Nuclear power moratorium remains in Minnesota
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![The Prairie Island power facility](https://img.apmcdn.org/60ed4fe4afca7719f94c3da97ca0a3ce135a8a4d/uncropped/6bed0b-20090421-prairie-island.jpg)
The Minnesota House has rejected an effort to lift the state's ban on new nuclear power plants.
Lawmakers voted 70-62 today to uphold a 1994 moratorium on the construction of nuclear facilities. The vote was an amendment to an energy policy bill.
Supporters of the repeal argue nuclear power is a clean energy option that should be on the table for future consideration. Gov. Pawlenty also supported lifting the moratorium.
But opponents say they're concerned about the storage of radioactive waste.
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Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, says the issues that led to the 1994 law are still not resolved.
"We hear about advancement in technology, but we haven't solved the issue of waste -- a million-year radioactive toxic legacy that we'll pass on to untold generations," said Hornstein.
The House action came a month after the state Senate voted 42-24 to repeal the moratorium.
Minnesota has two nuclear power facilities near Monticello and Red Wing.