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The nuclear industry Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Programme New high tech industries Other conversion programmes IntroductionSarov is a historic city, located on the border with Mordovia, about 150 km south of Nizhniy Novgorod, and 360 km from Moscow. During the 18th century it became a centre for pilgrims, attracted by the Sarov Monastery which was at the time one of the leading centres for Christianity in Russia. During the 20th century the city's fortunes changed dramatically, as it was chosen as a site for the manufacture and testing of Soviet nuclear weapons. A modern city grew up to serve two rapidly developing nuclear facilities, the former Soviet Design Centre for Design and Manufacture of Nuclear Weapons, now known as the Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF), and the Avangard Plant, which handles the mass installation and dismantling of nuclear warheads. As a closed city, Sarov had several names, including Unit 550, Base 112, Yasnogorsk, Kremlev (a name still found on some maps), and Arzamas-75. Following the lifting of the iron curtain, the city became known worldwide as Arzamas-16. Today, Sarov's population is about 85,000, with the majority, around 21,500, working in the military sector. Of these 18,000 are based at VNIIEF and 3,500 at Avangard. It can be held up a model of success in the Russian conversion programme. Ironically, it is the high level of skill and expertise required among the workforce engaged in nuclear weapon production that has leant itself to the successful development of new conversion industries. This success has also been underpinned by a sound educational infrastructure created during the Soviet era. In the early 1950s, VNIIEF set up an affiliate of Moscow's Mechanical Institute, now named MIFI. The Sarov Physico-Technical Institute MIFI has since become one of the leading higher educational institutions in this area. Over half of the young specialists hired by the Nuclear Centre at VNIIEF annually are graduates of SarPhTI. HistoryThe city has a rich history, and archaeologists have dated settlements in the area back to the Iron Age, between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. The Sarov monastery was founded at the end of the 12th century by Cenobite Isaac, and reached its peak in the 18th century when there was a large Mordovian settlement in the area. At this time it was home to one of the most important saints in Russia, Seraphim Sarovian. As well as being a spiritual centre, the monastery had become wealthy through the extraction of lumber. Hiermonk Seraphim, who lived there at the time, was said to carry out miracles, including curing the blind and the sick. In 1903 Seraphim Sarovian was consecrated a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church, an event attended by the members of the Tsar's family. The revolution of 1917 brought an end to the peaceful life of the monastery. Its land and holdings were seized by the State, and by 1927 it was eventually closed down. It became a refuge for homeless children for a while, but this activity ceased when it was turned over to military use. The monastery was replaced by a mechanical plant that manufactured the bomb shells used in the Katyusha mortars during the Second World War. The nuclear industrySarov's nuclear history dates from April 1946 when group of researchers headed by the future academician Kharitonov (who later was to become the director of the nuclear centre) saw the potential of the area for military use. Although it was relatively close to Moscow, and well connected by rail, it was sufficiently remote and large enough to make it suitable for the testing of explosives. Construction work began in 1947 under the code name KB-11, and within two years, nuclear testing had begun. Construction work was carried out by VNIIEF, which, over a period of time, also built over two-thirds of the city's housing, as well as the city's power plant, and all gas, electricity and communication networks. It also built most of the schools, kindergartens and other educational establishments in the city. Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction ProgrammeA programme of cooperation between the USA and Russia was launched in 1991 following a visit by Western partners the year before. An agreement on large-scale scientific cooperation between VNIIEF and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was signed in 1992. Los Alamos has since become a sister-city to Sarov. Joint research in the field of super magnetism has led to new developments in areas such as plasma physics, high pressure chemistry, microwave generation, astrophysics, and electronics. The partners are also working on future energy sources. VNIIEF has the capability of carrying out theoretical and experimental research throughout the entire cycle of nuclear weapon manufacture. The Nuclear Centre works on the processing, manufacture, storage and utilization of nuclear weapons, as well as the processing of radioactive materials. Conversion activities have recently become a key area of work, and the Institute is currently working on a range of civilian nuclear processes, including alternative energy supply, thermonuclear synthesis, and transmutation of radioactive wastes. It has the only experimental centre in Russia capable of carrying out research into inertial thermonuclear synthesis. In the energy field, it is a world leader in the development of new technologies in the oil and gas industries. In particular, it is working on improving environmental and operational safety. Looking to the future, there are promising new developments in precision machine building and instrument engineering, ecology and medicine. Special mobile laboratories have been set up to investigate soil and air properties. In the field of medicine, the Institute has developed a range of new technologies. These include a laser auto-keratometer used in ophthalmology, a sapphire intraocular lens (a form of artificial crystalline lens) to cure blindness, and a laser scalpel. VNIIEF has a radiological complex for the sterilisation of disposable medical goods using an electron linear accelerator. It can also sterilise grain in large grain elevators and at sea ports. New high tech industriesVNIIEF is now involved in developing a rapidly expanding range of high tech products. It has become leader within Russia in the field of IT, and has developed a super computer capable of carrying out parallel tasks at a speed of one million operations per second. New conversion products currently in production include stable isotopes, protective shield elements (used to make body armours, specialized vehicles, and transducers). An explosive welding method has been developed as an alternative method of fusing metals and alloys. At the end of 2003 plans were launched to create a new Technological Park just outside Sarov, under the auspices of the Russian Information Technologies Development Programme. The 45 hectare park is located in the Diviyevsk district of Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast. Beside developing and establishing new IT manufacturers, new developments are planned in the fields of aviation, in particular flight safety, transportation technologies, the manufacture of road construction equipment, and the development of alternative sources of energy. The expanding conversion programme at VNIIEF has led to the creation of a number of stand-alone companies. These include the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Provision RFNC-VNIIEF, which is one of the largest companies in Sarov. It not only supplies materials, parts and devices to VNIIEF, but also implements its own production projects. With a large chain of stores, cafes and restaurants, Provision RFNC-VNIIEF supplies foods and goods to people living in the closed city. A spin-off enterprise makes various natural high-quality food products. Another successful conversion activity is OAO VNIIEF-Conversia. This organisation was founded in 1996 to develop new knowledge-intensive projects based on expertise within the Nuclear Centre with a view to introducing new technologies onto the market. VNIIEF-Conversia now has Innovative-Technological Centre status and acts as an incubator for new companies. It develops innovative programmes and has its own Technopark. In 2003 the company gained a National Award Certificate for Innovation in the Regional and Local Area for the ZATO Sarov Development Programme based on Russian Federal Nuclear Centre. Other conversion programmes
Other new high-tech companies currently undergoing expansion include:
The information was gathered in the following web-sites: | |
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