4 August 2023 was the 75th anniversary of the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, a joint Department of Navy and Department of Energy organisation responsible for all aspects of the US Navy’s nuclear propulsion, including research, design, construction, testing, operation, maintenance, and ultimate disposition of naval nuclear propulsion plants.
In 1946, shortly after the end of World War II, US Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act, which established the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to succeed the wartime Manhattan Project and gave it sole responsibility for developing atomic energy. At this time, Captain Hyman G. Rickover was assigned to the Navy Bureau of Ships, the organisation responsible for ship design.
