Minnesota Nuclear Power Bill Stalls After Japan Crisis

ST. PAUL  (AP) — A move to repeal Minnesota's ban on new nuclear power plants has stalled as a crisis unfolds at a nuclear facility in Japan.

The bill's Republican sponsors are blaming the slowdown on Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton's demands, not the scramble to avoid a meltdown at a Japanese nuclear plant after a huge earthquake and tsunami.

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Joyce Peppin, says Dayton's conditions are too hard to meet.

The governor has said he wants the bill to include financial protection for ratepayers and a plan for storing new nuclear waste. The House bill already addresses another of his concerns by including measures to prevent spent fuel from being turned into weapons-grade plutonium.

Dayton says he hasn't ruled out signing the bill.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.