Despite its name, the centre was not involved either with military atomic science or nuclear reactors— instead, its concentration was on high-energy physics (particularly plasma physics) and particle physics. In 1961 the institute began building VEP-1,[1][2] the first particle accelerator in the Soviet Union which collided two beams of particles, just a few months after the ADA collider became operational at the Frascati National Laboratories in Italy in February 1961.[3] The BINP now employs over 3000 people, and hosts several research groups and facilities.