Atomic Energy Commission

American  

noun

1. a former federal agency (1946–75) created to regulate the development of the U.S. atomic energy program: functions transferred to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. AEC

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Atomic Energy Commission British  

noun

1.  AEC.  (in the US) a federal board established in 1946 to administer and develop domestic atomic energy programmes

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Atomic Energy Commission Cultural  

1. An agency of the United States government from 1946 to 1974 that was charged with controlling and developing the use of atomic energy for civilian and military purposes. In 1974, the AEC was abolished, and its duties were divided between two new agencies: the Energy Research and Development Administration (now a part of the Department of Energy) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

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Example Sentences

The war wasn’t long over before Truman supported legislation establishing the Atomic Energy Commission to regulate nuclear technology, swallow the Manhattan Project infrastructure and take custody of America’s modest atomic arsenal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

She spoke out against investigations against her fellow scientists during the wave of McCarthyism that spread across the US, and she even wrote to the Atomic Energy Commission to complain about the proceedings.

From Scientific American • Aug. 24, 2023

Frank Cotter, a former FBI agent who surveilled the Manhattan Eight, noted FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s agents reported to the Atomic Energy Commission the presence of lesbians at Los Alamos as early as 1947.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 22, 2023

Nolan uses alternating timelines, one filmed in color that focuses on the title character and the other in black and white and focusing on Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2023

In the first week of January 1947, the Atomic Energy Commission appointed its most important body of technical counselors, the General Advisory Committee.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik