The article presents an assessment of social development of Desnogorsk in comparison with other cities in Smolensk region. According to the research, Desnogorsk is a leader on a numbers of social development parameters. However, some parameters are lower than the average values. The social development of Desnogorsk is higher than that of the other cities in the region, but it has been declining since 1996 and now it is gradually approaching the average regional level. The main reason is the transfer of social responsibility from the city-forming enterprise to the city administration and the rapid population decline of the city. In the post-Soviet period there began an out-migration from Desnogorsk, mainly among young population. It is primarily caused by the monopropellant economy and the optimization of the industry. The socio-economic gap between the employees of nuclear power plants and other residents is gradually increasing. Desnogorsk displays the lowest level of labor mobility, if compared to other cities in the region. The low level of labor migration together with the migration outflow indicates a low adaptation of the population to economic and social changes.
social development, Desnogorsk, nuclear power industry, Smolensk NPP, satellite town of NPP, closed city, migration outflow
