Rosatom State Corporation encompasses over 400 enterprises with diverse profiles within the nuclear energy sector. The corporation’s enterprises employ over 360,000 individuals across approximately 40 subjects of the Russian Federation.

Key enterprises are located in regional industrial hubs — so-called nuclear cities — and often play a pivotal role in their development. As of the end of 2023, Russia is home to 31 nuclear cities, some of which are designated as “ZATO” — a Russian acronym for closed administrative-territorial entities. Additionally, there are satellite towns of nuclear power plants and major scientific centers. The population of an average city is around 70,000, though it can sometimes reach up to 100,000.

Since 2011, the corporation has conducted engagement studies within the nuclear industry’s enterprises to explore the emotional and intellectual states of employees, aiming to identify their primary concerns, areas requiring additional focus, and the level of trust in various communication channels.

Another communication effectiveness assessment tool is the reputation index. Annually, the company evaluates Russia’s public opinion on nuclear energy development to tailor its communication strategies with stakeholders. The findings are made publicly available each year.[64]

The company aims to develop territories and enhance the attractiveness of its operational cities. The upcoming years foresee a personnel requirement estimated at 350,000, necessitating the attraction of new specialists to the sector’s enterprises in single-industry towns and the retention of existing staff. Addressing this challenge requires building effective communication strategies in these cities and intensifying efforts on significant informational events concerning the prospects of local enterprises and life quality improvement.

Various entities involved in communication activities operate within these cities, including not just Rosatom Corporation’s enterprises but also other significant industrial companies, city administrations, branches of federal universities, medical organizations within the Federal Medical and Biological Agency network, private businesses, entrepreneurs, and media of diverse formats.

To elevate the communications of nuclear cities to a new qualitative level, the “Media Station” educational program was launched in the autumn of 2023. This media project accelerator involved teams from 22 cities where the corporation is present. Representatives of city administration press services, industry enterprises, the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, and journalists from city media spent four months learning and creating their media projects “at the same table” — in the format of media (communication) teams. Each media team includes representatives from different organizations working in the same city.

“Our communicators on the ground often lack horizontal connections — each is struggling in a sea of information on their own. Another issue has been the corporation’s lack of joint event info-planning with the cities until recently, meaning everyone was independently managing their agenda. Content quality is also a problem: cities still have a lot of dreary, protocol-heavy officialese; ‘glossing over’ problems instead of substantively addressing negativity… Meanwhile, the residents of nuclear cities form a vast audience — over 2 million people we consider part of our nuclear family, even though not all of them work in the industry,” explains Andrey Timonov, head of Rosatom State Corporation’s Communications Department.

He notes that nuclear cities are in need of specialists — not just new employees for the enterprises themselves but also doctors, teachers, and entrepreneurs. “It is important for us to listen to the residents of nuclear cities, and for them to hear us. Thus, we are serious about developing the communication infrastructure in cities in the long run. It was crucial for us to immediately define target indicators, understand how we measure them, and assess their effectiveness. A tool like this did not exist in the industry before. So we had to invent it,” he says.

The 225 media accelerator participants received weekly knowledge through practical workshops from leading media, crisis communications experts, and digital analysts. In the time between modules, under the guidance of mentors — journalists, media experts, and public opinion leaders, each team applied the acquired knowledge and ultimately created media products, which were pitched to potential clients at the final strategy session. These came from either local administrations or Rosatom enterprises in the cities. Some projects received financial support, and virtually all projects received expert and administrative support.

As a result of the media accelerator, a regular information planning system was established with the involvement of local communications specialist teams in 22 cities; the media network of cities was digitized (237 social media publics and Telegram channels, and 23 websites); content on information occasions significant to the corporation (texts, photos, and audio materials) was created and placed on various media platforms, ensuring an audience reach of over 1.2 million people. Additionally, with the involvement of experts, recommendations for further improving the information planning system in the cities of presence were formulated.

It was crucial for us to immediately define target indicators, understand how we measure them, and assess their effectiveness. A tool like this did not exist in the industry before. So we had to invent it.

As part of the accelerator implementation, Russia’s youngest closed nuclear city in the Penza region launched the beta version of the “Discover Zarechny” website, which offers a virtual tour of the city and information on vacancies from companies and government institutions. As the project authors note, it serves as a tool for finding and attracting workers to Zarechny’s enterprises. Meanwhile the satellite town of Beloyarsk NPP in the Sverdlovsk region launched a Telegram channel called “Medical Unit No. 32” — an information resource for local residents, containing current information on medical services available to the population.

As previously noted, various actors conduct communication activities in nuclear cities. How does one find a comprehensive