Jaderné Rusko – Josephson Paul (2023)

In the first study of the cultural and political history of the Russian atomic age, Paul Josephson describes the rise of nuclear physics in the Soviet Union, from the enthusiastic efforts for military and peaceful nuclear programs through the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Soviet Union to the so-called "renaissance" of nuclear energy in 21st century Russia. At the height of their power, the Soviets had 39,000 nuclear warheads but proclaimed themselves servants of the "peaceful atom," which they also fervently pursued. This book examines both military and peaceful Soviet and post-Soviet nuclear programs over a long period – before the war, during the Cold War in Russia, and up to the present day. It also addresses the political and ideological significance of nuclear technologies, related economic goals, social and environmental costs, and the cultural conception of nuclear energy. ***** Nuclear Russia explores the intersections of the history of science and technology, political and cultural history, and environmental history. Josephson considers the atom in Russian society as a reflection of Leninist technological utopianism, the demands of the Cold War, scientific pride, public acceptance, and the state's desire to dominate nature. The author also focuses on the crucial significance of ethnicity in nuclear history, showing how as a result of nuclear...