Ozersk

2019

Ozersk is a closed city with a population of about 80,000 people, where a state company called Mayak produces nuclear weapons components and isotopes, stores and regenerates spent nuclear fuel, and arranges its disposal and the disposal of other radioactive waste. A plutonium charge for the first Soviet atomic bomb was created here. Access is possible only by obtaining a pass for a certain period of stay, which makes it impossible to find here any "random" people who do not have family or professional ties with it. Due to its secret, sensitive status, it was created as an absolutely enclosed, self-sufficient entity with all the structures and goods necessary for residents. One gets the impression of a place with a utopian history, which is felt even now: a clean city without graffiti, with fragrant apple trees and Stalinist buildings in the "old city".

This atmosphere contrasts with the fact that there is a plant nearby that produces components for nuclear weapons and belies the picture of serene, everyday life. In 1957 «Mayak» was the site of the Kyshtym disaster, one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. During this catastrophe, a poorly maintained storage tank exploded, releasing 50–100 tons of radioactive waste to the atmosphere. The resulting radioactive cloud spread out to the north east direction from Ozersk covering a huge territory which is still a restricted area.

Audio recordings were made during the conversations with the local citizens. Most of them are working on Mayak plant or worked there in the past.