Living With the Invisible Risks in the U.S. Urban Areas: Potential Nuclear Power-Induced Disasters, Urban Emergency Management Challenges, and Environmental Justice Issues Dean Kyne This article attempts to understand potential risks of nuclear power emergencies associated with the U.S. commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs), which could impact populations living within a 50-mile radius around NPPs during a nuclear disaster. This article will first examine the demographic composition of the populations in communities that host NPPs in urban and non-urban areas in 1990, 2000, and 2010. Second, the study will investigate the distributive justice of the potential risks, by looking into the difference in demographic characteristics of populations living in the host communities (a 50-mile radius from the NPPs), as compared to those living in outlying areas, in urban and non-urban settings. Further, this article will also investigate the distributive justice of the potential risks associated with NPPs by looking at the association between the distance from the NPPs and the percentage of specific racial and ethnic groups living within the 50-mile radius areas. Finally, in addition to the abovementioned distributive justice, this article will identify other environmental justice issues the communities near NPPs, if there are additional issues to address. KEY WORDS: urban risks, invisible risks in urban areas, urban emergency management Introduction Urban areas have become vibrant places for dwelling and economic activities in the United States. Over recent years, as population trends show an increase in individuals and families moving to urban areas, I have witnessed a significant increase in urban area populations, with more than 80 percent of the U.S. population residing in urban areas (Oliver & Thomas, 2014). People living in more urban settings are inevitably exposed to disaster risks, either natural or man-made disasters. Further, urban areas pose significant and very different challenges in managing and responding appropriately and in a timely manner to a disaster, given the complexities in reaching high numbers of people in dense settings. With this notion in mind, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has been promoting efforts to reduce urban disaster Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2016 176 1944-4079 # 2016 Policy Studies Organization Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ.