5. Two training courses for one group of Russian strategic nuclear forces personnel. A total of 16 people attended these courses.

6. One training course for senior command officers, attended by approximately 30 people.

Overall, approximately 370 Russian Defense Ministry personnel received training in different aspects of MPC&A. This made it possible to launch the new systems and ensure their reliable operation during the initial phase.

But guarantee periods always come to an end sooner or later and the staff working at sites gradually changes. Protection of nuclear materials, meanwhile, requires the reliable and guaranteed long-term work of the systems in place, from both a technical and personnel point of view (personnel are needed for technical servicing and repairs and for the systems’ operation).

Practice in developing and operating the MPC&A systems at the Northern Fleet sites highlighted the need to establish specialized regional training and technical centers as the most effective solution to providing systematic training for personnel and technical service to maintain these complex systems in operational state.

Work began on establishing just such a center, the Kola Training and Technical Center (KTTC), in Severomorsk in 2001, in close cooperation with the Russian Navy, the Kurchatov Institute and the U.S. national laboratories. This center will train personnel and provide technical servicing for MPC&A systems not only at Russian naval sites but also at other Defense Ministry sites and civilian sites. All equipment used for physical protection systems at special facilities is of Russian origin. And all personnel working at these facilities are trained with the purpose of operating this very equipment, not American equipment.

Design of the KTTC began at the end of 2001 and construction began in mid-2002. The KTTC consists of a group of functionally interrelated buildings and facilities that blend harmoniously into the urban design of the city of Severomorsk and are located on a territory measuring 0.66 hectares in area. The complex includes:

• a training center

• a test ground for Technical Protection Systems

• workshops

• a training checkpoint

• a training zone for technical inspections

• a distribution sub-station

• a module-based diesel electricity station

• engineering and communications infrastructure for the complex’s operations

Functional ergonomics and optimization of the interrelations between the different parts of the complex are at the basis of all the design and planning solutions for the buildings and facilities.