Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
freely propagating electromagnetic-field effect that happens immediately, on the order of less
than one nanosecond to a few nanoseconds. The E1 effects are particularly damaging to mod-
ern integrated circuits in electronic controls, such as supervisory control and data acquisition
(SCADA) systems, digital-control systems (DCS), and programmable logic controllers (PLC),
which form critical elements in every aspect of our modern world's infrastructure. The E1 ef-
fects induce high-voltage currents in any kind of significant wiring runs that connect various
sensing elements in data acquisition and control systems.
For example, the systems that remotely control our gas and oil pipelines, oil and chemical
refining processes, water and sewage distribution and treatment systems, power generation and
distribution systems, and food storage and distribution systems, all contain sensitive digital-
processing circuits and remote-sensing devices that are connected by wiring harnesses and are
inherently susceptible to failure caused by induced currents and voltage spikes from E1 effects.
The E1 effects occur at such incredibly fast rates, that there is generally no time for electronic
protective circuits to switch into action and protect these sensitive and critical devices from
damage.
Warning:
The cooling and control systems that keep nuclear reactors functioning properly,
and prevent their cores from melting down (like what happened during the recent catastrophic
multiple failures in Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors), are entirely dependent upon
complex combinations of SCADAs, PLCs and DCSs—those types of electronic equipment that
are most sensitive to crippling damage from EMPs and solar super storms. In the event of an
EMP from a terrorist's suborbital nuclear detonation, or a solar super storm, it is quite likely
that a large number of nuclear power plants will simultaneously experience cooling failures and
catastrophic reactor core melt downs. After the Japan earthquake and tsunami spawned mul-
tiple reactor-cooling-system failures in the Fukushima reactors, widespread concerns about ra-
diation contamination caused a run on supplies of potassium iodide, dosimeters, Geiger coun-
ters, gas masks, and related items, effectively wiping out the world's short-term stock of
radiation-related emergency supplies. One-third of the U.S population lives within fifty miles
(83 km) of a nuclear reactor. If you happen to be one of these people, I strongly suggest you
read
chapter 17
, “The Unthinkable: Surviving a Nuclear Disaster,” and make your pertinent
disaster plans and purchases in a timely manner.
The intermediate-time EMP effects are categorized as E2 effects. These are similar in elec-
trical frequency to lighting strikes, but their occurrence will be much like many thousands or
millions of lightning strikes occurring simultaneously over thousands of square miles. In many
