Sillamaë is a small New Town in the north west of Estonia, close to the Russian border. It is an area rich with oil shale. The prewar settlement which was mainly a resort village, was destroyed during the war. Because of the presence of uranium, the USSR decided to rebuilt the pre-war powerplant into a uranium factory. This was part of the policy of the USSR to industrialise the mainly agrarian Estonia.
During the occupancy by the USSR until 1991, Sillamäe was a closed city due to the secrecy of the uranium production. Therefore the town is only connected by one single road to the main highway, which was guarded by a checkpoint.
The inhabitants are mostly Russian seniors and the amount of inhabitants is shrinking.