Constructed between November 1950 and March 1955, the Savannah River Site (SRS) nuclear production facility was a product of the Cold War and its accompanying arms race. The first Soviet atomic detonation in 1949 shook the foundations of American Cold War diplomacy. Although the diplomatic situation with the Soviets had never been amicable since the end of World War 2, the atomic bomb had provided a psychological edge for American policy makers. Worried about the military balance of power in the aftermath of the unanticipated Soviet test, President Harry S. Truman authorized research for construction of a hydrogen or fusion weapon. The program required a new nuclear weapons facility to produce the hydrogen isotope tritium in sufficient quantities to create a large stockpile of fusion weapons.