What’s an EMP?
EMP stands for ElectroMagnetic Pulse. EMPs are created by detonating a nuclear weapon high above the earth (200-300 miles), sending huge charges of electricity so strong that they destroy or disable most electronics devices, electrical components, power lines, and power plants, bringing a large area below the explosion to darkness by causing substantial damage to the power grid. These results would cause cascading failures in other parts of the power grid not directly impacted by the EMP.
A nuclear EMP has three component pulses. The first pulse (E1) is brief, intense, and very quick, taking out electronic components. Interestingly, E1 pulses travel through the body without being felt or much effect. The second pulse (E2) is longer in duration and it behaves similarly to the effect of lightning. The third pulse (E3) is slower, and behaves very similar to an intense solar storm, devastating power lines with massive currents that destroy electrical transformers and power plants.
If this were to happen, it would “bring our civilization to a cold, dark halt”, according to the Wall Street Journal article published in August 2014.
Almost everything in modern life requires electricity. In the event of an EMP detonation, most of the conveniences we enjoy like electricity to power our homes (lights, furnace, air conditioning, appliances, computers, electronic devices, cell phones, etc.) could be gone in an instant. Civilian infrastructure that provide electricity, water, gasoline, financial services, emergency services, food and agricultural production, and transportation would be directly impacted or made non-functional.
In the recent past several respected news organizations have written about the dangers to national security that is posed by rogue nations (North Korea, Iran, China, Russia) or terrorist groups (Al Queda, ISIS, Hezbolah) who have the capability to wage this kind of attack on the U.S. What is most alarming is that there are very few defenses in place to prevent or thwart this kind of attack on America.
According to Forbes Magazine, “a single missile with a warhead that actually doesn’t have to be all that large, has the potential to take out the U.S. power grid, destroy our electronics networks, and create an existential crisis like nothing the world has ever witnessed”.
Congress created an EMP Commission which published two reports, 2004 and 2008, detailing the threat to U.S. warning:
“…terrorists or state actors that possess relatively unsophisticated missiles armed with nuclear weapons may well calculate that, instead of destroying a city or military base, they may gain the greatest political-military utility from one or a few such weapons by suing them—or threatening to their use–in an EMP attack…
…China and Russia have considered limited nuclear-attack options that, unlike their Cold War plans, employ EMP as the primary or sole means of attack. Designs for variants of such weapons may have been illicitly trafficked for a quarter-century”.
The 2008 EMP Commission report estimated that within 12 months of a nationwide blackout, up to 90% of the U.S. population could possibly die from starvation, disease and societal breakdown. In 2009 former Secretaries of Defense William Perry and James Schlesinger, concurred with the Commission’s findings and urged immediate action to protect the U.S. power grid.
The 2008 EMP Commission Report states:
“The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a high altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences…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 effective instantaneously. There is also the possibility of functional collapse of grids beyond the exposed one, as electrical effects propagate from one region to another…Should significant parts of the electric 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 ultimately die for lack of the basic elements necessary to sustain life in dense urban and suburban communities.”
“In fact, the Commission is deeply concerned that such impacts are likely in the event of an EMP attack unless practical steps are taken to provide protection for critical elements of the electric system and for rapid restoration of electric power, particularly to essential services.”
Although the U.S. military has worked to protect itself from the result of EMP attacks, unfortunately, most of the U.S. civilian infrastructure could not withstand such an event. Most military installations rely heavily on the civilian power grid that could directly impact the military’s ability to carry out its mission command, communications, and transportation of goods and personnel. Additionally, it is anticipated that were an EMP attack to occur the effects would be devastating, resulting in roughly 300 million deaths in the U.S. within a year of the attack. Some places would not have power for weeks, months, or even years. Because of the U.S’s influence in banking, economics, and military balance, the entire world would feel the effects of such an attack on the U.S.
We can only hope that Congress will muster the will to pass legislation that will provide the funding and legal mandate for the civilian power grid and infrastructure to be protected against such a “clear and present danger”.
Sources:
“Failure to Protect U.S. Against Electromagnetic Pulse Threat Could Make 9/11 Look Trivial Someday”, July 31, 2014, www.forbes.com.
“The Growing Threat from EMP Attack”, Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2014.
“Terminal Blackout: Critical Electric Infrastructure Vulnerabilities and civil-Military Resiliency”, Cynthia E. Ayers & Kenneth D. Chrosniak, U.S. Army War College, Issue Paper, Volume 1-13, October 2013.