Robert Moskovic
BORN JULY 26, 1947 KOSICE, FORMER CZECHOSLOVAKIA. DIED BRISTOL, FEBRUARY 7, 2016, AGED 68
ARRIVING IN England virtually penniless from his native Czechoslovakia, and with a rudimentary grasp of English, Robert Moskovic created a distinguished career in the nuclear power industry, where he developed radical new systems for the safety of reactors.
He had visited Israel immediately after the Prague Spring of 1968, where he experienced Jewish life for the first time. This imbued a deeply-felt support for the Jewish state, which he defended fearlessly. It was while visiting London a year later that he received a message from his mother that the border was being sealed following the Soviet invasion, and if he returned, he would never be able to leave again. With nothing but a couple of suitcases and virtually no money, he decided to stay.
He slept on park benches and worked nights in a Wimpy burger bar. With a small grant from a Jewish charity, he secured a place to study metallurgy at Sheffield University. Despite his limited English, mostly learnt from TV and newspapers, he completed the course within two years, and went on to study for a PhD at Darwin College, Cambridge.
Moscovic was the child of Jewish Holocaust survivors, most of whose family perished but his mother miraculously survived Auschwitz. His father was a shopkeeper, all other occupa- tions were barred to him at the time. Despite the disapproval of the communist authorities, he celebrated his barmitzvah in 1960 because his parents were determined to give their children the best Jewish upbringing they could.
He had obvious academic potential but was prevented from attending the local gymnasium, and eventually university. In fact, it was only much later that he learned that several of his fellow school students were Jewish but kept it hidden for fear of the consequences. This gave him a limited choice of high schools and he was forced to continue his studies at the School of Metallurgy in Kosice, although his interests at that time did not lean in that direction. This formed the foundation of his later profession.
After his defection, the Communist regime prevented his family from travelling to the West, charged him with treason and sentenced him to a year in prison, in absentia. The authorities monitored any correspondence between him and his family and he could not see them for many years.
In the mid-70s he was told by the regime in Czechoslovakia that the restrictions on his family would be lifted if he applied for an ex-patriot passport. This involved filling in reams of forms, with questions such as whether he had been a German sympathiser during the war. His answer that he had not yet been born, was deemed insufficient. Hecould only appease them by
Robert Moskovic: his work was a major contribution to nuclear safety taking a large cash sum to the Czech embassy.
In the late 70s Moskovic worked at the then Central Electricity Generating Board and developed a keen interest in matters of safety. He specialised in the analysis of the fracture of nuclear reactor pressure vessels; a critical aspect because of the dangerous consequences of radioactive leaks. He developed subtle, rigorous techniques in this potentially dangerous industrial area.
His work was a major contribution to this vital element in nuclear power generation, and moved the understanding of the issues forward significantly. He developed a substantial international reputation in his field, particularly with the European Structural Integrity Society.
He once chaired a European committee on technical aspects of nuclear power plants. He was a member of the Royal Statistical Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. His work now underpins the safety cases of all UK civil nuclear reactors and his work for Magnox Ltd, which created the first generation of nuclear reactors in Britain, significantly contributed to extending the life of their plants.
Even at the end of his life, when he was desperately ill with heart failure, he was still being consulted for his professional expertise.
Known for his scrupulous honesty and integrity Moscovic was widely respected at work and within Bristol Hebrew Congregation, in which he was active. A quiet and modest man, he cherished the freedom he found in this country. He never forgot the oppression he had suffered in his youth and stanchly supported the Orthodox character and aims of the community.
At Cambridge he met Valerie Myers, a fellow PhD student of chemistry and they married in February 1973. Their son David studied science at Cambridge and became a banker. He and Valerie and a grandson survive him.