The construction of several Vaults was delayed, particularly Vault 13 (which only started construction in August 2063) and the network surrounding Washington, D.C. The building of the shelters proceeded rapidly and most were completed by 2063. Installations built as part of the Vault-Tec Societal Preservation Program commonly claimed to have a chance to fail equal to 1,763,497 to 1 however, the reality was a far cry from this bold claim. As a crucial element of national defense, much of the project was classified and protected under the New Amended Espionage Act, encouraging embezzlement and corruption. The intended budget for Vault 13 was $400 billion dollars, and by the end of its construction, the total costs reached $645 billion, well over 150% of the initial figure. The sheer costs of a single Vault are staggering. The impoverished government is forced to finance the project with junk bonds and even then, only commissions well over 100 of these shelters nationwide, allowing less than 0.1% of the population to save their life in the event of the holocaust. Breakthroughs in construction techniques allow for these gargantuan bunkers to be constructed at a rapid pace.

This massive national defense endeavor was intended to create shelters that would protect the population in the event of a nuclear war or plague. In response, the government set Project Safehouse in motion in 2054. The origins of the Vault network date back to the early 2050s, when the Euro-Middle Eastern War, the New Plague, and the collapse of the United Nations resulted in a nation-wide scare.

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