Kazakhs were yesterday voting in a referendum on whether to build its first nuclear power plant, an idea promoted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s administration as the Central Asian nation seeks to phase out polluting coal plants.
However, the plan has faced public criticism because of its hazards, the Soviet nuclear testing legacy and fears that Russia would be involved in the project.
“I have come to the conclusion that the decision to build the nuclear power plant, and to build it with [Russian state nuclear firm] Rosatom, has already been made in [Tokayev’s office] and the people of Kazakhstan are being invited to polling stations as ‘notaries’ to authenticate this decision with their votes,” popular blogger Vadim Boreiko wrote.
In the village of Ulken on the shores of Lake Balkash, which the Cabinet has designated as the site of the plant, some locals hoped the project would bring jobs, while others expressed concern about the effect on the quality of the lake water.
“I support the power plant,” said Dametken Shulgeyeva, who has lived in the village of 1,200 people for more than 20 years. “This is our future.”
Despite its sizeable natural gas reserves, the Central Asian nation of 20 million relies mostly on coal-powered plants for its electricity needs, supplemented by some hydroelectric plants and the growing renewable energy sector.
Kazakhstan is already importing electric power, mostly from Russia, as its facilities, many of which are aged, struggle to meet domestic demand. Coal is generally regarded as the most polluting energy source.
The government said that a reliable energy supply is needed to supplement renewable sources such as solar and wind power, and, as Kazakhstan is one of the world’s biggest uranium producers, nuclear power is a logical choice.
“In order not to remain on the sidelines of global progress, we must use our competitive advantages,” Tokayev said days before the vote.
The former Soviet republic does not enrich uranium to the point where it can be used as fuel. The Cabinet estimated that a nuclear power plant would cost US$10 billion to US$12 billion to build.
Critics say the same goal could be achieved with gas-powered plants, which, although they still use fossil fuel, are much less polluting than coal plants and come with less risk.
Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union in 1986 when the Chornobyl nuclear disaster occurred, and tens of thousands of Kazakhs took part in the subsequent clean-up operation which left many with lifetime health issues.
The country was also the site of hundreds of Soviet nuclear weapon tests that have made large swathes of land uninhabitable, caused numerous diseases among people in nearby areas, and have caused many people to become distrustful of anything nuclear.
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