Referendum Turnout Seen at 25%-35% – Poll
Between 25% and 35% of Bulgaria's six million adults plan to vote in the referendum on the future of the country's nuclear energy scheduled for January 27, a poll shows.
The referendum's threshold for validity is turnout in the previous parliamentary elections, i.e. 4.3 million people.
The question will be worded as follows: "Should we develop nuclear energy in the Republic of Bulgaria by building a new nuclear plant?".
According to a poll by Alpha Research agency, some 62% of the citizens would vote in favour of the construction of a new power plant and 38% will vote against.
The question was formulated by the parliamentary group of the ruling centre-right party GERB after in 2012 the Bulgarian Socialist Party initiated a sign-in campaign in support of a referendum with a question worded "Should the nuclear power industry in Bulgaria develop through the construction of a nuclear power plant at the Belene site?"
A total of 543,639 signatures were collected during the campaign, above the 500,000 required by law.
In 2012, the government decided to abandon the project to build a nuclear power plant near the Danubian town of Belene and instead approved plans to increase the capacity of Bulgaria's existing nuclear station in Kozloduy.