There is nothing sensational in the criminal prosecution of former Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev. Moreover, he is not even the first minister to be investigated and find himself in the dock. Based on the experience of his predecessors, one can quite accurately predict the further development of events after the verdict is announced. It is worth remembering the fate of Serdyukov or former Minister of Nuclear Energy Evgeny Adamov. The only difference among the trio is that Ulyukaev and Serdyukov were active officials at the time of initiation of criminal cases, and Adamov was retired. The combination of Ulyukaev and Adamov received real prison sentences among high-ranking officials, while Serdyukov managed to escape.

Evgeniy Adamov held the post of Minister of Atomic Energy for a short time, only 3 years. He became the penultimate leader in the long history of the department. In 2004, President Putin reformed the government, as a result of which the ministry with that name disappeared, and the now existing Rosatom appeared in its place. By the time he moved into the ministerial office on Bolshaya Ordynka, which happened in 1998, Evgeny Adamov was already over sixty. He has a long and successful career behind him in the nuclear industry, most of which was spent at the I.V. Institute of Atomic Energy. Kurchatova. There he defended his doctoral dissertation. Nuclear government programs have always been shrouded in secrecy. Among the most famous facts of the life of the future minister, his participation in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident was leaked to the press.

Evgeniy Adamov is interested in the USA

The legacy of three dozen months of leadership of the nuclear industry by an experienced nuclear physicist will have to be sorted out in court for another decade. Adamov's epic began in 2005 in Switzerland, where he arrived on a private visit. He was arrested in Bern at the request of the United States. Evgeny Adamov, of course, knew that the Americans were not averse to meeting him and interrogating him, but he relied on the strength of the independent neutrality of the Alpine republic. The competent Russian authorities, who did not anticipate such a development of events, also got into trouble with an obvious holder of state secrets. Adamov also made a serious miscalculation. The Swiss court accepted the American request for consideration, and the possibility of extraditing a Russian citizen overseas has practically become a reality.

For Russia, the issue of Adamov’s detention then turned out to be even more fundamental than the recent arrest of a businessman in France. Due to the nature of his activities, not only as a minister, but also as a scientist, the former official should have known not only many of the intricacies of domestic nuclear technology, but also the details of the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran, in which the United States has always been very interested. Russia was suspected of cooperation with these countries on issues not only of peaceful atoms, but also in terms of the military use of nuclear materials. It is unknown how Adamov would have behaved if he had been in. Russia sent a protest through diplomatic channels, but this most looked like an obligatory ritual step.

Theft of money

The essence of the Americans' accusations against the Russian physicist was as follows. Implementing interstate agreements, the US Department of Energy from 1993 to 2001 allocated $15 million to improve nuclear safety measures at Russian nuclear facilities. It was not just about preventing another Chernobyl. In the 90s, submarines with nuclear power plants were dismantled on a massive scale and warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles were dismantled. America provided sponsorship to impoverished Russia in the destruction of its nuclear potential. The final recipient of overseas dollars was the Research and Design Institute of Electrical Engineering (NIKIET) ─ one of the leading scientific structures of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation.

The United States had serious suspicions that the money allocated by them was embezzled with active participation in the process of “cutting up” Minister Adamov. He found an American accomplice, Mark Koushansky. Together, a Russian official and an American businessman registered 2 companies with the same name Energo Pool in the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware, and one of them was born long before Adamov’s appointment as minister ─ in 1993. Another ─ in 1998, when Evgeniy Adamov took a leadership position.

Through Mellon Bank, funds allocated by the American government were transferred to these companies. The older Pennsylvania structure received $11 million, the recent Delaware structure received $3.7 million. Another $365 thousand went to the Bahamas to the offshore Aglosky International Ltd, from whose accounts only Adamov and Koushansky had the right to withdraw money. Quite a strange financial flow management scheme! America decided to bring ringing clarity to it by finding out the fate of every dollar. According to preliminary estimates, $9 million was spent on the side.

It was decided to urgently rescue Adamov. We immediately remembered that at one time both countries created a joint venture, Globe Nuclear Services and Supply Limited, the purpose of which was to sell processed weapons-grade nuclear materials on the American market. In 2001, the Anti-Corruption Commission of the State Duma, having carefully studied the results of its activities, officially brought charges against Adamov, but then they were not allowed to proceed. Adamov was in power, and corruption scandals in government structures were extremely undesirable at all times.

Evgeniy Adamov - the interest of two powers

In 2005, after an arrest in Switzerland, this unfinished investigation had to be recalled. In Russia, Evgeny Adamov was immediately accused of fraud on an especially large scale and abuse of power. The minister, by his personal order, wrote off the debts of the joint venture in the amount of $113 million. It was this amount of uranium that was supplied to American consumers, but payment was never received from them. As a result of the minister’s strong-willed gesture, the state has still received about 900 million rubles less in income tax. In addition, Adamov contributed to the erosion of the Russian share in the authorized capital of the joint venture. A private American company took over 62% of the shares previously owned by the Russian side, thereby depriving the Russian state of at least $30 million in additional profits.

A request was sent from Moscow to Switzerland to extradite Adamov to Russia. Switzerland found itself in a difficult situation. Both world superpowers demanded that she extradite the same person. As a result of much deliberation by the Swiss side, Adamov finally ended up in Moscow. It was extremely inconvenient to close the case immediately. The country's image at the international level did not allow this to happen. It was unknown how many more Russian officials would have to be rescued from the clutches of Western justice, and the ugly precedent could significantly complicate the procedure in the future.

