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Albert Eistein
Albert Einstein writes President Franklin D. Roosevelt, alerting the President to the importance of research on nuclear chain reactions and the possibility that research might lead to developing powerful bombs. Einstein notes that Germany has stopped the sale of uranium and German physicists are engaged in uranium research. -
President Truman
President Truman approves a $1.4 billion expansion of Atomic Energy Commission facilities to produce uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. -
Nuclear Submarines
The Navy launches the first nuclear-powered submarine, U.S.S. Nautilus. -
Nixon's Reactor
President Nixon announces as a national goal a commitment to complete a Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor demonstration plant by 1980. In what he refers to as the first comprehensive energy message to Congress by a United States president, Nixon calls the breeder reactor the best hope for meeting the growing demand for economical clean energy. -
DOE
DOE is activated. Bringing together a score of organizational entities from a dozen departments and agencies, the new department is also given responsibility for the nuclear weapons program. -
National Energy Act
President Carter signs the National Energy Act, which includes the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act, the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act, the Energy Tax Act, and the Natural Gas Policy Act. -
Nuclear Fuel Made More Available
The Reagan Administration announces a nuclear energy policy that anticipates the establishment of a facility for the storage of high-level radioactive waste and lifts the ban on commercial reprocessing of nuclear fuel. -
Last of the Cold War
The United States conducts its last underground nuclear weapons test. Congress imposes a temporary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. -
Green House Gases
President Clinton and Vice President Gore unveil The Climate Change Action Plan, emphasizing voluntary measures to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama becomes the 44th president of the United States. In his inaugural address, President Obama states that "each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet." The President pledges to "harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories."
