Many Bulgarians feel euphoric lately because they will finally have a say in something significant – the fate of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant project.

Since the distant 1971 when the "Constitution of Communist Dictator Zhivkov" was approved with 99.7%, the first ever referendum will be held in Bulgaria (except the flopped local one on the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil line over low voter turnout).

This would be happy news if voting on such issue wasn't simply absurd.

Is this a referendum on nuclear policy or just on Belene NPP? How many are competent to answer and how many will vote? (The law requires the same tournout as the last general elections.) How much is the cost? How is this going to resolve the issue with Russia's Atomstroyexport's compensation claim?

Let's further admit that talk of electronic voting is purely science fiction.

If Bulgarians say "yes," how is the government going to find an investor and start construction in months, (as the law postulates), after long years of failing to do so? Would the "no" mean we are giving up on nuclear energy for good even if an investor emerges?

The referendum of the dead-end...

This article in Bulgarian