In the Zamoskvoretsky People's Court of Moscow, court hearings began hastily, reaching the finale in February 2008. The defendant was defended by the domestic legal luminary Henry Reznik. Evgeniy Adamov was found guilty and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison to be served in a general regime colony. The sentence is still milder than that of Ulyukaev.

Evgeniy Adamov did not admit guilt and appealed the decision to the highest court. After a re-examination of the materials in the Moscow City Court, the original sentence was overturned and the defendant was given a suspended sentence of 4 years with a probationary period of 3 years. With a high degree of probability, we can assume approximately the same scenario for the development of events for former minister Ulyukaev.

Accomplice Alexander Chernov

Adamov was still snatched from the hands of the American Themis, but the question of the specific culprit for causing damage to the state remained. Back in 2005, during the investigation of the former minister, the case of the director of Globe Nuclear Services and Supply Limited, Russian citizen Alexander Chernov, was separated into separate proceedings. Apparently, he was assigned the role of switchman. Chernov, clearly realizing that his figure was not as significant as Adamov’s and no one would feel sorry for him, prudently went on the run and hid... on US territory. The law had no claims against him there.

Russia, as expected, put him on the international wanted list, which yielded no results. In 2011, the case of Alexander Chernov was transferred to the court, which was forced to consider it in the absence of the accused ─ in absentia. However, few people were interested in the fate of millions irretrievably lost in the last century. Evgeniy Adamov quietly returned to his favorite work - nuclear physics. Now he works at the already mentioned NIKIET as scientific director of the topic on the development of advanced nuclear reactors on fast neutrons with the significant name “Breakthrough”.

As a minister, Adamov stole money. And killed?

According to American prosecutors, the basis for the wealth of ex-minister Yevgeny Adamov was the funds allocated by the US Department of Energy for the modernization of Russian nuclear reactors. From 1993 to 2001, $15.1 million was “spent” for these purposes.

Explanations for the diagram

Company Energy Pool

Company Omeka,Ltd, Pennsylvania, registered by Adamov and Kaushansky in January 1993.

Company Energy Pool, Delaware, registered by Adamov and Kaushansky in November 1997.

How the scheme worked

The order was assigned to NIKIET (Research and Design Institute of Energy Engineering) - Adamov’s domain. From this research institute he became a minister, and having lost his position, he returned there. According to American prosecutors, out of 15.1 million “green” money, Adamov and Co. embezzled only 9.5 million. And 5.6 million dollars, it turns out, did reach NIKIET.

It would be hard to call what the partners did money laundering. Everything is too simple and primitive. Apparently, the “accomplices” did not overburden themselves with the possible consequences. For the West, such a mixture of arrogance and naivety is a novelty, but for Russians it is familiar. He received it himself, he spent it himself, he controlled it himself. In full accordance with the Russian proverb: “What I protect is what I have.”

Strange naivety of the scheme

There is only one thing that confuses me - the amazing “naivety” of American officials. For some reason they transferred money intended for Russia to the accounts of American companies and offshore companies. And they didn’t have any doubts about it.

It can be assumed that something happened to the bureaucrats from the USA. Moreover, for some reason US prosecutors do not name the other two founders of Adam’s American office. However, it is unlikely that Washington bureaucrats will, on their own initiative, agree to such a risky and not very profitable deal.

This means that the idea that everything that is happening now is just a special operation of the American intelligence services does not seem so fantastic. And Adamov himself is just a victim. Albeit a selfish and narrow-minded pawn who knows too much. And let no one be confused by the fact that the operation began long before Yevgeny Olegovich received the ministerial portfolio with Russian nuclear secrets. He was also of interest as director of the institute. When he was a minister, demonstrating loyalty to the United States, he made decisions that were approved overseas. Well, when he became a less significant figure, they simply decided to shake him out completely.

Is the ex-minister involved in the murder of General Rokhlin?

The atomic past of ex-minister Adamov is acquiring more and more sensational details that were previously stubbornly hushed up by someone.

His rapid commercial activity was accompanied by the mysterious deaths of people working “under the roof” of Minatom. The martyrology looks something like this: Reuben Nureyev, Alexander Belosokhov, Lev Rokhlin, Sergei Moiseev. They all died under very strange circumstances. Survived - after two assassination attempts! - only a well-known nuclear physicist, former director of the Institute of Atomic Technologies Lev Maksimov.

The scientist Maksimov discovered and patented the thorium cycle, which could have revolutionized nuclear energy if Maksimov’s institute had not been destroyed and he himself had not been persecuted. Some people did not need modernized nuclear power plants that could operate using thorium instead of uranium. Lev Nikolaevich said this about his discovery: “It was as if I had turned on a bright light in that dark room where thief with thief was sharing the loot...”

According to Maksimov’s stories, General Rokhlin himself found him. He brought secret documents on the infamous “uranium deal” (it took him a lot of trouble to get these papers) and admitted that he was conducting his own investigation.

This is what Lev Maksimov says today:

Shortly before his death, General Rokhlin called me and said that he was being followed and threatened with physical harm. The general had serious reasons to suspect the head of Minatom, Yevgeny Adamov, of the threats, because all the uranium scams at that time were going through this “American spy.” As far as I know, Rokhlin tried to contact Tatyana Dyachenko - he really asked her to facilitate a meeting with Yeltsin... Later, realizing that Boris Nikolayevich was avoiding the meeting, Rokhlin sent a stack of documents incriminating Adamov to the FBI.

