The evolution of scientific views of Far Eastern scientists on the problems of developing the region's energy resources for electricity production (mid-1920s–1980s)

The study analyzes the evolution of scientific views of Far Eastern scientists on the problems of developing the region's energy resources for electricity generation in the mid-1920s-1980s, and determines the impact of scientists' work and their proposals on the state energy policy in the region. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that during this period, fundamental ideas were laid about the directions of energy development in the eastern regions of the country, which influenced the planning and implementation of state investment programs in the field of socio-economic development of the Far East. Literature analysis shows that the topic of the evolution of scientific views of scientists on the problems of developing the region's energy resources for electricity generation in the mid-1920s-1980s has not yet been considered as an independent subject of research. The study is based on a corpus of unpublished sources, primarily on office documents stored in the Archive of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The work uses historical and economic methods, including systemic, statistical and quantitative ones. It is shown that the evolution of scientific views of Far Eastern scientists occurred under the influence of the achievements of Soviet science on the problems of creating an energy complex in the country, successes in the implementation of hydroelectric projects in Eastern Siberia, the development of open-pit mining technologies in the coal industry, the development of natural gas in Western Siberia, and the formation of the nuclear energy industry. Based on the application of various theoretical approaches, mathematical and electronic computing research methods, scientists developed solutions to the problems of using different types of energy resources, and the results of their theoretical developments were implemented in production, included in the general schemes for the placement of productive forces of the USSR and programs for the economic development of the region, and were reflected in the decrees of the party and government. The scientific ideas of Far Eastern scientists influenced the regional state energy policy, but due to various factors, they did not always find practical implementation. In some cases, specialists made miscalculations, such as with the overestimation of coal resources. Scientists' proposals to convert power plants from coal to gas fuel are still being implemented in the electric power industry; the Far East is almost 50 years behind this process. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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