Novouralsk (, lit. new town in the Urals) is a closed town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, about north of Yekaterinburg, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was formerly known as Sverdlovsk-44 (). Although it came into being during World War II and was named Novouralsk in 1954, it was kept secret until 1994. It has had closed town status since its establishment. Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of the administrative divisions, it is, together with five rural localities, incorporated as the closed administrative-territorial formation of Novouralsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the closed administrative-territorial formation of Novouralsk is incorporated as Novouralsky Urban Okrug. Economy The town is laid out in a grid format, divided north/south by the central street on which the main administrative building is located. It is subdivided into five residential districts, each covering 10,000 hectares. The town's economy is dominated by the nuclear, automobile, and construction industries. The Ural Electrochemical Plant's main activities are uranium enrichment and the development of centrifuge technology, as well as the manufacture of instruments and industrial systems for the nuclear industry. The plant began operating in 1949 and was the site of the Soviet Union's first gaseous diffusion enrichment plant. In 1950, certain technical difficulties were resolved and UECP began producing tens of kilograms of 90 percent enriched uranium. The original plant, called D-1, was extended to include plant D-3 in 1951, and plants D-4 and D-5 in 1953. Officials from the Ministry of Atomic Industry once said that Sverdlovsk-44 was the only plant ever used to produce weapons-grade highly enriched uranium. The plant led the development of Russian centrifuge technology, has used seventh-generation gas centrifuges since 1996 and has developed eighth-generation centrifuges. UECP now produces LEU using centrifuge technology. It is one of four Russian enrichment facilities. Another major industrial enterprise was the Urals Auto Motor Plant, founded in 1967. It was the subsidiary of the Likhachyov Moscow's Auto Motor Plant. However, the Urals Auto Motor Plant declared bankruptcy in 2000 and was later acquired by Automobiles and Motors of the Urals, a joint Russian-Chinese car manufacturing venture. Education and culture Novouralsk's educational facilities include Novouralsks Engineering Physical Institute, Polytechnic College, Medical College, Pedagogical College. There are also twenty-two schools and twenty-seven kindergartens. Modern-day Novouralsk has two