Before General Rokhlin, Ruvim Nureyev, the chief inspector for nuclear and radiation safety of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy, was involved in his own investigations of the “uranium deal.”

In June 1996, the body of chief inspector Nureyev was found on the railway tracks, recalls Ivan Nikitchuk, Doctor of Technical Sciences, State Duma deputy (1995-2003). - The death was presented as suicide, but Nureyev’s relatives refused to believe it: the inspector had no reason to throw himself under the train.

Following Nureyev and Rokhlin, First Deputy Minister of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy Alexander Belosokhov passed away (January 2000). Belosokhov allegedly died as a result of an accident: he was riding a snowmobile. A criminal case for attempted murder (this version was initially present) was not initiated.

Lev Maksimov claims that Belosokhov was one of the main defendants before the Duma commissions on the “uranium deal.” He had a fairly close relationship with Evgeniy Adamov, who was then sitting in the chair of the director of the Research Institute named after. Dollezhal, but was closely involved in the uranium problem. Then they took on Maksimov. He was attacked in July 1999.

It was late, I entered the metro,” recalls Lev Maksimov. - There were several strong young guys behind me on the escalator. They hit me on the head and tried to “turn off” my heart using electric shock. I fainted.

Maksimov did not die miraculously: the criminals placed electrodes on his body in a “medically illegitimate” way. However, for a long time afterwards Lev Nikolaevich was forced to hide.

Rokhlin collected a lot of documents, including those on Adamov. But they were not found either in the general’s house or in his office. It is possible that Rokhlin gave the folder with documents to a trusted person for safekeeping. Such a person could be his comrade, Major General Sergei Moiseev (they fought together in Chechnya). In September 2003, General Moiseev died - killed by his wife Irina Moiseeva during a family quarrel. Something very similar, as we remember, exists in the case of Tamara Rokhlina, which still will not end.

From the MK dossier

In 1993, within the framework of the Chernomyrdin-Gore Commission, a Russian-American agreement was signed on the use of highly enriched uranium extracted from nuclear weapons. The American side was going to use it as fuel for power plants. Even then, many State Duma deputies wondered: had we sold ourselves short? A special commission was created in the State Duma, the conclusion of which was: “The agreement on the supply of uranium to America was drawn up in the interests of the United States and harms the national security of Russia.” Losses for the country's economy were estimated at 8 trillion Doll.

Source:

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20 Oct 2016	20 Aug 2016	8 Aug 2016

The “Breakthrough” project is a burning topic and a little scandalous. And in the professional atomic community a huge amount of controversy and reasoning revolves around it. And official atom is often accused of unwillingness to seriously discuss this project and make any substantive comments. As a refutation, we present to you a speech by Evgeny Olegovich Adamov, which was published on the portal “proatom.ru” in response to an open letter from readers of this community. We are sure that this topic is not closed, and we will be happy to continue discussing the problem within our blog.


Open letter to E.O. Adamov


Dear Evgeniy Olegovich, as a former minister, and today - the ideologist and inspirer of the “Breakthrough” project, we address questions to you from readers of the site www.proatom.ru. Together with them, we hope to receive direct and comprehensive answers. We also hope that an honest and constructive dialogue between decision makers and fellow nuclear scientists is still possible in the industry.


1. For more than half a century, since the mid-late 60s, people have been talking and writing about the need to create capacities for reprocessing accumulated spent nuclear fuel for existing nuclear power and a gradual transition to the closed nuclear fuel cycle. During the time of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building, they even began to build the RT-2 plant (Krasnoyarsk-26, now Zheleznogorsk), which was supposed to ensure the reprocessing of spent fuel from VVER-type reactors. They started and abandoned... They said that there was no money... At RBMK they simply burn fuel, and no one is going to reprocess their spent fuel yet. SNF from VVER is still only being stored. The appearance of another Proryv type reactor, even with its own “on-site” fuel cycle, will not solve the problems of creating a nuclear fuel cycle in Russia. The country's needs for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing can be solved only by creating capacities commensurate with the design capacity of RT-2. Why, instead of inventing “breakthrough” technologies, not complete the RT-2 if there is confidence that the technology for reprocessing spent fuel from various reactors already exists, and there is already knowledge that without a closed nuclear fuel cycle the available uranium reserves will only last for 30-40 years? However, the volume of investment in such a CNFC with the completion of RT-2, the RW disposal system and the production of fuel assemblies from recycled uranium and MOX fuel can today be estimated in the range of 20-50 billion dollars. USA with a duration of implementation of 10-15 years. Without solving the problem of reprocessing and recycling existing spent fuel, all “breakthrough” reactor technologies are not even worth the paper on which they are drawn. How can one not remember the testament of Ostap Bender’s associates: “In the morning - money, in the evening - chairs.” If there is confidence that without the CNFC, nuclear energy is over, then they need to be invested in the CNFC, but not in “innovative breakthrough rattles.” Having invested money in the ZYATZ, one can hope that “there will be chairs in the evening.”

2. It is known that RT-1 has accumulated over 30 tons of energy-grade plutonium, quite suitable for “omnivorous” fast reactors. Until now, no one has put it into fast reactors. The BN-600 “chews” only uranium. Why have they not yet dared to convert it to plutonium? Don't have the capacity to produce plutonium fuel assemblies? Are there problems with reactor controllability? It is not known what to do with plutonium spent fuel assemblies? Where have the IPPE R&D results, accumulated over more than half a century, gone? What are the true reasons for the current situation with fast reactors and the CNFC? Why does the same “Breakthrough” involve launching and operating on uranium? Unfortunately, there are no answers to these “simple” questions yet. I share the point of view of the founders of nuclear energy - without a closed nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear energy is doomed...

