Russian Nuclear Orthodoxy by Dmitry Adamsky;

Author:Dmitry Adamsky; [Adamsky, Dmitry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2018-12-31T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

FAITH-NUCLEAR NEXUS

NUCLEAR INDUSTRY

By the second decade of the twenty-first century, the clergy and religiosity had penetrated not only the rituals but also the professional worldview and modus operandi of the nuclear industry. Sarov turned into a spiritual-scientific-security think tank of sorts, which brings together public, religious, and defense intellectuals generating ideas related to domestic and foreign policy for Russian politicians. Also, leading scientific universities, which educate a young cadre for the Russian nuclear industry and scientific units in the military, established faculties of theology, integrated into academic life. The period witnessed the climax, thus far, of the ecclesiastical penetration into the nuclear industry—a direct progression from the previous decade of conversion.

Professional and religious lives in Sarov merged. The local clergy have participated annually in the closed VNIIEF professional celebrations and addressed the audience together with senior city and industry officials.1 Gradually, the city monastery acquired all of the churches located in the VNIIEF territory.2 In 2012, ROSATOM head Kirienko arrived in Sarov to participate in the consecration of the Zosima and Savvati church. Funded by ROSATOM, this huge cathedral was erected in less than two years.3 As the local archiepiscop conducted the service, Kirienko, the city mayor, and the VNIIEF head and its scientific director stood in line under the icon of St. Seraphim, with a group of nuclear officials behind them, and prayed collectively. Kirienko’s address indicated how faith and profession were interwoven:

It is not accidental that the center of security and of state power was created where historically the center of [spiritual] strength used to be. They are apparently supporting each other, as both the sanctuaries in Sarov and the Federal Nuclear Center are developing at an equally rapid tempo. People are the main wealth of the nuclear industry, and they live not only by material but also by spiritual values. Thus, the re-creation of the temple and return of the original shape of the monastery contributes not only to the ROC and to Sarov, but also to the VNIIEF.4

In 2011, “to attract attention within the nuclear industry, primarily of the youth, to the patronage of St. Seraphim of those strengthening the Motherland’s defensive shield,” ROSATOM, the St. Seraphim Fund, Sarov city administration, and the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute (MIFI) initiated two projects for the nuclear cities’ residents. The first, “Orthodox Sanctuaries of the Atomic Cities,” was a photographic competition related to the main themes of the saint’s teaching. The second project, “Spiritual Heritage of Seraphim Sarovsky,” was a video competition among the students of the nuclear industry’s universities. In the following years, the finalists’ works toured the ROSATOM cities.5 During the decade, popularization of the saint continued beyond the nuclear industry. The Russian Postal Service commissioned stamps commemorating Seraphim’s, the monastery’s, and the VNIIEF’s anniversaries,6 a wave of videos about the saint included an animated film about his life. He became one of Russia’s most admired saints. Almost every Russian Orthodox church worldwide has introduced his icon.

Since the mid-2000s, the ROC has been consolidating all educational-catechization activities within the nuclear community.

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