History of Science and Engineering Annotation << Back The Contribution of the Radium Institute in the USSR Atomic Project. Start of the First Soviet Plutonium Plant S.A. Bartenev N.A. Abramova V.N. Romanovsky The article demonstrates Radium Institute’s role in developing of the first in the USSR radiochemical technology for reprocessing of standard uranium slugs with the purpose to recover plutonium. This technology was based on precipitation acetate-fluoride process flow chart. Ethereal process flow chart with dibutyl ether used as extraction agent was designed as an alternative to fluoride chart completion. The article contains the description of Institute’s role in testing of the designed technology at the pilot installation at NII-9, in training of personnel for the first Radiochemical Plant, and in its startup in Chelyabinsk-40. The article points to Institute’s participation in creation of a fuse for the A-bomb and in realization of this bomb testing at Semipalatinsk test site. There are presented data on improvement of precipitation technique and on designing by Institute’s scientists of the precipitation sorption technique and its commercial introduction. Key words: uranium; plutonium; precipitation; sorption; neutron; fuse; tests; bomb. Contacts: E-mail: sab_22@mail.ru, E-mail: abramova1926@yandex.ru, E-mail: romanovski@khlopin.ru Pp. 26-33.