Non Proliferation - Global Threat Reduction Programme - Closed Nuclear Cities/Centres Partnership

Logo of the Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership - Russian Text and Arrow Symbol pointing upwards

This is a non-proliferation programme, aimed at limiting the spread of knowledge on weapons of mass destruction by helping retrain and re-employ some of the scientists and technicians, whose expertise might otherwise pose a proliferation risk if they were to be remain unemployed or made redundant now or in the near-future.

Since the break up of the Soviet Union, the "Closed Nuclear Cities", (ten centres of nuclear weapons research, production and maintenance), have seen large-scale job losses and a lack of investment. These complexes are home to 770,000 inhabitants, of whom 130,000 are employed in nuclear weapons related activities. Many of these are highly skilled scientists and technicians whose expertise could be extremely useful to states seeking to acquire the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction.

In addition, these people are responsible for managing the production, storage and disposal of a massive inventory of sensitive nuclear materials, which could pose a threat to humanity if they fell into the wrong hands. 13,000 are likely to be made redundant by 2010 as a result of restructuring and rationalisation resulting from changes in defence policy and a further 10,000 redundancies are expected following the closure of the plutonium producing reactors at Seversk and Zheleznogorsk.

CNCP is focused on developing sustainable alternative industries in six of the ten closed nuclear cities of Russia (Seversk Sarov, Ozersk, Zheleznogorsk, Snezhinsk and Novouralsk) and various nuclear physics institutes in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan plus Armenia, Georgia and Belarus, countries   which also had strategic defence responsibilities.

CNCP achieves its goals by providing :

  • finance for commercial civil sector projects,
  • training for personnel including study tours to the UK to share experiences;
  • assistance in the establishment of commercial businesses with Russian and foreign enterprises;
  • support for sustainable economic development in the cities and institutes.

HTSPE Ltd, formerly PE-International, in association with AEA Technology was appointed as UK Project Managers to manage this Closed Nuclear Cities/Centres Partnership Programme in October 2002.

Further information on the Closed Nuclear Cities/Centres Partnership and individual projects that are being supported can be found on the CNCP Programme Website and in Global Partnership Annual Report that may be accessed via the Related Links section located to the right of this page.

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