3. The atomic project is an ARMS RACE, the independence of the state was at stake. Therefore, all available forces of the state were involved in the Atomic Project. There is no such need for the Breakthrough program. Kiriyenko’s team, not being able to create something truly new, constantly takes out some old stuff and makes it the Rosatom flag. Why is it necessary to “break through” something that has been studied for many decades? Have there been any new ideas or new materials that can solve previously identified problems?

4. How does the project (“Breakthrough” - ed.) solve the problems that caused the Americans and the French to break down?

What is your opinion, Evgeniy Olegovich?

Comments by Evgeny Olegovich Adamov in response to questionsreaders of PRoAtom.ru

1. The problem of spent nuclear fuel in itself is not a sufficient reason to intensify work on nuclear fuel and nuclear fuel, but only one of the tasks, the solution of which is included in the range of problems of nuclear energy. Modern storage methods (in pools, then in containers) are not of much concern in the short term. However, it is impossible to endlessly classify this problem as a “deferred solution”. Obviously, it is necessary to once again list the entire set of tasks, the solution of which faces nuclear energy in general and is included, in particular, in the goals of the Breakthrough project:

· eliminating accidents that require evacuation, and even more so resettlement of the population, as well as removing large areas from economic use;

· full use of the energy potential of extracted raw materials;

· radiation-equivalent handling of nuclear materials in the fuel cycle, while maintaining the natural radiation balance;

· technological strengthening of the regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons technologies;

· ensuring the competitiveness of nuclear energy.

A comprehensive solution to these problems is the content of the concept put forward in the early 90s. concept of “nuclear energy of natural safety”.

2. Regarding spent fuel reprocessing plants:

· the capacities of spent fuel reprocessing plants were focused on a fleet of fast neutron reactors, and decisions on their construction were made precisely with a focus on the development of nuclear energy using such reactors. In reality, we have only one nuclear power plant with a BR, for which, even in the future of introducing the BR-800, full-scale plants are clearly not required.

· after the collapse of the USSR, not only were nuclear power plants with fast neutron reactors not built, but nuclear power plant construction in general was frozen, which is why the matter of using spent nuclear fuel shifted towards its storage and partial use of reprocessing products from nuclear submarines and VVER-440 zones in RBMK;

· returning to the formulation of the issue of the development of nuclear energy in 2000, we clearly outlined the priorities: completion of pre-fabricated nuclear power plants, construction of new nuclear power plants with VVER according to a competitive design, as well as a consistent transition to nuclear energy technologies of natural safety with the closure of the nuclear fuel cycle based on fast reactors neutrons

· Large plants are not needed to thoroughly develop fuel processing and refabrication technologies. It is better to carry out research work at a research institute: it is for this purpose that the construction of a PRK at RIAR is envisaged. Comprehensive technology testing will be carried out in a 300 MW BR pilot demonstration unit with an on-site nuclear fuel cycle (NFC). Then it will be the turn of industrial implementation in the main BR+FYATS complex with a reactor power of 1000-1200 MW, obviously at the BNPP site.

· as the program with the predominant use of FRs is implemented, it will be necessary to make decisions on the ratio of processing volumes at centralized plants and nuclear fuel cycles, which are obviously justified only for a cluster of nuclear power plants with FRs, such as, for example, at the BNPP.

3. Regarding the use of uranium and plutonium in BR:

· starting with EBR-1, when creating all fast neutron reactors, priority problems were solved in the physics of the core, coolant technology, equipment specifics, training of operating personnel, and since uranium fuel had already been mastered, it was used.

· the French, unlike the USSR, envisaging the massive construction of nuclear reactors, did not stop their plans to build spent fuel reprocessing plants. And when the plants were built, and the expected fleet of ballistic missiles did not exist, they were forced to look for applications for existing production facilities: this is how MOX for PWR appeared.

· It is obvious that the ballistic missile requires dense fuel, however, work on its development, production and implementation has not been organized, and, for example, the completion of the BN-800 is ending. And therefore the zone will be “variegated”.

· When starting up on uranium, its costs over the entire life of a nuclear power plant with a nuclear reactor are determined by the first load and several initial recharges before reaching self-sufficiency. This is 5 times less than what is required over the entire life cycle of a TR of the same power.

· Already from the first core in the experimental demonstration complex BR + PYATTs it is planned to operate on mixed nitride uranium-plutonium fuel. Not because there is now a shortage of uranium, but in order to more actively solve the problems of the CNFC - I completely agree with those who believe that here is the largest number of, albeit not academic, but very real engineering problems. They have learned how to make reactors, but the CNFC complex contains only more or less advanced research and development results. The priority of the NFC in the Breakthrough project is obvious. This was also one of the main reasons for moving the experimental demonstration complex to the Siberian Chemical Combine site: there was a good team of specialists here, both in reactors (historically the second site for industrial reactors) and in radiochemistry.

