OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2008. He visited several laboratories, particularly, the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR). The FLNR was founded in 1957 and carries out research in the following fields: synthesis of new nuclei and study of nuclear properties and heavy-ion reaction mechanisms development and construction of an accelerator complex for producing radioactive ion beams (Project DRIBs); development of cyclotron complex for producing intense beams of accelerated ions of stable and radioactive isotopes radiation effects and modification of materials, radioanalytical and radioisotopic investigations at accelerators.

Since 1998 it has made a breakthrough in the field of synthesis of super-heavy elements and study of their stability. As a result, the laboratory has synthesized new nuclei, has developed a specialized accelerator for applied research and has produced unique radioisotopes for radio-medicine and radio-ecology. 

The director of the JINR, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Aleksey Sissakian showed Medvedev the laboratory and its new systems for synthesis of super-heavy elements.

Medvedev asked Sissakian if they had many young specialists. Sissakian said that 1/3 of their personnel were youths.

He said that the business sector had agreed to finance only 5 out of 50–55 new projects offered by the institute. “We can interest them by creating a special economic zone. The point is that businessmen are interested mostly in projects that can give them profit in five years at longest. They show little interest in the “internal seeding” phase — long-term projects (from idea to production) requiring long-term investments,” Sissakian said. He asked Medvedev to consider this problem.

Sissakian also showed Medvedev the accelerator designed by the JINR and given to a university in Kazakhstan. He said that Slovakia and Slovenia had also shown interest in it.

Medvedev expressed support for the FLNR’s initiative for transferring new projects into industry. “We produce some systems and accelerators here but we have decided not to produce them on a mass scale as this may distract us from our fundamental research,” Sissakian said.

He also showed Medvedev an accelerator based on track-etched membranes. This system can produce up to 1,000,000,000 holes per 1 sq m thereby turning a membrane into an ideal air and water filter.

Sissakian showed Medvedev how the accelerator filtered dirty water and drank a glass of filtered water. He said that such a system could produce up to 1,000,000 sq m of membrane.

Sissakian also said that they carried out research for biology, agrology and other spheres.