The closed city of Novouralsk: population and history

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Soviet times have passed, but the closed cities remained on the map of the country. Then it was quietly whispered that highly enriched uranium for atomic bombs was being produced in Novouralsk. Now everyone knows about this, as well as the fact that the city also produces low-enriched uranium, from which they then make fuel for nuclear power plants in many countries of the world.

General information

Novouralsk is the administrative center of the urban district of the same name. It is located 54 km northwest of Yekaterinburg. The territory of the city covers an area of 3,150 hectares. From 1954 to 1994 the city was called Sverdlovsk-44.

The city has the status of a closed administrative-territorial entity of the Sverdlovsk region. A fence with barbed wire has been built around the perimeter, and 10 checkpoints operate. The population of Novouralsk has permanent passes. Non-residents and relatives can apply for a temporary pass, which is usually done within at least two weeks.

Novouralsk is one of the country's first centers for the development of the nuclear industry. The city-forming enterprise is the Ural Electrochemical Combine, the world's largest producer of uranium isotopes. 52 doctors and candidates of sciences work in the scientific and industrial complex of the nuclear industry.

Foundation of the city

Initially it was planned to build a resort on the banks of the Verkh-Neyvinsky pond, one of the most beautiful places in the Urals. Here was the cleanest air, various types of trees grew on the slopes of the mountains, there were a lot of fish in the reservoirs. There was a railway station nearby, and a short distance from the regional center. In 1926, a rest house for railway workers was built. In 1939-1941, two more sanatoriums were built - for workers of the machine-building plant and the "Rosglavkhleb" trust (at present - the "Green Cape" rest house). So the first population of Novouralsk was mainly vacationers.

In 1941, the Soviet government determined a site for the construction of plant No. 484 (Ural Electrochemical Plant) with a size of 389 hectares, of which 187 hectares were allocated for the city itself. By July 1941, a cement warehouse was built and 25 tents for builders were set up. At the same time, the construction of a plant for the production of small prefabricated panel houses began. Already in the autumn of the same year, the village of Pervomaisky was built, consisting of 25 four-room houses, each of which was inhabited by two families. The population of Novouralsk aptly called them plywood yurts or fanzas. Total forconstruction work employed 2,500 people.

The formation of the nuclear industry

In 1949, the first stage of the gas diffusion plant was launched, the main product of which was weapons-grade uranium. Three years later, he produced the nuclear material that was used to build the first Soviet atomic bomb. The second stage was put into operation in 1951, several more units in subsequent years.

In 1964, a gas centrifuge plant for the production of enriched uranium was launched, the first in the world. Since the 1970s, the Electrochemical Plant has been supplying low-enriched uranium to many countries, including the United States, England, France, and South Korea. Now the company also produces batteries for aircraft and helicopters, spacecraft, electrochemical current generators for power plants of submarines and spacecraft, instruments and equipment for the nuclear industry.

The last decades of Soviet power

In the 80s, the city was actively developing, all dilapidated buildings were demolished, the facades of old houses were repaired, several children's factories, the Avtozavodsky shopping center, and an amusement park were built. The territory of the city was landscaped and landscaped. The population of Novouralsk was 75,000 people.

In the early 90s, residential areas were built in the Railway Station area and the southern districts of the city. New administrative and commercial buildings appeared, including a maternity hospital, a store"Mercury", city library and sports complex. The population of Novouralsk at that time reached 85,000 people.

Modernity

In 1994, on January 4, by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, the city was officially named Novouralsk. In 1995, the church of Seraphim of Sarov was built in the city. The Urals Electrochemical Combine has begun processing weapons-grade uranium into low-enriched uranium for US nuclear power plants. The population of the city of Novouralsk amounted to 92,500 people.

In subsequent years, the number of residents of the city continued to grow. The maximum number of 95,414 residents was in 2002. The crisis of the country's industry also affected the closed city, the Ural Automobile Plant was closed. Since 2003, the population has been declining every year. In 2017, the population of Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast, was 81,577.

Employment Center

The main goal of the state institution is to organize a range of services for temporarily unemployed residents of the city. Currently, the following vacancies are available at the Novouralsk Employment Center:

the lowest paid categories of workers: cleaners, barmaids, teachers, cooks, junior caregivers, with a salary of 13,400-15,000 rubles;
skilled workers and engineering and technical workers, including an electric welder of the 3rd category, a fitter for adjusting instrumentation, a slinger, a quality engineer, a process engineer, with a salary of 23,000-25,000rubles;
highly qualified workers and engineers, including a turner of 5-6 category, an installer of technological instruments and equipment of 5 category, an engineer for automated control systems for production, at 30,000-40,000 rubles.