Yet for all these problems, Vault-Tec was able to create a number of cutting edge technologies and develop shelters that legitimately protected the inhabitants.

Lack of oversight led to consistent mismanagement, corruption, and embezzlement defining Project Safehouse before the War, even before taking the atrocious Vault experiments into account. The staggering cost was further increased by the circumstances: As crucial elements of national defense, much of the project was classified and protected under the New Amended Espionage Act, and the corporation received broad privileges in enforcing security, up to and including authorization for its private security to use lethal force if Vaults are activated. Vault 13's budget 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 impoverished government financed the project with junk bonds and even then, only commissioned 122 of these shelters nationwide, allowing less than 0.1% of the population to save their life in the event of the holocaust. The tremendous success of the company allowed it to build a new headquarters in Washington, D.C. Following the success of its demonstration Vault, built near their headquarters in Los Angeles at the time, the company won the bid for the construction of the shelters. Vault-Tec was prepared for such an eventuality. This massive national defense endeavor was intended to create shelters that would protect the population in the event of a nuclear war. This investment in cadre would pay off in the early 2050s: When the Euro-Middle Eastern War, the New Plague, and the collapse of the United Nations resulted in a nationwide scare, the government set Project Safehouse in motion in 2054. America's preeminent nuclear defense corporation existed as early as 2031, when it acquired and re-branded Morgantown's local college as Vault-Tec University, with some of their top executives and scientists either teaching or graduating from there.

Fallout shelter craft symbol