In 1942, the U.S . was developing an atomic bomb in Los Alamos, N.M., under the guidance of the Army Corps of Engineers. At the end of World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission was created to supervise the development and application of the technology. The name was later changed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, tasked to manage nuclear weapons, and energy development programs. However, with the advent of the 1973 energy crisis, the federal government recognized a need to consolidate energy policy, and on Aug. 4,1977, President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Energy (DOE) Organization Act. The DOE was created to govern policies regarding the nation's nuclear weapons program, naval reactor production, energy-related supervision, and domestic energy production.
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