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Sarov (russian: Саро́в) is a closed town in
Creation of Nuclear Center Arzamas-16
/ref> from 1946 to 1991. Until 1995, it was known as Kremlyov/Kremlev/Kremljov (). The town is closed as it is the Russian center for nuclear research. Population: 92,047 ( 2010 Census); 87,652 ( 2002 Census)
The history of the town can be divided into two different periods. In the earlier history of Russia it was known as one of the holy places of the Russian Orthodox Church, because of its monastery, that gave Russia one of its greatest saints, St. Seraphim. Since the 1940s, it has gradually become the center for research and production of Soviet and later Russian nuclear weapons.
The history of human settlement in the area around Sarov goes back at least to the 12th–13th centuries, when a large Mordvin settlement was founded on its spot. In 1298, the town was taken over by
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (russian: link=no, Нижегородская область, ''Nizhegorodskaya oblast''), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,31 ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
. It was known as Gorkiy-130 (Горький-130) and Arzamas-16 (), after a (somewhat) nearby town of Arzamas
Arzamas (russian: Арзама́с) is a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Tyosha River (a tributary of the Oka), east of Moscow. Population:
History
Arzamas was founded in 1578 by Ivan the Terrible in the lands p ...
,SarovLabsCreation of Nuclear Center Arzamas-16
/ref> from 1946 to 1991. Until 1995, it was known as Kremlyov/Kremlev/Kremljov (). The town is closed as it is the Russian center for nuclear research. Population: 92,047 ( 2010 Census); 87,652 ( 2002 Census)
History
The history of the town can be divided into two different periods. In the earlier history of Russia it was known as one of the holy places of the Russian Orthodox Church, because of its monastery, that gave Russia one of its greatest saints, St. Seraphim. Since the 1940s, it has gradually become the center for research and production of Soviet and later Russian nuclear weapons.
The history of human settlement in the area around Sarov goes back at least to the 12th–13th centuries, when a large Mordvin settlement was founded on its spot. In 1298, the town was taken over by Tatars
The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different . The modern town took its name from being the site of the Sarov Monastery next to the Sarov River. In 1664, an Orthodox monk Theodosius first settled on the Sarov hill. The first Church of Sarov tenement was founded in 1706. Saint Seraphim was living in Sarov from 1778 to 1833. In 1903, the monastery was visited by
The town is home to the Russian Federation Nuclear Center and "Atomic Bomb" museum which has a number of casings of Soviet-era nuclear weapons and photographs of those involved in their production. The main access is by train, which, after a security stop and inspection, is allowed into the town to disembark passengers. The small Sarov Airport is generally for government aircraft only, and visitors usually fly to
*James Risen'
State of War
Official website of Sarov
Official website of Sarov Town Duma
Sarov Information from the Nuclear Cities Initiative Website
* ttp://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Sovwpnprog.html The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program (and more photographs of Sarov, including from the "Atomic Bomb" museum)br>Annotated bibliography for Arzamas-16, Russia from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear IssuesEnglish page on Sarov Monastery web-site
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Closed cities Nuclear weapons program of the Soviet Union Naukograds
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different . The modern town took its name from being the site of the Sarov Monastery next to the Sarov River. In 1664, an Orthodox monk Theodosius first settled on the Sarov hill. The first Church of Sarov tenement was founded in 1706. Saint Seraphim was living in Sarov from 1778 to 1833. In 1903, the monastery was visited by
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the te ...
Nicholas II and other members of the royal family. At that time the monastery had nine churches, including one underground. Around 320 monks lived in the monastery.
In 1923 the monastery was closed, and the monks were executed by the Bolsheviks. During World War II, the monastery buildings were used as factories for producing rockets for BM-13 "Katyusha" rocket launchers.
In 1946, the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics—a nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s design facility that would become known in the West under the acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in '' NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, a ...
''VNIIEF''—was built. Sarov became a closed city. It was removed from all unclassified maps. Initial provisional names included Base 112, Site 550, Yasnogorsk, Kremlyev and Arzamas-75. Sarov was known as Arzamas-16 until 1995. In 1954, Arzamas-16 was granted town status.