4. Regarding new (or well-forgotten) ideas in the “Breakthrough” project:

· for reactors:
- equilibrium operating mode of the core, eliminating the need to maintain a reactivity margin potentially sufficient to accelerate it using prompt neutrons;
- integral design of the reactor, when the coolant cannot be lost due to the absence of external loops of the primary circuit, and zone cooling can be ensured by natural heat removal to the environment, without active systems (Dollezhal’s idea for a monoblock for nuclear submarines, migrating through various design studies, but in basic nuclear power not implemented);
- use of high-boiling liquid metal coolant (the idea is not new, but implemented only in nuclear submarine reactors);

· for the CNFC - a radiation-equivalent approach to the handling of nuclear materials in the fuel cycle, in which the natural radiation balance of the Earth is not disturbed and the problem of spent nuclear fuel is finally resolved;

· for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons - refusal to use key weapons technologies in nuclear power: isotope separation (uranium enrichment) and the separation of pure uranium and plutonium during spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. Thus, the political (NPT) and control (IAEA inspections) components are complemented by technological measures to strengthen the non-proliferation regime.

5. Regarding the significance of the “Breakthrough” project and its correlation with Atomic Project 1:

· the first project solved the problem not only of “independence”, but of the very existence of the USSR. Those who do not remember or are old enough to know this should return to the American Dropshot plan.

· Energy is the basis for the development of any economy. Countries that are dependent on the energy raw materials of other states, or are forced to purchase electricity, are so dependent that they either keep their military fleet in organic production regions (such as the United States, in the Mediterranean Sea), or seek political compromises with suppliers (such as, Ukraine).

· the sustainable development of the country (as well as the world economy) is based only on the stability of energy and the Strategy for the development of nuclear energy in Russia in the first half of the 21st century, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation in 2000, showed how these problems can be solved primarily on the basis of nuclear energy.

· having solved the task of “Atomic Project 1” in an extremely limited time frame and in the conditions of the country’s impoverished economy after a devastating war, we have every reason to believe that we can ensure the independence of the country and the sustainable development of its economy based on the potential of nuclear energy, albeit in double the time frame, but even without the need to collect all the country’s resources for this, neglect its social tasks. It seems to me that in the long term this is an even more important task than the creation of nuclear weapons. The founders (Fermi, Kurchatov), ​​obviously, adhered to the same point of view, otherwise they would not have initiated the initial work on power reactors already at the end of the 40s of the last century.

6. Regarding what the Americans and the French “broke”:

· For American specialists, the need to close the fuel cycle and solve the problems listed in paragraph 1 of my answer is obvious. And for non-specialists too: Bill Gates’s goal setting in the TerraPower project comes from some of the same premises. However, work on the CNFC was banned by President Ford due to the political priority of non-proliferation, and then the ban was supported by J. Carter. Nevertheless, the Americans are conducting research on the CNFC and have made good progress both in terms of dense fuel (metallic) and in the development of ballistic missiles.

· the French generally just slowed down, but never abandoned the concept of the CNFC. The content of plans for joint work with the Russian Federation on the next generation of ballistic missiles is now being considered.

· The main difference: a comprehensive statement of tasks, with the possibility of their practical solution in the experimental demonstration facility of the BR with the nuclear fuel cycle, by 2020, both of them lack, which creates the real basis for restoring leadership in this area, which previously, of course, belonged to the USSR , and lost in recent years.

7. Now regarding the discussion on the “PRoAtom” site:

· having observed and sometimes collaborated with this publication for many years, I considered it a useful platform for public discussions, in addition to the professional quorums of scientific and technical sciences, seminars, conferences or journals such as “Atomic Energy”;

· even emotional, but kept within the framework of elementary decency, outbursts of reaction to many very interesting and affecting significant issues of the nuclear workshop, publications of famous specialists who were constantly attracted by the editors, seem to me to be a normal and not condemned phenomenon;

· the recent indiscriminateness of the editors and the reluctance to moderate the discussion, keeping it within the framework generally accepted in a civilized society, cannot but cause a feeling of disgust and a desire to bypass foul-smelling gatherings;

· in the event that the editors find the strength to overcome the clearly emerging trend, we are ready to continue the scientific and technical discussion: by the way, the work on the project is not classified.

Photo: NuclearNo.ru

A corruption case related to ex-minister Adamov was first opened 7 years ago, but not in Russia, but in the USA. In 2001, the FBI began an investigation into the disappearance of $9 million allocated by the US Department of Energy in the first half of the 90s of the last century to Russian scientists, including for research into the safety of Chernobyl-type nuclear reactors. As a result, the main accused in the case turned out to be ex-minister Yevgeny Adamov, who in the 90s headed the regime Research and Design Institute of Electrical Engineering named after N.A. Dollezhal (NIKIET).

Adamov was detained by Swiss law enforcement authorities in Bern on the recommendation of the US Department of Justice in May 2005. A little more than a week passed and the Russian authorities brought an equally formidable, but completely different charge against him. Later, at the insistence of Moscow, he was extradited from Switzerland to his homeland; an investigation was carried out into his case by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.

Russian case
The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation accuses the former head of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: 159 (large-scale fraud committed as part of an organized group), 285 (abuse of official powers) and 286 (abuse of official powers, resulting in grave consequences).

According to the prosecution, Evgeny Adamov and his subordinates Revmir Fraishtut (General Director of JSC Techsnabexport) and Vyacheslav Pismenny (head of the State Unitary Enterprise “State Scientific Center “Troitsk Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Research””) in December 1999, using a multi-pass combination, transferred 62% shares of the Russian-American joint venture for uranium trading Globe Nuclear Services and Supply (GNSS) to a company established in the USA, controlled by V. Pismenny. As a result, as the investigation established, the state, which owns a controlling stake in JSC Techsnabexport, which in turn was the owner of GNSS shares, lost dividends amounting to more than $31 million. The ex-minister and his colleagues were accused of embezzling public funds.

In court, Adamov, as the Kommersant newspaper wrote, immediately declared his innocence. According to him, “the actions of the ministry officials were not only not deliberately unprofitable for Russia, but also saved it from 1 to 5 billion dollars, taking into account the rise in prices for natural uranium on the world market over the past years.” According to Adamov, “no evidence of criminal connections allegedly existing between the defendants was presented by the investigation,” and “allegations about the existence of an organized criminal group are far-fetched and unfounded.”

In January 2008, the state prosecutor at the trial demanded that the ex-minister be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 9 years.

Lawyers insist on the complete innocence of Adamov and his colleagues. “Lawyer practice shows that the most difficult thing is to protect the innocent. This case, dear court, was created artificially, it lacks even the slightest evidence,” said Henry Reznik, the ex-minister’s lawyer. According to Gazeta.ru, he said that the case against the “knowingly innocent” Adamov was initiated only in order to achieve his extradition from Switzerland.

American affair
While the trial of Adamov’s case was ongoing in Moscow, another trial was taking place in the American city of Pittsburgh related to the former “nuclear” official (in the case in connection with which the Russian ex-minister was detained in Switzerland in 2005).

In June 2007, US law enforcement agencies made public their findings: $9 million allocated to Russia by the Americans was stolen through a company headed in the US by Evgeniy Adamov’s partner, Mark Kaushansky. A Pittsburgh court sentenced him to 15 months in prison. In addition, the court decided to collect a fine of 20 thousand dollars from the businessman, as well as 63 thousand dollars as a tax debt.

The American media explain such a lenient punishment by the fact that Kaushansky admitted his guilt and cooperated with the investigation. “We did a lot of good things. But I also did something that I can’t be proud of, I’ll have to live with it for the rest of my days,” said Mark Kaushansky, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper. He testified that Adamov transferred the money “in order to preserve it from being absorbed by the shaky Russian economic system and Russian bandits after the collapse of the USSR.” According to him, Adamov “cared more about NIKIET than about his family.”

The US Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Western District in Pittsburgh stated that the case against the former head of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy Evgeny Adamov has not been closed, and all charges against him remain in force. The American Themis is confident that from 1993 to 2003, through banks around the world, including Pittsburgh banks, he and his partner Kaushansky “stolen” $15 million. At least nine of them were legalized through specially created American companies, and the amount of unpaid taxes is estimated at $5.5 million.

Adamov and corruption – twin brothers?
Environmentalists do not believe in the triumph of justice in the Russian Adamov case. “If the verdict is guilty, I will be very surprised and there will be little hope that something has begun to change in our country,” Vladimir Chuprov, head of the energy department of Greenpeace Russia, said in an interview with Bellona.ru.

“I don’t think that the investigation into the case was carried out adequately and that Adamov will receive adequate punishment. I am sure that he was not handed over to American justice and that a case was opened in Russia so that he would not suffer a more serious punishment,” says Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman of the Ecodefense! group.

“Under Evgeny Adamov, corruption was rampant. Usually in Russian bureaucracy it is customary to hide corruption, but Adamov did everything openly. However, no one paid attention to this until the Americans decided to bring him to justice; in Russia, no one was simply interested in this,” adds Slivyak.

Obvious confirmation of these words are the facts that Greenpeace Russia was the first to publish back in 2001. The Duma Anti-Corruption Commission conducted an audit of the activities of the Minister of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation E.O. Adamov, in accordance with the instruction of the State Duma of October 20, 2000 No. 97. The results of the audit were presented at a meeting of the same commission on February 20, 2001.

The deputies discovered that “... the facts contained in letters and appeals of State Duma deputies to the country’s leadership and media publications that Adamov was engaged in commercial activities when he was the director of NIKIET and the Minister of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation were confirmed.”

The certificate attached to the report prepared by the Commission, in particular, states: “In fact, from November 15, 1986 to March 4, 1998, Adamov, being the director of the special security institute of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation NIKIET, contrary to the obligations assumed under the contract with Minatom<…>, created, with the involvement of subordinate employees, on the basis of the institute in Moscow, as well as abroad, various commercial organizations and to this day continues to be actively engaged in entrepreneurial activities.” The material contains the names of companies, some amounts of transferred funds and other interesting data.

“Adamov not only created a precedent for combining the functions of government bodies governing the use of atomic energy and bodies of state regulation of safety in the use of atomic energy and went beyond the existing legislative field, but also once again demonstrated with his own eyes the desire for monopoly management of this branch of the state’s activity in its own interests,” - the members of the Commission concluded.

On March 28, 2001, a month after the Commission’s report, Alexander Rumyantsev was appointed new Minister of Atomic Energy. At the same time, no charges were brought against Evgeny Adamov in Russia, no claims were brought against him. On the contrary, in 2002 he was accepted into another honorary position - advisor to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

History of the Russian case
2005 year
On May 2, ex-head of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy Evgeny Adamov was arrested in Switzerland at the request of the United States. He was accused of embezzling $9 million allocated by the US government to Russian specialists for research in the field of nuclear safety.

On May 13, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation charged Mr. Adamov in absentia with fraud and abuse of power in a completely different case.

On May 18, the Russian Foreign Ministry told the Swiss side about the “inadmissibility of Adamov’s extradition to the United States,” and the next day announced that it had sent a request for the ex-minister’s extradition. For eight months, the Swiss courts decided which of the requests, American or Russian, to give preference to.

At the end of December, the Russian request was granted. Evgeny Adamov was taken to Moscow and placed in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center.

