JINR - Dubna

A convention was signed on 26 March 1956 in Moscow for the establishment of the first international center for scientific research of the socialist countries - The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. On 23 September 1956 the first session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries (CP) of the member states (Albania, Bulgaria, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, German Democratic Republic, People’s Republic of China, People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, USSR, Hungary and Czechoslovakia) adopted the Statute of the JINR, which regulates the legal aspects of the institute activities. According to the Statute, the objectives and tasks of the newly established organization are as follows:

• Ensuring the joint conduct of theoretical and experimental research in the field of nuclear physics by the scientists from member states;
• Assistance in the development of nuclear physics in member states through exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of theoretical and experimental research;
• Maintaining communication links with national and international scientific research and other organizations, assisting the development of nuclear physics and seeking possibilities for the peaceful utilization of atomic energy;
• Assistance towards the multifunctional development of the creative capabilities of the scientific and research personnel in member states.
• According to the JINR Statute “The Institute will through its whole activity assist towards the utilization of nuclear energy solely for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of humanity as a whole.

A Thematic Plan is prepared and co-ordinated for the activities of the Institute, which is posted on the JINR web page annually (link to www.jinr.ru).

The establishment of the JINR is conditioned by the scope of development of nuclear physics science and technology and especially by its scale and speed. The initial facilities and the relevant experimental installations start to acquire industrial proportions, their complexity and value quickly rise and large teams comprising of different specialists became necessary for the purpose of processing the vast amount of material. It is the joint effort of scientific potential and material and technical resources that gives the possibility for solving complex tasks in the field of nuclear physics, expedites scientific research and ensures the training of personnel with the highest qualification.

In this respect the establishment and the strengthening of the JINR is of special importance not only for the big, but especially for the smaller countries like Bulgaria.

On a motion by the Government of Bulgaria, the Convention on the establishment of the JINR and the Statute were signed in 1956 by the ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria to the USSR, Mr. L. Guerassimov. In the period from 1957 to 1996 the office of plenipotentiary representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the JINR was carried out by the director of the Institute for Physics within the Bulgarian academy of sciences (later on called Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy). As of 1996 the office of plenipotentiary representative is carried out by the Chairman of Committee on the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes (as of 2002 – Nuclear Regulatory Agency).

More than 500 Bulgarian specialists have worked in the JINR since 1956, comprising of 12 academicians, 56 professors and doctors of science, 138 associate professors and PhD students. Twenty one doctor of sciences degrees and 84 PhD thesis have been successfully defended. Over 4800 scientific papers (8 % from all JINR publications) have been published by Bulgarian authors and co-authors. Fifty one JINR awards have been received by 57 Bulgarian specialists.

At present the group of Bulgarian specialists at the JINR consists of 30 persons. Throughout the years the office of Vice director of JINR has been held by Messrs. E. Djakov, Hr. Hristov, Iv. Zlatev and Tsv. Vylov.

The co-operation with JINR-Dubna and the interaction with the Bulgarian institutions are implemented by the Commission for co-operation with JINR-Dubna which comprises of the following members, namely:

Dimitar Vasilev Tonev – Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy – BAS
Chavdar Penev Stoyanov – Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy – BAS
Ivan Danailov Vankov – Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy – BAS
Nataliya Yaneva - Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy – BAS
Nikolay Stoychev Tonchev – Institute of solid state physics – BAS
Borislav Dinchev Slavov – Faculty of Physics, Sofia University
Leandar Litov – Faculty of Physics, Sofia University
Rumen Tsenov – Faculty of Physics, Sofia University
Savka Marinova – Plovdiv University
Milko Milanov – State Enterprise Radioactive Waste
Vladimir Todorov Dimitrov – Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Sofia University
Radostina Georgieva – National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection
Ralitsa Stanoeva – South-West University