(Almaty) Kazakhs voted Sunday in a referendum in favor of building the first nuclear power plant in this Central Asian country, the world’s largest producer of uranium, but lacking electricity.
According to two polls broadcast on state television after the polls closed, the “yes” vote won with around 70% of the votes. The Electoral Commission, which announced a participation of 63.87%, must communicate the final results on Monday.
France, via EDF, is in the running to build this plant, as are Russia and China, the two main powers in the region, as well as South Korea.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev indicated on Sunday that he preferred an “international consortium made up of global companies with cutting-edge technologies”, without specifying his thoughts.
According to him, it will be “the largest project in the history of independent Kazakhstan”.
The campaign in favor of “yes” has been one-sided in this country which, despite a stated desire to ease pressure on civil society since the election of Mr. Tokayev in 2019, maintains its authoritarian reflexes.
To ensure high participation, the authorities notably authorized Kazakhs to vote even if they were not registered on the electoral lists, while buses were free in large cities.
“The referendum itself is another proof of the enormous changes that have occurred in Kazakhstan over the past five years, a new clear manifestation of the concept of a listening state,” Mr. Tokayev welcomed before the vote.
Opponents of the construction, who fear an ecological catastrophe in the event of an accident, have had difficulty making themselves heard: dozens of them were arrested in the weeks preceding the referendum, according to local private media.
Rich in oil, rare metals and producer of almost half of the world’s uranium, Kazakhstan hopes to use nuclear power to fill its chronic energy deficit, particularly in the south where half of the approximately twenty million Kazakhs live.
The question of the atom is sensitive in Kazakhstan after the approximately 450 Soviet nuclear tests carried out between 1949 and 1989, exposing 1.5 million people to radiation.
The power plant is to be built near the half-abandoned village of Ulken (south), on the banks of Lake Balkhash, the second largest in Central Asia.