oganesson

However, speaking exclusively to Chemistry World, JINR lead scientist Yuri Oganessian – the only person alive with an element, oganesson, named after him – confirmed that the war in Ukraine meant ‘the situation is actually not easy in the current turbulent environment’, and that sanctions meant his team ‘cannot cooperate with Oak Ridge and Livermore because JINR is located in Russia’.

Berkeley Lab to lead US hunt for element 120 after breakdown of collaboration with Russia Kit Chapman 2023

The heaviest element that has been made so far is oganesson, element 118, which was first synthesized in 2002.

Heaviest element yet within reach after major breakthrough Katherine Bourzac 2024

Yuri Oganessian, who leads the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, has been involved in the synthesis of several new elements and is the namesake of oganesson.

Heaviest element yet within reach after major breakthrough Katherine Bourzac 2024

Nobelium is not only properly placed on the periodic table; it has also become the heaviest element that researchers have directly observed forming a new molecule – although the heaviest element ever created is still oganesson, element 118.

How superheavy chemistry could rearrange the periodic table Karmela Padavic-Callaghan 2025