Introduction: The Civil Liberties Implications of Nuclear Power Development

Introduction

On behalf of both the Committee for Public Justice and the New York University Review of Law and Social Change, I am very pleased to welcome you to this Symposium.

This Symposium is about the civil liberties implications of the development of nuclear power. These concerns are inspired by the recognition that nuclear power installations may be vulnerable to terrorism; that in response to an actual or perceived threat of terrorism, the nuclear power industry and federal, state, and local governments have undertaken a number of steps to protect the industry; and that those steps may endanger civil liberties. Whether the danger to civil liberties is of such magnitude that it ought to be weighed in deciding whether to go forward with nuclear power development and to what extent this danger ought to be considered are the subjects of the Symposium.