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Getting Acquainted with Sarov!
A town with great intellectual resources, a religious and spiritual centre, the place where Soviet nuclear weapons were developed and the home of Russia’s largest institute – Sarov is all of these things. Some pages from history Some eight centuries ago, on this spot stood a town called Saraklych, which can be translated as «Golden Blade». Archaeologists have found abundant evidence of battles which were fought here. As a result of one of these battles the town was deserted and for many years no-one lived in the area, until hermits began to arrive. Remarkably, the history of this place already embraced two apparently completely separate origins – one military, the other spiritual. One of the hermits who settled here founded a monastery more than 300 years ago, which acquired the name of the Sarov wilderness and was destined to become one of the most revered sites of the orthodox religion. The day of the consecration of the first Sarov monastic cloister, the 16th of June 1706, is now considered the date of the foundation of the town. For more than 200 years Sarov was the spiritual bulwark of the Russian church, renowned not only for its wealth and for the beauty of its monasteries, but just as much for its respected elders. Among these was the venerable Seraphim Sarovski, who was canonised by the church in 1903 and who to this day is one of the most revered of orthodox saints. After the revolution of 1917 the monastery ceased to exist. With the start of the Soviet atomic weapons programme the history of the town underwent dramatic changes. In April 1946 a decision was taken to establish here a particularly important state facility – the design bureau for the creation of the first Soviet atomic bomb. Sarov was taken out of the responsibility of the local administration and reference to it was removed from budget documents. The town became one of the most secret places in the USSR and, after going through a number of different names, entered the history of the 20th century as Arzamas-16. Scientific research and design work began almost immediately. Accommodation for scientists and support staff, laboratories and research facilities, production sites and workshops were all constructed. The first Soviet atomic bomb was sent off to the Semipalatinsk test site in record time, and the first test explosion took place in August 1949. The name Sarov was restored to the town in 1995 and it once again appeared on the map of Russia. For almost half a century its existence had been a state secret, though the fate not only of the USSR but indeed also, to a considerable extent, of the whole of the World depended upon it. The design bureau grew into the largest research institute in the country: the Russian Federal Nuclear Centre – All Russia Scientific-Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF). The two decades following the events of 1991 also saw, step by step, the rebirth of the Sarov monastic community. A symbol of the new era was the fitting in 1999 of new bells in the bell tower of the monastery. These bells were made using calculations carried out by one of the laboratories of VNIIEF. Sarov today Sarov remains one of Russia’s main weapons and scientific centres. The nature of the town today, its customs and traditions, largely result from the fact that the people who came here to establish the nuclear weapons complex were young, energetic, and welleducated. Population of Sarov – 89,000. Economically active – 46,000. Today, more than 37% of the economically active inhabitants possess higher education. Sarov is considered as the national leader in the field of super computers and in the physics of high density energy. Among development prospects we want to see our town recognised at the national level as the model for a small town with a competitive economy, providing a high standard of living for its inhabitants. All of the conditions for this are present, not only a well developed social infrastructure, but also a highly effective education system and system of supply. The development of entrepreneurship is one of the priority tasks for the social and economic development of Sarov. High technology plays a very important role among small and medium sized businesses in the town. Some tens of businesses are orientated towards the sale of innovative products and services. These include BINAR, Systema Ltd, Measurement Technologies, Konsar, and many others. In 2008, the volume of sales of innovation-oriented businesses in the town was some £50 million. To increase the number of innovation-based small and medium sized businesses in Sarov a plan has been developed to establish a regional system for commercialising high technology projects (a regional innovation cluster). This will be based on the Russian Federal Nuclear Centre, the Sarov Open Technopark, the existing support system for small and medium sized enterprise, the town’s innovation oriented businesses, and the Sarov Institute of Physics and Technology. The State Corporation Rosatom and the Systema Corporation, the largest public organisation dedicated to financing diversification in Russia and the CIS, are also expected to be involved. Sarov is already a promising location for the establishment of an innovation-based cluster: it has powerful scientific and educational potential and can offer support infrastructure, experience of working with venture capital investors, and a competitive cadre of highly qualified specialists. The town also possesses sites which are available for manufacturing activity. The Russian Federal Nuclear Centre – VNIIEF The economic development of Sarov is defined above all by the activities of the founding enterprise – the Federal Nuclear Centre. This world-level scientific research facility performs nuclear security and control functions in the interests of the national security of the Russian Federation. It employs some 20 thousand scientists, engineers, specialists, technicians and workers. VNIEEF possesses a powerful computing, experimental, and manufacturing base and a highly developed system of informatics, which closely integrates its various departments. Along with its basic activities, the Institute also works to resolve problems of fundamental and applied science and to develop civil sector innovations. The Institute was granted the status of National Federal Nuclear Centre in 1992. The decade of the 1990s was one of the most difficult periods in the history of the Institute. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, state funding was sharply reduced. In response, from 1992, the Institute actively developed international links in the field of science and technology. Collaboration encompassed a wide circle of issues including:
The Russian-British Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership The activities of the Russian-British Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership began in Sarov in 2004. Already in the following year the first contracts were signed for financing projects designed to create civil sector jobs for nuclear specialists being re-deployed as a result of restructuring and conversion. From 2005 to 2010, CNCP provided grant support for 15 projects, three of which have now been completed. The total sum contributed from the British side amounted to over £1.8 million. According to plan, a total of 235 jobs are expected to be created as a result of the completion of these projects. Of these, 176 will be filled by former employees of the Federal Nuclear Centre. At the time of writing, almost half of the total anticipated jobs have already been created. By co-funding these projects, the Programme has also helped to attract over £3 million of investment to the town from the beneficiaries concerned and from co-investors. A particular feature of these CNCP projects is the use of high technology and the production of high value added goods. Projects cover such sectors as:
Grant funding is only one aspect of the work of the Programme in Sarov. CNCP also actively supports educational activities. Training programmes and study tours to Great Britain have enabled City and Institute leaders to familiarise themselves with the range of approaches and instruments involved in local economic development in the UK, and to study experience in defence conversion and the commercialisation of scientific advances and technology transfer. Courses in business English language organised by CNCP for representatives of the Institute and the Municipal Administration have not only directly facilitated international partnership building, but have also helped participants to develop the skills needed for carrying out business negotiations and for presenting projects. The CNCP Programme has been important not just in not creating jobs and attracting investment to the town. It is also developing procedures for selecting and managing high technology commercialisation projects, and introducing a method for controlling project funding from the start right through to the point where a real business is up and running, employing people and producing and selling innovative products. The mechanisms involved come with a good track record and could be incorporated into both regional and federal programmes for the support of small and medium sized entrepreneurship. We value the contribution of the Programme to the development of the economy of Sarov highly. As our entrepreneurs say, CNCP has helped our businesses to draw breath and has given a real impulse to their development. We sincerely hope that it will be possible to prolong this constructive and effective collaboration. Tatiana Gerasimova, | |
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