Zheleznogorsk (), formerly known as Krasnoyarsk-26 (), is a

closed town A closed city or town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied. Historically, the construction of closed cities became increasingly common after the beginning of the Cold War, particularly in the Soviet Union. Since t ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, with a developed nuclear industry. The town has a population of

History

The town was established in 1950 for the production of

weapons-grade Weapons-grade nuclear material is any fissionable nuclear material that is pure enough to make a nuclear weapon and has properties that make it particularly suitable for nuclear weapons use. Plutonium and uranium in grades normally used in nuc ...

plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...

.World Data Centers in Russia
Information about the Krasnoyarsk Mining and Chemical Combine
The history of the town and the associated defense complex are intertwined. In 1959, the government created the eastern office of

OKB-1 S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, th ...

(later known as NPO PM) under the supervision of M. F. Reshetnev. Defense plants included nuclear facilities built within caverns excavated in the granite mountain on the northern edge of the city, as well as space research enterprises.''Atom Town'', edited by Vladimir Medvedev, "Bear" Company, Zheleznogorsk. It was a

closed city A closed city or town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied. Historically, the construction of closed cities became increasingly common after the beginning of the Cold War, particularly in the Soviet Union. Since t ...

until President

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

decreed in 1992 that such places could use their historical names. Before then, the town had not appeared on any official maps. As is the tradition with Soviet towns containing secret facilities, "Krasnoyarsk-26" is actually a P.O. Box number and implies that the place is located some distance from the city of Krasnoyarsk. The town was also known as ''Soctown'', ''Iron City'', the ''Nine'',The Siberia Chemical Building Company was located in Zheleznogorsk but had a different postal code, Krasnoyarsk - 9. and ''Atom Town''.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with five rural localities, incorporated as the " closed administrative-territorial formation of Zheleznogorsk", an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

.Law #10-4765 As a municipal division, the closed administrative-territorial formation of Zheleznogorsk is incorporated as "Zheleznogorsk Urban Okrug".Law #14-3412 Settlements under juridistion of "CATF Zheleznogorsk" include: Zheleznogorsk, Dodonovo, Podgorny, Novy Put, ''Tartat and Shivera.

Geography

Zheleznogorsk is located 35 km north of

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

, in the foothills of the Atamanovsky Ridge, the spurs of the

Sayan Mountains The Sayan Mountains (, ; ) are a mountain range in southern Siberia spanning southeastern Russia (Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva and Khakassia) and northern Mongolia. Before the rapid expansion of the Tsardom of Russia, the mou ...

. The climate of the city, as in Krasnoyarsk, is Dfb according to Köppen. The average annual temperature is 2.2 °C or 36 °F. The city is located far from the southern border of permafrost due to the warmer climate than in most of Eastern Siberia. Mixed forests grow in the city itself, with a predominance of conifers, especially in mountainous areas. The city is also partially located in the steppe zone. Due to the high continentality of the climate, there are large temperature differences during the day and at night, as well as between winter and summer. At the same time, daytime temperatures are often higher than the average in Siberia, and nighttime temperatures from time to time are below average. The period with a positive daily average temperature slightly exceeds the period with a negative one. The maximum and minimum temperature ranges from -46°C (-51°F) to +39°C (102°F) degrees. The climate of the city is considered warmer than in Krasnoyarsk itself due to the lower elevation difference and greater penetration of warm western and southern air masses into the West Siberian Plain and the Yenisei Valley.

Economy

Zheleznogorsk is the location of the Krasnoyarsk Mining and Chemical Combine, a combine that played a significant role in the early Russian nuclear weapons production campaigns. Zheleznogorsk is also the location for the production of plutonium, electricity and district heat using graphite-moderated water-cooled reactors. The last reactor was shut down permanently in April 2010. It is the location of a military reprocessing facility and for a Russian commercial nuclear-waste storage facility. A significant employer in the city is ISS Reshetnev (Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems), Russia's largest satellite manufacturer and the prime developer of the

GLONASS GLONASS (, ; ) is a Russian satellite navigation system operating as part of a radionavigation-satellite service. It provides an alternative to Global Positioning System (GPS) and is the second navigational system in operation with global cove ...

program.

In popular culture

Krasnoyarsk-26 is the setting of a key episode in the 2001 novel The Sky Is Falling by

Sidney Sheldon Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy '' The Bachelor and the Bobby-Sox ...

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Official website of Zheleznogorsk

Zheleznogorsk Business Directory
{{Use mdy dates, date=June 2011 Cities and towns in Krasnoyarsk Krai Closed cities Nuclear weapons program of the Soviet Union Naukograds Populated places established in 1950 Populated places on the Yenisei River Zheleznogorsk Urban Okrug, Krasnoyarsk Krai