Igor Kurchatov

Igor Kurchatov (b 1903) was a Soviet physicist. During World War II, he headed the Soviet project to develop the atomic bomb. Following the arrival of the Race's Conquest Fleet in 1942, his project took on extreme importance, as the Race was willing and able to use atomic bombs in its conquest attempts. Kurchatov built a bomb using uranium captured by the NKVD from a destroyed Lizard starship. However, enriching uranium was beyond the capacity of the Soviet Union until very late in the war, as was developing plutonium. Kurchatov resisted the temptation to promise Joseph Stalin completion of the project on an unrealistic timeframe, even when bribed and threatened by Vyacheslav Molotov.