Flerov

Flerov is a Russian surname. The most widely known bearer is Georgy Nikolaevich Flerov (1913–1990), a Soviet physicist who contributed to the development of nuclear physics and the research program at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. Flerov founded and led the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR, a center focused on heavy-element research and accelerator-based nuclear physics.

An eponym associated with the name is flerovium (Fl), the synthetic chemical element with atomic number 114. In 2012, IUPAC officially named the element flerovium in honor of Flerov and his contributions to nuclear science and the JINR. The element was first produced in the late 1990s by a collaboration between JINR and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The name Flerov also endures through the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR in Dubna, which is named in his honor and remains a major facility for experimental nuclear physics and the pursuit of new, heavy elements. Through these associations, the Flerov name reflects a legacy in the field of nuclear research and the international effort to explore superheavy elements.