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Page added on May 9, 2014
Electric Grid Vulnerable to EMP
Experts on Capitol Hill Thursday warned that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack aimed at the nation’s electrical grid could leave the majority of Americans dead.
The hearing, “Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP): Threat to Critical Infrastructure,” before the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies explored the effects an EMP would have.
“Some would say it’s low probability, but the damage that could be caused in the event of an EMP attack, both by the sun, a solar event, or a man-made attack, would be catastrophic,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas). “We talk a lot about a nuclear bomb in Manhattan, and cybersecurity threat to the power grid in the Northeast, and all of these things would actually probably pale in comparison to the devastation that an EMP attack could perpetrate on Americans.”
Rep. Trent Franks (R., Ariz.), who has worked to raise awareness on the issue for years, testified during the first panel that “catastrophic civilian casualties” could result unless Congress acts.
An overload of radio waves to electric systems, an EMP could result from a natural disaster, such as a solar storm, or a terrorist attack. Franks said “every single facet of modern human life” would be “crippled” by such an event.
“It strikes at my very core when I think of the men, women, and children in cities and rural towns across America with a possibility of no access to food, water, or transportation,” he said. “In a matter of weeks or months at most, a worst-case scenario could bring devastation beyond imagination.”
Franks told the Washington Free Beacon that while the nation’s critical defense assets, including nuclear defense capabilities, are currently protected against an EMP, the civilian grid is “almost entirely vulnerable.”
“The civilian grid, in my judgment, is very vulnerable,” he said. “Some of the largest transformers, the very largest ones, have an inherent resistance to all but the more intense electromagnetic pulses. But the fact is, we have enough of those mid-range transformers where a major event would be catastrophic.”
To protect the civilian grid against an EMP event, Franks has introduced H.R. 3410, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, which would enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement practical steps to protect the electric grid.
Dr. Michael J. Frankel, a senior scientist at Pennsylvania State University, said Franks’ bill is a “necessary first step” for the defense of the electric grid. The bill currently has 19 cosponsors.
The issue is an urgent one, said Dr. Peter Pry, a member of the Congressional EMP Commission and executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, who testified that an EMP event could wipe out 90 percent of America’s population.
“Natural EMP from a geomagnetic super-storm, like the1859 Carrington Event or 1921 Railroad Storm, and nuclear EMP attack from terrorists or rogue states, as practiced by North Korea during the nuclear crisis of 2013, are both existential threats that could kill 9 of 10 Americans through starvation, disease, and societal collapse,” he said.
Subcommittee Vice Chairman Scott Perry (R., Pa.) said that America’s adversaries may already have the ability to launch an EMP attack, which could be achieved by dropping a nuclear warhead miles above the electric grid.
“Currently the nations of Russia and China have the technology to launch an EMP attack, and we have speculated that Iran and North Korea may be developing EMP weapon technology,” Perry said. “This is why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to mitigate the effects of an EMP attack.”
Franks told the Free Beacon that Americans are unaware of the devastation that would occur if the country experienced a solar storm similar to the Carrington Event. Named after British astronomer Richard Carrington, Carrington is the biggest solar storm on record, and took place in 1859.
“If a Carrington event happened now, it’s an unthinkable, almost cataclysmic event,” Franks said. “What people don’t realize, we’re so used to things we think, ‘Oh, well power goes down for a week and it usually comes back up.’ And most of the reason it does is because of a lightning storm. Well, lightning is EMP. Lightning is E2.”
“We have put a lot of hardware-based protections against lightning over our grid installations,” he continued. “Even so, we still once in a while have some extended damage for a few days. But it almost always comes back.”
“The thing that people don’t realize is it’s the length of the blackout that begins to make it dangerous,” Franks said. “Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, well we’ll go outside and we’ll build a campfire and we’ll have a nice evening at home, we’ll break out the candles, it’ll be nice.’ A couple of days like that is okay. A week like that might be okay.”
“But you start looking at two or three months, you start looking at a very dangerous and unthinkable scenario in a society that is as dependent on electric supply as we are.”
16 Comments on "Electric Grid Vulnerable to EMP"
Pops on Fri, 9th May 2014 10:37 am
I don’t worry about this as much as I once did, not sure why. Maybe its because I’m not in the middle of somewhere.
GregT on Fri, 9th May 2014 11:36 am
We recently had a water main pipe burst at our head office, and the water found it’s way down into our main electrical vault. Our electrical contractor told us how lucky we had been. If we had of lost the main transformer to the building, it would have taken at least three months to get a replacement. The losses to the organization could have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars, or worse. Needless to say, a spare replacement has been ordered.
People take for granted the complex systems in place that work for them behind the scenes everyday, with little to no understanding of how they work. Relying on complex systems to provide for us the basic necessities of life, is both irresponsible and foolish.
Have a back-up plan people. In an emergency situation, it will be every man for himself.
Davey on Fri, 9th May 2014 11:50 am
Amen Greg!
Makati1 on Fri, 9th May 2014 12:12 pm
One EMT 200 miles above Kansas, and the US is toast. Any country that decided to do that would likely send multiples so that there is total coverage. Three spread out, east to west, would take down the grid permanently. If you doubt that statement, think the TOTAL system through before you post.
Any factory down for 3 months is not likely to ever reopen. Why? The skilled employees will be scattered at best, and probably dead. The world financial system that depends on USD will have crashed. Only the new money system being implemented by the BRICS and a few others will still be functioning.
