Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear energy plant – TechnoNews

Kazakhstan has accepted a plan to construct its first nuclear energy station in a referendum, overcoming lingering resentment over huge radiation publicity from Soviet-era nuclear checks.

The Central Asian nation is the world’s largest producer of uranium and has huge oil reserves nevertheless it suffers from power vitality shortages.

The “Yes” vote received 71.12 % in Sunday’s referendum and the turnout was 63.66 %, the Kazakh electoral fee stated Monday.

China, France, Russia and South Korea are within the working to construct the brand new energy station, which is to be positioned on the shores of Lake Balkhash.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who was elected in 2019, says the plant can be “the biggest project in the history of independent Kazakhstan”.

Tokayev indicated Sunday that he most well-liked an “international consortium made up of global companies equipped with cutting-edge technologies”.

The “Yes” camp has dominated all through the marketing campaign and opponents involved about potential accidents struggled to make themselves heard.

Dozens have been arrested within the weeks previous the referendum, in keeping with native non-public media.

The problem of nuclear energy is delicate provided that between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union carried out round 450 nuclear checks there, exposing 1.5 million folks to radiation.

The ability station is because of be constructed close to the semi-abandoned village of Ulken within the Kazakh steppes on the shores of Lake Balkhash, Central Asia’s second-largest lake.

To bolster turnout, the authorities cleared Kazakhs to vote even when they weren’t registered on the electoral lists. Buses have been free in giant cities on referendum day to facilitate entry to polling stations.

“The referendum itself is further 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,” Tokayev stated earlier than the vote.

© 2024 AFP