resolved to strengthen nuclear research and development, including the weapon program. Within a year the department was working to increase the production and testing of nuclear weapons and to upgrade detorio- rating production facilities. °* The President's actions were incicative of the vital role nuclear weapons have played in protecting the Nation and the free world for “nearly forty years. atomic bamb, Originating in the crash effort to produce an the nuclear weapon program provided the keystone for American's defenses during the Cold War. As tension between the United States and the Soviet Union gradually relaxed, the production of nuclear weapons became a less urgent, but nevertheless vital task for America. The energy crisis of the 1970's seemed to chscure the importance of the weapon program. As the energy crisis faded, President Reagan put the weapon program at the top of the Department of Energy's priorities. 31