LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- The preoccupation with the promise and peril of nuclear power through the greater part of the 20th century is the focus of a new book written and published by a Rider University political science professor.

Dr. Robert J. Duffy (left), assistant professor of political science and a resident of North Brunswick, NJ, has examined the politics of nuclear power over the last fifty years in the book Nuclear Politics in America: A History and Theory of Government Regulation.

Published by the University Press of Kansas with a release date of November 14, 1997, the 304-page book relates broad trends in American politics to changes in the regulation of the nuclear industry to show how federal policies in this area have been made, implemented, and altered. By providing both a description of the transformation of this policy community and an analysis of how regulatory change occurs, the book offers a new and important view of policymaking in America.

Dr. Duffy's work traces nuclear politics from the creation of a powerful subgovernment through the public lobby reforms of the late 1960's and early 1970's and the deregulatory backlash of the Reagan years. He demonstrates that while policies did change in the 1970's, they did not change as much as other accounts have suggested, and that the industry continued to receive considerable federal support.

The book is also significant for extending the discussion of nuclear policy through the Bush and Clinton years, including the controversy over waste disposal, new licensing procedures enacted in 1992 amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, and the effects of deregulation of electric utilities.

Dr. Duffy holds a Ph.D. in politics from Brandeis University and a M.A. from the University of Delaware in political science. He has been a member of the Rider faculty since 1991, teaching and conducting research in the areas of environmental and energy policy, commercial nuclear power regulation, and regulatory policy.