Atomic Energy Commission

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The true story of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

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History & Society

Atomic Energy Commission

United States organization

Also known as: AEC

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

J. Robert Oppenheimer

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Category: History & Society

Date:: 1946 - present

Areas Of Involvement:: nuclear weapon; nuclear power; nuclear energy

Related People:: Isidor Isaac Rabi; James Brown Fisk

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Atomic Energy Commission, U.S. federal civilian agency established by the Atomic Energy Act, which was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on Aug. 1, 1946, to control the development and production of nuclear weapons and to direct the research and development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. On Dec. 31, 1946, the AEC succeeded the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (which had developed the atomic bomb during World War II) and thus officially took control of the nation’s nuclear program. The AEC was headed by a five-member board of commissioners, one of whom ...(100 of 299 words)

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