer outer pocket of his suit. When the speeches were over, Khrushchev got up and said a few words of gratitude to “all the speakers,” and then added:

- Now we can all rest, and in an hour I invite our dear guests on behalf of the Presidium of the Central Committee to dine with us in the next room, while they are preparing what they need.

An hour later we all entered the hall, where a large ceremonial table was laid for 60 people - with wine, mineral water, salads and caviar (greenish, that is, very fresh). The members of the Presidium were the last to enter the hall, after the scientists were seated in the places indicated to them.

Khrushchev, without sitting down, waited until everyone had calmed down, and took a glass of wine in his hands, as if about to make a toast. But he immediately put down his glass and began to talk about my note — at first calmly, but then getting more and more excited; his face turned red, and at times he went almost to a cry. His speech lasted at least half an hour. I will try to reproduce it here from memory, but, of course, after 20 years, great inaccuracies are possible.

“I received a note from Academician Sakharov, here it is. (Demonstrates.) Sakharov writes that we do not need tests. But here I have a certificate - how many tests we performed and how many Americans. Can Sakharov prove to us that, having fewer tests, we received more valuable information than the Americans? That they are dumber than us? I don’t know and cannot know any technical subtleties. But the number of tests is the most important thing; no technique is possible without tests. Is not it?" (Khrushchev did not read my note in full, so the audience did not understand my argument.)

“But Sakharov goes further. He moves from technology to politics. Here he gets into his own business. You can be a good scientist and understand nothing about political matters. After all, politics is like in this old anecdote. There are two Jews on the train. One of them asks the other: "Tell me: where are you going?" - “I'm going to Zhitomir”. - “Here is a sly man, - thinks the first Jew, - I know that he is really going to Zhitomir, but he says so that I would think that he was going to Zhmerinka”.

So let us, willy-nilly experts in this matter, do politics, and you do and test your bombs, here we will not interfere with you and will even help you. We must conduct a policy from a position of strength. We don't say it out loud - but it is! There can be no other policy, our opponents do not understand another language. So we helped elect Kennedy. We can say that we elected him last year. We are meeting with Kennedy in Vienna.

This meeting could be a turning point. But what does Kennedy say? “Don't put too much demands on me, don't put me in a vulnerable position. If I make too big concessions, they will knock me down! ” Good boy! He came to a meeting, but he could not do anything. Why the hell do we need him this way? What to talk to him, waste time? Sakharov, do not try to dictate to us, politicians, what to do, how to behave. I would be the last slobber, and not the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, if I listened to people like Sakharov! "

On the harshest note, Khrushchev cut himself off, saying:

“Maybe that's enough for today. Let's drink to our future successes. I would also drink to your health, dear comrades. It’s a pity, the doctors don’t allow me anything except Borjom ”.

“Sakharov evidently has many illusions. The next time I go to negotiate with the capitalists, I will take him with me. Let him look at them and the world with his own eyes, maybe then he will understand something. "

Khrushchev did not fulfill this promise.

Only one person after the meeting came up to me and expressed solidarity with my point of view. It was Yuri Aronovich Zysin, now deceased.
After this memorable day for me I saw Khrushchev two more times. The first of these meetings took place even before the tests, somewhere in the middle of August (after the Berlin Wall and Titov's flight; I remember the mention of Titov by Khrushchev).

Preparations for the tests were in full swing, and Yuliy Borisovich made a short report about this. But Khrushchev already knew the main lines of the planned tests, in particular about the record-breaking powerful product we proposed for testing. I decided that this product will be tested in a “clean version” - with an artificially reduced power, but nevertheless significantly higher than that of any product previously tested by anyone.

Even in this version, its power exceeded the Hiroshima bomb by several thousand times! The decrease in the share of fission processes in the total power minimized the number of victims from radioactive fallout in the coming generations, but, alas, the victims from radioactive carbon remained, and their total number was colossal (over 5,000 years). During Khariton's speech, I sat in silence not far from Khrushchev. He asked, referring more to Khariton than to me:

- I hope Sakharov understood his mistake?

