Viktor Mikhaylov (academic)
Viktor Nikitovich Mikhaylov (Russian: Виктор Никитович Михайлов; February 12, 1934 – June 25, 2011) was a Soviet and Russian academic and nuclear scientist. From 1969 to 1988 Mikhaylov directed the Research Institute of Nuclear Impulse Technology. He personally oversaw more than 100 nuclear experiments during his directorship and spent over nine years at the Semipalatinsk and Novaya Zemlya test sites. In 1992, Mikhaylov was selected to head the newly formed Ministry of Atomic Energy, or MinAtom (now Rosatom). Under his tenure Russia maintained its nuclear infrastructure and saw an increase in international cooperation on atomic energy growth.