CNCP Projects in Snezhinsk

Introduction

Get Acquainted with Snezhinsk! (CNCP Coordinator in Snezhinsk and Ozersk, IDC Director, Yuri Rumyantsev)

Interview with Mikhail Zheleznov, Mayor of Snezhinsk

Superbomb of 50 MT, www.vniitf.ru

Introduction

Snezhinsk is situated around midway between the two largest urban centres in the Urals, 110 km north of Chelyabinsk and 80 km south of Yekaterinburg. It is an attractive modern city, and a prizewinner in the Most Comfortable Russian City competition. The city is surrounded by lakes such as Sinara, Silach, Sungul, and Itkul. The ZATO, which covers 36 sq km, includes 28 sq km of forest.

Known from its establishment in the 1950s right up to 1993 as Chelyabinsk-70, the city grew up to serve the then secret Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF). This Soviet nuclear plant was more advanced than Arzamas-16 and was responsible the production of a large part of the entire Russian output of nuclear weapons. Today, the plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world, where around two thirds of families depend on the Institute for their livelihood. Snezhinsk has a population of 50,000 and is known as a city of scientists. Around half of its workforce is educated to degree level. The city has managed to survive the challenging period of economical and social change of the last few decades, and is expanding. The small business sector alone has attracted 2.3 billion rubles of investment in the last three years.

Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF)

In 1955, the first specialists from Arzamas-16 were sent into the area to establish a new scientific research centre. The establishment of both the Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Technical Physics and a new settlement was kept totally secret. By1957 scientists had developed a thermo-nuclear device which was tested by specialists from Chelyabinsk-70. In the same year, the decision was made to found the City of Snezhinsk. From the beginning, the best graduates in the country and the technical and scientific elite of Russia were sent to the Institute. Despite this, very few people knew of its existence until 1992.

During the perestroika period of the 1990s, the Institute had to turn to alternative industries in order to survive the economic crisis. These even include the design and manufacture of egg-sorting machines, which it has been involved with for over a decade. However, the Institute's main function remains the design of nuclear weapons. Today, about 10,000 people, a third of the city's workforce, are employed on the production of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. In many areas, the institute competes with VNIIEF (Arzamas-16), while in other technologies it is the leading specialist in Russia, including cruise missiles, aircraft bombs and artillery.

VNIITF can claim many firsts in the manufacture of the triggers used in nuclear weapons. These include:

• The production of the smallest trigger for shells of 152mm calibre.
• The development of the lightest weapon unit for Strategic Nuclear Forces.
• The development of the strongest and the most thermo-resistant industrial trigger that can hold pressure up to 750 atmospheres.
• The development of the most shockproof trigger that can hold overloads of over 12,000gm.
• The production of the most economical trigger based on the consumption of fissible materials.
• The production of the cleanest trigger used for peaceful purposes, with 99.85% of the energy being produced as a result of light element nuclei synthesis.

VNIITF is now involved in pure and applied research in a growing range of fields, including materials science, high-energy processes, thermo-nuclear reactions, plasma physics, laser physics, astrophysics, and computer mathematical modelling. The Institute's unique depth of scientific expertise and modern equipment have helped enormously in the development of these new technologies. About 5,000 employees at VNIITF are involved in scientific research and design, and over 3,000 engaged in pilot production.

Industry today

A growing industrial sector includes a range of companies, from small to large. As well as 43 construction companies, 180 small companies now employ about 1,500 specialists . Conversion technologies are expanding. In the year 2000, the City Administration founded the scientific production company Spektr-Conversia, staffed with former specialists from VNIITF and the Governmental Unitary Enterprise Spektr. Its main aim is to develop new civilian technologies in Snezhinsk. The company now employs 75 people and has so far signed nine contracts worth $3.3 million(US). The large Governmental Unitary Enterprise Transenergo, along with seven medium-sized and 26 small private industrial enterprises jointly employ over 3,500 people, which is almost 14% of the working population.

The city's economy is growing, and the budget of the city administration in 2003 was 1.2 billion rubles. The governmental support in the form of grants and subsidies to Snezhinsk in 2003 surpassed the city's own revenue share. The growth in the trade turnover, which averaged 35,000 RUR per capita, is a good indicator of the rise in prosperity.

The Fund International Development Centre-Snezhinsk was founded in 2000 under the US-Russian Nuclear Cities Initiative to support business development and the not-for-profit sector. Since 2003 IDC-Snezhinsk has coordinated the UK-Russian Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership in the city. Seven joint projects with VNIITF, the private business sector and educational establishments have received grants under the programme.

There are nine communication companies employing 500 people. These include OAO Svyazinform, and the Post Service.

Education

Snezhinsk has ten secondary schools including a vocational training centre. The Snezhinsk State Physics-Technical Academy, founded in 1958 as Affiliate#6 of the Moscow Engineering Physical Institute (MIFI), is the nuclear industry's leading training institution. The Academy offers a wide range of specialist technical subjects, as well as business, administration, and computing. A polytechnic college has also been founded under the auspices of the Snezhinsk State Physics-Technical Academy. Graduates of the academy can be found working in almost every department of VNIITF. Snezhinsk also has an Affiliate of the South-Uralian State University offering a range of courses including law, construction and finance.

Culture

The city has a range of facilities, including the Cultural Centre October, four clubs, a municipal symphony orchestra, operetta theatre, ballet studio, theatre, children musical and art schools. There are two libraries, a museum, recreation and amusement park and a cinema. The Cultural Centre October. has around 1,000 members, almost half of them children, and a range of amateur clubs and societies. It hosts the Snezhinka and Listopad song festivals, along with choral and dancing festivals. The Children's Musical School opened in 1956, even before the decision had been made to build the city. It has 800 students, and its own concert hall, which attracts musicians from as far afield as Chelyabinsk and Moscow. A new library is currently under construction. Snezhinsk is renowned for its sporting activity, and a large multi-purpose sports stadium, which has a grandstand with seating for 800 people, takes pride of place in the city.

The information was gathered from the following web-site:

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