ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Kazakhstan will hold a referendum this year on whether to build what could become Central Asia's first nuclear power plant, the country's president said Thursday.

Nuclear power is a sensitive issue in Central Asia, which has a history of pollution from uranium mining and Soviet-era atomic weapons tests.

Kazakhstan is the world's largest exporter of uranium but shut its only small-scale reactor that it mainly used for water desalination in 1999.

"Economic development is impossible without a stable energy supply. That is why I have ordered the issue of building a nuclear power plant to be studied," President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told a ceremony marking Media Workers' Day.

"The people will make the final decision on this issue. The referendum will be held this autumn. The government will determine the exact date," he added.

The ex-Soviet republic accounts for more than 40 percent of global uranium production and supplies large quantities of it to atomic powerhouse France, which gets the majority of its energy from nuclear power.

If the referendum passes, which is likely, France, China, South Korea and Russia are in the running to build the reactor.

Russia is already in talks with neighbouring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan about building reactors there.

Central Asia has struggled with shortages of power and water, despite enjoying significant natural resources including rare earth metals that have attracted interest from Western countries.