If it is a massive solar flare, likely ALL systems will be down and never come back. Think about that…
penury on Fri, 9th May 2014 5:46 pm
I find that this is what I consider a non=problem. Sort of like the volcanos in Yellowstone or the sun burning out. I wish our elected “leaders” would address maybe just one of the problems this country faces for real. Perhaps they could begin by getting rid of “Homeland Security”
Yeti on Fri, 9th May 2014 8:00 pm
Makati, an EM”P” attack would only be part of a larger nuclear strike and so it would be game over for Everyone, not just the U.S.
So the odds of such an attack are only as great as the odds of a type of warfare we’ve already been brought up to believe=game over (nuclear winter, etc.)
ICBM’s can be traced back to their launch site but if a rocket or 3 where to pop out of container ships near our shores, rest assured the last thing on our response list will be “well, we dunno who done did it, guess we can’t retaliate.”
Davy, Hermann, MO on Sat, 10th May 2014 6:17 am
Yeti, Mak has this fantasy that his glorious Russia and China can and may destroy the US with EMP’s Mass Nuk strikes and the like. Then Mak goes on to talk about how the rest of the world will adapt. He ends it with a happy ending like the US has no Nuks to retaliate with. He is lost in his own little world.
Makati1 on Sat, 10th May 2014 2:58 pm
Davy, if there is a first strike launched by Russia or China, it will not matter if the US gets some missiles off. The US will be decimated, not just hurt. But, in the long run, it will not matter because those who live through the first day will only suffer until they too die of radiation, starvation, and/or nuclear winter.
You really have a warped idea of who I am and what I believe. Did an Asian rape your daughter or something? Or have you just had too much DC cool aid?
Davy, Hermann, MO on Sat, 10th May 2014 9:16 pm
Mak, the point is MAD Mutual Assured Destruction. This means the US will have missiles off nearly as soon as Russia. So Russia and China will be destroyed along with US. That is reality Mak. Your idea expressed above is a one sided fantasy of a happy ending for Russia and China in a nuclear exchange.
Yeti on Sat, 10th May 2014 9:22 pm
And what condition will China and Russia be in?
“Some missiles?” You need to google you some Ballistic Missile Submarine and the acronym M.I.R.V.
“Warped idea?” All you do here is spout off on the U.S. while seeming to be under the impression that China, Russia, and whoever are much more benign towards the planet and its people.
You’re in the Philippines, right? What’s your opinion on China’s 9-dash line?
simonr on Sun, 11th May 2014 5:16 am
Mak.
You said
Davy, if there is a first strike launched by Russia or China, it will not matter if the US gets some missiles off. The US will be decimated, not just hurt.
I think you need to check on the etymology of decimated.
Makati1 on Sun, 11th May 2014 6:47 am
Yeti, the 9-dash is going to be the final line unless diplomacy and negotiation changes it. Is the US the only country that can draw lines? Nope!
The little countries can complain, but none have the power to change anything. At best, a negotiated arrangement is possible if the US stays out of the discussion.
The US is giving them false hope that they will be protected if China attacks. BS! The US is a paper tiger in Asia and they know it.
Decimate Definition
dictionary.search.yahoo.com
tr.v.
To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
To inflict great destruction or damage on.
The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
To reduce markedly in amount.
a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Sun, 11th May 2014 7:58 am
Mak, your understanding of China is warped by your desire for any force to be an effective antagonist to the US. Your desire for the effective antagonist makes you engage in political propagandist ideologue exaggerated claims. You are in effect in a fantasy world which displays a irrationality for reality. It does not matter if you are intelligent if you cannot reality test Mak! Get a grip Mak, and realize the US is an integral part of the global BAU. US is not going to disappear from BAU or the global system. China and Russia the same is true. Your poster girls themselves have worse problems then the US in many ways. The US, China, and Russia are all firmly connected to the global economic system. There is no decoupling Mak! If and when a collapse comes your revered Asia is just as toast as Europe and the US. Probably more so because of the much larger population overshoot of East Asia. Wake up Mak to reality and bury your hatred that is distorting you mentality. I am not the only one commenting on your unrealistic behavior on this board. Sure we all have issues in our thinking but yours is definitely part of an illness.
J-Gav on Sun, 11th May 2014 8:09 am
A recent study by Alan Robock and his research team convincingly showed that any full-fledged nuclear exchange would send up so much smoke that the ensuing nuclear winter (sub-zero temps in the summer!) would wipe out most of the world’s population. Survivors would mainly be in the Southern hemisphere but even they would have a hard time getting food.
A limited exchange, of, say 100 nukes between India and Pakistan (with their smaller bombs) would still be enough to cause major havoc with the weather for a long time.
First order of business, get the nuke-count down to 200 max in the U.S. and Russia – then at least,nobody would have the fire-power to take out the whole world. At present, both countries have approximately 10,000 warheads each at various stages of operational readiness …
Boat on Sun, 11th May 2014 9:29 am
I am no expert but I think the assumption of the world surviving a nuclear war is overly optimistic. Even India and Pakistan who are towards the bottom of the nuke food chain have tested 36k-60k warheads. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were totally destroyed with 15k. So Pakistan by itself could put the world in climate freeze if they decided to jihad and martyr themselves.
This is why the continued expense of the US and Russia stockpiles are so crazy. We can only die once. Why spend money to kill the world hundreds of times over.
simonr on Sun, 11th May 2014 9:50 am
Mak.
Decimate .. is to wipe out one tenth of something (originally a legion).
How much damage would need to be inflicted on the US to stop them being able to destroy the world …..