English 
Polish
It is with deep regret that we say goodbye to Professor Andrzej Strupczewski, who has died at the age of 88. He was a long-standing employee of the Institute of Nuclear Research, the Institute of Atomic Energy and the National Centre for Nuclear Research,
an outstanding specialist in the field of safety analyses of power reactors.
To the family of the late Professor we offer our deepest sympathy.
The Management, Scientific Council and Employees of NCBJ
Professor Andrzej Strupczewski worked for more than 65 years at the Nuclear Research Institute, then the Atomic Energy Institute and the National Centre for Nuclear Research. He started his work at the EWA reactor at the Nuclear Research Institute, after graduating from the Faculty of Construction (now: Mechanical, Power and Aeronautical Engineering) of the Warsaw University of Technology with a specialisation in nuclear power engineering. He was a specialist in thermal-fluid calculations and measurements. He was instrumental in raising the power of the EWA reactor from 2 to 10 MW. Subsequently, he actively worked on the start-up of the MARIA reactor and was the Reactor Technology Start-up Manager in July 1974. In the next stage of his work, he was Head of the Reactor Engineering Division, which included loop and probe programmes for the MARIA reactor. In the 1990s, he worked as an expert at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, specialising in safety assessments of power reactors of the WWER-440 type. In the last years of his work at NCBJ, he was Chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission, where he formulated very clear and explicit conclusions resulting from the safety assessment of technological systems of the MARIA reactor. He was the author of books in the field of nuclear safety.
For his services, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2015.
My memory of the late Professor Andrzej Strupczewski
I first personally met Professor Andrzej Strupczewski at a conference on Nuclear Power Technologies and Investment Projects held at Warsaw’s Sofitel-Victoria hotel on 23rd–24th September 2009. We both advocated the idea to implement the then-freshly-launched Polish Nuclear Energy Programme [PNEP]. I was a newly-appointed West Pomeranian Voivode’s plenipotentiary who lobbied for a nuclear power plant to be erected in that region, whereas Andrzej was an experienced and established expert in nuclear, who collaborated at the time with the Governmental Plenipotentiary for Nuclear Power; among his offices and posts was the Chair of the Nuclear Safety Committe at the POLATOM Institute in Świerk (outside Warsaw). I was astonished by the great affection he bestowed upon me at once, and by the substantive support he extended to me. As I asked him to share the slides of his presentation, he immediately encouraged me to get copies a dozen papers on nuclear energy, and I thriftily took advantage of the opportunity. These papers turned out to be much of use in my later struggles with a number of aspects of nuclear power engineering—the emerging domain in Poland. Andrzej had heard of me, for I had coordinated a team that proposed to the Ministry of Economy a total of ten optional locations for NPP within West Pomeranian Voivodeship alone.
Then on, we would meet a number of times at conferences and other official events related to the PNEP, between 2009 and 2014. My particular recollection is that Stargard (formerly, Stargard Szczeciński), a town which had proposed three NPP locations, invited him once (through me) for a debate with some ecology community representatives. Andrzej, as was usual with him, would quietly give substantive and factual answers to the difficult questions posed by the debaters and the audience (the latter mostly consisted of local young people). The society at the time, let us recall, was not as accustomed with the nuclear as it is today. In this context, I recall how impressed the public was with his book Nuclear Power: No Fears! [Nie bójmy się energetyki jądrowej!], published in 2010 with support from the Environmentalists for Nuclear (EFN-Poland/SEREN) and the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers (SEP).
Our paths coincided again in 2015, the year I became Head of the Nuclear Power and Environmental Analysis Department (UZ3) at the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) in Świerk. Although Andrzej was formally NCBJ’s Spokesman for Nuclear Power, directly reporting to the Centre’s Director, we would collaborate then on a number of projects, including the International School on Nuclear Power. As Chairman of the School’s Programme Committee, I particularly cherish the memory of its 10th edition, held on 26th to 29th November 2018 at the Warsaw University’s Faculty of Physics, which was followed by the 11th edition, hosted on 15th to 18th May 2023—after years-long pause due to Covid-19 pandemic—at the Warsaw University of Technology. In these two editions, Andrzej, in the capacity of Programme Committee’s Vice Chairman, displayed extreme involvement and creativity as he sought for speakers capable of most effectively communicating knowledge on nuclear. For instance, in 2018, he invited Professor S.M. Mortazavi, who had investigated areas of natural ionising radiation worldwide finding that the outcome contradicted the LNT model (the latter implied that all exposure to ionising radiation is harmful, regardless of how low the dose is). During the 11th edition sessions, in spite of his age, Andrzej most competently fulfilled his tasks as Programme Committee’s Chairman (replacing me during my absence on day one, as I had to attend another conference of importance to NCBJ).