I said:

- My point of view remains the same. I am working, following orders.

Khrushchev muttered something that - I did not understand. Then he gave a short speech. It was about how important our work is in the current tense environment. He spoke only in passing about the Berlin Wall - the main factor in the intensification of tension in those days. He mentioned the arrival of an American senator (I do not remember, unfortunately, his name; it would be necessary to find out), who, apparently, was probing for some possibility of compromise.

Khrushchev told him about the upcoming tests, including the planned test of the 100-megaton bomb. The senator was with an adult daughter; according to Khrushchev, she burst into tears. (Addition of 1988. Perhaps it was a prominent politician John McCloy, not a senator. If so, then Khrushchev or I was mistaken)

At the end of August, Yuli Borisovich Khariton went to Brezhnev to try to cancel the planned tests. I was very glad that this time scientific director object shares my point of view. I do not know the details of their conversation.

Based on the little that Yu. B. said, it seemed to me that the argument put forward by him was too narrow and technical in nature to be influential in the presence of a political decision. Yu. B.'s attempt was unsuccessful. The preparation for the test went quickly and easily, because during the three years of the moratorium, a large "reserve" of ideas, calculations and preliminary developments had been accumulated.

Along with the test explosions, on the orders of Khrushchev, military exercises with the use of nuclear weapons were also planned (it seems that these plans were not implemented, with one exception). Here is one of these plans: 50 strategic bombers were to pass in the stratosphere over the entire country in combat formation, overcome the air defense of the "blue" and bombard the fortified area of \u200b\u200bthe "enemy"; while 49 planes were to drop dummy bombs, but one - combat thermonuclear! There were even more "serious" plans - with the use of ballistic missiles. Khrushchev really was not a "slobber"!

At the beginning of October, I went to Moscow to discuss calculations, especially the “large” product. I did not find Gelfand at the institute and went to his house. We discussed urgent settlement plans with him. During this visit, for the first time after a long break, I saw the wife of Israel Moiseevich, Z. Shapiro.

While I was a student, she taught seminars on our course. Not long before my visit, the Gelfand family suffered great grief - the death of their son from leukemia. Izrail Moiseevich never told me this, but, perhaps, his many years of persistent study of problems of mathematical biology are psychologically connected for him with this tragedy.

The next day I went to my parents' dacha. Dad has been retired for several years, but at home he conducted some physical experiments, mostly of a methodological nature. A year earlier, his article was published in the journal Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk [Russian Physics Uspekhi], describing spectacular and non-trivial experiments on light polarization. At this time, dad again began to play a lot on the piano and compose something after a 30-year hiatus (unfortunately, all of his musical manuscripts after his death were not preserved).

My arrival was unexpected. Mom was making apple jam on the terrace; When she saw me, she threw up her hands and began to hastily prepare tea. The apples were from their own garden. Dad put a lot of work into him, and during his life the garden gave a good harvest.

After tea, Dad showed me his new experiences. He became interested in how water, together with the salts dissolved in it, is transported along the tree trunk from the roots to the leaves. There were many conflicting theories on this issue in the literature at that time; don't know if there is clarity now.

On my father's table in the country, I saw my father's experiment: a curved twig (it seems, hazel) was placed in two glasses with cut ends. Initially, the water level in both glasses was the same, but after a few hours a noticeable amount of water was pumped from one glass to another by a twig; the pumping direction has always been the same as that of the twig in its natural position. It seems to me that this experience is classic in its simplicity and information content. I do not know if anyone else did it like this.

I went to Moscow with my dad. We took with us some things that needed to be transported to Moscow. On the way, dad said that recently, while walking, he had a severe attack of pain in his heart - he hid it from mom. He added that now he is feeling well, and as regards his head, mental abilities, he does not feel any changes for the worse in comparison with a younger age.

