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Tim Pugmire
St. Paul, Minn.

Another attempt to lift state's nuclear ban fails in Senate

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Nuclear energy advocates in the Minnesota Senate fell short again in their attempt to lift a decades-old ban on new nuclear power plants.

During debate on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake, tried to amend an energy-related bill with language lifting the nuclear ban.

A separate bill failed to get out of committee earlier this session. Vandeveer said lifting the ban would be like putting out a welcome mat for companies interested in building a new plant.

"We know that this plant can take up to 10 or 15 years to build," he said. "And even if we start now with this process, it will take many, many years before it's ready. But we know this, that our standard of living depends on cheap, clean, abundant energy."

The nuclear debate ended when the author of the larger bill asked for a delay. The Senate approved a similar floor amendment lifting the nuclear plant ban during the 2009 session.