Controversy over the nuclear referendum in Kazakhstan

The Chair of the Central Commission for Referendums in Kazakhstan (CCR), Sabila Mustafina, said on September 3 that 15.5 billion tenge (more than $32 million) had been requested for a nationwide referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country next month.

The announcement came a day after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev announced the referendum and signed a decree setting October 6 as the date of the vote.

According to Mustafina, 71 percent of the requested amount will be used to compensate the work of more than 70,000 ORK members, while 29 percent will be used for communication activities, bulletins and advertisements.

“The government will decide on the allocation of the mentioned amount for the referendum after our estimates are approved by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Justice,” Mustafina said.

Mustafina’s deputy Konstantin Petrov said that over 12 million Kazakh citizens are eligible to vote and that over 10,000 polling stations are available across the country. For Kazakh citizens living abroad, 78 polling stations will be set up in different countries.

The referendum asks only one question: “Do you agree that Kazakhstan must build a nuclear power plant?”

Given the country’s tightly controlled political environment, many people in Kazakhstan expect the answer to be “yes.”

But the push to build a nuclear power plant is facing considerable opposition, despite apparent attempts to silence dissenters. In recent weeks, several activists known for their opposition to the construction of the nuclear power plant have been barred from participating in public debates on the issue.

In Kazakhstan, nuclear energy projects are a controversial issue, as the environment there was severely damaged by the operation of the Soviet-era Semipalatinsk nuclear test site from 1949 to 1991 and by the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is still operated by Moscow.

A few hours before the publication of his decree on September 2, President Toqaev reiterated his support for the plan to build a nuclear power plant.

There was no official information about the location of the future nuclear power plant, but last year a public debate was held in the village of Ulken on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the southeastern Almaty region about the possibility of building a nuclear power plant there.

The idea of ​​building a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan has been circulating in the country for years, raising the question of which countries would be involved in the project.

Kazakh officials tried to avoid answering this question, saying the decision would be made after a referendum.

Shortly before the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia proposed that its nuclear agency Rosatom become Kazakhstan’s main partner in the project.

The majority of Kazakh Internet users rejected the idea of ​​Rosatom’s involvement, citing the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 and Russia’s seizure of control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine as examples of Russia’s attitude to nuclear safety.

By RFE/RL

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