ST. PAUL - Minnesota Rep. Tim Mahoney injected some personal experience in legislative debate about whether nuclear power plants should be allowed.
The St. Paul Democrat was a pipefitter at a Red Wing-area nuclear power plant.
"My X-ray level after working two years at Prairie Island was less than a chest X-ray," Mahoney told a House energy committee Wednesday. "It is a safe facility."
Others complained that nuclear power is not safe and there is no place to store nuclear waste other than near nuclear plants. They also said that any new nuclear power plant would cost electric customers too much.
The debate came while the committee considered whether a nuclear power plant moratorium should be lifted. The committee took no action, but could consider it as part of a larger bill later this legislative session.