Between 2015 and 2025, Andrzej and I repeatedly consulted with each other diverse questions related to social communication of nuclear—spontaneously and on an ongoing basis, as things cropped up: calling or emailing each other, sharing relevant materials, and so on. Professor Wacław Gudowski, another man of unusual experience and expertise in the field, would at times intervene and join us in problem-solving. Based on our common findings, Andrzej would most willingly share the knowledge on communication with the young generation; one of such prospective successors was Maciej Skrzypek, M.Eng., of NCBJ’s Nuclear Power Department. Albeit Andrzej’s opinions were often quite resolute and at times, perhaps, even perceived as controversial, he would never refuse to discuss or share with others his views on the role of nuclear energy. Likewise, he wouldn’t refuse to participate in the YouTube debates held by the ‘Professor Jerzy Stelmach’ Eureka Foundation whose mission is to popularise science (and with which I am involved). The 2020 Ionising Radiation and the Radiophobia Syndrome (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2EwdFn-20I&t=10s), where Andrzej talks of the LNT hypothesis (among many other things), has become one of the most popular Eureka films.
However, social communication was not the only area of Andrzej’s exploration. A genuine expert in nuclear power, he was probably one of the very few who have witnessed and made the history of all the Polish research reactors, critical assemblies, and the construction of what was meant to be Poland’s first-ever NPP (the Żarnowiec project). Thus, he simply couldn’t help getting involved in the PNEP—in terms, basically, of construction of large electricity generation units in the north of Poland and, subsequently, the high-temperature reactors, being the central project engaging NCBJ scientists and engineers. In 2019–2022, he joined the Gospostrateg-HTR project (as an Executive), analysing, inter alia, the necessary legal change that would enable the technology’s implementation in Poland.
Then, as a quite natural step, he joined––in 2022–2024—the HTGR-POLA research reactor project team. Never afraid to meet challenges, he resolved to act as Coordinator for the basic project’s Volume 13—Protection Against Internal and External Threats, and Executive of Volume 12—Radiological Protection. My email box is filled with messages exchanged between Professor Strupczewski and the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, the latter sharing data on the frequency of flights done east of Warsaw, which might have proved detrimental to the projected reactor. I also store our shared correspondence with colleagues of the MARIA reactor team, regarding the calculations for the HTGR-POLA casings.
Andrzej was sure to appear at the events of importance for the project; one such event was the recent meeting with members of the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) on 11th to 14th March 2024, a commemorative picture of which was taken against the background of a model of the HTGR-POLA’s active core. Though he wouldn’t be able to join the celebration of MARIA’s 50th anniversary, he did attend a Nuclear Power Department reporting meeting on 11th December 2024, a couple of days prior to the jubilee, and posed there for a group photograph featuring all the forty-seven operators/contractors of the HTGR-POLA basic project. Such memorial pictures are beautiful mementos for younger generations who will, I should believe, follow up Andrzej’s legacy—the nuclear power construction for Poland.
Always tireless in telling the truth about nuclear, Andrzej was, to my mind, an ‘Atomic Man’: I repeatedly perceived him as never-getting-tired, and could recharge myself from that ‘inexhaustible’ source. In 2022, during a peaking summertime heat season, for more than a week would he ran a team of staff members and doctoral students tidying up heaps of documents related to the abandoned Żarnowiec NPP project, which for some reason had been left in complete chaos in Świerk complex’s Building 39—the critical assemblies hall. His inexhaustible energy was always something extraordinary to me, as I find it hard to keep a fast pace of work without getting my ‘batteries’ recharged.