2006
On January 30, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation combined the case of the former head of Minatom with the case of the director of the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation “Troitsk Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Research” Vyacheslav Pismenny.

On July 21, 2006, Evgeny Adamov, by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, was released from custody on his own recognizance.

2007
In January, the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow began considering Adamov’s case. Together with Adamov, the ex-director of the State Unitary Enterprise “State Scientific Center “Troitsk Institute of Innovative Thermonuclear Research” Vyacheslav Pismenny and the former general director of OJSC “Tehsanbexport” Revmir Fraishtut were in the dock. They are accused of fraud, and Freishtut is also charged with abuse of power.

2008
On January 22, the judicial investigation into Adamov’s case was completed.
On January 24, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow began the debate between the parties.
On January 28, the debate ended and the date for the announcement of the verdict was announced - February 19.

Adamov has no luck with the courts
Evgeniy Adamov has experience in other legal proceedings, for example, with environmentalists. In past years, he has been a defendant in at least two libel lawsuits.

In 2000, Evgeniy Adamov lost to environmentalist Alexander Nikitin, current director of the Bellona human rights center, in court. Then the court ruled that Adamov (who at that time still held the post of minister) must compensate Nikitin for moral damages for publicly accusing him of working for foreign intelligence.

“I can declare with full responsibility that more than half, 70%, of the information collected by Nikitin for the Bellona organization has nothing to do with ecology,” Adamov convinced listeners of the Ekho Moskvy radio station on May 8, 1998. “These [the problems raised in the Bellona report] are normal, professionally posed intelligence questions,” he clarified.

The court ruled that the former minister must pay 10 thousand rubles for these statements. Newspapers and agencies that published statements by a high-ranking official were required to publish a retraction.

In May 2002, the Lyubertsy City Court of the Moscow Region ordered the former Minister of Atomic Energy Evgeny Adamov to pay 50 thousand rubles to another environmentalist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Yablokov for moral damage caused to his honor and dignity.

The reason for A. Yablokov’s lawsuit was the minister’s statement made on the NTV television channel in the “Voice of the People” program in March 2001, dedicated to the problem of importing nuclear waste into Russia. In particular, then, in response to a question from the audience about whether the processing of nuclear waste can be considered safe if, as a result of the consequences of this activity, for example, in the Chelyabinsk region, children are born with genetic changes, Adamov said: “I would not want to deprive anyone of benefits , even if people became disabled not as a result of exposure to radiation, but as a result of statements such as Mr. Yablokov’s, when he misinforms the public.”

As you can see, Evgeniy Adamov was not particularly lucky with the courts. It is difficult to predict which side our unpredictable judicial system will turn towards him this time.

Doctor of Technical Sciences (1984)

Professor (1989)

Engineer, senior operating engineer, chief engineer of the department, deputy director of the department, chief engineer of the department, chief engineer of the institute, deputy director of the IAE named after. I.V. Kurchatova (1962-1986)

Director of NIKIET (1986-1998)

General designer (1988)

Member of the Board of the Nuclear Society of the USSR and then Russia (1989 - present)

Member of the international expert council for the ITER project (1993-1998)

Minister of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (1998-2001)

Scientific director of NIKIET (1998 - present)

Advisor to the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation (2002-2004)

Member of the Advisory Council of the World Nuclear Association WNA (2002 - present)

Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation (1995)

Academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering Sciences (1995)

Awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, medals "For Valiant Labor" and "850 Years of Moscow"

The beginning of Evgeniy Adamov’s career after graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1962 was associated with the IAE named after. I.V. Kurchatov, with the first experimental nuclear power plant with direct energy conversion "Romashka", with work on a helium fine purification system, technologies for the use of liquid metals (Na, Na-K). Working at the Kurchatov Institute, E.O. Adamov independently conducted a set of studies on the use of high-temperature coolants in autonomous nuclear power plants and obtained original scientific results, protected by copyright certificates, including diagnostics of the condition and performance of the primary circuit of nuclear power plants, and the study of the properties of special materials in extreme conditions. These results were implemented in a number of new technology objects, in particular in the creation of original MHD devices.

E.O.’s organizational skills are also recognized. Adamov: in 1968 he was appointed chief engineer of the department, in 1974 - deputy director of the department, in 1981 - chief engineer, deputy director of the IAE named after. I.V. Kurchatova.

In 1975 E.O. Adamov initiated the development of a comprehensive automation system for design and engineering work "CAPRI", which was a new progressive direction in the development of domestic mechanical engineering. For the period 1975-1985. He carried out a large complex of diverse studies, which made it possible to substantiate the principles of constructing flexible systems for mechanical engineering production, and to develop software and hardware for integrated automation systems. The results of this work have been implemented in many research institutes and design bureaus in the country; one of the sections of the Federal program for mechanical engineering is based on them. In 1977 he defended his candidate's dissertation, and in 1984 his doctoral dissertation; in 1989 he was awarded the academic title of professor.

With the active participation of E.O. Adamov at the IAE named after. I.V. Kurchatov, work was carried out on a large-scale expansion and updating of the experimental base for conducting fundamental and applied research, on the construction of the Tokamak-15, Gamma installations, many other physical and thermal-hydraulic stands, and the reconstruction of existing reactors and loop devices.

Direct participant in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident in 1986 E.O. Adamov, together with other specialists, studied the actual distribution of fuel throughout the power unit building, which made it possible to sharply reduce the volume of the shelter being constructed, reduce material costs and dose loads on builders.

