Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
438 U.S. 59 (1978)
The Price-Anderson Act capped nuclear plant operators' liability in the event of an accident. After the Act's 1975 renewal, Duke Power (defendant) began building two nuclear plants; Carolina Environmental Study Group, a union, and 40 nearby residents (plaintiffs) sued, challenging the Act's constitutionality and alleging injury from the plants' pollution and radiation emissions. The district court found standing and ruled the Act unconstitutional; Duke Power sought Supreme Court review, arguing the plants would likely have been built even without the Act's liability protections, so there was no real causal link between the statute and the plaintiffs' injuries.
Whether a plaintiff has standing to sue when he can show injury in fact, a causal link between that injury and the challenged action, and that the court can provide redress.