U.S. Code of Federal Regulations
Regulations most recently checked for updates: Aug 28, 2025
§ 323.1 - Purpose.
This part:
(a) States the policy of the Federal Government on use of resources in the period immediately following a nuclear attack on the United States;
(b) Provides general guidance for Federal, State, and local government officials on activities to be accorded priority in the use of postattack resources; and
(c) Lists those items essential to national survival in the immediate postattack period.
§ 323.2 - General policy.
(a) In an immediate postattack period all decisions regarding the use of resources will be directed to the objective of national survival and recovery. In order to achieve this objective, postattack resources will be assigned to activities concerned with the maintenance and saving of lives, immediate military defense and retaliatory operations, economic activities essential to continued survival and recovery.
(b) This guidance is designed to achieve a degree of national equity in the use of resources and to assign and conserve resources effectively in the immediate postattack period. Until more specific instructions are available, these are the general guidelines within which managerial judgment and common sense must be used to achieve national objectives under widely differing emergency conditions.
§ 323.3 - Responsibilities.
(a) As stated in The National Plan for Emergency Preparedness, the direction of resources mobilization is a Federal responsibility. However, in the period immediately following an attack, certain geographical areas may be temporarily isolated, and State and local governments will assume responsibility for the use of resources remaining in such areas until effective Federal authority can be restored. State and local governments will not assume responsibility for resources under the jurisdiction of a Federal agency where the Federal agency is able to function.
(b) As soon as possible after an attack and until specific national direction and guidance on the use of resources is provided, Federal, State, and local officials will determine what resources are available, to what needs they can be applied, how they are to be used, and the extent to which resources are deficient or in excess of survival needs. They will base determinations as to the relative urgency for use of resources primarily upon the importance of specific needs of defense, survival, and recovery.
§ 323.4 - Priority activities in immediate postattack period.
The following activities are to be accorded priority over all other claims for resources. There is no significance in the order of the listing—all are important. The order in which and the extent to which they are supported locally may vary with local conditions and circumstances. If local conditions necessitate the establishment of an order of priority among these activities, that order shall be based on determinations of relative urgency among the activities listed, the availability of resources for achieving the actions required, and the feasibility and timeliness of the activities in making the most rapid and effective contribution to national survival.
(a) The immediate defense and retaliatory combat operations of the Armed Forces of the United States and its Allies: This includes support of military personnel and the production and distribution of military and atomic weapons, materials and equipment required to carry out these immediate defense and retaliatory combat operations.
(b) Maintenance or reestablishment of Government authority and control to restore and preserve order and to assure direction of emergency operations essential for the safety and protection of the people. This includes:
(1) Police protection and movement direction;
(2) Fire defense, rescue and debris clearance;
(3) Warnings;
(4) Emergency information and instructions;
(5) Radiological detection, monitoring and decontamination.
(c) Production and distribution of survival items and provision of services essential to continued survival and rapid recovery. (For list of survival items, see appendix 1 to this part.) These include:
(1) Expedient shelter;
(2) Food, including necessary processing and storage;
(3) Feeding, clothing, lodging, and other welfare services;
(4) Emergency housing and community services;
(5) Emergency health services, including medical care, public health and sanitation;
(6) Water, fuel, and power supply;
(7) Emergency repair and restoration of damaged vital facilities.
(d) Essential communications and transportation services needed to carry out the above activities.
(e) Provision of supplies, equipment, and repair parts to produce and distribute goods needed for the above activities.
§ 323.5 - Assignment of resources.
Resources required for essential uses, including manpower, will be assigned to meet the emergency requirements of the priority activities indicated above. The principal objectives are to use available resources to serve essential needs promptly and effectively, and to:
(a) Protect and to prevent waste or dissipation of resources prior to their assignment to priority activities;
(b) Support production of essential goods. Other production will be permitted to continue only from inventories on hand and when there is no emergency requirement for the resources vital to this production.
