In 1986, the lnstitute began a special project of research and education on American civil defense. In the course of this work, the Institute has published two books - Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearny and Fighting Chance by Arthur Robinson and Gary North. It has also produced 15 educational video tapes, shelter designs and plans, over 100 articles on various aspects of civil defense, and other educational materials.

In cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, Nuclear War Survival Skills was adopted for FEMA training courses and was distributed to emergency managers throughout the United States. The Institute also built five full-scale civil defense shelter displays for FEMA and for the states of Pennsylvania, Utah, Arizona, and Idaho (see photograph below) and carried out other educational activities in cooperation with FEMA. FEMA payment for the cost of these displays and for federal copies of Nuclear War Survival Skills is the only tax-based funding that the Institute has ever accepted.

With the decline of U. S. government interest in civil defense, the Institute is now the most reliable remaining source of civil defense educational materials in America. Work continues on the improvement of these materials.