Lesnoy, Sverdlovsk Oblast

Lesnoi (Russian Лесной ) is a town with 50 363 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ) in the Sverdlovsk Oblast (Russia). She has since its beginnings the status of a so-called closed city ( SATO ).

Geography

Lesnoi situated on the river Tura in the West of the Sverdlovsk Oblast, near the eastern slope of the Urals and about 200 km north of the regional capital Yekaterinburg. In the immediate vicinity of Lesnoi is the city Nischnjaja Tura; Other nearby towns are Katschkanar (18 km north-west ) and Verkhnyaya Tura (29 km south).

Lesnoi is the center of a city circle within the Sverdlovsk Oblast, which also includes the settlements Jolkino, Buschujewka and Tajoschny belong.

History

Lesnoi (literally, " forest city " ) was founded in 1947 on the occasion of the establishment of a combine to produce nuclear weapons technology. Since this type of production is subject to both the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia strict secrecy, Lesnoi from the beginning was a closed city until 1994 and known only by the code name Sverdlovsk -45. To date, the entrance to the city, as it is usual in all closed cities of Russia, in principle reserved for the residents and staff.

The city status was given Lesnoi in 1954.

Economy and Transport

The main industry of the city is still the defense industry, the most important operation is the Combine Elektrochimpribor founded with the city at the same time. This is today not only nuclear weapons technology ( such as uranium munitions ) ago, but also civilian products such as televisions and washing machines. There are also in Lesnoi factories for asphalt, concrete and food production. Overall, the city has around 500 different farms.

Transport links from Lesnoi with the outside world are essentially beyond the adjacent Nischnjaja Tura, from where a regional road ( R352 ), among others, according to Serov in the north and Nizhny Tagil and Yekaterinburg leads to the south. A railway link is available there.

Education and Culture

Lesnoi is the seat of a branch of the National Physics Engineering College Moscow. The city has a theater and a museum of local history.