In November 1986, after the Chernobyl disaster, he headed NIKIET. Under his leadership, in the shortest possible time, the institute carried out the most important work to improve the safety of nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors, eliminating the possibility of a repetition of Chernobyl-type accidents and making it possible to justify the possibility of operating these nuclear power plants until the end of their design service life. The concept for the reconstruction of the first generations of power units with RBMK reactors, developed under his leadership, is being implemented. The first stages of reconstruction of the 1st and 2nd power units of the Leningrad NPP and the 1st unit of the Kursk NPP were completed.

Initiated by Adamov E.O. large-scale studies, carried out, including by foreign specialists, within the framework of a number of international programs to improve the safety of nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors, showed the correspondence of the safety levels of domestic and foreign nuclear power plants of the same design and construction periods and convincingly demonstrated the absence of any technical or organizational reasons , which would require early decommissioning of Russian nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors. The results of the research and the safety justification for nuclear power plants with RBMKs, supported by international expertise, provided Russia with an economic benefit from the continued operation of these plants amounting to billions of dollars.

In 1988, by Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR E.O. Adamov was appointed General Designer. During this period, he intensified the development of channel uranium-graphite power reactors of a new generation and at the same time began activities to create a naturally safe nuclear technology with a closed fuel cycle, which would make it possible to deterministically eliminate the possibility of severe accidents at nuclear power plants and solve the problem of radiation-equivalent management of radioactive waste , strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and ensure the competitiveness of nuclear energy production. E.O. Adamov is one of the authors of a new concept for the development of promising large-scale nuclear energy in Russia, in which an important place is occupied by the provision of a gradual transition in the country’s export balance from the export of energy resources to the export of electricity from nuclear power plants. Under the leadership of E.O. Adamov at NIKIET and a number of other nuclear industry enterprises began the development of a project for an underground nuclear power plant with pressure vessel boiling water reactors with natural coolant circulation (VK-300).

On the initiative of Adamov E.O. in 1996 the International Center for Nuclear Safety was created and in 1999 - the International Center for Environmental Safety of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy and the US Department of Energy. He was one of the initiators of the creation of the USSR Nuclear Society, later the Russian Nuclear Society, and is currently a member of its board.

E.O. Adamov enjoys great and well-deserved authority both in our country and abroad. He has repeatedly spoken at the most representative scientific and public forums, representing Russian science with honor. He is a full member of the Russian Academy of Engineering, the author of more than 300 scientific papers. In the period 1987-1991. was the editor-in-chief of the "Nuclear Engineering and Technology" series of the scientific and technical collection "Issues of Atomic Science and Technology". For many years E.O. Adamov is a member of the editorial board of the journal "Atomic Energy". With the direct participation and guidance of Adamov E.O. specialists from enterprises and organizations in the industry, the Russian Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", the Russian Academy of Sciences, and universities prepared and published a separate volume of the encyclopedia "Nuclear Engineering Mechanical Engineering".

Wide recognition of the scientific achievements of Professor E.O. Adamov, as well as his merit in training scientific and engineering personnel, were the basis for awarding him the honorary title “Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation” in 1995.

Being a worthy successor to the traditions laid down by the first director of NIKIET, academician N.A. Dollezhelem, E.O. Adamov, in conditions of general economic stagnation in the country, managed to maintain and increase the high scientific and production potential of the institute.

In 1998-2001 E.O. Adamov works as the Minister of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy, where he fully manifests himself as a leader on a national scale. The outstanding qualities of a leader and organizer inherent in him, augmented by almost 40 years of experience in nuclear science and technology, allowed him, during this very difficult period, to effectively manage one of the most high-tech industries in the country and achieve the consolidation of budget funds to solve the most important projects and tasks . Among the most significant achievements of the industry, directly related to the name and activities of E.O. Adamov in the position of Minister, one can name the exceeding of the Soviet level of electricity production at nuclear power plants (Minatom became the first industry to achieve such a result after the collapse of the USSR), the commissioning of the 1st power unit of the Volgodonsk (Rostov) NPP and the resumption of construction of high-readiness nuclear power units ( 5th unit of the Kursk NPP and 3rd unit of the Kalinin NPP). Work has significantly intensified on the construction of foreign nuclear power plants based on Russian projects in Iran (Bushehr-1), China (Tianwan-1 and 2), and in preparation for the conclusion of a general framework agreement on the construction of the Kudankulam NPP in India. Work was launched on the comprehensive dismantling of nuclear submarines and surface ships with nuclear power plants and the environmental rehabilitation of radiation hazardous facilities of the Ministry of Defense, transferred to the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy by decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. The “Strategy for the Development of Nuclear Energy in Russia in the First Half of the 21st Century” was developed and approved by the Government of the Russian Federation and a legislative framework was prepared for Russia’s entry into the international market for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. Under the leadership of E.O. Adamov, scientific and technical work was continued and significantly expanded, which formed the basis of the Initiative of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, put forward at the Millennium Summit at the UN on September 6, 2000, on energy provision for the sustainable development of mankind, a fundamental solution to the problems of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the environmental improvement of planet Earth.

In order to analyze, select and develop promising nuclear technology, E.O. Adamov initiated the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) at the IAEA, which was subsequently joined by 22 countries.

In 2002-2004 E.O. Adamov, while continuing to be the scientific director of NIKIET, worked as an adviser to the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and took an active part in the development of the “Energy Strategy of Russia for the period until 2020,” which was approved by order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 28, 2003.