Dear Andrzej, we do entertain the hope that Polish nuclear projects—in particular, our common HTGR-POLA project—will be completed, including as a legacy of your extraordinary involvement. May your memory be honoured!
Prof. Mariusz P. Dąbrowski, PhD,
Head of the Nuclear Power and Environmental Analysis Department (UZ3),
National Centre for Nuclear Research [NCBJ]
On Friday, 21st of February, in Stara Miłosna, after a church mass, we bid farewell at the local cemetery to Professor Andrzej Strupczewski, one of the last outstanding creators of the Institute of Nuclear Research. He joined the Institute right after his studies in the late 1950 s and remained connected until his final days. In the library in Świerk, a recently ordered book still awaits him, though he will never receive it.
A world-renowned expert in nuclear reactor safety, his successors have written extensively about his contributions. I will not repeat them; instead, I will recall some personal details worth remembering. Professor had a broad range of interests, characteristic of his generation. Gifted linguistically, he was a qualified simultaneous interpreter, which he pursued as a hobby at numerous conferences.
He was direct, cheerful, and friendly in social interactions, with a distinct sense of humor, especially in English, that distanced him from himself.
He loved life and embraced risk, believing the two often go together, enhancing life’s enjoyment. A few years ago, just before the COVID epidemic, at a dance organized at Bar 56 by The Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union „Solidarność” (NSZZ Solidarność), as midnight passed and the crowd thinned, the Professor and his partner danced on, full of energy. When I expressed my admiration, he jokingly credited his vitality to drinking water from the reactor. At the time, I laughed it off- but I was wrong: ) Recently, he explained the truth behind the joke. During a reactor inspection, when inspectors doubted the safety of the installation, he asked for a glass, filled it with water from the secondary circuit, and drank it, experimentum crucis! A bold bachelor with a truly daring imagination- Mr. Zagłoba himself would have appreciated such spirit.
Though not a trade unionist by nature, Professor was listed as number 203 among the more than 3,500 members of the IBJ NSZZ Solidarność in 1980. That year, the reactor community first established the NSZZ „Solidarity” organization at the plant, setting history in motion.
For those who knew him, the professor will always be a symbol of elegance, boundless energy, and professional excellence.
Honour to His Memory.
Stanisław Gębalski
Chairman of KM OM NSZZ „Solidarność”
In Memory of the Late Prof. Andrzej Strupczewski – A Different Perspective
There are things we are certain of and know all too well like the fact that we are (also) biological beings, invariably subject––often painfully––to the laws of nature; for example, that we are (physically, biologically) mortal, absolutely and indiscriminately equal in this regard. And yet, every time the death of someone dear to us occurs, it shocks us anew; we refuse to accept it, we rebel against it, we reject the verdicts of nature or a Higher Power. It is, from a human perspective (humanum est!), almost inevitable to react this way when confronted with the brutal reality of losing someone who, just a moment ago—just about yesterday—was brimming with untiring vigour, always in the midst of not just one but an entire array of grand, modest, and minor endeavours; someone who exuded a zest for life and had not the slightest inclination to leave this world, nor any motivation to do so (those who doubt this should turn to the testimony of his closest ones). Maybe in a few years—but certainly not now, not yet!
I first met Andrzej (he insisted I call him by his first name, even though I was just a twenty-something youngster at the time) „on the job.” Some external contractor had placed us together in the so-called interpreter’s booth at a conference on nuclear energy. For those less familiar, let me explain: by both custom and protocol, every such event (conferences, symposia, congresses, training sessions) requires simultaneous interpretation by a team of two: „pilot and co-pilot” who alternate fluidly as their mental „batteries” deplete, typically every 30 minutes or even 20, ideally splitting presentations based on their respective specialisations. That was always the case with Andrzej, and for at least 25 years, I had the opportunity to work alongside him at some twenty such events, ALWAYS at his invitation, never the other way around. Not because I was ungrateful: because I did occasionally invite him to join me for technical and engineering-related events whenever the opportunity arose. Yet he always declined, citing various reasons––most commonly, his busy schedule (which was undeniably true; I experienced it firsthand during a joint trip to a nuclear safety training in the Czech Republic. While I spent my evenings wandering through the enchanting June-lit streets of Prague, intoxicated by the city’s natural and architectural splendour, Andrzej invariably informed me that he was staying „after hours” in his hotel room—to work). He also sometimes cited a lack of competence in a given area, though I found that hard to believe.
