| Seversk (English) Северск (Russian) |
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view of Kurchatov Street |
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Location of Tomsk Oblast in Russia |
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Seversk
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| Administrative status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Tomsk Oblast |
| Municipal status | |
| Urban okrug | Seversk Urban Okrug |
| Mayor | Grigory Shamin |
| Representative body | Seversk City Duma |
| Statistics | |
| Population (2010 Census, preliminary) |
108,466 inhabitants[1] |
| - Rank in 2010 | 149th |
| Population (2002 Census) | 109,106 inhabitants[2] |
| - Rank in 2002 | 145th |
| Time zone | OMSST (UTC+07:00)[3] |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Postal code(s) | 6360xx |
| Dialing code(s) | +7 3823 |
| Official website | |
Seversk (Russian: Се́верск) is a closed city in Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) northwest of Tomsk on the right bank of the Tom River. Population: 108,466 (2010 Census preliminary results);[1] 109,106 (2002 Census);[2]
Founded in 1949, it was known as Pyaty Pochtovy (Пя́тый Почто́вый) until 1954 and as Tomsk-7 (Томск-7) until 1992. Town status was granted to it in 1956.
The current Chair of the City Duma and Mayor is Grigory Shamin, who has served since 2010. The current city manager is Anatoly Abramov, who has served since August 2007.[4]
Seversk is the site of the Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises, founded in 1954. It comprises several nuclear reactors and chemical plants for separation, enrichment, and reprocessing of uranium and plutonium. Following an agreement in March 2003 between Russia and the United States to shut down Russia's three remaining plutonium-producing reactors, two of the three plutonium producing reactors (the two that are sited at Seversk) have now been shut down.[5][6]
Nuclear warheads are produced and stored on the premises. One of the most serious nuclear accidents at SGCE occurred on 6 April 1993, when a tank containing a highly radioactive solution exploded.
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Seversk was a secret city in the Soviet Union until President Boris Yeltsin decreed in 1992 that such cities could use their historical names. The town appeared on no official maps until then. As it was the tradition with Soviet towns containing secret facilities, Tomsk-7 is actually a post office box number and implied that the place was located some distance from the city of Tomsk.
For many years, residents had restrictions on their ability to come and go from the city. Upon leaving Seversk, residents had to surrender their entry passes at the checkpoints and were forbidden from discussing where they worked or lived. However, in 1987 some restrictions were lifted due to the large number of residents who worked or studied in Tomsk.[7]
Despite the order removing Seversk's secret status, the city still remains closed to non-residents. The city has six checkpoints where visitors must show entry documents. Permission to visit to the city may only be granted by the appropriate authorities through the institution being visited, or through a private party such as a close relative. Prior to May 2007, visitors applied for entry passes at a special office in Tomsk. This regime has been modified and visitors apply for entry documents at the main checkpoint.[7]
There was a nuclear accident at the Tomsk-7 Reprocessing Complex on April 6, 1993, when a tank exploded while being cleaned with nitric acid. The explosion released a cloud of radioactive gas. TIME magazine has identified the Tomsk-7 explosion as one of the 10 world's "worst nuclear disasters".[8]
Nine municipal cultural and artistic institutions successfully work in Seversk, as well as four establishments of additional education for children of artistic and aesthetic focus and two organizations of other forms of property - a Nonprofit Organization "House of Culture in the name of N. Ostrovskiy" and a cinema called "Mir".
There is a major post-secondary school in the city, the Seversk State Technological Academy, a branch of Tomsk Polytechnic University.
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