UPDATE - Kazakhstan votes to build first nuclear power plant

UPDATES WITH FURTHER DETAILS, BACKGROUND ON REFERENDUM

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Kazakh nationals voted in favor of building the country’s first nuclear power plant during a referendum on Sunday, according to preliminary results declared on Monday.

The Kazakh Central Election Commission announced in a briefing on the preliminary results of the referendum that the voter turnout stood at 63.66%, with more than 7.8 million of 12.2 million eligible voters having cast their ballots.

It said that 71.1%, or about 5.5 million, of the people voted in favor of building the country’s first nuclear power plant, while just over 2 million voted against.

An earlier statement by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said that almost 10,000 people voted in the referendum across 74 polling stations set up abroad, with a voter turnout of 81.06%.

The voting, which began Sunday morning across 10,249 polling stations nationwide, drew to a close at 8 pm local time (1500GMT).

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who first proposed the referendum over a year ago, said last month that this was a critical decision for Kazakhstan's future, though critics have voiced concern about the plant's construction.

These concerns stem partly from the legacy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in northeastern Kazakhstan, used for over 450 tests during the Soviet era before it was closed in 1991.

Speaking to reporters during a forum last Thursday, Tokayev said his country must use its competitive advantages "in order not to be left on the sidelines of global progress."

Later, Tokayev also told reporters Sunday after voting in the capital Astana that he believes an international consortium should work in Kazakhstan to build the plant.