(c) Support construction for emergency repair and restoration, construction of facilities needed for survival, or the conversion of facilities to survival use, where this can be accomplished quickly. Other construction already under way should be stopped, and no new construction started unless it can be used immediately for essential purposes upon completion.
Appendix Appendix 1 - Appendix 1 to Part 323—List of Essential Survival Items
This document contains a list of items considered essential to sustain life at a productive level to assure national survival in an emergency. The list identifies items to which major attention should be given in all phases of preattack planning to insure the availability of basic essentials for a productive economy in the event of a nuclear attack. Supply-requirements studies and assessments for these items will be made to disclose critical deficiencies or other problems that can be anticipated. Revisions will be made as necessary to keep the items as up-to-date as possible.
The items are arranged by seven major groups:
(1) Health Supplies and Equipment,
(2) Food,
(3) Body Protection and Household Operations,
(4) Electric Power and Fuels,
(5) Sanitation and Water Supply,
(6) Emergency Housing and Construction Materials and Equipment, and
(7) General Use Items.
Survival items are defined as “those items without which large segments of the population would die or have their health so seriously impaired as to render them both burdensome and non-productive.” The items have been classified into Group A or Group B, with Group A representing end products consumed or used directly by the population, and Group B consisting of those items essential to the effective production and utilization of the Group A items, which are consumed or used directly by the people.
There are no Group B items in the categories of Health Supplies and Equipment, Body Production and Household Operations, and Emergency Housing and Construction Materials and Equipment. All of these items are considered to be consumed directly and any attempt to separate them in to A and B groupings would be too arbitrary to be meaningful.
It is important to keep in mind the fact that while the items listed are the basic essentials necessary for maintaining a viable economy during the first six months following an attack, not all of them would create problems that would require government action preattack to insure adequate supplies. The aforementioned supply-requirements studies will be undertaken to identify the problem areas. In developing supply data, all available production capacity, existing inventories, and possible substitutions will be considered. For example, in analyzing clothing items, all available supplies would be considered from sport to dress shirts, from overalls to dress suits. However, new production would be limited to the simplest form of the basic item which can be produced. The final determination as to which of the items are most critical and which may require preattack actions by the Government, as well as the type of actions which must be taken, can be made only after a comprehensive supply-requirements analysis is completed.
1. Pharmaceuticals:
2. Blood Collecting and Dispensing Supplies:
3. Biologicals:
4. Surgical Textiles:
5. Emergency Surgical Instruments and Supplies:
6. Laboratory Equipment and Supplies:
1. Milk group. Milk in all forms, milk products. Important for calcium, riboflavin, protein, and other nutrients.
2. Meat and meat alternate group. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs; also dry beans, peas, nuts. Important for protein, iron, and B-vitamins.
3. Vegetable-fruit group. Including 1. Dark Green and yellow vegetables. Important for Vitamin A. 2. Citrus fruit or other fruit or vegetables. Important for Vitamin C. 3. Other fruits and vegetables, including potatoes.
4. Grain products. Especially enriched, restored, cereal and cereal products, and bread, flours, and meals. Important for energy, protein, iron, and B-vitamins.
5. Fats and oils. Including butter, margarine, lard, and other shortening oils. Important for palatability and food energy; some for Vitamin A and essential fatty acids.
6. Sugars and syrups. Important for palatability and food energy.
7. Food adjuncts. Certain food adjuncts should be provided to make effective use of available foods. These include antioxidants and other food preservatives, yeast, baking powder, salt, soda, seasonings and other condiments. In addition, coffee, tea, and cocoa are important for morale support.
1. Clothing:
2. Personal Hygiene Items:
3. Household Equipment:
1. Electric Power.
2. Petroleum Products.
3. Gas.
4. Solid Fuels.
1. Water.
2. Water Supply Materials:
3. Chemical Biological, and Radiological CBR Detection, Protection, and Decontamination Items:
4. Insect and Rodent Control Items:
5. General Sanitation:
1. General Supplies and Equipment:
2. Storage and Transport Equipment:
3. Laboratory Equipment and Supplies:
4. Sanitation Equipment: