This book is based upon a symposium, "Nuclear Power and the Public," which was held at the University of Minnesota on October 10 and 11, 1969. The meeting was a timely one, judging from the nationwide attention it attracted and the continuing and lively public interest in the many issues raised and discussed. Yet, much of the material covered had already been of concern for decades. Certainly since the early days of the Manhattan Project, the dissemination of radioactivity into the environment from atomic energy activities has received considerable attention from planners, administrators, and others responsible for the activities, all of whom had public safety in mind. In the mid-fifties, many scientists from outside the atomic energy field began to direct their attention to the potential effects of dissemination of radioactivity into the environment, particularly as related to fallout from weapons testing. Then, in the sixties, the rising potential of nuclear energy as a power source began to start widespread concerns among many segments of the populace. This phase of development is a particularly intense one because it is reinforced by a general concern about many kinds of pollutants and by a serious questioning concerning the meaningfulness of new technologies to the lives of individuals and the effects of such technologies upon environmental quality.

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