IRTO Siberia
The Trans-Siberian Research Complex (Транссибирский научно-исследовательский комплекс), also known as IRTO Siberia, and originally constructed in the 1960s as a partnership between the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Russian military, is a massive, partially subterranean research complex located beneath the Kupino Airbase in Novosibirsk Oblast. The facility is comprised of two main segments connected by a train system; the central administration block, which housed offices, conference rooms, storage, and personnel accommodation, and the main facility, which housed systems for satellite communication, bridge control, engineering, computing, and the bridge generation systems themselves. The site is simultaneously one of the oldest-built and large IRTO facilities and provides capabilities deemed irreplaceable worldwide.
IRTO Siberia | |
| Established | February 4, 1961 |
|---|---|
| Research type | Bridge laboratory |
| Budget | U€21 billion (2275) |
Field of research | Exophysics |
| Director | Renée Masson |
| Staff | 67,398 (2275) |
| Location | Kupino, Novosibirisk Oblast, Russia 54°21′04″N 77°21′21″E / 54.35111°N 77.35583°E |
| Affiliations | Interdimensional Research Treaty Organisation |
Operating agency | Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics |
| Website | tsrc |
| Map | |
  Location in Novosibirsk Oblast | |
History
The facility was built in an effort to replicate Nevrin's early exophysics research after the success of a massive intelligence operation conducted against the company by the Federal Security Service (FSB) that had infiltrated the Girvan Offshore Science Facility. Originally shrouded in secrecy, after the passing of the Einstein-Rosen Accords, the facility was opened to the international scientific community for the first time, albeit under strict restrictions, and became Russia's first bridge laboratory. It continued to be upgraded over the following decades; first to a Gen 2 bridge lab, and then to Gen 3. As the years went by, the facility gradually became more westernised, and the Russian government's restrictions around the facility loosened. However, there are still some areas of the facility that remain off-limits to the present day.