News

USIS Washington File

04 November 1999

Text: International Development Center for Russian Nuclear Workers Opens

(Aims to create commercial opportunities for former nuclear workers)
(940)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the opening November 2
of the first International Development Center (IDC) in the closed and
formerly secret Russian "nuclear city" of Zheleznogorsk.

The goal of the center, according to a DOE press release, is to assist
in attracting and creating new businesses within Russia's nuclear
cities so that there will be jobs for the nuclear scientists,
engineers and technicians who have been displaced by the reduction in
Russia's nuclear weapons complex.

The IDC is sponsored by the Energy Department's Nuclear Cities
Initiative (NCI), a nonproliferation program to help create commercial
jobs for these workers
"so that they are not tempted to sell their knowledge of designing and
producing nuclear weapons to rogue nations or terrorist states,"
according to DOE.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson called the project "unprecedented. It
signals a strong commitment by both the United States and Russia to do
whatever it takes to contain the knowledge of how to make nuclear
weapons."

DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) near Hanford, in
the state of Washington, is coordinating the establishment of the IDC
in Zheleznogorsk and two other IDCs expected to open in the coming
year in the closed Russian nuclear cities of Sarov and Snezhinsk.
PNNL, which has helped attract outside businesses into the Hanford
region, already has extensive experience working with the Russian
business community.

The Zheleznogorsk IDC will be staffed by professional Russian business
counselors. Among its functions:

-- To coordinate economic development efforts planned and already
underway, with city and local officials

-- To provide businesses and workers with skills training and
strategic planning

-- To conduct an economic assessment of Zheleznogorsk to determine
what businesses would likely be successful and what skills are in
demand

-- To assist companies with the tools to access financial backing 

Following is the text of the press release:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C.
November 2, 1999

NUCLEAR CITIES INITIATIVE OPENS FIRST INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER
IN RUSSIA

-- Energy Department to Assist in Bringing Business Skills to
Displaced Nuclear Weapons Workers

The Department of Energy (DOE) today celebrated the opening of the
first International Development Center (IDC) to provide business
resources to displaced Russian nuclear scientists, engineers and
technicians in the closed and formerly secret Russian nuclear city of
Zheleznogorsk.

The center, which will be staffed by professional Russian business
counselors, is sponsored by the Energy Department's Nuclear Cities
Initiative (NCI), a nonproliferation program to help create commercial
jobs for Russian nuclear workers so that they are not tempted to sell
their knowledge of designing and producing nuclear weapons to rogue
nations or terrorist states.

Russia is downsizing its nuclear weapons complex and has asked the
United States Department of Energy to share the lessons it has learned
from its own experience in shrinking the U.S. nuclear complex.

"This invitation for Energy Department experts to help nuclear
scientists in Russia's formerly secret nuclear materials production
city of Zheleznogorsk is unprecedented," said Secretary of Energy Bill
Richardson. "It signals a strong commitment by both the United States
and Russia to do whatever it takes to contain the knowledge of how to
make nuclear weapons."

The goal of the International Development Centers is to grow new
businesses that keep profits within Russia's nuclear cities for
long-term success and jobs creation. The IDCs will work to tailor
local economic strategies to the needs of each individual nuclear
city.

The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
(PNNL) is coordinating the establishment of the Russian IDCs on behalf
of DOE. PNNL supports and assists with economic diversification
efforts near Hanford, Washington, by transferring technology to the
private sector, helping existing businesses grow, and attracting
outside businesses into the region. The laboratory has helped create
40 new companies in 40 months including Mundo Communications, Credit
Card Solutions and Corona Cat. New businesses PNNL has helped attract
to the Richland [Washington] area include Oregon Metallurgical, a
manufacturer of titanium alloys for the aerospace industry. PNNL has
extensive experience working with the Russian business community,
developed while modeling groundwater contamination in the West
Siberian Basin, improving the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear power
plant reactors, and sending technical specialists to Russia to control
nuclear materials and engage in business creation programs through the
Energy Department's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP).

The Zheleznogorsk International Development Center will coordinate
economic development efforts planned and already underway with city
and local officials. It will serve as a resource for new businesses by
providing businesses and workers with skills training and strategic
planning. The IDC will conduct an economic assessment of Zheleznogorsk
to determine what businesses are making or losing money, what skills
are in demand, and what businesses would be likely to be successful.
The IDC will assist companies with the tools to access financial
backing available in Russia and in the international financial
community.

IDC operations in Zheleznogorsk are governed by a board of directors
which consists of representatives from Russia's Ministry of Atomic
Energy (MinAtom), PNNL, the city of Zheleznogorsk and the Foundation
for Russian/American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC) of Seattle,
Washington. Board members include Jana Fankhauser, PNNL; Carol
Vipperman, FRAEC; Pavel Yakushin, First Deputy Mayor of Zheleznogorsk;
and Vasily Zhidkov, Mining and Chemical Combine, a MinAtom production
entity in Zheleznogorsk.

Two additional International Development Centers are expected to open
in the coming year in the closed Russian nuclear cities of Sarov and
Snezhinsk.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State)