The '70s

April 20, 1970 The first Earth Day is celebrated.

Sept. 23, 1970 Electricity “brownouts” hit the Northeast during a heat wave.

June 4, 1971 President Richard M. Nixon announces a national goal of completing the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder unit by 1980.

June 29, 1973 President Nixon proposes to replace the Atomic Energy Commission with the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Oct. 17, 1973 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agrees to use oil as a foreign policy weapon, cutting exports 5 percent until Israel withdraws from Arab territory occupied during the Yom Kippur War. Days later, Saudi Arabia cuts oil production by 25 percent and joins many other oil-producing nations in embargoing oil shipments to the United States.

1973 U.S. utilities order 41 nuclear power plants, a one-year record.

1974 The first 1,000-MWe nuclear plant goes into service—Commonwealth Edison’s Zion 1 plant.

Oct. 11, 1974 President Gerald Ford abolishes the Atomic Energy Commission and creates in its place the Energy Research and Development Administration and the NRC to begin regulating the nuclear industry. The Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy also is abolished.

Jan. 19, 1975 The Energy Research and Development Administration begins operating.

April 7, 1977 President Jimmy Carter announces a new policy banning reprocessing of used nuclear fuel.

Aug. 4, 1977 President Carter combines the Energy Research and Development Administration with the Federal Energy Administration, creating the Department of Energy.

March 28, 1979 A major accident occurs at Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Penn. Damage is limited to inside the reactor, and no one is injured.

October 1979 The U.S. nuclear energy industry creates the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations to address issues of safety and performance.