Voting ends in Kazakhstan’s nuclear power plant referendum

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Voting in a referendum on building Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant ended on Sunday.

The voting, which began at 7 a.m. local time (0200GMT) across 10,249 polling stations nationwide, drew to a close at 8 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko told a briefing that 13 out of 74 polling stations at Kazakh diplomatic missions abroad closed as of 7 p.m. local time (1400GMT).

He added that observers from multiple international organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, reported that they did not find any violations of electoral procedures.

Preliminary voter turnout figures will be announced at 9 p.m. local time (1600GMT).

Last month, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that a national referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant would be held on Oct. 6.

First proposing the referendum over a year ago, Tokayev said this was a critical decision for Kazakhstan's future, with many people raising the issue of safety concerns.

These concerns stem from the tragic legacy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in northeastern Kazakhstan, which was used for over 450 nuclear tests during the Soviet era.

The site was closed in 1991, but the memory of its impact lives on among the Kazakh people.