Seversk

Seversk (Северск) is a town (since 1956) in Tomsk Oblast, Russia on the bank of Tom River. Population is 118,800 (2001). It is also known as Tomsk-7.

As is the tradition with Soviet towns containing secret facilities (Ozersk aka Chelyabinsk-40, Zheleznogorsk aka Atomgrad aka Krasnoyarsk-26, Sarov aka Arzamas -16), the name is actually a P.O. Box number and implies that the place is located some distance from the city of Tomsk (15 km to the NW, in fact).

Seversk is the site of Siberian Chemical Combine (Sibkhimkombinat), founded in 1954. It is comprised of several nuclear reactors and chemical plants for separation, enrichment and reprocessing of uranium and plutonium. Nuclear warheads were being produced and stored on the premises.

One of the most serious nuclear accidents at SCC occurred on April 6, 1993, when a tank containing a highly radioactive solution exploded.

External links

• Seversk city official site(in Russian and English)
• The Siberian Chemical Combine home page (in Russian)