The town is home to the Russian Federation Nuclear Center and "Atomic Bomb" museum which has a number of casings of Soviet-era nuclear weapons and photographs of those involved in their production. The main access is by train, which, after a security stop and inspection, is allowed into the town to disembark passengers. The small Sarov Airport is generally for government aircraft only, and visitors usually fly to Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
airport and then drive.
The town is surrounded by fences patrolled by the military. Foreigners, and even Russians who do not live in Sarov, are not allowed to enter the town without permission. Foreigners who visit on business must surrender their passports, phones, and cameras to security while they are in the facility, though some documentary filmmakers have shot footage inside the town walls.
A large portion of the town is located on the grounds of the P.G.S. State Park in adjacent Temnikovsky District of the Republic of Mordovia.
In 1993, the town became a sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
to Los Alamos, New Mexico, the home of the U.S. nuclear weapons design laboratory (Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, i ...
, or LANL). Scientists from LANL and VNIIEF have cooperated on various arms control
Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through th ...
and nuclear safeguards programs, under which the Los Alamos scientists learned, to their amusement, that their Russian colleagues paid homage to their American rivals by irreverently calling their own laboratory "Los Arzamas."
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
changed the town's name back to Sarov at the request of the residents in August 1995.
On June 17, 1997, a Russian Federal Nuclear Center senior researcher Alexandr Zakharov received a fatal dose of 4850 rem in a criticality accident.
Today the Russian federal nuclear center is responsible for important decisions concerning the development, production, storage, and utilization of nuclear weapons; the recycling of radioactive and other materials; and research in fundamental and applied physics. International foundations have helped to fund some research scientists in Sarov following the downsizing and transitions after the Soviet era. The city's fences and the electrified fences around fissile stores are maintained. In 1998 a resident stated that the perimeter fences also kept the city free from organized crime.
During the 2010 Russian wildfires the Russian Army took preventive forest fire measures and radioactive material was reported to have been secured elsewhere.
On Monday August 12, 2019, flags in Sarov were lowered to half-staff during the viewing of five coffins in Sarov's main square. These were the bodies of five Rosatom
Rosatom, ( rus, Росатом, p=rɐsˈatəm}) also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that special ...
workers who were killed during the August 8, 2019, Nyonoksa radiation accident near Severodvinsk at the State Central Navy Testing Range which is the main rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...
launching site of the Russian Navy. Later on August 12, 2019, the bodies of the Rosatom workers, who were involved in the development and testing of the 9M730 Burevestnik (Petrel) also known as by the NATO reporting name SSC-X-9 ''Skyfall'', were buried in Sarov's main cemetery.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the town of oblast significance of Sarov—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.Law #184-Z As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Sarov is incorporated as Sarov Urban Okrug.Law #155-ZNotable people
* St. Seraphim of Sarov * Oleg Taktarov - mixed martial artist and UFC 6 champion * Yulii Khariton - leading scientist in the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons program * Tatiana Sorokko - top fashion modelInternational relations
Twin towns and sister cities
Sarov istwinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
* Los Alamos, New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex
, Offi ...
, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
* New Athos, Abkhazia
Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which v ...
(''de jure'' Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
)
See also
* Soviet atomic bomb project *Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction
As the collapse of the Soviet Union appeared imminent, the United States and their NATO allies grew concerned of the risk of nuclear weapons held in the Soviet republics falling into enemy hands. The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program wa ...
References
Notes
Sources
* * * * *Борис Забываев. "Любимый город". Саров в Internet*James Risen'
State of War
External links
Official website of Sarov
Official website of Sarov Town Duma
Sarov Information from the Nuclear Cities Initiative Website
* ttp://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Sovwpnprog.html The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program (and more photographs of Sarov, including from the "Atomic Bomb" museum)br>Annotated bibliography for Arzamas-16, Russia from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Closed cities Nuclear weapons program of the Soviet Union Naukograds