 The President also requested that the National Academy of Sciences establish the National Research Council to conduct research into the potential of mathematical, biological, and physical science applications for defense.As part of the debate over preparedness, Congress was concerned with ensuring the supply of nitrates (used to make munitions), so the 1916 Act authorized the construction of two nitrate-manufacturing plants, an industrial village, and a dam to provide them hydropower.President Wilson chose Muscle Shoals, Alabama as the site of the dam.