The next day I returned to the site.

The greatest excitement was given to me by the most powerful product and another product, which I conducted, so to speak, “as a personal initiative” - about it a little later. The last days passed before the dispatch of the "powerful" one. A special room was allocated for its assembly. The assembly was carried out directly on the railway platform. A few days later, the wall of the workshop was to be dismantled and the platform (as always - at night), attached to the letter train, under the green light go to the point where the product would be loaded into the bomb bay of the carrier aircraft.

One of my employees, Yevsey Rabinovich, entered my office. He smiled shyly and asked to come into his work room. All the employees of the department have already gathered there, including the leading "powerful" product Adamskiy and Feodoritov1. Rabinovich begins to state his considerations, according to which a "powerful" product should fail when tested.

He came to this a few days ago and has just reported to the entire staff of the department, except me, having sowed the strongest doubts in the majority. I worked with Rabinovich in the closest contact for over seven years, I highly appreciated his sharp, critical mind, great knowledge, experience and intuition. Now, reporting for the second time, he was very clear and categorical in his wording. His fears looked quite reasonable.

I thought that Rabinovich's final conclusion was incorrect. However, it was impossible to prove this with absolute convincingness. We didn’t have precise mathematical techniques to do this (in part because we were deviating from our traditional designs to create a product that allowed large increases in power).

Therefore, I, Adamsky and Theodoritov, opposing Yevsey, used the estimates (as he did). But all our experience has shown that assessments are a good thing, but subjective. Under the influence of emotions, it is quite possible with them to fall into a serious mistake. I decided to make some changes in the design of the product, making the calculations of those delicate processes that Yevsey spoke about, apparently, more reliable. I immediately went to the design department.

If the head of the design department, DA Fishman, who was replacing Yuliy Borisovich, did not say a word of reproach to me, it was only because the situation was too serious to say anything. The designers did not go home that day until they handed over the drawings to the shop; the next day the changes were made.

I also decided to notify the Ministry of the latest developments and wrote a memo, drawn up, it seemed to me, in very deliberate and careful terms, containing, if possible, a description of the situation without assessing it. Two days later, an angry Slavsky called me. He said:

- Tomorrow Malinovsky (Defense Minister) and I have to fly to the training ground. Well, should I now cancel the trial?

I answered him:

- You should not cancel the test. I did not write this in my memo. I considered it necessary to inform you that this test contains new, potentially dangerous moments and that there is no unanimity among theorists in assessing its reliability.

Slavsky grunted something displeased, but clearly calmed down and hung up. The "powerful" product was tested in one of the last days meetings of the XXII Congress of the CPSU. Of course, this was not accidental, but was part of Khrushchev's psychological program. Prior to that, at two test sites (in Kazakhstan and on Novaya Zemlya), almost as many explosions of various purposes were carried out as in all previous tests. In addition, as far as I know, a purely military test was carried out elsewhere.

On the day of testing the "powerful" one, I was sitting in the office near the phone, waiting for news from the test site. Pavlov called early in the morning and said that the carrier plane was already flying over the Barents Sea towards the test site. Nobody was able to work. Theorists wandered along the corridor, entered and exited my office. At 12 o'clock Pavlov called. In a triumphant voice, he shouted:

- Communication with the landfill and with the plane is not more than an hour! Congratulations on the victory!

The meaning of the phrase about the connection was that a powerful explosion creates radio interference, throwing up a huge amount of ionized particles. The duration of the communication failure qualitatively characterizes the power of the explosion. After another half hour, Pavlov said that the height of the cloud's rise was 60 kilometers (or 100 kilometers? Now, after so many years, I cannot remember the exact number).

To finish with the topic of the “big” product, I will tell here a kind of remaining “on the colloquial level” story - although it happened somewhat later. But it is important for characterizing the psychological attitude that forced me to take initiative even in those issues that I was not formally obliged to deal with, and in general to work not for fear, but for conscience.

This attitude continued to operate even when I deviated more and more from the official line on a number of issues. Of course, it was based on the feeling of the exceptional, decisive importance of our work for maintaining world equilibrium within the framework of the concept of mutual intimidation (later they began to talk about the concept of guaranteed mutual destruction).

After testing the “big” product, I was worried that there was no good carrier for it (bombers do not count, they are easy to shoot down) - that is, in a military sense, we were working in vain. I decided that such a carrier could be a large torpedo launched from a submarine. I fantasized that it was possible to develop a direct-flow water-steam atomic jet engine for such a torpedo.

The target of an attack from a distance of several hundred kilometers should be the ports of the enemy. The war at sea is lost if the ports are destroyed - the sailors assure us of this. The body of such a torpedo can be made very durable, it will not be afraid of mines and barrage nets. Of course, the destruction of ports - both by a surface explosion of a torpedo with a 100-megaton charge "jumped out" of the water, and by an underwater explosion - inevitably involves very large human casualties.

One of the first people with whom I discussed this project was Rear Admiral F. Fomin (in the past - a combat commander, I think a Hero Soviet Union). He was shocked by the "cannibalistic" nature of the project and remarked in a conversation with me that the sailors were used to fighting an armed enemy in open combat and that the very idea of \u200b\u200bsuch a mass murder was disgusting to him.

I was ashamed and never discussed my project with anyone again. I am now writing about all this without fear that someone will grab onto these ideas - they are too fantastic, clearly require exorbitant expenses and the use of large scientific and technical potential for their implementation and do not correspond to modern flexible military doctrines, in general, they are of little interest ... It is especially important that, given the state of the art, such a torpedo is easy to detect and destroy en route (for example, with an atomic mine). The development of such a torpedo would inevitably be associated with radioactive contamination of the ocean, therefore, for other reasons, it cannot be carried out secretly.

On the eve of testing the “big” product, I received a letter from my mother, very alarming. She reported that dad had a severe heart attack, possibly a heart attack, and he was taken to the hospital. I could not leave immediately and even call from my home phone.

Under the terms of the test period, the line was disconnected, but I called the officer on duty from the office phone, and he connected me with my mother. Indeed, my father has a heart attack, he is in the hospital; there is no immediate danger, according to doctors.

Simultaneously with the “big” I was working hard on the product, which I mentally called “initiative”.

I thought it was necessary to squeeze everything out of this session in order for it to be the last. The “initiative” product was absolutely record-breaking in one of the parameters. So far it has been done without an "order" from the military, but I assumed that sooner or later such an "order" would appear, and even then it would be very urgent. In this case, a situation could arise similar to the one that led to the resumption of tests in 1958. This I wanted to avoid at all costs!

Slavsky disapproved of such “partisanism”. He said at one of the meetings that "... theorists come up with new products on tests, sitting in the toilet, and offer to test them, without even having time to button up their pants ..."

(Theorists - it was me.) He probably believed that there were still many trials ahead and there was nothing to rush. Since the product went outside the regulations, no nuclear charge was allocated to it. Of course, it cost nothing to remove these substances from mass production, but Slavsky did not sign the order.

26.10.1898 - 28.11.1991

Soviet statesman, one of the founders and leaders of the domestic nuclear industry and nuclear industry; Deputy Head of the 1st Main Directorate under the USSR Council of Ministers; Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR; Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR (from 1957 to 1986).