At one point, finding myself in a pinch, I sought someone with a better grasp of physics to help my school-aged daughter (now a talented violinist, a member of the Warsaw Chamber Opera orchestra, and a mother of almost three) overcome some academic struggles with the subject. Reluctantly, I called Andrzej. And what did this great expert on atomic affairs tell me? „My dear friend…’’or perhaps: „Dearest Tristan…” (he never addressed me otherwise; what a wonderful trait of his personality!) „… I have no idea about any of this! I only know nuclear energy! I mean, I do know that a body immersed in water appears to lose weight equal to the weight of the displaced liquid, but nothing beyond that!” I was stunned. To this day, I am unsure whether I was more shocked by his declaration of supposed ignorance in general physics or his striking humility verging on self-effacement and withdrawal. And yet, he could be sharp and assertive––when he had the right motivation, especially in numerous debates with various so-called experts who had no real understanding of nuclear energy and its safety measures. I witnessed many such debates at conferences and meetings and each time, Andrzej dismantled pseudo-arguments with masterful precision, clarity, and (despite everything) composure.
Beyond the conferences where he passionately advocated for nuclear power plants (or rather, in the long-term, a whole network of them) in Poland; beyond the so-called „reactor schools” (a brilliant initiative of his that allowed young nuclear engineering students to access top-tier knowledge and discussions at the highest level of expertise), I owe Andrzej my work on the translation of The Black Horse: Nuclear Power and Climate Change by the distinguished Finnish authors Rauli Partanen and Janne M. Korhonen. The book’s descriptions of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters are particularly vivid and compelling. Sadly, a dishonest publisher omitted Andrzej’s name as a consultant––despite his invaluable guidance during the translation process, including his efforts to decipher one particularly intricate diagram (so complex that even he had to seek additional expertise, something he didn’t have to admit, but in his openness and remarkable humility, he did). He was also never paid the small honorarium he had been promised. It was not the only instance of this Great Man and his extraordinary contributions being treated with the disrespect characteristic of our increasingly coarse times. I am aware of multiple instances where contractual obligations were not honoured, yet I also know of Andrzej’s tendency to work pro bono in his field, which he saw as his life’s mission, without concern for whether he would be compensated. He always accepted such situations with resignation, never displaying anger-––at least outwardly, though surely, he must have felt it inside. He remained dignified and cheerful; he lived his passion, and lived for others.
Over time, I realised I was not alone in being the beneficiary of his generosity and investment in young people; it was his modus operandi—his consistent approach to the world. This is remarkable, especially today, in an era of weakened interpersonal ties, social atomisation, and a tendency toward self-absorption. Andrzej had an unfailing intuition for identifying talent and nurturing hope in others. He placed great trust in me, and his personality was so encouraging and almost magnetic (how, exactly, remains a mystery to me) that our relationship became a kind of tacit agreement: he could always count on my commitment, and his recommendations were my top priority. In return, I gained an understanding of nuclear energy—at least to the extent possible without formal education in the field. I also learned from his books, notably Let’s Not Be Afraid of Nuclear Energy!, which holds a special place among them.
It is worth noting that Andrzej Strupczewski was one of the founding fathers of the Polish Association of Translators and Interpreters[STP] ––an organisation that, though now nearly defunct, once had a significant standing. I witnessed his exceptional skill in simultaneous interpretation, particularly in our shared English language. In the field of nuclear energy, he was an unparalleled interpreter. I have never met anyone who could match him, and I doubt it would be possible.
Despite the eighty-eight intensely productive years you lived, consumed by your dedication to your work and ideals, you left us too soon, Andrzej. Despite my heroic faith in the Almighty’s omnipotence, I am not ready to accept it. I grieve and weep for you. But at your grave, on that sunny, pre-spring funeral day, I realised I am not alone. We are a legion of your students and friends.
Stay with us, we plead; continue to guide our endeavours. But may it not disturb the eternal peace you so fully earned.
Speaking of which, if I’m not mistaken, this is your very first rest.
Tristan Korecki
