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The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from this test sent power line surges throughout Oahu, knocking out street lighting, blowing fuzes and circuit breakers, and triggering burglar alarms."

If you were reading the thread you would see he himself already posted from that. If you read more of it you would see this...

The radius for an effective satellite kill for the various prompt radiations produced by such a nuclear weapon in space was determined to be roughly 80 km.

Yeah it messed a few things up in Hawaii. So what? To be really effective you be much closer. There is a huge difference between 'fry some car alarms' and 'back to the stone age'.

Yeah it messed a few things up in Hawaii. So what? To be really effective you be much closer. There is a huge difference between 'fry some car alarms' and 'back to the stone age'

No...you don't have to be closer. Read the report from FAS. Also...there is a BIG difference between the amount of electronics around in 1962 and today. Do you think if the same detonation were to happen today, all that would occur would be some fried car alarms? Besides...it wasn't "car alarms." As far as I know...car alarms didn't exist in 1962. It was burgular alarms at various businesses. There were very few things that relied on electronics back in 1962. That's why it only did a little bit of damage.

If this wasn't a threat...Reagan wouldn't have spent millions of dollars hardening our critical infrastructure AGAINST it.

If you could travel back in time to 1962 with your desktop...and you are in Hawaii...it isn't working after this test. Period. Neither is your calculator...or your car (post 1980ish)...or your TV...your cell phone. None of it. Unless it is hardened

Oh, and I suppose you have never started to compose a response, gotten distracted by the phone or whatever, and then come back and posted that response without first reading the posts in-between the one you were responding to and the one you posted.

Riiight. (as in, sue me)

Back to the stone age might be a bit over the top, I agree. But then, we haven't YET been in that scenario, so who is to say for sure? One thing's for sure. ANY attack of that type would put the Chaos into the Country....good & proper. If a lil ole hurricane can cause panic, mayhem and looting, just think what one of these types of attacks could or would do. Let alone...several coordinated ones.

“The radius for an effective satellite kill for the various prompt radiations produced by such a nuclear weapon in space was determined to be roughly 80 km. “

And that’s a different kill mechanism, too. The “prompt radiations” are very short bursts of (mostly) x-rays that induce large currents in semiconductors by the photoelectric effect, enough to upset their function or even burn them out. It’s not remotely like EMP.

At high enough dose rates the sat is killed by thermomechanical shock, because the parts heat up so rapidly they undergo an explosive-like shock wave that can break things.

EMP is an atmospheric effect.