Efim Pavlovich was born on October 26, 1898 in the village of Makeevka (Donbass, Ukraine). According to his own recollections, from the age of 10 he had already worked - grazing cattle on summer pastures. Then he graduated from three classes of the parish school. At the age of 13, the boy entered Makeevsky metallurgical plant, to the foundry. Then he began working as a mechanic at the mine, and a year later he returned to the plant - the first world War, there were not enough workers, so very young people were taken to the workshops. Efim Slavsky was distinguished by great physical strength, and he was instructed to handle the corps of artillery shells. At the plant, he began to participate in strikes, in the spring of 1918 he joined the ranks of the Bolshevik Party. In 1918-1923. Efim Slavsky fought on the fronts of the Civil War. He served in the ranks of the First Cavalry Army, personally knew the legendary commanders Dybenko, Budyonny, Frunze. He graduated from the fight in the fall of 1923 as the commissar of the regiment of the Separate Special Cavalry Division of the First Cavalry Army.

Slavsky served in the army for another five years, until 1928, and then began to study. First he received his secondary education, and in 1933 he graduated from the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. After graduation, he began to work at the Electrozinc plant in the city of Ordzhonikidze, in a few years he rose from an ordinary engineer to a director. In 1940, E.P. Slavsky became the head of the Dneprovsky aluminum plant in Zaporozhye. By 1941, this enterprise produced two-thirds of domestic aluminum.

A week before the start of the Great Patriotic War, Efim Pavlovich was approved as Deputy People's Commissar for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy. However, he did not have time to enter into a new position. Slavsky returned to Zaporozhye to hand over the affairs to the new director, but instead he had to organize the evacuation of the Dneprovsky plant to the Urals under enemy fire. For the implementation of this most difficult event, E.P. Slavsky was awarded his first of ten Orders of Lenin.

At the end of 1941, he headed the construction and then the work of the Ural Aluminum Plant (Kamensk-Uralsky), which during the war years was the only enterprise that supplied the country with aluminum. Under his leadership, the production of aluminum at the plant increased from 20 thousand tons to 75 thousand tons. For this work, E.P. Slavsky was awarded two more Orders of Lenin.

A turning point in the fate of the metallurgical engineer E.P. Slavsky came when high-purity graphite was needed to assemble a nuclear reactor in large quantities. And in 1943, Efim Pavlovich Slavsky, a specialist in the production of graphite electrode mass, met Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov. As Yefim Pavlovich himself said, then he had no idea why Kurchatov needed the purest graphite. All attempts to obtain graphite of the required quality for a long time ended in failure.

Since 1946, as Deputy Head of the First Main Directorate, E.P. Slavsky begins his career in the nuclear industry. From this period, all the activities of Efim Pavlovich, associate of academician I.V. Kurchatov, was associated with the creation of the atomic industry and the nuclear shield of the Motherland.

Slavsky was among the first organizers and scientists who, together with I.V. Kurchatov began work on solving the "uranium problem". It was Slavsky who was entrusted with the construction of the 1st industrial reactor for the production of plutonium, and Kurchatov was to supervise the start-up and development of its operation. “Igor Vasilievich, and later me,” writes Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov, “constantly interacting with Slavsky, always believed that it was Slavsky that our Motherland owes most of all for the creation of its“ atomic shield ”.

The first task that had to be solved within the framework of the Soviet atomic project E.P. Slavsky, was to obtain ultrapure graphite for the construction of the first experimental reactor F-1 in Laboratory No. 2 (the future Institute of Atomic Energy named after IV Kurchatov). They had to start in the full sense from scratch - the specialists of the Moscow Electrode Plant, who were entrusted with the production of graphite, at first had no idea what the true purity of the materials needed to create a reactor was. Despite all its difficulties, this important problem was successfully solved. Then it was possible to achieve the required purity of uranium.

On December 25, 1946, the first uranium-graphite research reactor in Europe and Asia was launched. During this tense period, H.P. Slavsky became closely acquainted with I.V. Kurchatov, to whom he treated with great respect all subsequent years.

Immediately after the commissioning of the F-1 reactor, intensive construction began in the Urals of industrial plant No. 817 (base-10, now PA Mayak). July 10, 1947 L.P. Beria appointed E.P. Slavsky as director of the plant being created.

