On March 31, 1977, federal Judge James B. McMillan of the Western District of North Carolina declared the Price-Anderson Act,¹ which limits total liability for damages from accidents involving civilan nuclear power reactors, to be an unconstitutional deprivation of due process and equal protection. Judge McMillan's decision in Carolina Environmental Study Group v. United States Atomic Energy Commission,² is certain to elate opponents of nuclear power development, who view Price-Anderson as the fulcrum of nuclear power issues. Although the decision concerns only two plants (containing four reactors) in North and South Carolina, it is likely to be appealed directly to the Supreme Court³ in view of its surprisingly audacious legal conclusions.And depending on the case's result in the Supreme Court, Congress may have to face, after only a two-year rest, the thorny issue of nuclear accident compensation.