European nuclear community mourns loss of Armen Abagyan.
In November 2005, the nuclear community
was hit by the tragic news that an old colleague and friend,
Dr. Armen Artavazdanovich Abagyan had died in Moscow. His
death at the age of 72 (his wife also perished in the fire)
was a real shock not just to his family, but also to his
many friends and partners in science across Europe. Indeed,
one month earlier he had met spoken to many of those friends
in Budapest, where he received the WANO (World Association
of Nuclear Operators) Nuclear Excellence Award. The award
was a fitting recognition of an illustrious career in the
nuclear industry that spanned over fifty years. |
Armen Abagyan
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Armen, an Armenian, was born in 1933, in the
Nagorny Karabakh region of the Soviet Union. After graduating
from Moscow’s University of Engineering and Physics, in
1956, he started working for the Institute of Physical and Power
Engineering, in Obninsk. He left the Institute in 1976, to begin
working at the Russian Institute for Nuclear Power Plant Operations,
VNIIAES. His was specialized in the field of radiation safety
and power plant operations. That year, Armen was nominated Deputy
Director General of Rosenergoatom (the state-owned company that
operates all nuclear power plants in Russia) a position that he
held until his death.
In 1986, he was among the first specialists to
arrive on the scene at Chernobyl, following the accident that
occurred on that fateful April day. The papers that he wrote about
the Chernobyl accident contributed greatly to industry’s
understanding of what were the root causes of the accident. His
pioneering work on nuclear safety helped to develop scientific
and technical safety measures that should prevent accidents like
the one at Chernobyl from ever happening again.
Armen Abagyan continued to work in the nuclear
safety field, developing full-scale simulators that are still
used today to train power plant personnel. He was a founder member
(and later a member of the Board of Governors) of the World Association
of Nuclear Operators (WANO), which was created in the aftermath
of the Chernobyl disaster. Other positions that he held during
his career included being a member of the Nuclear Energy Commission
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the European Nuclear
Council (ENC) and a member of the IAEA’s INSAG, International
Nuclear Safety Advisory Group.
In addition to being an accomplished scientist
and one of the world’s greatest authorities in his field,
Armen was also a wise, friendly and accommodating man with a great
sense of humour and humanity. One man who knew him well was Ales
John of CEZ, who is Business development Manager at FORATOM. So,
let’s leave the last word about Armen to Ales:
I collaborated with Dr. Armen Abagyan in
WANO for many years. Armen Artavazdanovich, as I called him, was
a friendly man who like good company and enjoyed a good meal with
his friends. He was also a devoted family man. One thing that
I particularly remember about Armen was his ability to explain
complicated issues very simply and clearly. Many times I also
asked him advice regarding sensitive Russian issues because of
his deep knowledge and love of Russian culture and his understanding
of the country’s soul and customs. He always gave me sound
advice. Last time I met him, at the presentation of his WANO Nuclear
Excellence award he said how very proud he was to have received
it.
It is the great pity that he passed away.
You cannot get much better than him.
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