”Atomgrad” refers to the so-called atomic cities in the Southern Urals, where Soviet nuclear components were produced in cities which were newly built or reconstructed after World War Two. The atomic cities were closed to other Soviet citizens. The Urals region as a whole had been sealed off for foreigners from 1935 until 1992.


This project thus has an explorative character and treats events hidden behind the Iron Curtain. This case study continues Samuelson’s ”Tankograd” (in Swedish in 2007), a history of Cheliabinsk from the 1910’s to the 1940’s.


Documents from the regional archives provide the basis for an in-depth analysis of the nuclear weapons and new conventional armaments industries. The region had an appropriate infrastructure and adequately qualified workers for managing these high-tech sectors of the Soviet military-industrial complex.


The project treats more than production conditions and development. The project depicts everyday life and culture in this significant region in Russia. Social, economic and cultural conditions in the closed parts of society during the Cold war are to be analyzed. The lowest social stratum was the Gulag prisoners who built the factories, transport networks and infrastructure. On the other end of the social scale, nuclear scientists and technicians in the atomic cities formed a privileged stratum in Soviet society. The project shall also study the influence of the atomic cities on education, career conditions and mentalities.