Map of the 10 Closed
Nuclear Cities
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NTI in Action
NTI in Sarov
During the Cold War, there were 10 secret, highly-restricted "nuclear cities" where the Soviet Union designed and produced its nuclear weapons stockpile. The fate of these cities, home to 600,000 residents and nuclear weapons complex workers, has been a proliferation concern since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
 Officials speak at opening of Sarov Technopark, October 2006. |
Once generously funded by the Soviet state, the nuclear cities were
forced to grapple with a decade of political, social, and economic
difficulties in the 1990s - repeated strikes by closed city nuclear workers
over back wages, attempts at nuclear smuggling and theft, and deep concern
over the "brain drain" of scientists and the threat of proliferation.
Several key U.S. government assistance programs have helped address these
challenges including the International Science and Technology Centers, the Nuclear Cities Initiative, and the Initiatives for Proliferation
Prevention. The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is taking specific actions to help create private sector employment opportunities for former Soviet weapons scientists and the full scope of defense workers who have been impacted by the downsizing of the nuclear cities. |
These workers include engineers, technicians, and security guards - anyone who is familiar with a facility where nuclear weapons and materials are stored who could potentially provide terrorists with access to these deadly materials and were not originally the focus of earlier government assistance programs.
After consulting with the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy, NTI decided to concentrate its efforts on the closed nuclear city of Sarov, which posed an especially serious problem because its weapons manufacturing plant was closing, leaving thousands of employees without jobs. As with all NTI projects, our Sarov activities are closely coordinated with related U.S. and other government efforts. NTI hopes that any successes it achieves in Sarov can be incorporated and expanded upon by future government or private projects.
Partnering with the Fund for the Development of Conversion Companies
(FDCC)
In 2002, NTI contributed $1 million to the Fund for the
Development of Conversion Companies (FDCC), an existing Russian revolving
loan fund, established to create permanent, commercially viable civilian
businesses and provide sustainable employment for former weapons
personnel.
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Initially, NTI's contribution was used to co-fund with FDCC the start-up of three new companies. Within three years, more than half of NTI's loan to these companies was returned and made available to co-fund the establishment of five more companies. The eight companies NTI has funded produce a wide variety of products and services, from ultra-light aircraft, to precision equipment for the oil and gas industry, to medical equipment and prostheses. These successful enterprises are repaying their loans and, currently, there is enough money available to co-fund four additional companies. To date, more than 100 former weapons complex workers have been able to leave their defense jobs and move into the civilian sector, thereby securing their future, contributing to the growth of the economy of Sarov and reducing a significant proliferation threat.
Business Development for SarovLabs
In 2005, NTI began financially supporting SarovLabs' contract research organization in Sarov that provides
innovative outsourcing services in the area of engineering analysis,
computational physics and chemistry and environmental engineering.
Together, NTI and SarovLabs determined that the greatest weakness in
SarovLabs’ ability to realize its business goals was the lack of an adequate
sales and marketing capability. NTI agreed to provide the necessary funds
for two years to pay the salary of a Western-trained Russian sales and
marketing executive who would reside in North America. By making his
expertise and contacts available to SarovLabs, it was anticipated that this
executive would raise the level and quality of SarovLabs’ sales and
marketing team and would represent SarovLabs in business negotiations in
North America and Europe.
In the last year, SarovLabs has made significant progress in securing new contracts with Western and Russian companies, increased its annual revenue and hired additional full-time employees from the Sarov nuclear weapons lab. SarovLabs has become one of the most promising new ventures in Sarov, offering exciting opportunities to former weapons workers to shift their talent and skills to challenging civilian applications and thereby further reducing proliferation dangers.
Supporting Sarov’s “Open Technopark”
NTI’s latest project in Sarov involves providing $1 million in
infrastructure support in Sarov’s Open Technopark.
Located just outside the fence of the closed city in an area accessible to
the public, this new technopark offers the opportunity for both Russian and
international companies to locate their facilities in an area that does not
require special permission to visit, but is close to the heart of one of
Russia’s most concentrated centers of highly skilled scientists, engineers
and technicians who are seeking to move to new and challenging employment in
Russia’s growing business community.
NTI’s support will fund the development of an energy efficiency center in partnership with the well-known Russian company AFK Sistema, a telecommunications firm. Once completed, the energy efficiency center will not only be a research center for the development of environmentally clean fuels, but will also become a one megawatt power plant that will provide electricity to the technopark and the surrounding area. Once the plant has proven successful, it will be marketed throughout Russia as a useful source of power in areas that are currently insufficiently serviced by the larger utility companies. It is anticipated that the energy efficiency center will employ up to 100 former defense workers when it is in full operation.
On October 5, 2006, the Open Technopark marked its official opening with a ceremony to commemorate the opening of the first two buildings – one houses the local offices of Intel Corporation and the other is a business incubator hosting fourteen small Russian and international companies.
The opening of the Open Technopark is an important landmark in the process of transforming the closed nuclear city of Sarov into a viable economic community that can sustain both a signficantly downsized defense industry and a growing civilian sector. More than 4,000 defense workers will lose their jobs over the next few years. New opportunities for civilian employment at the Open Technopark will go a long way toward helping to meet this critical proliferation challenge.
