25 Facts About Konstantin Petrzhak

Konstantin Petrzhak was among of Soviet pioneers in nuclear physics research.

In 1928, Konstantin Petrzhak was sent to attend the trade school, Rabfak, that was affiliated with the Leningrad State University, where he studied painting which remained his lifelong passion.

Konstantin Petrzhak learned to play the music and was an amateur violinist and guitar player.

In 1934, Konstantin Petrzhak found a job at the Khlopin Radium Institute located in the State University in Saint Petersburg, which was directed by Igor Kurchatov, a nuclear physicist.

In 1940, Konstantin Petrzhak was recommended for the top team in the Soviet atomic bomb project.

Konstantin Petrzhak is rumored to have participated in the said project.

Sources disagree on whether Konstantin Petrzhak volunteered, or was drafted into the army.

Konstantin Petrzhak served in the military intelligence company of a CIWS regiment first as a junior lieutenant, and later as a senior lieutenant.

In 1943, Konstantin Petrzhak studied neutron induced fission of uranium under the supervision of professor Pyotr Lukirsky.

In 1944, Konstantin Petrzhak proposed a method to determine the number of neutrons present during a nuclear reaction, based on the number of protons.

Konstantin Petrzhak participated in the development of technology to extract plutonium from irradiated uranium blocks.

Jointly with M Yakunin, Petrzhak developed methods for the radiochemical determination of plutonium, and found the mean free path of Pu-239 alpha particles.

Konstantin Petrzhak founded a laboratory of neutron physics and nuclear fission at the Khlopin Radium Institute in 1947.

Konstantin Petrzhak was the head of this laboratory until 1986, when he became a part-time contractor.

In 1949, Konstantin Petrzhak was appointed a member of the Uranium Commission of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

Konstantin Petrzhak was one of the founders of the Engineering faculty of the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology.

Konstantin Petrzhak founded the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology department of nuclear physics in 1949, and remained its chair for 22 years.

Konstantin Petrzhak created an express method to detect plutonium and associated radioisotopes in samples of irradiated uranium.

In 1960s jointly with the colleagues Konstantin Petrzhak performed a series of precision absolute measurements of induced fission, caused by neutrons, which have monoenergy as well as fission-spectrum neutrons.

From 1973 through 1984, he took part in measuring induced fission cross-sections of U-238, U-235 and Pu-239 when irradiated by monoenergy neutrons In 1978, Konstantin Petrzhak co-authored a paper about synthesis of hassium performed in Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

Konstantin Petrzhak was awarded Doctor of Sciences in 1948 and a professor.

Konstantin Petrzhak was never elected an academician or the corresponding member of any academy, but Petrzhak was a member of Nuclear Physics Department of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Konstantin Petrzhak published articles on fission products from nuclear reactors until his death in 1998.

Konstantin Petrzhak died on October 10,1998, and was buried at Serafimovskoe Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

Konstantin Petrzhak used his skills in painting when he covered the plates of ionization chamber with uranium which later led to discovery of spontaneous fission.