The impact of the new model of nuclear industry diversification on the development of the territories of presence (theoretical and practical aspects)

The policy of increasing the share of civilian production by the military-industrial complex (MIC) enterprises announced by the President of the Russian Federation1 has significantly intensified scientific interest in this topic in recent years. The fundamental need to diversify the defense industry is in no doubt, which among other things is confirmed by extensive international experience [1; 2]. At the same time, the certain aspects of this process have been studied to a different extent. In particular, the issue of the impact of the diversification of the activities of defense enterprises, which are the city-forming ones in single-industry towns, on the development of the territories of their presence has not yet been sufficiently worked out.

This problem is relevant and has serious practical significance, since by 2030, defense enterprises should increase the output of civilian products to 50% of the total output. There is a need for a “bundle” of the issues of diversification of the defense industry and the development of their territories, which are mainly studied separately.

The issue reflecting the author’s approach to the problem under study and raised in the article can be considered as one of the aspects of a broader topic – the spatial location of high-tech production and science, causing a certain disagreement even in the basic strategic documents. Thus, the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy of the Russian Federation indicates the need to “support individual territories with a high concentration of research, development, innovation infrastructure, production”2; the Strategy of Spatial Development of the Russian Federation presumes the development of high-tech industries, as well as advanced research and innovation infrastructure (including unique scientific installations of the mega science class) only in large and largest urban agglomerations3. However, mega science class installations available in Russia (the NICA collider in Dubna, the UFL-2M laser installation in Sarov, etc.), and in other countries (for example, large scientific installations in US national laboratories4) can and should (due to their size, special operating conditions, etc.) be located outside of large cities and agglomerations. In addition, the focus on the development of fundamental science is one of the priority forms of diversification of defense research institutes, some of which are located in closed cities.

The author’s approach determined the purpose of the study, which is to assess the impact of the new model of nuclear industry diversification on the development of the territories of presence in theoretical and practical terms. The theoretical aspects of the work detail the theory of the social contract (justification of the three-level model of the social contract, highlighting its features at the municipal level, in particular in single-industry towns and closed administrative-territorial entities (CATE)). The model connects the study of the issues of defense and other organizations diversification, that is, the development of city-forming enterprises and industries, and the development of the territories of presence. The paper considers the changes in the municipal part of the social contract, which consist in replacing the cityforming enterprise with a state corporation as one of the parties to the contract in single-industry towns (in particular in CATE), where the cityforming enterprises are the enterprises of the state corporation Rosatom.

Review of the previous studies

Studies of the social contract, as a development of the social contract idea, have been in the scientists’ field of attention for more than one century. Within the framework of this paper, it is of interest to detail the social contract, to highlight the expectations and obligations of the individual in relation to the three levels of public power – federal, regional and local, which are more often called macro-, meso - and micro-levels of the social contract [3]. In contrast to the “regional contract”, which mainly deals with the relations between regional authorities and business [4], the municipal contract is a “model based on a social contract between the population and the municipal authorities” [3]. Foreign studies pay attention to the “new social contract” developed in the changed conditions of an open economy and society, including the peculiarities of the local contract for different societies5, states, cities [5], as well as in the conditions of changing technologies and the widespread introduction of artificial intelligence [6]. In the domestic economic discourse, a detailed approach to the consideration of the social contract is still only beginning to develop. The strategic interest in the study of social phenomena using the social contract model is emphasized by its importance for the development of human capital, since it is “competition for high-quality human capital ... that will determine the country’s position in the global economic turnover in the 2020s” [7]. This focus is important for our work, as it considers industries and cities where high-tech areas of activity are concentrated.

The problems of single-industry towns’ development are the field for numerous studies of scientists such as economists, sociologists, geographers, historians, etc. The main problems include the dependence of the labor market on the city-forming enterprise, the prevailing influence of external economic processes on all spheres of life of the city; the outflow of the economically active population that does not fit into the activities of the city-forming enterprise, or in connection with its unstable activities; the dependence of the municipal budget on the results of the city-forming enterprise, etc. [8].

As for closed cities, the scientific discussions of recent years have focused more on the legal regime of CATE [9], the peculiarities of local selfgovernment there and the budget process. These approaches are necessary to complement the consideration of CATE as centers of innovative development [10].

