The report was prepared as part of the Ohio River Basin Energy Study (ORBES), a multidisciplinary policy research program. The study region consists of all of Kentucky, most of West Virginia, and substantial portions of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. By 1988, coal-fired electrical generating capacity in the region is expected to total over 100,000 MWe, versus about 11,000 MWe projected for nuclear-fueled capacity by that year. Thus, the ORBES emphasis was on coal-fired generation. This report attempts to fill in some of the gaps in the relative lack of emphasis on the risks and benefits of nuclear electricity production in the study region. It covers the following topics: (1) basic facts about radiation, (2) an overview of the current regulatory framework of the nuclear industry, (3) health risks associated with electricity production by LWRs, (4) the risks of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and sabotage, (5) comparative economics and healthy risks of coal versus nuclear, and (6) the March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island.