«Arzamas-75» was one of the secret postal designations of a closed city, used between 1960 and 1966: according to records of name changes, the settlement bore this designation during exactly those years.[1] This name concealed the same facility known as «Arzamas-16» — now city of Sarov, where the Russian Federal Nuclear Center — All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF) is located.[1]

Changes of Name of the Closed City

The city, founded in 1706 as a monastic settlement, bore several successive closed designations during the Soviet period. Until 1954 it retained its historic name of Sarov, then was renamed Kremlyov (until 1960), after which it received the designation «Arzamas-75» (until 1966), then «Arzamas-16» (until 1994), then briefly became Kremlyov again (until 1995), and finally in 1995 the historic name of Sarov was restored.[1] The system of closed designations was built on the principle of «name of the nearest open city plus a code number»: Arzamas, gave its name to several code addresses for the same restricted facility.[1]

History of the Closed Facility

In 1946, by USSR, KB-11 was established — a branch of Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which was engaged in the atomic program.[2] The site for KB-11 was chosen in Nizhny Novgorod Region: close enough to Moscow, yet located in a remote forest, which provided the necessary secrecy.[2] In February 1947, KB-11 was granted the status of a high-security facility, Sarov was converted into a closed zone, removed from the administrative jurisdiction of the Mordovian ASSR, and excluded from all official records.[2]

The chief designer and scientific director of KB-11 was appointed physicist Yuliy Borisovich Khariton (1904–1996), who held this post until 1992 — until the age of 88.[2] Under his leadership, a system for the production, operation, and testing of nuclear weapons was created in Sarov, and the first safety requirements for such weapons were established.[2] KB-11 subsequently grew into the RFNC-VNIIEF. Among those born in the city during the period when it bore the designation «Arzamas-75» was Alexey Yevgenyevich Likhachev (born 23 December 1962), who later became Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom; his official biography lists his place of birth as «Arzamas-75, Gorky Region (now Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Region)».[3][2]

Current Status

Following the restoration of its historic name in 1995, the city of Sarov retains its status as a closed administrative-territorial formation (ZATO) and is an independent urban district of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1] On Soviet topographic maps, the city was marked as the populated locality «Sarova» with no indication of its true status.[1] Sarov has a monument to Khariton, an open memorial house-museum containing the scientist's personal belongings and documents, and a preserved private railway car that served as his mobile headquarters; a street, Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 15, and the annual Khariton Readings — an international conference in the scientific fields established by the scholar are all named in his honor.[2]

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (ru) — Sarov (archive)
  2. Vremya N — Yuliy Khariton: Titan of the Nuclear Industry (archive)
  3. TASS — Among those born in the city during the period when it bore the designation «Arzamas-75» was Alexey Yevgenyevich Likhachev (born 23… — Alexey Yevgenyevich Likhachev (born 23 December 1962)… (archive)