Project Cobalt

Project Cobalt was a military chemical and weapons program, as head of the Beverageers, Rex Meacham headed the research and development of Project Cobalt, and put his entire team on the project regardless of their wishes. His team was successful in finding a custom isotope potentially fit for the military's needs after only seven months. The custom isotope, codenamed "Quantum," was based on strontium-90, and could be used to weaponize nearly anything in the military's arsenal, and even enhanced a suit of X-01 power armor using the compound as a proof of concept.

More specifically, the glowing blue compound could store incoming energy on armor as well as amplify the default energy of munitions. The team even went so far as to make a prototype Quantum derivative of the mini nuke launched from a specialized catapult.

It was not until shortly after the Great War that Meacham finally completed a perfectly stable weaponization of Quantum. However, this was at the loss of all of his colleagues; due to delusions of grandeur, the stress of being locked in a bunker for an indeterminate amount of time, and what Meacham saw as "treason" for refusing to continue the project, the other Beverageers either committed suicide or were murdered by Meacham.

Meacham also suggested that the compound could be used in a new line of soft drinks; Nuka-Cola Quantum was the result, and would actually luminesce longer than the previously released Nuka-Cola Quartz and Victory. However, the soft drink remained radioactive.

The Nuka-Cola bottling facility in Arlington, Virginia provided the Beverageers with live subjects to test the soft drink; the first few trials of the soft drinks were ultimately fatal (at least 62 test subjects died as a result of organ failure, with many more hospitalized with radiation burns), but isotope CE774 only resulted in some dizziness and other mild side effects, and a new flavor was born. All Bradberton had to do was have taste-testers sign health damage waivers and send them a Nuka condolences fruit and cheese basket afterward to avoid any litigation, and then wait for the profits to roll in.

Even before the completion of the development phase, however, the bottling plant at Nuka-World geared up in anticipation to begin mass production of Nuka-Cola Quantum. They even went as far as to both dye the river ride in the World of Refreshment a fluorescent blue and even promote it as a safe beverage to the actors manning the ride. The Beverageers themselves even went so far as to tell the actors that if they were feeling a little low on energy, that they could drink the Quantum right out of the river, and that this new Nuka-Cola is so packed full of energy that it kills any bacteria it touches.