Polls are open in Kazakhstan Sunday for a landmark referendum on building the country’s first nuclear power plant, confronting the country's painful legacy as a testing ground for Soviet nuclear weapons.

Voting in a referendum to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant began on Sunday, with Korea keenly watching the process as one of the four candidates for the project if the referendum passes.

Vote comes as Central Asian nation seeks to reduce its reliance on coal and secure a more sustainable energy future

Kazakhs are all set to vote on Sunday, October 6, 2024, in a referendum on whether to build the first nuclear plant in the country or not.According to Reuters, the idea of building the first-ever nuclear plant in the country was promoted

ASTANA—The participation rate surpassed 39% in Kazakhstan’s national referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant, which continues on Oct. 6 throughout the country.

Kazakhstan votes in a referendum on Sunday on whether to build its first nuclear power plant, an idea promoted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's government as the Central Asian nation seeks to phase out polluting coal plants.

“It should be noted that under paragraph 2 of Article 31 of the constitutional law on the national referendum, the referendum is considered valid if more than half of eligible voters participate,” she added. The highest voter turnout is in the Turkistan Region, at 67.38%, and the lowest is in the city of Almaty, at 16.91%.

Kazakhstan is the world's top producer of uranium but has no nuclear power plant of its own. The possible involvement of Russia in the project has also been of concern to some. Although Kazakhstan has abundant oil,