In scientific research [11, pp. 12–14] and in state strategizing6, a popular recipe for avoiding the single-industrialization of the city for a certain time was the diversification of the economy through the development of small businesses that are not associated with the city-forming industry. Today, more and more attention is paid to the need for a differentiated approach to the diversification of the economy of single-industry towns [12; 13], focusing on the strategic priorities of the country’s development in this process [14]. The issues of the development of single-industry towns have become more often considered through the prism of the activities of the city-forming enterprise [15, pp. 44–46], including (although still rare) through the possibility of diversifying its activities [16]. Such an approach (the development of single-industry towns using of the opportunities of the city-forming industry or enterprise, and not just diversification or liquidation) is presented in the works of foreign authors [17; 18]. As a result, the research showed interest in the topic of social responsibility of large businesses in the territories of their presence [19] and the transition of this function from individual enterprises to the level of holdings [20]. At the same time, the researchers note that the issues of integrated development of the territories of presence are still in the field of view only of state corporations [21]. The Russian authors pay their attention to the research of scientific and technological [22], organizational [23], state-regulatory [24] functions of state corporations, leaving the analysis of their city-forming significance in the shadow.

The interest in the city-forming function of state corporations in this paper is due to the fact that the diversification of defense industries is more effective within the framework of a holding company or a state corporation [25; 26]. However, the connection between the diversification of defense enterprises, including those within state corporations, and the diversification of the economy of single-industry towns (territories of presence) has not yet been properly reflected in the scientific literature.

Materials and methods of the study

The research methodology is based on the principles of system analysis and institutional economic theory. The authors use such general scientific methods and techniques as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and apply the method of logical modeling. The theoretical basis of the study was the theory of the social contract. The social contract is a triune one, because the individual expects some benefits from the state as a whole, fulfilling their obligations to each of the levels of government – federal, regional, and local. From a formal point of view, this is a certain simulation of the situation, since local self-government bodies (LSGB) are not included in the system of state power (Article 12 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). However, both the federal, regional, and local authorities, within the limits of their powers, are engaged in the creation of public goods, which from the citizen’s point of view allows us to present them as three levels of public power. The article deals with the municipal part of the social contract, in which the resident expects at least the following benefits from the local government: the opportunity to work and earn; comfortable living conditions, including the organization and provision of social benefits; protection of property rights; personal and property security; opportunities to meet social, cultural and economic needs. In single-industry towns, the social contract includes a third party – the city-forming enterprise, since it creates such an important benefit as jobs (both for residents and for local authorities); it provides increased wages (trade, services, etc. develop as an external effect); develops the cultural, sports, and recreational opportunities in the city by owning the relevant facilities, etc. In political terms, the city-forming enterprise forms strong social groups (management and staff, trade unions, etc.), which are of serious, sometimes key, importance in the city. A special feature of the municipal part of the social contract in CATE is the presence of formal rules7, according to which the local government transfers part of its powers to the city-forming enterprise, thereby sharing responsibility for the decisions made and the results achieved in the context of the socioeconomic development of the territory.

The study was based on closed administrative-territorial entities with city-forming enterprises of the nuclear industry. The choice of these cities is determined by the concentration of intellectual resources, technologies, experimental and industrial base there. Formally, not all “nuclear” closed cities are included in the list of single-industry municipalities8, but their actual dependence on the enterprises of the nuclear industry makes it possible to consider them as single-industry towns. We believe that this approach is necessary, because all the problems of single-industry towns are inherent in all of them, and the development of solutions for the development of their economy cannot be carried out without taking into account the influence of the city-forming industry. Approbation of the theoretical provisions of the study was carried out by analyzing the socio-economic situation in the region, identifying development trends, comparing them with theoretical conclusions.

The information base of the research was the official data of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the authorities of the subjects of the Federation, local self-government bodies of the cities under consideration (indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the activities of local self-government bodies for the relevant years, reports of the cities’ heads, strategies for the socioeconomic development of the Russian Federation, reports on budget execution). Data on the activities of the State Corporation Rosatom are taken from the annual reports published on its official website.

Results

Currently, more than 40 localities in the Russian Federation have CATE status. In ten of them, the city-forming organizations are nuclear industry organizations. In addition to CATE, the enterprises of the State Corporation Rosatom are cityforming in 16 more cities. Among the city-forming enterprises, there are both defense and strategically important civilian enterprises.