Construction was carried out in incredibly difficult conditions, on a "bare", remote from major cities and transport communications, territory. Slavsky proved to be a principled and proactive organizer of production, a talented engineer and manager with an analytical mindset, able to quickly understand difficult situations and quickly make the right decisions. But due to untimely deliveries of electrical and other equipment, the construction work was disrupted, which served as a formal reason for his removal from the post of director, although he worked in this position for only five months. In December 1947, E.P. Slavsky was transferred to the position of chief engineer of the plant. As both a director and chief engineer, he provided technical guidance for the construction, installation and commissioning of the country's first reactor for the production of plutonium for military purposes.

As Efim Pavlovich later recalled, they worked, forgetting about everything. We slept for two or three hours a day. During this period, Slavsky worked alongside scientists from academic institutions, of whom he retained the best memories: with A.P. Alexandrov, A.A. Bochvar, A.P. Vinogradov, V.G. Khlopin, N.A. Dollezhal.

For his direct participation in the development of the first sample of nuclear weapons in 1949, Efim Pavlovich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

After "Mayak" started working steadily, Efim Pavlovich moved to Moscow. In 1953 he became First Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building, and since 1957 - Minister of the famous Sredmash.
The "atomic" task was not an easy one for the country, which survived the worst war in its history. Efim Pavlovich put a lot of effort and skill into the establishment of a new industry, closely followed the work not only in production, but also in research teams. He was deeply respected among scientists and engineers, workers and technicians, all simple and honest workers.

E.P. Slavsky headed the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building from 1957 to 1986. It was here that his talent as a major organizer and leader was most fully revealed, he made an invaluable contribution to the formation and development of the industry, ensured the implementation of important government assignments for the creation of nuclear weapons and the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. In 1954, for a set of works to ensure the development, manufacture and testing of the first thermonuclear charge, E.P. Slavsky was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for the second time.

Under Efim Pavlovich, the Ministry of Medium Machine Building consolidated the status of a "state within a state" by increasing production, scientific and technical capacities.

In 1962, Efim Pavlovich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for the third time for the development and testing of the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in the world, which abroad, at the suggestion of N.S. Khrushchev, nicknamed "Kuz'kina's mother." This test demonstrated the possibility of increasing the energy of a single nuclear weapon to gigantic values.

In the period 1963-1965. Minsredmash was transformed into the State Production Committee for Medium Machine Building. Efim Pavlovich remained its chairman, that is, he continued to work as a minister.
Over these thirty years, the industry has taken one of the leading places in the national economy of the country, has become its powerful part, which includes the scientific, production and construction sectors of the state.

With the direct participation of E.P. Slavsky, the nuclear shield of our state was created, nuclear power plants and installations for various purposes were put into operation, in the shortest possible time the raw materials sub-industry of the nuclear industry was developed, the largest ones were built based on the latest achievements science and technology, mining and processing plants, developed and implemented unique technologies for the extraction of uranium, gold, the production of mineral fertilizers, the use of isotopes in medicine, agriculture, and other sectors of the national economy.

Much has been done in the social sphere, a whole series of closed cities and settlements, sanatoriums and rest homes, as well as medical institutions of nuclear industry enterprises have been built, modern cities Shevchenko (Aktau), Navoi, Zaravshan, Stepnogorsk, Krasnogorsk.

In many memoirs of Efim Pavlovich's associates and associates, it is noted that in the post of Minister of Sredmash, his talent of a large and wise leader, dedication and enormous capacity for work, emphasizing the multicolored palette of the image of this person who played a huge role in the formation of the nuclear industry of our country, fully manifested.

Taking an active part in all the affairs and undertakings undertaken by the ministry, Efim Pavlovich showed himself to be an active, competent and energetic leader. Members of numerous, often tense scientific and technical councils recall that he always listened carefully to the opinions of scientists. At the same time, as a man of the command system, he was characterized by rigidity and exactingness in solving the intended tasks. At the same time, he remained simple, accessible and really democratic in dealing with ordinary employees of the nuclear industry, especially with young ones. Many people remember his openness, absence of any swagger, rude humor, typical of those who have been in trouble more than once.

