An Overview of Minatom's Ten Closed Nuclear Cities

In the late 1980's the Former Soviet Union (FSU) began to decrease the size of their nuclear stockpile. This had a ripple effect throughout the FSU's large and redundant nuclear weapon complex that continues to be felt in the daily lives of the individuals working at these sites. No longer were these sites given the privileged status that provided additional foods and consumer goods for its workers, but rather became relics of the cold war. To compensate for the reduction in defense orders, the Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) created and began a implementing a defense conversion plan in the late 1980's. Ten of the Minatom sites were given a unique status based upon their work in nuclear weapons production. These sites are Minatoms ten \"closed nuclear cities\" (CNCs) as their economic development is hampered by the fact they are still physically closed off from visitors and continue to be under Minatom's direct control. Federal laws have been passed that provide economic advantage to closed nuclear cities. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the Minatom sites and the legal basis for their economic status.