Presidential Executive Order 9816: Providing for the Transfer of Properties and Personnel to the Atomic Energy Commission
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
In October 1941, when President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the building of the first atomic bomb, he assigned that responsibility to the War Department. Working through its Manhattan Engineer District (MED), the War Department created a massive research and development effort that included Los Alamos. Shortly before the end of World War II, Secretary of War Henry Stimson created a temporary committee, known as the Interim Committee, to advise him on atomic issues. One of the Interim Committee’s recommendations was to create a civilian executive agency to manage the nation’s nuclear program, thereby removing control of the atomic bomb from the military. After considerable debate and lobbying, Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. One of the Act’s provisions created the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to replace the MED. The Act, however, did not transfer the MED’s assets, including Los Alamos, to the AEC. Accordingly, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9816 transferring these assets to the AEC. Below is the text of Truman’s Executive Order.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1334085
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--16-28963
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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