Why is it that after a lapse of several years there should be renewed interest in recovery from nuclear attack from four official sources, acting independently? Two studies on this subject originated with the legislative branch - the Office of Technology Assessment's The Effects of Nuclear War, and the Joint Committee on Defense Production's report on Economic and Social Consequences of Nuclear Attacks on the United States. From the executive branch have come Howard M. Berger's A Critical Review of Studies of Survival and Recovery After a Larg-Scale Nuclear Attack commissioned by the Defense Nuclear Agency, and this report sponsored by the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (now a part of the new FEMA). At the very least, this coincidence of concern is noteworthy, but whether it indicates uneasiness with the changing world power balance, or merely dissatisfaction with the very tentative and disiparate conclusions of past studies, is uncertain.