Kazakh govt issues decree on holding NPP construction referendum

ASTANA. Aug 27 (Interfax) - The Kazakh government has issued a decree initiating a nationwide referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in the country, an Interfax correspondent said.

As previously reported, the Kazakh public demanded that the country's authorities hold a referendum on whether to build a nuclear power plant in the country. Nuclear sector specialists and the population are mostly in favor of the idea, but a number of public figures and environmental activists have opposed it.

Based on previous studies, the territory of the village of Ulken, Almaty region, was selected as the preferred area for the construction of a nuclear power plant. Water from Lake Balkhash will be used to cool the station. Some experts have proposed equipping the facility with small reactors, arguing that if Lake Balkhash starts to become shallow, there will not be enough water for an NPP with high-capacity reactors.

Kazakhstan is considering high-capacity reactor technology offered by four suppliers - France, China, Russia and South Korea.

The project to build an NPP in Kazakhstan will be implemented by an international pool of investors. According to the Energy Ministry, the work may take up to ten years. The cost of building one reactor is estimated at an average of $5 billion.