A US citizen in custody in Yemen as a suspected al-Qaida member had worked at six nuclear plants in the States, officials in New Jersey said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it is investigating what access Sharif Mobley might have had to sensitive areas at the complexes.
The 26-year-old worked at the Salem and Hope Creek plants in New Jersey; the Peach Bottom, Limerick and Three Mile Island facilities in Pennsylvania; and Calvert Cliffs in Maryland between 2002 and 2008.
But the commission says labourers like him would not usually be given security-related or sensitive information. Authorities say he passed federal background checks.
Officials said he was rounded up in an al-Qaida sweep and shot two guards in a Yemeni hospital during an escape attempt. His parents say he is innocent.
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