Kazakhstan faces up to the legacy of Soviet weapons testing in a referendum on nuclear power

The plant, which is slated to be built close to Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan's southeast, would take pressure off the coal-powered power stations on which the country heavily relies.

However, the use of nuclear materials remains a controversial and often sensitive topic in Kazakhstan, which was used as a testing ground for the Soviet Union's nuclear program.

The weapon tests made large swaths of land in the country's northeastern Semei region uninhabitable, devastating the local environment and affecting the health of nearby residents. In total, 456 tests were carried out between 1949 and 1989 at the Semipalatinsk test site. It was officially closed in August 1991.

Some Kazakhs have sought to protest but have been impeded by authorities. Several anti-nuclear protesters were arrested across Kazakhstan Sunday, while other activists said that permission to hold anti-nuclear rallies on the day of the vote had also been denied by officials in six Kazakh cities.

There are also concerns that Russia's state atomic agency, Rosatom, could be invited to take part in the plant's construction at a time when an increasing number of Kazakhs wish to distance themselves from Moscow's influence. Rosatom had previously been named by the government as one of four companies whose reactors could be used for the plant, as well as companies from China, South Korea and France.

Tokayev, who has maintained a delicate balancing act between Moscow and the West amid sanctions against Russia, has tried to allay such fears by suggesting that the plant could be built by a multinational team.

''The government must analyze and negotiate,'' he told reporters after casting his referendum vote Sunday. ''But my personal vision is that an international consortium of companies with the most advanced technology possible should work together in Kazakhstan.''

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