The idea of creating a new research institute and restricted-access town came to the mind of outstanding physicist Kirill Schelkin. It was Schelkin (by the way, the man pressing the start button during the test of the UUSR’s first atomic bomb in August 1949) who had taken a lot of pains before the Council of Ministers ruled to create a new institute in 1954. Executing this decree minister A. Zavenyagin signed on April 5, 1955 order No.252 dealing with the tasks, structure and management of Research Institute No.1011. According to this document, the mission of the new establishment lay in “development of aerial atomic and thermonuclear bombs of different designs, and special warheads for different types of atomic and thermonuclear weapons, as well as creating conditions for further training of designer and researcher staff in this field.”

A plot of land with the area of over 100 square km was allotted to the institute in Kaslinsky district of Chelyabinsk region, while Schelkin was appointed academic director and chief designer of the establishment. Later, both the institute and the town changed names many times, yet the mission remained the same – development of nuclear weapons. After the first academic director retired, outstanding scientist Yevgeny Zababakhin replaced him in this position. He had worked at Chelyabinsk-70 for over twenty five years. After the scientist’s death, the Russian Federal Nuclear Center was named after him.