Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
There is a lot of hype about EMPs and solar super storms; some of it true and some of it
blown out of proportion. Before I talk about how to prepare to weather the storms caused by a
terrorist act involving a nuclear-generated EMP, or an “act of God” caused by a solar super
storm, I will spend a little time summarizing some of the most important findings on these sub-
jects based upon information from two highly credible government-sponsored reports—
Severe
Space Weather Events: Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts Workshop Report
and
Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse
(EMP) Attack
.
What to Expect from an EMP
“
The electromagnetic pulse from a high-altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats
that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. The increasingly pervasive use of
electronics of all forms represents the greatest source of vulnerability to attack by EMP. Electron-
ics are used to control, communicate, compute, store, manage, and implement nearly every aspect
of United States' (U.S.) civilian systems. When a nuclear explosion occurs at high altitude, the EMP
signal it produces will cover the wide geographical region within the line of sight of detonation. This
broadband, high-amplitude EMP, when coupled into sensitive electronics, has the capability to pro-
duce widespread and long lasting disruption and damage to the critical infrastructures that underpin
the fabric of U.S. society.
. . . A single EMP attack may seriously degrade or shut down a large part of the electric power grid
in the geographic area of EMP exposure effectively instantaneously. There is also the possibility of
functional collapse of grids beyond the exposed area, as electrical effects propagate from one region
to another. . . . Some critical electrical power infrastructure components are no longer manufactured
in the United States, and their acquisition ordinarily requires up to a year of lead time in routine cir-
cumstances. Damage to or loss of these components could leave significant parts of the electrical
infrastructure out of service for periods measuring in months to a year or more. . . .
Electrical power is necessary to support other critical infrastructures, including supply and distribu-
tion of water, food, fuel, communications, transport, financial transactions, emergency services, gov-
ernment services, and all other infrastructures supporting the national economy and welfare. Should
significant parts of the electrical power infrastructure be lost for any substantial period of time, the
Commission believes that the consequences are likely to be catastrophic, and many people may ulti-
mately die for lack of the basic elements to sustain life in dense urban and suburban communities.
”
—John S. Foster, Jr., et al., “Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack,” April 2008
When a nuclear device is detonated aboveground, it generates three different categories of elec-
tromagnetic effects, and these are referred to as E1, E2, and E3 effects. The E1 is the direct,
