Zheleznogorsk is a city (since 1954) in the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia. The administrative center of a closed administrative-territorial entity (ZATO) and the city district of the same name.
The city is located on the banks of the small Kantat River and the Baikal Stream (on the right-bank part of the Yenisei River basin) in the foothills of the Atamanovsky Range - a spur of the Sayan Mountains, 25 km northeast of Krasnoyarsk.
Climatically, Zheleznogorsk does not differ much from Krasnoyarsk, as
it is located in close proximity to it. Winters in Zheleznogorsk are
colder than Krasnoyarsk, while summers are hotter. Meteorological
observations in Zheleznogorsk began to be carried out relatively later
than in the regional capital. The climate of Zheleznogorsk is
continental, with the influence of both subarctic and subtropical
Atlantic and warm Central Asian air masses. The city has a large number
of sunny days, which increases the daily temperature values. Winter is
slightly longer than summer, accompanied by frequent frosts and
occasional thaws; however, the number of days in a year with a positive
mean daily temperature is greater than with a negative one. Summers are
generally warm, often hot, thanks to the Asian anticyclone. The average
daily air temperature is above +10 degrees from the beginning of May to
the end of September, which corresponds to the Köppen dfb indicator.
The average annual temperature in the city is +2.2 °C. The absolute
maximum temperature in Zheleznogorsk was recorded on July 6, 2021 -
+39.3 ° C, the minimum - -46.3 ° C in January 2001.
On February 26, 1950, a
decree was issued by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, signed by
JV Stalin, on the construction of Combine No. 815 (the future MCC),
a complex for the production of weapons-grade plutonium. The secret
complex and the closed city under it were built by units of the
Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and prisoners
of the GULAG.
On May 29, 1950, by order of the USSR Ministry
of Internal Affairs (Order No. 00336), the "Granitny" forced labor
camp (ITL) was created. From May to October, the prisoners carried
out the construction of an external railway line with a length of 51
kilometers along the route "Bazaikha station of the Krasnoyarsk
railway - Sotsgorod". The commissioning of the railway made it
possible to quickly deliver goods to the construction sites of the
working village and the plant.
Simultaneously, in the summer
of 1950, work began on the preparation of mining operations in the
rock mass, intended to house the Combine No. 815.
On October
9, 1950, the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs issued order No. 0684
on the transfer of the Granitnoye ITL to the construction management
of mining and metallurgical enterprises of the USSR Ministry of
Internal Affairs. This ITL was, in the main, the base for the
formation of the ITL Polyansky. Up to 10 camp departments were
formed as part of the Polyanskiy ITL at different times. The number
of camp divisions varied, from several hundred to 5000 people. The
maximum number of prisoners in all camp departments was, according
to official figures, about 70 thousand people.
By 1953, the
construction site became widespread. A woodworking plant, brick and
concrete plants were put into operation, sand and gravel pits were
developed. In the city limits, 234 residential buildings, a cinema,
three schools, three canteens, a kindergarten, and a hospital campus
have appeared.
By 1956, an internal departmental railway was
connected to the completed MCC, which was commissioned in 1958. It
was placed underground (in the mountain massif) at a depth of
200-300 meters and was designed in such a way as to withstand even
nuclear strikes. The system of industrial and transport tunnels of
the MCC is comparable to the Moscow metro. The underground halls are
55 meters high. The heat produced by the reactor was used to heat
the city.
On March 17, 1954, by the decree of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the working settlement of the
Combine No. 815 receives the official status of a city and the name:
Zheleznogorsk - for private correspondence, party and Soviet bodies,
Krasnoyarsk-26 - for open correspondence. It was also called
"Sotsgorod", "Nine", "PO Box 9", "Atomgrad".
In 1964, an
underground radiochemical plant was put into operation for the
processing of irradiated uranium. By 1985, under the Yenisei, at a
depth of 40 m, a tunnel was laid to move radioactive waste to the
landfill (at present, the tunnel is not used for its intended
purpose).
Museums
Museum and Exhibition Center (opened since 1988,
address: Zheleznogorsk, Sverdlova st., 68)
Museum of the Mining
and Chemical Combine (opened on February 26, 2010)
Museum of
Archeology, a branch of the Museum and Exhibition Center in the
village. Podgorny
Theaters
Zheleznogorsk Operetta Theater
Zheleznogorsk Puppet Theater "Golden Key"
Zheleznogorsk exemplary
theater for young spectators "Sovremennik"
Zheleznogorsk
Exemplary People's Drama Theater named after A. N. Ostrovsky
Zheleznogorsk Youth Theater-Studio at Gymnasium No. 91
Theater-studio "While the candle is burning" at the Lyceum number
102
Parks
Park of Culture and Rest named after S. M. Kirov
(City forest park)
Zoo
Churches
Orthodox "Cathedral of
Michael the Archangel"
Church of the Resurrection of Christ in
the village. Podgorny (built)
Since 1958, a service line of a city electric train (city electric
train) has been operating within the ZATO, part of the route of which
passes through a tunnel. The line is used only for the delivery of
workers to the MCC territory.
The line has a length of 30
kilometers (including five kilometers underground) and three stations
(Sotsgorod, Volnaya, Kombinat), the last of which was built underground
(at a depth of about 200 m), close to metro standards.
The line
starts in Krasnoyarsk at the Bazaikha station of the Krasnoyarsk railway
of Russian Railways. Previously, electrification began at the
southwestern border of ZATO, near the village of Tartat, now it has been
shortened and begins at the Sotsgorod station. The line passes through
the main residential area of the city, then goes along the banks of the
Yenisei, then hides in the underground tunnel of the mining and chemical
plant.
One four-car and four eight-car DC electric trains ER2T
(“electric trains”) are used as rolling stock.