Posted on 05/09/2014 6:15:29 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
America needs to address this.
Now.
I wonder what a 737 fitted with a nuke that is exploded at its max altitude would do to our electric grid?
Nothing, I would think - it might affect an area about 50-100 miles wide. A typical effective EMP needs to be at least 250 miles up.
“I wonder what a 737 fitted with a nuke that is exploded at its max altitude would do to our electric grid?”
At airline altitudes it would directly impact only a 100 mile radius, and would have to be very big to even do that.
I am as well “shocked” at this “electrifrying” news. Nah, not really. As long as the low/no infos get their news about kims wedding, they couldn’t care less. I may be wrong but I believe that hairy reid-iculous is most likely pinning the blame for any future attacks on the Koch brothers. :>}
While a 50 to 100 mile blackout would be significant depending on the location, (New York, L.A. or D.C.) for instance, I understand that a plane borne EMP would not have a big enough impact to shut the whole electric grid down.
“A typical effective EMP needs to be at least 250 miles up.”
And it would have to be really big, in the megaton range even then, because the pulse is diminished with the square of the distance.
So what is the fix? Putting all electrical lines underground and in metal pipe?
Physically and economically nearly impossible.
gosh if only someone had a few $trillion for ‘shovel ready’ jobs we could have fixed this
All I am saying is, if this problem is what it seems (not that this is certain, but it seems to be potentially big) America is being completely irresponsible not paying attention to such a very large issue.
Now.
We need to bring back American industry, and there are a whole lot of things to worry about. But this goes beyond those other things.
America as a whole appears to be at (significant) risk.
All I am saying is, we need to pay attention to this.
Now.
Have a stock of the Transformers on hand. It takes a very long time to build and supply the critical transformers. Not the little dudes on the pole outside your house.
Do all of your posts.
End this way.
Now.
Haha.
No. I seem to have overused that a tad though this morning, looking at my history.
Thanks for the feedback.
“And it would have to be really big, in the megaton range even then, because the pulse is diminished with the square of the distance.”
Yeah, I really wonder what would happen if NK or Iran lofted a 20kt-er up over the US and then found out it fizzled. India and Pakistan couldn’t get over 20 kt and I seriously wonder what our enemies are planning.
More than that, a lot more!
I believe you may be confusing the effects of a nuclear-explosion's EMP with the effects of a "Carrington" (solar flare) event.
A Carrington event would knock out the power grid, but would not destroy run-of-the-mill electronics. So it could be mitigated by:
1. A big stock of high-voltage transformers, per your suggestion; and
2. A warning system that would take the power grid's functioning transformers off-line temporarily when an incoming flare is detected.
But a nuclear EMP not only would cripple our power grid, but it also could fry most solid-state electronic devices (e.g., in all modern cars) under its "umbrella" -- unless those devices had been suitably shielded, grounded and otherwise hardened.
“Have a stock of the Transformers on hand.”
Good point... Even with the lack of probability of an EMP weapon being deployed, there is always the possibility of a solar flare or even lightning.
I would expect that the power industry already has some degree of redundancy built in. This is something that I would expect would be handled by private industry and not some wasteful government program.
“But a nuclear EMP not only would cripple our power grid, but it also could fry most solid-state electronic devices (e.g., in all modern cars) under its “umbrella” — unless those devices had been suitably shielded, grounded and otherwise hardened. “
‘most’ = possibly some
And a Faraday cage yes, but grounding doesn’t do squat...
There is no doubt an EMP attack would be much more deadly than a Carrington event. I think we could deal with a flare with “reasonable” success especially with the advanced warning we would have.
I agree that an “EMP” attack would send us back to horse and buggy days very quickly. As bad as a nuke over Washington or New York would be, it would be nothing compared to even a “small” EMP attack.
And the worst part of this is that I am convinced it is only a matter of when, not if.
I, too, am frequently annoyed by that ridiculous use of the period. Apparently, the use of punctuation marks is no longer taught in schools.
Sorry, I just couldn’t stop myself.
Glad to see you’re a good sport.
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