He was the director of the N. A. Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET) from 1986 to 1998.

[1] From 1986 to 1998 Adamov directed NIKIET, a Russian state nuclear research and design institute.

The move was widely covered as a successful ploy by the Russian government to prevent Adamov from telling US authorities state secrets that he knew.

[3] In 2008 Adamov was convicted in Russia of abuse of office and defrauding the Russian government of some $31 million in US aid funds intended for security upgrades for aging nuclear reactors.

On 20 February 2008 he was convicted of fraud and misuse of power by the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow and sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment.