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talkpolitics2012-11-22 08:33 pm
luvdovz.livejournal.com) wrote in talkpolitics2012-11-22 08:33 pm
Russia's secret towns
There are entire towns in Russia with an access regime resembling that of concentration camps. Their residents don't have the right to host guests at home, except on some extraordinary occasions. There are currently 42 publicly acknowledged "closed cities" (as they're called) in Russia, with a total population of 1.5 million people. Most of them are administered by the Ministry of Defense, some by the Federal Atomic Energy Agency. There are allegedly another 15 closed cities around Siberia, but their location remains a state secret.
Take Ozyorsk for example. It's in the Chelyabinsk Oblast in the Urals, some 1600 km away from Moscow. The "Mayak" (Lighthouse) plant is located next to the town, where nuclear waste is being processed. In Soviet times the Mayak used to produce plutonium for the nuclear bombs of the Russkies. In 1957 a huge accident happened there, a container with 80 tons of radioactive waste exploded. Thousands of people across the Urals were evacuated, many subsequently died. Even today large portions of the mountain separating Europe from Asia are uninhabited. But that's not a story many people in the West have heard, although it was as serious as Chernobyl.
Nowadays the residents of Ozyorsk avoid talking to foreigners, because that could bring them lots of trouble. But still, the story is a well kept public secret in Russia. 55 years ago the bulk of the nuclear waste from what's now considered the third biggest nuclear fallout (after Chernobyl and Fukushima) was washed away, but the radioactive background remained extremely high - at some point it exceeded 40 mR. Now most villages around the site are like ghost towns, and access to the forests in that part of the Urals is strictly prohibited.
The Mayak center has ceased producing plutonium a long time ago, but even today everything that's happening around Ozyorsk keeps getting the "state secret" stamp. That's because in Russia, civilian and military industry have been closely intertwined ever since WW2. There's practically been no purely civilian production in the USSR, ever. All commercial planes were constructed in such a way that they could be quickly transformed into military aircraft, if need be. All industry had primarily a military orientation, civilian production came only after that need had been met.
The international community has often criticized the symbiotic relationship between civilian and military production in Russia. The same factories which during Stalin's time used to be centers for producing nukes, are now supplying the world with nuclear technology for peaceful needs. There are entire production sectors which should be freely accessible for the international safety inspections, but are still under the explicit protection of the state secret stamp. Because in Russia, it's not just industrial facilities, but entire towns that are classified and run like prisons.
Towns like Ozyorsk are officially called "Closed administrative territorial units". There are over 40 of those sprinkled all across Russia. One could enter them only after obtaining a special permit and a special address registration, after a long vetting process. Unless you're born there. But even then you can't bring guests from outside, except on some rare special occasions - like weddings and funerals. And even then there'll likely be specially appointed "supervisors" present.
Whether all this bureaucracy really serves for the protection of the nuclear facilities or not, is up for debate. I'd rather doubt it. No ordinary person from outside could just drive by and freely enter a closed city, but meanwhile anyone who wants to invest there and do some business, instantly gets a nod and obtains a license. So if you're a spy, you wouldn't be having any difficulties getting there and doing your spying stuff all you want. Turns out, when it comes to business, the monstrous Russian state machine suddenly stops being so concerned about security.
A couple of weeks ago, I tried to send some commercial documents to a customer in Ozyorsk. They didn't have a postal address. Only a mailbox. Then I realized what "The Box" means - it's the nickname for all closed cities around Russia.
Take Ozyorsk for example. It's in the Chelyabinsk Oblast in the Urals, some 1600 km away from Moscow. The "Mayak" (Lighthouse) plant is located next to the town, where nuclear waste is being processed. In Soviet times the Mayak used to produce plutonium for the nuclear bombs of the Russkies. In 1957 a huge accident happened there, a container with 80 tons of radioactive waste exploded. Thousands of people across the Urals were evacuated, many subsequently died. Even today large portions of the mountain separating Europe from Asia are uninhabited. But that's not a story many people in the West have heard, although it was as serious as Chernobyl.
Nowadays the residents of Ozyorsk avoid talking to foreigners, because that could bring them lots of trouble. But still, the story is a well kept public secret in Russia. 55 years ago the bulk of the nuclear waste from what's now considered the third biggest nuclear fallout (after Chernobyl and Fukushima) was washed away, but the radioactive background remained extremely high - at some point it exceeded 40 mR. Now most villages around the site are like ghost towns, and access to the forests in that part of the Urals is strictly prohibited.
The Mayak center has ceased producing plutonium a long time ago, but even today everything that's happening around Ozyorsk keeps getting the "state secret" stamp. That's because in Russia, civilian and military industry have been closely intertwined ever since WW2. There's practically been no purely civilian production in the USSR, ever. All commercial planes were constructed in such a way that they could be quickly transformed into military aircraft, if need be. All industry had primarily a military orientation, civilian production came only after that need had been met.
The international community has often criticized the symbiotic relationship between civilian and military production in Russia. The same factories which during Stalin's time used to be centers for producing nukes, are now supplying the world with nuclear technology for peaceful needs. There are entire production sectors which should be freely accessible for the international safety inspections, but are still under the explicit protection of the state secret stamp. Because in Russia, it's not just industrial facilities, but entire towns that are classified and run like prisons.
Towns like Ozyorsk are officially called "Closed administrative territorial units". There are over 40 of those sprinkled all across Russia. One could enter them only after obtaining a special permit and a special address registration, after a long vetting process. Unless you're born there. But even then you can't bring guests from outside, except on some rare special occasions - like weddings and funerals. And even then there'll likely be specially appointed "supervisors" present.
Whether all this bureaucracy really serves for the protection of the nuclear facilities or not, is up for debate. I'd rather doubt it. No ordinary person from outside could just drive by and freely enter a closed city, but meanwhile anyone who wants to invest there and do some business, instantly gets a nod and obtains a license. So if you're a spy, you wouldn't be having any difficulties getting there and doing your spying stuff all you want. Turns out, when it comes to business, the monstrous Russian state machine suddenly stops being so concerned about security.
A couple of weeks ago, I tried to send some commercial documents to a customer in Ozyorsk. They didn't have a postal address. Only a mailbox. Then I realized what "The Box" means - it's the nickname for all closed cities around Russia.
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Drat. They're not only invading Siberia, it would seem!
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.
That one?
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;-)
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Hm-mm.
The shapka and machine gun too.
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The international community has often criticized the symbiotic relationship between civilian and military production in Russia.
When the Soviet economy collapsed, two ships were here in Seattle for a goodwill tour, one an officer training tall ship. Suddenly their was no money for them or their crews. They were stuck here for months. The crew started selling their money and clothes for souveiniers/vodka. (Seriously, offer money and booze and your bargaining power doubled.) I picked up a Russian officer-in-training pea coat for enough to keep the guy in food for a bit.
I thought it was a cool jacket, until a guy at an ATM said "Droog?" ("Friend?" Never say reading A Clockwork Orange many times isn't useful!) I had to inform him I was but a Yank, but if he could translate the patches, that would be cool. Turns out I was wearing a jacket for someone destined for the Department of Fisheries. Hmm. Uncool.
Then old Soviet fishing boats started showing up at the shipyards around here to be converted to US fishery operations. There was hardly any room in the equipment spaces, because of all the surveillance and weaponry stashed where most US fish boats keep things like nets and line. Turns out every time the US had a space launch or naval exercise, fishing activity out of Novosiberisk (sp?) picked up dramatically.
Jacket back to cool status, but the waist I've got today means no more can I get it on.