United States. Department of Energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States Government responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. Its purview includes the nation's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production, many of which are funded through its system of national laboratories. Many Federal agencies had been established to handle various aspects of U.S. energy policy, dating back to the creation of the Manhattan Project and the subsequent Atomic Energy Commission. The impetus for putting them all under the auspices of a single department was the 1973 energy crisis, in response to which President Jimmy Carter proposed creation of the Department. The enabling legislation, the Department of Energy Organization Act (91 Stat. 569) was signed into law by President Carter on August 4, 1977. The Department took over the functions formerly vested in the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Federal Energy Administration, the Federal Power Commission, and others, and began operations on October 1, 1977.