This Sunday, Kazakhstan will hold a referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant ( NPP). Meanwhile, observers suggest looking at the event from a broader perspective. The referendum will help shape the electoral culture, implement the concept of a listening state and take into account residents' views on the future of the republic.
„In our case, this is far from a technical issue,” said Talgat Kaliyev, candidate of political sciences, director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Applied Ethnopolitical Studies, in an interview with TASS. "Kazakhstans have a positive attitude towards the referendum, because in recent decades our decisions have been made without taking into account the opinion of the population. Nobody has asked anything," he added.
A national referendum in the history of sovereign Kazakhstan will be held for the fourth time. The popular opinion was asked twice in 1995 and again - under the current president - in 2022. But then exclusively political issues were discussed.
Currently, the majority of electricity in Kazakhstan is generated by coal-fired power plants. According to the Republic's Ministry of Energy, this is more than 60% of all production. The country also has gas, hydroelectric, solar and wind power plants, but these capacities are not sufficient. For example, in December 2022, a historical maximum of consumption was recorded, exceeding the total production of all power plants in the country by more than 1000 MW, which led to the threat of introducing restrictions on the supply of energy to enterprises.
Kaliev noted that supporters of the construction of nuclear power plants understand these arguments. “We have a serious energy shortage, which slows down the country's industry. If we plan to develop intensively in the future, our electricity needs will grow”, he emphasized.
The ambiguous attitude towards nuclear energy in Kazakhstan evokes memories of the past - the country is home to the world's largest test site, Semipalatinsk, where the first test of the Soviet atomic bomb was carried out in 1949. In 40 years, more of 450 atmospheric and underground explosions, and the area affected by the tests exceeds 300 thousand square meters. km. For most of the Soviet period, data on the test site was classified. In 1989, the last explosion took place at the test site, and two years later it was closed.
According to Kaliyev, the opponents of the NPP construction also recall other events related to Soviet history. “There is still a memory of Chernobyl,” he said. - At the same time, some phobias are not always rational. It is difficult to judge how justified they are, but there were tests at the Semipalatinsk test site, and we really suffered from them.“
If nuclear supporters win, the future nuclear power plant will become the second in Kazakhstan's history. The first was built more than 50 years ago using Soviet technology. It was the world's first pilot industrial fast neutron reactor BN-350. It was launched in 1973 in the city of Shevchenko (now Aktau), it worked for almost a quarter of a century.
Approximately after this reactor was shut down in 1999, there was talk of the need to build a new, large, modern nuclear power plant. This is particularly important given the fact that Kazakhstan is now one of the world's leading producers and suppliers of uranium.
If the citizens, of course, say “yes“, they intend to build a new nuclear power plant in the area of Lake Balkhash in the region of Alma Ata in the village of Ulken. The construction site has been approved by IAEA experts, and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has assured citizens that the lake will not be damaged by the plant – the same water will be used repeatedly for cooling, and discharge of used water from the nuclear power plant into reservoirs was ruled out.
The cost of the construction is estimated by the country's authorities at 10-12 billion dollars, as a potential supplier of technology, the Kazakh authorities are ready to consider cooperation with the Russian state corporation "Rosatom". China's CNNC, France's EDF and South Korea's KHNP have also been named as possible suppliers. The Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Almasadam Satkaliev, shortly before the referendum, announced that he does not rule out the attraction of a consortium of suppliers.
Kaliev noted that he expects a high voter turnout for the referendum. “The citizen engagement campaign was large-scale, extensive and of high quality. In the future, if fateful decisions are ripe, I think there will be more referendums”, Kadiev said.