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July 4, 1971

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.

August 7, 1972

The Atomic Energy Commission announces a cooperative agreement with industry to build a 

Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor on the Clinch River in Tennessee.

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Home » Operational Management » History » DOE History Timeline » Timeline of Events: 1971 to 1980

TIMELINE OF EVENTS: 1971 TO 1980

August 4, 1977: Energy Organization 

Act

President Carter signs the Department of Energy Organization Act. The 

Federal Energy Administration and Energy Research and Development 

Administration are abolished.

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June 1973

President Nixon directs Dixy Lee Ray, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, to review 

federal and private energy research and development activities and recommend an integrated 

national program.

June 29, 1973

President Nixon establishes the Energy Policy Office. The office is responsible for formulating 

and coordinating energy policies at the presidential level.

October 6, 1973

The Yom Kippur War breaks out in the Middle East. October 17, 1973, the Organization of 

Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries declares an oil embargo, sparking the first "energy 

crisis."

November 7, 1973

President Nixon launches Project Independence, with the goal of achieving energy selfsufficiency by 1980. Recalling the Manhattan Project, Nixon declares that American science, 

technology, and industry can free the United States from dependence on foreign oil.

December 4, 1973

The Federal Energy Office replaces the Energy Policy Office. The new office is assigned the 

task of allocating reduced petroleum supplies to refiners and consumers and of controlling the 

price of oil and gasoline. William Simon is named Administrator.

May 7, 1974

President Nixon signs the Federal Administration Act of 1974. The Federal Energy 

Administration replaces the Federal Energy Office.

August 9, 1974

Gerald R. Ford becomes President.

October 11, 1974

President Ford signs the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, abolishing the Atomic Energy 

Commission and establishing the Energy Research and Development Administration and the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

November 25, 1974

President Ford appoints Frank Zarb as Administrator, Federal Energy Administration.

January 19, 1975

The Energy Research and Development Administration is activated. The new agency is given 

responsibility for the Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear weapons program. President Ford 

appoints Robert C. Seamans, Jr., as Administrator.

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March 27, 1975

The first pipe is laid on the Alaska Pipeline, which will move crude oil 800 miles through a 48-

inch pipe from the North Slope of Alaska to the ice-free port of Valdez, Alaska. Construction is 

completed in two years.

December 22, 1975

President Ford signs the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, extending oil price controls into 

1979, mandating automobile fuel economy standards, and authorizing creation of a strategic 

petroleum reserve.

January 20, 1977

Jimmy Carter is inaugurated President.

February 2, 1977

President Carter signs the Emergency Natural Gas Act of 1977.

February 7, 1977

John F. O'Leary is named Administrator, Federal Energy Administration.

March 24, 1977

The Energy Research and Development Administration announces the establishment of the 

Solar Energy Research Institute, a Federal facility dedicated to finding and improving ways to 

harness and use energy from the sun, at Golden, Colorado.

April 18, 1977

President Carter announces National Energy Plan in his first major energy speech. His plan 

calls for the establishment of an energy department.

August 4, 1977

President Carter signs the Department of Energy Organization Act. The Federal Energy 

Administration and Energy Research and Development Administration are abolished.

August 5, 1977

James R. Schlesinger is sworn in as first Secretary of Energy.

October 1, 1977

The Department of Energy (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.

October 5-6, 1977

Secretary Schlesinger signs nine international energy agreements at a meeting of the 

International Energy Agency in Paris

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October 18, 1977

DOE proposes to accept and take title to spent nuclear reactor fuel from utilities on payment 

of one-time storage fee. In order to implement the policy, DOE will need both interim and 

permanent spent fuel storage capability

December 21, 1977

DOE establishes Western Area Power Administration with headquarters in Denver, Colorado

November 9, 1978

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.

January 16, 1979

The Shah flees Iran. Cessation of oil exports results in worldwide shortage of oil. Oilconsuming nations are using two million barrels of oil a day more than are being produced.

March 28, 1979

A partial meltdown of the core occurs at one of the two reactors at the Three Mile Island 

nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

April 5, 1979

President Carter, responding to growing energy shortages, announces gradual decontrol of oil 

prices and proposes windfall profits tax.

June 20, 1979

President Carter announces program to increase Nation's use of solar energy, including solar 

development bank and increased funds for solar energy research and development.

July 10, 1979

President Carter proclaims a national energy supply shortage and establishes temperature 

restrictions in nonresidential buildings.

July 15, 1979

President Carter declares energy to be the immediate test of ability to unite the Nation and 

proposes $88 billion decade-long effort to enhance production of synthetic fuels from coal and 

shale oil reserves.

August 24, 1979

Charles W. Duncan, Jr., is sworn in as second Secretary of Energy.

June 30, 1980

President Carter signs the Energy Security Act, consisting of six major acts: U.S. Synthetic 

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TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Timeline of Events: 1938-1950

Timeline of Events: 1951 to 1970

Timeline of Events: 1971 to 1980

Timeline of Events: 1981 to 1990

Timeline of Events: 1991 to 2000

Timeline of Events: 2001

Timeline of Events: 2002

Timeline of Events: 2003

Timeline of Events: 2004

Timeline of Events: 2005

Timeline of Events: 2006

Timeline of Events: 2007

Timeline of Events: 2008

Timeline of Events: 2009

Timeline of Events: 2010

Timeline of Events: 2011

Timeline of Events: 2012

Fuels Corporation Act, Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act, Renewable Energy Resources 

Act, Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Act and Solar Energy and Energy Conservation 

Bank Act, Geothermal Energy Act, and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act.

Return to Timeline of Events: 1951 to 1970

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