The film documents the lives of the people in Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, also known as Ozersk, code named "City 40". The town is near Mayak, the birthplace of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons program as well as the location of the Kyshtym disaster. The town was modeled after plans stolen from the United States, who created their own secret atomic cities. The people living in Ozersk believe that they are saving the world. They are trapped by barbed wire fences and heavily-guarded gates, but have better-than-average access to groceries and other supplies that citizens outside of the city do not have.