Industrial Restructuring and the Political Economy in Russia

The nuclear cities have been isolated for security reasons for many decades, and this has also resulted in economic isolation. Their sole output has been research, materials, and hardware for nuclear weapons. As Russian government funding for these activities decreases, it is strongly in the interest of the United States to find productive civilian activities for the weapon scientists and technicians to discourage proliferation to aspiring nuclear weapon states. The best chance of doing this in a sustainable fashion is to help build the civilian economies of these isolated cities.