His comrades-in-arms in their memoirs note that they had a chance to learn from him, communicate with him - and this is a great success, even happiness. Impressions from meetings with him remained in the memory and heart forever, just as communication with Kurchatov was considered happiness by Efim Pavlovich Slavsky.

The work of Efim Pavlovich was appreciated by the state: he was awarded three out of ten Orders of Lenin for his work at the enterprises of the People's Commissariat of Metallurgy (1942-1945), the rest of the orders he received for his work at Minsredmash. He is also a laureate of Lenin and three State Prizes of the USSR, awarded with other orders and medals of the USSR and the GDR.

In November 1986, Efim Pavlovich, at the age of 88, was dismissed. He died on November 28, 1991, and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

In 2008, by order of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, a badge “E.P. Slavsky ". This badge is awarded to employees of organizations operating in the field of atomic energy use.

Born into a peasant family. Ukrainian by nationality. He began to work in 1912 as a miner in the Donbass. Member of the RCP (b) since April 1918, then he entered the RKKA.

In the ranks of the Red Army he served until 1928, participated in Civil War 1918-1920 - fought in the First Cavalry Army. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold in 1933. In 1933-1940 he worked at the Electrozinc plant in Ordzhonikidze as an engineer, shop manager, chief engineer, and plant director. In 1936, due to friendship with the "terry Trotskyist" engineer Mamsurov, he was expelled from the party and was on the verge of repression, but soon the exception was replaced with a severe reprimand.

In 1940-1941 he was appointed director of the Dneprovsky aluminum plant in Zaporozhye, in 1941-1945 - the Ural aluminum plant in Kamensk-Uralsky.

In 1945-1946 he worked as Deputy People's Commissar for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy of the USSR.

In 1946-1953 he served as deputy head of the First Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. At the same time, in 1947-1949 he was the director of the plant number 817.

1949 - Stalin Prize. Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (together with B. L. Vannikov, I. V. Kurchatov and Yu. B. Khariton).

1951 - Stalin Prize.

In 1953-1957 he was the First Deputy Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR.

Best of the day

1954 - awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for the second time.

In 1957-1963 and later - from 1965 he was the Minister of Medium Machine Building of the USSR. In 1963-1965 he was the chairman of the State Production Committee for Medium Machine Building of the USSR. Is directly related to the creation of "nuclear cities" Aktau (Shevchenko) (Mangistau region), Ozersk ( Chelyabinsk region), Seversk, Zelenogorsk, Zheleznogorsk, for the construction of almost all nuclear power plants in the Soviet Union in the period up to the 1980s. In addition, with the approval of the atomic minister, special construction units of the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building were erecting many social facilities of the country, such as the Siberian Botanical Garden, Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, Tomsk Akademgorodok, the Siberian resort "Belokurikha", etc.

In particular, in August 1957 he made a decision to build the Siberian nuclear power plant as part of the Siberian Chemical Combine.

1980 - awarded the Lenin Prize.

November 1986 - retired.

Member of the CPSU Central Committee (1961-1990). Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 5-11th convocations (since 1958).

Personality traits

He was from a family of centenarians. His father died at the age of 117 - from hunger. At one meeting, Efim Pavlovich, whose 70th birthday had just been celebrated, setting an incredibly difficult task for the team, suddenly said: “Exactly in a year I will check it. If someone hopes that I will not make it to the next birthday, they are deeply mistaken: my mother is already 93 and she feels great. "

Nature rewarded Slavsky with good health. Accidents happened frequently, especially during the early days of the atomic project. And always Efim Pavlovich was the first to go to the danger zone. Much later, doctors tried to determine exactly how much "he scored x-rays." They called a figure of the order of one and a half thousand, that is, Slavsky accumulated three lethal doses! But he survived!