View source for Seversk

{{Short description|Closed city in Tomsk Oblast, Russia}}
{{About|the closed city in Tomsk Oblast|the city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine|Siversk}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Infobox Russian inhabited locality
| en_name                 = Seversk
| ru_name                 = Северск
| loc_name1               = 
| loc_lang1               = 
| loc_name2               = 
| loc_lang2               = 
| loc_name3               = 
| loc_lang3               = 
| loc_name4               = 
| loc_lang4               = 
| other_name              = 
| other_lang              = 
| image_skyline           = Seversk Kurchatova.jpg
| image_caption           = Kurchatova Street in Seversk
| image_map               = 
| map_caption             = 
| coordinates             = {{coord|56|36|N|84|51|E|display=inline,title}}
| image_flag              = Flag of Seversk (Tomsk oblast).svg
| flag_caption            = 
| image_coa               = Coat of Arms of Seversk.svg
| coa_caption             = 
| anthem                  = 
| anthem_ref              = 
| holiday                 = 
| holiday_ref             = 
<!-- administrative status -->
| federal_subject         = [[Tomsk Oblast]]
| federal_subject_ref     = <ref name="Ref267" />
| adm_district_jur        = 
| adm_district_jur_ref    = 
| adm_inhabloc_jur        = Seversk [[City of federal subject significance|City Under Oblast Jurisdiction]]
| adm_inhabloc_jur_ref    = <ref name="Ref267" />
| adm_citydistrict_jur    = 
| adm_citydistrict_type   = 
| adm_citydistrict_jur_ref = 
| adm_selsoviet_jur       = 
| adm_selsoviet_type      = 
| adm_selsoviet_jur_ref   = 
| capital_of              = 
| capital_of_ref          = 
| adm_ctr_of1             = Seversk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction 
| adm_ctr_of1_ref         = <ref name="Ref267" /> 
| adm_ctr_of2             = 
| adm_ctr_of2_ref         = 
| adm_ctr_of3             = 
| adm_ctr_of3_ref         = 
| inhabloc_cat            = City
| inhabloc_cat_ref        = <ref name="Ref267" />
| inhabloc_type           = 
| inhabloc_type_ref       = 
<!-- municipal status -->
| mun_district_jur        = 
| mun_district_jur_ref    = 
| urban_okrug_jur         = Seversk Urban Okrug
| urban_okrug_jur_ref     = <ref name="Ref898" />
| urban_settlement_jur    = 
| urban_settlement_jur_ref = 
| rural_settlement_jur    = 
| rural_settlement_jur_ref = 
| inter_settlement_territory = 
| inter_settlement_territory_ref = 
| mun_admctr_of1          = Seversk Urban Okrug 
| mun_admctr_of1_ref      = <ref name="Ref898" /> 
| mun_admctr_of2          = 
| mun_admctr_of2_ref      = 
| leader_title            = Mayor
| leader_title_ref        = 
| leader_name             = Nikolay Didenko
| leader_name_ref         = 
| representative_body     = 
| representative_body_ref = 
<!-- statistics -->
| elevation_m             = 
| area_km2                = 
| area_km2_ref            = 
| pop_2010census          = 108590
| pop_2010census_rank     = 149th
| pop_2010census_ref      = <ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref>
| pop_latest              = 
| pop_latest_date         = 
| pop_latest_ref          = 
| population_demonym      = 
| time_zone_ref           = 
<!-- history -->
| established_date        = 1949
| established_title       = 
| established_date_ref    = 
| current_cat_date        = 1956
| current_cat_date_ref    = 
| abolished_date          = 
| abolished_date_ref      = 
<!-- misc -->
| postal_codes            = 636000
| postal_codes_ref        = 
| dialing_codes           = 3823
| dialing_codes_ref       = 
| website                 = http://seversknet.ru/
}}
'''Seversk''' ({{langx|ru|Се́верск}}, {{IPA|ru|ˈsʲevʲɪrsk|IPA}}) is a [[closed city]] in [[Tomsk Oblast]], [[Russia]], located {{convert|15|km|sp=us}} northwest of [[Tomsk]] on the right bank of the [[Tom River]]. The population was 108,590 at the 2010 census and 109,106 at the 2002 census.

It was previously known as ''Pyaty Pochtovy'' (until 1949){{Clarify|reason=below it states it was known by this name until 1954-- was it 1949 or 1954?|date=November 2022}} and ''Tomsk-7'' (until 1992).

==Geography==
The city is located {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} northwest of Tomsk on the right bank of the [[Tom River]].

===Climate===
Seversk has a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Dfb'') with warm summer. The annual average temperature is {{convert|0.6|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. The average temperature in January is between {{convert|-21|and|-13|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. The average temperature in July is {{convert|19.2|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. The total annual rainfall is {{convert|530|mm|in|sp=us}}.

==History==
Founded in 1949, it was known as '''Pyaty Pochtovy''' ({{lang|ru|Пя́тый Почто́вый}}, lit. ''the Fifth Postal'') until 1954 and as '''Tomsk-7''' ({{lang|ru|Томск-7}}) until 1992.{{citation needed|date=May 2010}} City status was granted to it in 1956.{{citation needed|date=May 2010}}

==Administrative and municipal status==
Within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|framework of administrative divisions]], it is, together with five [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|rural localities]], incorporated as '''Seversk [[City of federal subject significance|City Under Oblast Jurisdiction]]'''—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the [[administrative divisions of Tomsk Oblast|districts]].<ref name="Ref267">Law #271-OZ</ref> As a [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions|municipal division]], Seversk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as '''Seversk Urban Okrug'''.<ref name="Ref898">Decision #69/1</ref>

==Economy==
Seversk is the site of the [[Siberian Chemical Combine]], founded in 1954. It comprises several [[nuclear reactor]]s and chemical plants for separation, enrichment, and reprocessing of [[uranium]] and [[plutonium]]. Following an agreement in March 2003 between [[Russia]] and the [[United States]] to shut down Russia's three remaining plutonium-producing reactors, two of the three plutonium producing reactors (the two that are situated in Seversk, at the [[Sibirskaya Nuclear Power Plant]]) were shut down.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://world-nuclear-news.org/print.aspx?id=18136|title=Russia shuts second plutonium-producing reactor at Seversk|date=6 June 2008|publisher=World Nuclear News|access-date=August 26, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726095422/http://world-nuclear-news.org/print.aspx?id=18136|archive-date=July 26, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>The remaining operating production reactor is sited at [[Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai|Zheleznogorsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai]].</ref>

[[Nuclear weapon|Nuclear warheads]] are produced and stored on the premises. One of the most serious [[nuclear accident]]s at SGCE{{explain|reason=What is SGCE?|date=April 2024}} occurred on April&nbsp;6, 1993, when a tank containing a highly [[radioactivity|radioactive]] solution exploded (see [[Seversk#Tomsk-7 explosion|§ Tomsk-7 explosion]]).

== Secret city ==
[[File:Seversk checkpoint.jpg|thumb|left|Central entry checkpoint]]

Seversk had been a secret city in the [[Soviet Union]] until President [[Boris Yeltsin]] decreed in 1992 that such cities could use their historical names. The town had not been marked on the official maps until then. As was the tradition with Soviet towns containing secret facilities, the designation "Tomsk-7" (like its predecessor "Pyaty Pochtovy") is simply a [[postal code]] which implies that the place is located close to the city of Tomsk.

For many years, residents have been restricted from entering or leaving the city. Upon leaving Seversk, residents had to surrender their special entry passes at the checkpoint and it was forbidden to discuss where they worked or lived. In 1987, some restrictions were lifted due to the large number of residents who worked or studied in Tomsk.

The city still remains closed to non-residents. There are six checkpoints where visitors must show entry documents. Permission to visit the city may only be granted by the appropriate authorities by a request of the institution being visited, or by a request of a private party such as a close relative. Visitors can apply for entry passes at the main checkpoint; prior to May 2007, they needed to visit a special office in Tomsk.

==Tomsk-7 explosion==
There was a [[nuclear and radiation accidents|nuclear accident]] at the [[Tomsk-7 Reprocessing Complex]] on 6 April 1993, when a tank exploded due to formation of [[red oil]], while [[nitric acid]] was being added to a [[PUREX|plutonium-uranium mixture]]. The explosion had a force of approximately 100 [[TNT equivalent|kg of TNT]] and blew out a large section of the exterior wall of the high level radioactive processing room,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://xcdsystem.com/wmsym/archives//1997/sess36/36-09.htm|title = 36-09}}</ref> releasing a cloud of radioactive gas. The cloud was dispersed northwards by the wind, with some of the radioactive material settling over the neighboring village of [[Georgiyevka, Tomsk Oblast|Georgiyevka]].

[[Time (magazine)|''TIME'' magazine]] has identified the Tomsk-7 explosion as one of the world's 10 [[List of nuclear and radiation fatalities by country|"worst nuclear disasters"]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887705,00.html|title=The Worst Nuclear Disasters |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]|access-date=August 26, 2009|date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> The [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] considers the event a [[International Nuclear Event Scale|Level 3 "serious incident"]].<ref>THE RADIOLOGICAL ACCIDENT IN THE REPROCESSING PLANT AT TOMSK, [[International Atomic Energy Agency]], https://www-pub.iaea.org/mtcd/publications/pdf/p060_scr.pdf</ref>

==Culture==
Seversk has{{when|date=August 2022}} nine municipal cultural and artistic institutions, as well as four establishments of additional education for children of artistic and aesthetic focus.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} There is also a nonprofit organization, Ostrovsky House of Culture,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110823160251/http://old.seversknet.ru/city/fotoalb/20.html Ostrovsky House of Culture]</ref> and a cinema called Mir.<ref>[http://www.seversknet.ru/culture/mir/ "Mir"].</ref>

==Education==
There is a major post-secondary school in the city, the [[Seversk State Technological Academy]], a branch of [[Moscow Engineering Physics Institute]].

==Notable people from Seversk==
* [[Anastasia Shishmakova]] (born 2000), Russian group [[rhythmic gymnast]].
* [[Margarita Aliychuk]] (born 1990), Russian group [[rhythmic gymnast]] and [[Olympic champion]]
* [[Lyubov Yegorova (cross-country skier)|Lyubov Yegorova]] (born 1966), [[cross-country skiing|cross-country skier]] and [[Olympic champion]]

==See also==
*[[Kyshtym disaster]]
*[[List of closed cities]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|tom|adm|law}}
*{{RussiaBasicLawRef|tom|seversk}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[http://seversknet.ru Official website of Seversk] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110823153934/http://old.seversknet.ru/city/fotoalb/ Photo album of Seversk]
*[http://www.atomsib.ru Official website of the Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060512015901/http://bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bisdoc/SiberianGroupChemicalEnterprises.htm BISNIS report about SGCE]
*[https://towiki.ru/view/Газета_«Новый_Диалог» Newspaper Novyj Dialog]

{{Tomsk Oblast}}
{{Closed cities of the former Soviet Union}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Tomsk Oblast]]
[[Category:Closed cities]]
[[Category:Naukograds]]
[[Category:Radiation accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1949]]
[[Category:Socialist planned cities]]