The modern model of activities diversification of the State Corporation Rosatom, which we call the “new model” (for more information, see [27]), began to form in 2014. The main reasons for this are the following: 1) the need to increase the production of civilian products by defense enterprises, the use of their potential for the development of the domestic high-tech industry; 2) ensuring the stability of defense enterprises’ activities in case of a decrease in the state defense order (SDO); 3) managing the corporation’s product portfolio in the main nondefense sector – nuclear energy, since there are serious risks associated with the policy, activity of foreign competitors, changes in technology, etc.; 4) fulfilling the tasks of the state industrial, scientific, technical, social and regional policy, which implies the status of a state corporation. The model is based on the following principles: organization of the diversification process at three interrelated levels (corporation, division, enterprise); production of new products that correspond to promising areas of economic development; the use of integrator companies that organize the production of new products; the application of the open innovation principle. It is known that for enterprises with a significant stable state defense order, it becomes difficult to establish the production of civilian products [28]. The three-level diversification model helps to transfer a number of organizational issues to the level of the state corporation and divisions, which simplifies the process for the enterprise and at the same time allows using its resources for the development of new production facilities.

The model has proved its worth, the revenue from new civil activities of the Corporation (wind power, nuclear medicine, new materials, digital products, additive technology, control system and electrical engineering, nuclear icebreaker fleet, environmental solutions, etc.) is steadily increasing (Fig. 1a), including, in comparable prices (Fig. 1b).

Figure 1. Total revenue and revenue for new products of the State Corporation Rosatom, billion rubles

□Total revenue      □ New products                      п Total revenue     п New products

• a)    at current prices                                             b) in 2010 prices (using the index

of industrial production)

Compiled by: public reports of the State Corporation Rosatom for the relevant years. Available at: publichnaya-otchetnost/; Industrial production indices / Rosstat. Available at: (accessed April 25, 2021).

Figure 2. The municipal part of the social contract in single-industry towns with the presence of State Corporation Rosatom: a) with the participation of the city-forming enterprise;

Population

Local self-governing bodies

Population

Local self-governing bodies

City-forming enterprise

City-forming enterprise

New enterprises*

• b)    with the participation of the State Corporation

State Corporation

а)

б)

* New enterprises – enterprises created in the process of diversification of the activities of the State Corporation Rosatom. Source: own compilation.

Smolensk oblasts, etc.)9; certain activities in the field of culture, education, digital development, etc.; participation in public and political life, etc.

Summarizing the actions of the State Corporation, we can talk about changing the municipal part of the social contract in singleindustry towns, where the nuclear industry enterprises are the main ones. The Corporation replaces the city-forming enterprise and assumes an obligation (expectations of the population and local authorities) – the creation of a skilled, highly paid jobs (Fig. 2) .

The social contract refers to informal institutions that are used to change slowly. In this case, a number of formal institutional actions (state corporations, federal subjects, local self-government bodies) that correspond to the expectations and motivations of each of the parties led to changes in the informal institution. As a result, each party receives benefits:

– State Corporation – new production facilities, which contributes to the achievement of its three goals: increasing the sustainability of the main enterprises of the industry, the production of civilian products and the development of the territories of presence;

• –    city (local self-government bodies) – highly paid jobs, which increases the authority of the local government, the possibility of extending its powers;

• –    employees of enterprises – the opportunity to work in accordance with their qualifications, good salary, career opportunities;

• –    the rest of the population – expectations for the new jobs, an increase in the money supply in the city, the development of trade, services, etc.

Let us consider the reasons that contribute to the social contract changing and its support by all parties. Observations show that the CATE’s population depends on the state of affairs at the city-forming enterprise. Thus, in the cities where the number of personnel of the city-forming enterprise was reduced as part of the restructuring of production carried out by the State Corporation Rosatom (Seversk, Novouralsk, Zelenogorsk), there

Table 1. Change in the population of the cities of Seversk, Novouralsk, Zelenogorsk and city-forming enterprises, 2009-2017, thousand people

Seversk Novouralsk Zelenogorsk JSC “Siberian Chemical Plant” City JSC “Ural Electrochemical Plant” City JSC “Electrochemical Plant” City 2009 12.7 113.8 12.1 107.5 9.5 68.5 2019 3.3 106.5 2.1 80.4 1.9 61.6 Compiled by: [29]; Regions of Russia. Main socio-economic indicators of cities / Federal State Statistics Service. Available at: ; Annual report of JSC “Siberian Chemical Plant”. Available at: ; Annual report of JSC “Ural Electrochemical Plant”. Available at: aspx?id=17109&type=3&attempt=1;

