Sarov, Russia: Accelerated Job Creation and the Open Computing Center

As part of the DOE Nuclear Cities Initiative, activities are under way to create nondefense jobs in the city of Sarov, Russia (formerly Arzamas-16), which is the home of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center VNIIEF and the serial production facility Avangard. The initial activity was the creation of the Sarov Open Computing Center, which has approximately 100 people working on software development projects and business development for the Center. The next step for Sarov is to develop an integrated plan responsive to all the conversion needs of the city. This includes identifying the total number and type of nondefense jobs required for VNIIEF and Avangard, defining jobcreation approaches, and funding the development of opportunities for commercial production and contract research.