Vladimir Shatakishvili - The Most Russian Person

No, no and no! His memory didn’t betray him, he was, in fact, a witness and direct participant of those bygone events. And he does not boast, does not expect the thunder of copper pipes of glory – this tall, grayhaired man with a piercing glance of intelligent eyes and a faint grin, that seems to forgive my disbelief, speaks calmly and confidently.

Yes, he is not a nuclear physicist, not a professor, not a doctor of science. He did not take part in “capturing” the evasive neutrino, did not invent the electron brain, did not split the atom, did not “weigh” the star from Andromeda or Cassiopea's, did not beat his head against the wall seeking the right solution in clever projects.

He introduced himself as an experienced motorist, builder, transport worker. He has got a lot more professions that he had mastered, complying to the most severe life circumstances. Later I will tell about it, too.

Now, at ninety-five, he continues to drive. He himself drives. The driver's license of the new sample is valid until 2009. The traffic police GAI (I use the old, familiar to the ear abbreviation of the team of law enforcement officers) do not stop him to verify the identification or for violation of the medical, precisely, age restrictions. Yes, they know, they know our grand-dad, they know Ivan Nikiforovich in Stavropol region, and Mineralnye Vody, in Moscow, in the Urals, he is remembered in all classified “Chelyabinsk” ones, and on the once super classified “Mayak”.

He is neither a professor, nor a doctor of science, nor an academician. But he has the title “Veteran of Nuclear Energy and Industry”. And he is proud of it by right. He was directly involved in the preparation of the testing of the first Soviet atomic bomb which our brilliant nuclear scientists, the finest scientific minds in the world, created “to fear the enemies and world imperialism”.

The first received radioactive plutonium – this monstrous deadly “stuffing” for the first Soviet atomic bomb – was delivered to its destination in February 1949 by Ivan Nikiforovich Medyanik. It was dangerous. It was extremely dangerous! Both for the driver himself, and for his obligatory escort from the department of Lavrentiy Beria – colonel N. M. Ryzhov, and for classified cities, not-marked on any map, in which the bomb was grown from the idea to the real incarnation. Dangerous eventually for hundreds of thousands of people, for the earth, and the sky, and for the whole of Urals with its innumerable natural resources.

Winter, frozen roads, hard and remote, where every unexpected bump could turn a disaster – everything is remembered by Ivan Nikiforovich as if he had just brushed off cold sweat from the forehead from tension, natural excitement, and involuntary fear for a possible unforeseen error.

The car with a deadly cargo was sent in its dangerous trip by a well-known physicist Yuliy Borisovich Khariton, having “blessed” it in his “scientist way”.

Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov met it at the destination point, openly pleased. He shook Ivan Nikiforovich Medyanik's hand “like a nuclear scientist to a nuclear scientist” and smiled slyly.

Everything worked out. Plutonium, without which the bomb was just an empty shell, was delivered to the laboratory. The last months came before the test. The rest, just lazy or too young, do not know: On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb was tested at a nuclear test site near Semipalatinsk.

The USSR nuclear shield – as opposed to the United States – declared itself in full voice!

“And do you yourself, Ivan Nikiforovich, remember those famous scientists with whom you had to communicate or at least see on the famous “Mayak” (Chelyabinsk-40)?”

“Will you give me a piece of paper,” Ivan Nikiforovich gets excited, “I will write the names of those you probably have no idea about, no offense.”

And he took the pen.

I here give names and surnames written by Ivan Nikiforovich. This is an incomplete list of people, involved in the production of the atomic bomb at “Mayak”:

I. V. Kurchatov

A. N. Nesmeyanov

L. P. Beria

L. D. Landau

Y. B. Khariton

P. L. Kapitsa

B. L. Vannikov

I. E. Tamm

A. P. Alexandrov

L. V. Kantorovich

A. D. Sakharov

A. M. Prokhorov

S. P. Korolev

N. G. Basov

B. G. Muzrukov

A. F. Joffe

A. I. Alikhanov

M. G. Pervukhin

A. S. Nikiforov

P. A. Cherenkov

N. I. Bochvar

V. G. Khlopin

N. A. Dollezhal

V. S. Emelyanov

I. M. Frank

A. I. Alikhanyan

N. N. Semyonov

S. L. Sobolev

V. I. Alferov

I. F. Tevosyan

M. M. Tsarevsky

I. E. Starik

V. S. Fursov

I. I. Gurevich

M. V. Keldysh

I. Y. Pomeranchuk

D. F. Ustinov

N. L. Dukhov

A. P. Zavenyagin

E. I. Zababakhin

G. N. Flerov

K. I. Shchelkin

I. K. Kikoin

V. I. Vexler

V. A. Malyshev

A. K. Kruglov

E. P. Slavsky

N. V. Melnikov

Y. B. Zeldovich

A. P. Vinogradov

“Here you go! And this, of course, is not all. The list can be continued. But you, Volodya, aren’t going to compile a personalized encyclopedia of nuclear scientists?” Ivan Nikiforovich smiled. “The first one I put is Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov. He was the chief scientific officer of the atomic project. Unusual man. The fire. Himself like a nuclear reactor. No wonder his nickname was “atomic boiler” – for the incredible efficiency. The man was just boiling! Everyone loved him. Respected by men, loved by women. They gave a gently nickname – Prince Igor, and his subordinates addressed in their own way – Beard. He wore a special beard, of unusual shape, cut off at the end “under the line”, with a gray at the chin. The forehead is tall and strong, and eyes sparkle cheerfully. Cheerful when not busy. Well, what about the “man”… I got excited. Although I said in a good way. On the contrary, he was a nobleman,” Ivan Nikiforovich laughs. “And, in general, a real man! Russian hero. It’s a pity he passed away early, well, what is this age – 57? He did not live up only a year before the flight of Gagarin, died in 1960 in February after the second stroke.”

“I know that you and Kurchatov often met and talked. How was it?”

“I remember the first meeting. I took up my duties at the very beginning of 1948. Somewhere in March Kurchatov appeared at the construction site. He was informed about a new head of the motor vehicle fleet at the plant. Besides, one of the drivers (there were several of them) spoke well of the “new broomstick”. They say I began to put things in order from the very first day. The academician conveyed through the head of the personal security Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kulikov for me to show up. I came at the appointed time and was immediately received. A young, tall, handsome man, he impressed me. As it should be in such cases, I wanted to introduce myself, tell about myself, but Kurchatov decidedly stopped me, “I know everything about you. I had a meeting with the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. He said that he had sent me two reliable guys he as a member of the Military Council of the North Caucasus had known since the war and vouched for them. He said about Trovchenko, the representative of the Council of the Ministers, and you, Ivan Nikiforovich. Suslov also added that they are military people, they will bring order.” Of course, I was flattered that I was presented to the world-famous scientist on the positive side and really wanted to justify his trust. Then we switched to urgent matters. A serious and important conversation took place. The main production – the creation of a bomb – consumed all the finances, and we understood that. But the transport was desperately needed, as well as good reliable roads. It’s a shame – impassable mud, even in sunny weather, not to mention especially in rain or sleet.