20 November 2000 Former "Nuclear City" Opens Non-Weapons Computer Center The "Strela" Open Computing Center in Snezhinsk, a formerly secret nuclear city in Russia, will provide commercial, non-weapons-related research opportunities to former Russian nuclear weapons scientists, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced November 20. The Center is part of DOE's Nuclear Cities Initiative. Four commercial projects with commercial support or interest will begin at the Strela Center immediately, and another five are expected to start soon, according to a DOE press release. "As many as 120 former weapons specialists are likely to be engaged in high-tech jobs in the first year, with the number expected to double in the following year as the city's capabilities and commercial opportunities become known," the press release said. Following is the text of the press release: U.S. Department of Energy Washington, D.C. November 20, 2000 Computing Center in Snezhinsk, Russia Commissions Non-Weapons Related Jobs Former Ambassador Ronald Lehman, Director of the Center for Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, joined with senior officials from the U.S. Department of Energy on Saturday [November 18], to commission the "Strela" Open Computing Center in Snezhinsk, one of 10 closed and formerly secret nuclear cities in Russia. "Commissioning the Strela Open Computing Center lays another brick in the foundation of our work with Russia to reduce proliferation dangers and enhance the national security of both of our nations," said Ambassador Lehman. "This center will make it easier for Western firms to employ Russia's highly skilled computer programming and software experts in non-weapons work." The Strela Open Computing Center ("Strela" translates to "arrow" in English) will provide commercial research opportunities to former nuclear weapons specialists in computer software programming and modeling and computer-assisted engineering and design. Four projects with commercial support or interest will begin immediately and include: improving numerical simulation for wood composite manufacturing with Virginia Polytechnic Institute; developing multimedia data interchange and communication software components for the Animatek World Builder; developing genome sequence analysis tools with research partners at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for use in the pharmaceuticals industry; improving mechanical engineering simulation code useful in the automobile and other industries with the Livermore Software Technology Corporation. Five additional projects at the Strela Open Computing Center are expected to get under way in the next several months. Taken together, as many as 120 former weapons specialists are likely to be engaged in high-tech jobs in the first year, with the number expected to double in the following year as the city's capabilities and commercial opportunities become known. The Strela Center was established under the Department of Energy's Nuclear Cities Initiative [NCI], a U.S.-Russian cooperative program designed to accelerate Russia's planned consolidation of its nuclear weapon complex, while also lowering the risk that displaced Russian nuclear weapons specialists might sell their know-how to countries of proliferation concern or terrorists. In addition to opening the Open Computing Center, the Department of Energy also announced that it would provide $9.7 million in funding for new and ongoing projects for Snezhinsk. This includes $3.9 million from NCI and $5.8 million from DOE's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention, which, like NCI, is designed to prevent a "brain drain" of former Soviet weapons of mass destruction specialists. The U.S. government funding is also expected to leverage and attract additional investments from private industry and foundations. Media Contact: Tamara Hamilton, HQ, 202/586-5806; Susan Houghton, LLNL, 925/422-9919 (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File