Kurchatov is a town in Kursk Oblast, Russia, located on the Seym River 42 km west of Kursk. Population: 39,167 (2024 Census);

History

Kurchatov was founded in 1968 due to the construction of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and granted town status in 1983. It was named after Soviet physicist Igor Kurchatov. The town of Kurchatov, along with the neighbouring Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, stood in for the town of Pripyat and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the 1991 American television movie, Chernobyl: The Final Warning. Kurchatov and the Kursk nuclear power plant would play as Pripyat and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant once again in the 2021 Russian film Chernobyl: Abyss. In what is now Kurchatov in 1943 fighting as part of the Battle of Kursk took place on two separate occasions that summer. The battle of Kursk was one of the pivotal battles of the Eastern Front and was one of the largest tank battles in the history of warfare.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kurchatov serves as the administrative center of Kurchatovsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the town of oblast significance of Kurchatov—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Kurchatov is incorporated as Kurchatov Urban Okrug.

Sources