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Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow agovernment to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such asnuclear war.[1]
In theUnited States, theContinuity of Operations Plan was activated following theSeptember 11 attacks.[2]
During the years following thefederation of Australia in 1901, several locations were considered for the national capital. One of the criteria used to assess sites was that they needed to be inland so that they could not be attacked from the sea. It was also believed that locations away from the coast would have a lower incidence of disease.[3] During theCold War theOffice of National Assessments believed that it was unlikely that Australian cities would be attacked by the Soviet Union during a nuclear war.[4]
The modern Australian Government has plans to enable the continuity of government. As of 2008, these formed part of 'Plan Mercator', which the government has described as aiming "to minimise the impact of a national security emergency on critical government operations and provide for the rapid resumption of 'near normal' government business under alternate arrangements until normal operations can be resumed".[5]
Under the Australian system of government, there is not necessarily a requirement to maintain theCabinet in a crisis. If thePrime Minister was killed in a disaster, theGovernor-General would need to appoint their successor. Anational unity government could also be formed in a major crisis.[6]
A range of legislation, including theDefence Act 1903 and several health bills, include provisions that can be activated in response to emergencies. There are also plans for theParliament of Australia to operate from another location if it is unable to sit atParliament House in Canberra. These plans are classified.[6]
The Canberra Times has reported that an Australian Government building in the Canberra suburb ofSymonston houses communications systems that would be used to support the continuity of government if Plan Mercator was activated. The building was completed in 2007, and its secret function was disclosed as part of a job advertisement in 2008.[5]
In response to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the federal and most of the state and territory parliaments cancelled scheduled sittings from March 2020.[7] Federal parliamentary committees continued to operate virtually. The federal parliament met with only the number of members necessary to form aquorum present on several occasions between March and June 2020, and resumed full sittings from August that year. The arrangements in place from August allowed members of parliament who were unable to travel to Canberra to participate virtually, but these members were unable to vote in proceedings.[8][9]
Prime MinisterScott Morrison arranged to be secretly appointed to holdseveral ministerial positions during 2020 and 2021, justifying his appointment as the Minister for Finance and Minister for Health as being necessary in case the ministers for portfolios were affected by COVID-19 and unable to perform their duties.[10] Morrison's appointment as Minister for Health was approved in March 2020 by theNational Security Committee of Cabinet as part of measures taken in response to the pandemic, but was not publicly announced. His subsequent appointment to the other ministries was not known to other members of the government.[11] An inquiry held into the matter during 2022 that was headed by Former High Court justiceVirginia Bell found that Morrison had not needed to hold these ministries, as he could have been appointed "in a matter of minutes" if the ministers had been incapacitated. Morrison did not use the powers available to him as Finance or Health minister.[10]
Canada built numerous nuclear bunkers across the country, nicknamed "Diefenbunkers" in a play on the last name of then-Prime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker. In 2016, thePrivy Council Office made an agreement with theDepartment of National Defence to open two bunkers for government officials amid the ongoingNorth Korean nuclear crisis.[12]
ThePeople's Republic of China (PRC) once operatedUnderground Project 131, intended to be thePLA headquarters inHubei during a nuclear conflict. Built due to theSino-Soviet split during that portion of theCold War, in 1981, the Project 131 site was turned over to the civilian authorities of the prefecture-level city ofXianning, where it is located.
The K-116 facility under Zlíchov hill in westernPrague was designated to house theCzechoslovak government in case of nuclear attack (together with the K-9 facility inJihlava) and might still be used as the emergency headquarters of the Czech government andmilitary.[13]
During theCold War,Denmark built two bunker complexes, namedREGAN Vest andREGAN Øst (Danish: "REGeringsANlæg", translated: "Government Complex West and Government Complex East"), inJutland andZealand respectively. The idea was to have half of the government and theroyal family in one bunker, and the other half in the other, allowing continuity of government, even if one of the bunkers were destroyed or cut off.
TheCentre d'opération des forces aériennes stratégiques (COFAS) is ahardened command centre forFrench nuclear forces at Taverny Air Base inTaverny,Val d'Oise.[needs update] The alternate national command center is located atMont Verdun nearLyon.
The hardened headquarters ofForce océanique stratégique (FOST), France's nuclearSSBN fleet, is atBrest,Finistère.
Germany operated a government bunker (Regierungsbunker) to house the German government, parliament and all federal personnel needed to keep the government working in the event of war or severe crisis. It was decommissioned in 1997.
InIreland, theNational Security Committee (NSC) is the conduit for officials to communicate with theTaoiseach (Prime Minister) and/or cabinet members if the normal channel of communication with their minister became unavailable. Drafts of emergency powers legislation have been drawn up in secret, including legislation to deal with circumstances such as an attack on cabinet involving numerous deaths.[14]
During the period of theCold War, it was envisaged that cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and military advisers would use an underground nuclear bunker atCustume Barracks inAthlone in the event of a nuclear exchange. The bunker was equipped with a command and control centre with communications equipment – which had a hotline to theBritish government inWhitehall – a map room pointing out important areas for protection, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities.[15][16]
As of December 2003 an underground national crisis management center was being constructed at an undisclosed location in theJudaean Mountains underJerusalem.[17][18] Another command and control bunker is being built as part of the new Prime Minister's Office complex inGivat Ram.[19]
According toConstitution of Poland in case of death or inability to discharging duties of the President, his duties are discharged byMarshal of the Sejm (or if they are unable, theMarshal of the Senate).
AfterSmolensk air disaster in 2010 a lot of the highest state and army offices were emptied. Their duties were automatically taken over by respective deputies.
The New Zealand government believes the most likely disaster scenario to affect the government is a large earthquake inWellington. The government has plans to move Parliament and essential staff toDevonport Naval Base inAuckland if such an event occurs.[20] The New Zealand Parliament only requires a speaker, a minister and a clerk to be present forquorum requirements to be met. If ministers were killed in a disaster, the survivors can continue as the government and other members of parliament can be appointed as ministers.[21]
The website of theGovernor-General of New Zealand notes that their constitutional role is to "maintain the legitimacy and continuity of government by ensuring there is always a government in office with a democratic mandate to govern".[22] If the Governor-General was killed they would be automatically be replaced by the most senior judge from New Zealand's upper courts.[21]
The New ZealandNational Crisis Management Centre is located under the"Beehive" building in Wellington. An Alternate National Crisis Management Centre is in Auckland, and would be activated if the facility in Wellington was damaged, if multiple crises were occurring or if the government is required to relocate to Auckland.[23] A 2024 government review found that both facilities were not fit for purpose, but the deputy chief executive of theNational Emergency Management Agency noted that the National Crisis Management Centre could operate from tents if needed.[21]
TheNorwegian government operates a nuclear bunker calledSentralanlegget inBuskerud County. The bunker is meant to accommodate theNorwegian royal family and the government in case of a nuclear/military attack on the nation, and also function as a wartime headquarters. There is also a bunker beneathHøyblokka in downtownOslo.
In the public domain very little is known aboutRussia's COG plans. One sprawling underground facility residing in tunnels cut intoMount Yamantau is likely to be related to the survival of Russia's government, given its size and decades long construction history, with a construction start during the rule ofLeonid Brezhnev (1964–82).[25]KGB defector ColonelOleg Gordievsky states that an organization, known as Directorate 15, was (or is) tasked with building and maintaining a network of hundreds of underground command bunkers for theSoviet leadership; this includes the vast site beneath Yamantau Mountain, which is often calledMezhgorye / Межго́рье after theclosed city that is located nearby. However, there is speculation, due to its proximity toChelyabinsk-70, that Yamantau is a 400-square-mile underground complex which houses nuclear warheads, missiles, launch controls, and several nuclear weapons factories designed to continue production after a hypothetical nuclear war begins.[26]
The second command and control center in theUrals, after Yamantau, is similarly speculated to be underground and located near, or under,Kosvinsky Kamen. The site is believed to host the RussianStrategic Rocket Forces alternate command post, a post for the general staff built to compensate for the vulnerability of older Soviet era command posts in the Moscow region. In spite of this, the primary command posts for theStrategic Rocket Forces remainsKuntsevo in Moscow and the secondary is the Kosvinsky Mountain in the Urals.[27] The facility at Kosvinsky, finished in early 1996, was designed to resist USearth-penetrating warheads and serves a similar role as the AmericanCheyenne Mountain Complex.[26]
Further command centers, according to globalsecurity.org, include one nearChekhov, which is theRussian General Staff wartime command post, buried deep underground,[28] andSharapovo(ru) about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Moscow, built in the 1950s, Sharapovo is believed to have been the primary backup command center for the Soviet era leadership. Both Chekhov and Sharapovo are each suggested to have the capability to accommodate about 30,000 individuals,[26] As an alternative to Sharapovo, a secondary political leadership base is located atChaadayevka, some 650 kilometers southeast of Moscow near the city ofPenza.[29]
There is also said to be as many as 12 underground levels beneath the Russian capital ofMoscow to protect the government in theKremlin, known as the Main Directorate of special programs of the President (Glavnoye Upravlenie Specialnih Program: GUSP)(ru) the direct successor of the 15th Directorate of the KGB, which was established in 1977, GUSP is said to oversee, amongst other sites, a parallel track line alongside theMoscow metro, known as the 'Kremlin line'Metro-2 or D-6 to be used in an emergency.[30] Two destinations of this system are suggested to be the oldKGB headquarters, now theFSB headquarters, atLubyanka Square, and the second being regarded as an enormous underground leadership bunker adjacent toMoscow State University.[24] Another alleged subterranean destination, apart from the aforementioned underground town atRamenki/Moscow State University isVnukovo-2 airport.[31] Despite official Russian state ambiguity, it is speculated that many of the Moscow bunkers are linked by an underground railway line.[26]
In case of war, theRiksdag can convene somewhere else than in the capital, and if necessary, a War Delegation will replace the Riksdag. The War Delegation consists of the Speaker and 50 members of the Riksdag. The government can put a number ofenabling acts in force to regulate for example rationing, export and seizing of property.[32][33] If the government is unable to carry out its duties the Riksdag may decide on the formation of a new government. Likewise, if the Riksdag and the War Delegation are unable to carry out its duties, the government can assume the powers of the Riksdag, but with some limitations.[34]
During theCold War, theKlara skyddsrum ("Klara shelter" or "Klara bunker") was built underneathStockholm. The bunker is designed to accommodate two thirds of the government and between 8,000 and 12,000 civilians in the case of a military attack on Stockholm. It is designed as a very large, two-story oval, with multiple entrances. During peacetime, parts of it are used as a parking garage. Sweden built over 65,000 fallout shelters[35] in regular houses, and every county had at least one large hard-rock underground bunker that controlled a number of smaller bunkers that were located in the municipalities.[36]
There is little public knowledge about continuity of government in Turkey. The cabinet and presidential offices, based in the capital ofAnkara, have secondary sites inIstanbul andİzmir.
The primary British COG headquarters is at the Ministry of Defence inWhitehall. TheCentral Government War Headquarters was previously maintained in a quarry complex nearCorsham, Wiltshire. The above-ground support facility wasRAF Rudloe Manor.
Service command centres areNorthwood for theRoyal Navy Trident SSBN force, andRAF High Wycombe for the Royal Air Force.
Continuity of the national government was first threatened in late 1776, when British forces advanced toward the Continental capital atPhiladelphia. On December 9, theContinental Congress passed a resolution in anticipation of a British capture:
Resolved: That in case this Congress shall be under the necessity of removing from Philadelphia, it shall be adjourned toBaltimore.
The Congress was adjourned as planned three days later.[37] Other relocations followed during the course of theRevolutionary War.
For most of its existence, the United States operated without a standing continuity plan. When British forcesburned Washington in 1814, Secretary of StateJames Monroe received only a few hours' notice to remove the government records. Although his staff saved many valuable records, much was nonetheless destroyed, and the next administration encountered a great deal of confusion.[38]
In 1952, PresidentTruman ordered all federal offices to develop their own continuity plans for the event of acivil defense emergency. Plans have been maintained and adapted since then, at times requiring the construction of secret facilities such as theemergency Congress facility inGreenbrier County, West Virginia. The current continuity policy is defined in National Security Policy Directive 51[39] and its implementation plan.[40] The continuity plan was activated for the first time during theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks and then again during theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack.[41][42]Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are draft classified executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared for the President of the United States to exercise or expand powers in anticipation of a range of emergency hypothetical worst-case scenarios, so that they are ready to sign and put into effect the moment one of those scenarios comes to pass.
TheUnited States presidential line of succession is the order in which officials of the United States federal government assume the powers and duties of the office of president of the United States if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office. It was adopted in 1947, and last revised in 2006. Thedesignated survivor is an individual in the line of succession, chosen to stay away from events such as State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations.
Congress has various steps to continue operations at a new location if needed, and to speed up replacement of members after death.[43] Senators can be replaced by appointment in most states, while special elections replace members of the House of Representatives.
State legislatures have rules to change the quorum needed in emergencies.[44] The federal government has advice for other aspects of continuity of state, local, tribal and territorial governments.[45] Advice for elections suggests a format, but not how to operate, such as hand counts or backup computers.[46] Voters have adopted some ballot measures for continuity of state government.[47]
Government plans cover what officials can do, not what citizens need to do in the hours and days before government recovers. "Regular people are the most important people at a disaster scene... experts will err on the side of excluding the public, as we have seen. If they can avoid enrolling regular people in their emergency plans, they will. Life is easier that way, until something goes wrong."[48]
UK-specific:
US-specific:
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