Table 2. Indicators of socio-economic development of CATE and the cities of the respective regions

Region / city Population change, 2004–2020, % Budget security, thousand rubles/person, 2019 Average salary for large and medium-sized enterprises, thousand rubles, 2019 Nizhny Novgorod Oblast 35.2 Sarov CATE +9.1 36.7 61.6 Nizhny Novgorod -2.0 23.6 49.7 Dzerzhinsk -11.2 24.1 Arzamas -4.0 28.6 Penza Oblast 30.7 Zarechnyi CATE +4.6 35.0 36.4 Penza +1.0 27.5 36.9 Kuznetsk -12.6 20.3 Chelyabinsk Oblast 37.4 Snezhinsk CATE +2.4 49.5 45.8 Ozersk CATE -14.4 43.0 47.5 Trekhgornyi CATE -5.2 44.1 44.3 Chelyabinsk +11.7 38.0 43.7 Zlatoust -14.9 30.0 Troitsk -12.5 31.0 Sverdlovsk Oblast 41.1 Novouralsk CATE -15.5 59.6 44.7 Lesnoy CATE -7.5 49.5 39.2 Yekaterinburg +14.4 32.2 54.8 Pervouralsk -8.1 31.0 Kamensk-Uralskyi -9.1 39.6 Krasnoyarsk Krai 49.9 Zheleznogorsk CATE -11.9 40.6 53.1 Zelenogorsk CATE -11.2 41.9 42.4 Krasnoyarsk +19.8 31.46 54.6 Achinsk -9.7 30.7 Kansk -13.0 29.0 Tomsk Oblast 45.5 Seversk CATE -11.0 40.1 47.1 Tomsk +22.4 30.8 51.8 Compiled by: Regions of Russia. Main socio-economic indicators of cities. FSGS. Available at: document/13206; Average monthly nominal accrued wages of employees for the full range of organizations in the economy as a whole for the subjects of the Russian Federation since 2018. FSGS. Available at: ; Consolidated reports of the regions on the results of monitoring the effectiveness of the activities of the local self-government bodies at the end of 2019 (websites of the governments of the subjects of the Federation); Indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the activities of local self-government bodies of urban districts for 2019, reports of heads of administrations for 2019, reports on the implementation of budgets for 2019 (sites of city administrations: , , , , , , , https://xn , , , , , , http://dzadm. ru, , , , , (accessed January 05, 2021). was a corresponding decrease in the population (Table 1). In general, in 2004–2020, the population of these cities decreased by 11–15% (Table 2). Enterprises no longer correspond to the status of city-forming enterprises on formal grounds (in Seversk, Rosatom employs 5.7% of the population employed in the city’s economy, in Zelenogorsk – 8%, in Novouralsk – 10.4%)10.

In the entities locating the enterprises of the nuclear weapons complex, the situation is fundamentally different. The number of employees of these enterprises either did not change, or slightly increased, accounting for 32–50%11 of the total number of employees in the city’s economy. The population of such cities from 2004 to 2020 either increased (Sarov, Zarechnyi, Snezhinsk), or slightly decreased (Trekhgornyi, Lesnoy).

Migration processes are crucial, since almost all countries have experienced a natural population decline over the past 15 years. Single-industry towns are left by specialists of working age and school graduates after receiving higher education at universities in large cities, and are replenished mainly by residents of the nearby rural areas12. The decline in the number of jobs at the cityforming enterprises has led to a new trend for

CATE – a noticeable pendulum migration to cities located relatively close to regional centers: up to 7–8 thousand people leave Novouralsk daily for work in Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Tagil13; about 18 thousand leave Seversk14; 6–8 thousand leave Zarechnyi15. At the same time, several thousand people of low-skilled labor enter CATE every day16.

The dynamics of changes in CATE population as a whole corresponds to the trends inherent in other cities of the regions where they are located. The exceptions are Sarov and Zarechnyi, where the population growth rate is even higher than in the regional centers (see Table 2).

The average salary in most cities is higher than the average for the region of location. In CATE, the city-forming enterprises of which belong to the defense industry (Sarov, Snezhinsk, Ozersk, Trekhgorny, etc.), the average salaries are higher or comparable to the level of the corresponding regional centers.

The basis of CATE economy, however, is the city-forming enterprises, which (including those that have been restructured) have been operating steadily in recent years. Small businesses in most regions are developing more slowly compared to the region where they are located and are not a development resource for the city ( Table 3 ). This situation has persisted steadily since the 1990s. We considered its causes earlier [30].

Table 3. The share of employees in small and medium-sized enterprises, 2015–2019, % of the average number of employees of all enterprises and organizations

Region / city	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast	no data	no data	no data	no data	33.3
Sarov CATE	22.8	22.3	19.1	13.9	17.6
Dzerzhinsk*	45.3	44.7	45.2	38.6	38.6
Arzamas*	19.1	17.9	18.4	18.0	16.7
Penza Oblast	44.,1	no data	no data	21.17	27.14
Zarechnyi CATE	13.6	15.2	20.5	20.9	21.5
Chelyabinsk Oblast	no data	no data	25.5	25	24.5
Ozersk CATE	14.7	14.8	21.5	21.5	21.3
Trekhgornyi CATE	no data	24.1	26.0	30.4	16.5
Sverdlovsk Oblast	31.3	no data	no data	31.2	31.5
Novouralsk CATE	25.6	25.6	25.5	25.4	25.3
Lesnoy CATE	21.4	21.4	21.5	21.8	21.6
Krasnoyarsk Krai	31.3	30.6	22.0	32.5	31.1
Zheleznogorsk CATE	33.2	33.8	21.6	20.6	20.1
Zelenogorsk CATE	27.1	28.3	25.7	25.6	25.4
Tomsk Oblast	37.5	26.0	28.9	27.1	no data
Seversk CATE	41.2	42.1	42.3	42.4	43.3

* Data for comparable cities are provided due to the lack of data for the region as a whole.

Compiled by: Summary reports of the regions on the results of monitoring the effectiveness of the activities of the local self-government bodies for the corresponding years (websites of the governments of the subjects of the Federation); Indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the local government bodies of urban districts for the relevant years (sites of city administrations: https://adm-sarov. ru, , , , , , , , , , , , (accessed May 10, 2021).

Figure 3. The number of residents in TASED CATE and similar cities in terms of population and specialization, November 2020, units

The population of cities, thousand people, is shown in parentheses.

Compiled by: Register of residents of Territories of advanced Socio-economic Development in the territories of Singleindustry Municipalities of the Russian Federation (single-industry towns). Available at: directions/regionalnoe_razvitie/instrumenty_razvitiya_territoriy/tor/; Register of TASED residents in CATE of the nuclear industry. Available at: (accessed December 21, 2020).

The creation of territories of advanced socioeconomic development (TASED) in the Russian Federation has not yet led to a significant development of small and medium-sized businesses. The number of residents there as of November 2020 was insignificant and roughly corresponded to the average values in other TASED regions of the location (from 2 to 9 residents), which is significantly different from the indicators of some TASED in similar cities in terms of population and specialization (nuclear industry, defense industry): Dimitrovgrad, Sarapul, Kumertau, etc. (Figure 3) .

Budget security in CATE is higher than in other cities in the regions of location (see Table 2). Additional budget transfers are due to the CATE status. In general, the increased budget security has been maintained for the last 15 years [31, p. 153, 214]. Additional budget revenues help local authorities to fulfill their current obligations, but they cannot provide solutions to complex tasks of infrastructure modernization, breakthrough development, etc. [25].

Discussion

The considered processes allow us to make a number of generalizations. The socio-economic situation in the city depends fundamentally on the city-forming enterprise. The reduction in the number of its staff leads to a decrease in the city’s population and average city salaries (respectively, the purchasing power of the population as a whole, which does not contribute to business development), an increase in pendulum migration. Thus, the attractiveness of the city for work and life is reduced. Small businesses in CATE are developing slowly. Low-skilled jobs are not attractive for CATE residents.

We may assume that in the future, in the event of job cuts or other negative changes, the skilled labor force will look for jobs in other cities. At the same time, the city-forming enterprises that are of strategic importance and, based on forecasts, are still in demand in the long term17, need both the current replenishment of the labor force and the possible expansion of production volumes (taking into account the dependence of the activities of these enterprises on politics). In such conditions, they must have a reserve of qualified labor and well-established ways to attract it (at least, university graduates having necessary specialties and qualifications).

One of the opportunities for the formation of such a reserve may be the creation of enterprises in CATE that are close to the technological level of the city-forming ones. Practice has shown that private business does not create such enterprises in Russia. A possible way is to initiate this process by the state corporation Rosatom, which, on the one hand, is actively working to diversify its activities, on the other hand, has significant experience in CATE and obligations to support the territories. New companies can be created by both integrators and city-forming enterprises by allocating separate civil areas. In this case, we are not talking about restructuring, that is, the withdrawal of service activities (transport, catering, repairs, etc.) into separate legal entities, but rather about the allocation of high-tech civilian production facilities.

From a theoretical point of view, such a process leads to changes in the municipal part of the social contract, forming an appropriate balance of benefits and costs for its parties.

Employment in high-tech enterprises located in the general management of Rosatom is more attractive than in private business for the population

(employees of enterprises and job applicants). In exchange for this benefit, the population offers skilled labor, loyalty to the state corporation (and to the state in its person), including political stability and predictability.

For city-forming enterprises, especially defense enterprises, the process of creating civil production facilities by the state corporation allows not to be distracted by the formation of a parallel management system. It is no secret that the management system within the framework of the State Defense System and the market differs markedly, while the heads of defense enterprises are not always interested in replacing the state defense order with civilian products [23].

For local governments, however, the formation of new enterprises is important, since it is extremely difficult to attract business to the territory. In this aspect, it is easier to create a new business in CATE for the state corporation Rosatom than in the city and even in the region: local governments most often do not have the funds for this, interested and experienced production organizers, ways to motivate investors; the region is likely to prioritize less developed municipalities than CATE. The state corporation can attract not only investments, but also the necessary specialists and technologies. Interaction with large customers and suppliers is easier for it.

The expansion of production increases the problem of attracting and retaining personnel. High-tech industries require highly qualified specialists and graduates of leading universities, for which CATE are competing with the largest megacities. In order for the work in CATE to be interesting for specialists, it is necessary not only to have an appropriate level of salary, but also to have comfortable living conditions. A small city is significantly inferior to large agglomerations in terms of the quality and quantity of social services, leisure attractiveness, etc. CATEs have a number of formal restrictions in addition to this. In order to offset such differences to some extent, it is necessary to purposefully develop strengths, in particular, to build comfortable housing that is affordable for a specialist (the city-forming enterprise and the city can help here); to ensure safety (which is easier to do in case of CATE); to improve the city territory, focusing on natural recreation; to ensure a high level of education for children; to develop medicine, etc. Foreign studies confirm the conclusions about the need for a favorable quality of life to attract scientists and specialists in high-tech industries [32; 33].

Creating comfortable living conditions within the framework of the social contract is the responsibility of the MHI. However, it is almost impossible for them to create conditions that could compete with megacities independently. The state corporation can also help with this. First, it provides lobbying support at the level of the country’s top leadership and federal executive bodies. It is clear that the key condition on the part of the MHI will be the full loyalty of the state corporation. The issue of creating comfortable living conditions is included not only in the municipal, but also in the regional part of the social contract, which implies the inclusion of a state corporation in it.

Conclusion

The justification of the three-level model of the social contract, the allocation of its features at the municipal level for single-industry towns determined the scientific novelty of the research and its contribution to the general theory of the social contract.

A joint study of the issues of diversification in the nuclear industry and the development of the territories of presence allowed us to conclude that the proposed model of the social contract is adaptable to changing conditions. In particular, replacing the city-forming enterprise in the municipal part of the contract with the state corporation, which it is a part of, does not distort the essence of the social contract, but expands opportunities for the development of the territory of presence by creating new jobs, increasing revenues to the local budget, developing urban infrastructure, etc., generally increasing the comfort of life. Such changes, considered in the context of the nuclear industry, are due to the introduction of a new diversification model where the creation of new civilian products is organized in the territories of presence. The new version of the social contract seems to be promising taking into account the planned dynamics of the production of new products by Rosatom18. The presented model confirms its viability and relevance in practice, and may be of interest to single-industry towns, city-forming enterprises and holdings of other industries19. The basic principles of the study have been tested in the nuclear industry and can be used to develop strategic documents for spatial development, programs for the development of single-industry towns, city-forming enterprises and holdings.