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Stephanie Hemphill
St. Paul, Minn.

Minn. House committee explores nuke waste concerns

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State legislators on Monday will consider setting up a Nuclear Waste Storage Commission to address public safety issues that come with long-term nuclear waste storage.

The federal government was supposed to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, starting 12 years ago. The Obama administration has backed off from that plan, but nuclear power plants keep making waste.

Meanwhile, Minnesota ratepayers have been sending $14 million each year to a federal nuclear waste fund.

The chair of the Minnesota House Commerce and Labor Committee, State Rep. Joe Atkins, wants to divert that money. He wants to escrow half of it for a future federal repository. He would use the other half to create a commission that would be responsible for meeting the state's public safety needs.

Officials from Red Wing and Monticello, where Minnesota's two nuclear plants are located, will testify at a hearing at the Capitol on Monday.