Interesting book, although the author is not the best storyteller. Doesn't understand that good writing is about showing, not telling. Misses several key opportunities to hit this one out of the park.
Posted on 06/20/2011 10:09:45 AM PDT by justlittleoleme
North Korea’s last round of tests, conducted in May 2009, appear to have included a “super-EMP” weapon, capable of emitting enough gamma rays to disable the electric power grid across most of the lower 48 states, says Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, a former CIA nuclear weapons analyst and president of EMPact America, a citizens lobbying group.
Samore, who handles arms control and non-proliferation issues, warned that “additional strong sanctions will be imposed on the North with the support of Russia and China."
North Korea’s nuclear tests have been dismissed as failures by some analysts because of their low explosive yield. But Dr. Pry believes they bore the “signature” of the Russian-designed “super-EMP” weapon, capable of emitting more gamma radiation than a 25-megaton nuclear weapon.
Rep. Trent Franks, who authored the SHIELD Act, warned of “catastrophic consequences” should Congress fail to act.
“The U.S. society and economy are so critically dependent upon the availability of electricity that a significant collapse of the grid, precipitated by a major natural or man-made EMP event, could result in catastrophic civilian casualties,” he said. “This vulnerability, if left unaddressed, could have grave, societal altering consequences.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Read :
“ONE SECOND AFTER” By WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN
Chilling......
Interesting book, although the author is not the best storyteller. Doesn't understand that good writing is about showing, not telling. Misses several key opportunities to hit this one out of the park.
Actually it would be lower. In the 1850s, people had the skills, knowledge and infrastructure to live in a functioning 1850s level society.
Not too many 21st century Americans and Europeans would have the slightest idea how to get food and shelter if there was a sudden permanent loss of access to electricity. Moreover, the breakdown of society would mean that there would be no recognized private property, other than what people could take and protect by their own use of force.
To say nothing of the loss of respect for one another and work ethic that characterized what was then a largely Judeo-Christian society.
I know we have an abundance of hearty, self-sufficient, gun-toting, food growing Freepers (alas, I am not one), but everyone else would essentially be screwed.
Dang, you beat me.
If China really wanted to screw us, they would tell Little Kim to launch the EMP. He gives the order from a helicopter heading to the Chinese border. So we nuke North Korea, so what? China can toss a nuke at us via their proxy, and then have plausible deniability against retaliation.
Ask yourself, what would happen to our nuclear power plants in a lightening strike?
Keyword: electronic circuit breaker
Nuke plants should be very well protected from gamma due to all the rebar and metal in the outer buildings. The control systems would essentially be protected by multiple Faraday cages.
A very interesting question. At Fukushima, I think the earthquake didn't do anything really massive to the nuclear plants. And I think the tsunami didn't do anything really massive to the nuclear plants. But those events did create a power outage and the power outage led to meltdowns.
I don't think Japan expected such a turn of events, and it is not clear to me that America has either.
EMP bump
EMP is well known and measurable. They don’t need to build a grid to test it.
All our serious enemies (Iran, NK, Chavez, Castro,...) understand that successfully delivering a high EMP yield weapon would be a knockout blow. We would be left with our submarines. They could destroy all our enemies. That should be made clear to the Russians and Chinese. They may be able to knock out our electric grid, but they will have nothing left but smoldering craters.
I doubt it.
Keep in mind, that North Korea is a proxy for the Chinese military, which is drooling at the prospect of attacking the U.S....but doesn't want to be counter-attacked. Hence the use of a decoy nation. Which we have been altogether too lame about accepting as an "independent" just regarding it as a "friend" of China's.... not the puppet it is.
We should be telling the Chicoms that if North Korea attacks us...they will be held directly responsible...first and foremost.
Uh...That should be PV=nRT. And the frost you see on those rockets comes from the liquid oxygen and/or liquid hydrogen part of the propellant.
“Life expectancy would drop to 1850’s levels.”
It would be WAY less than 1950’s levels, since all the survival/farming/hunting skills have been lost. PLUS, with no electricy to refrigerate food, or run gas pumps, etc., mass STARVATION would ensue in just WEEKS! The few remaining would ENVY the people of Angola!
1) The Apollo rockets used LOX/Kerosene for the first stage, and LOX/LH2 for the second and third stages. LOX and LH2 frost the vents on their containers when filled, because LOX and LH2 are COLD. LOX ~ 90K, LH2 ~ 20K. The frost has nothing to do with pressure changes while filling a volume.
2) The North Korean Taepodong missile is powered by nitric acid/kerosene. Neither of these is cold, but both are liquid. There may be detectable venting of gases, but it won't be the frost and fog of a Saturn V.
3) US ballistic missiles (currently Minuteman III and Trident II) are solid fueled.
Most likely nothing would happen to the nuke plant itself. They would lose the external infrastructure such as transformers, generators, and other devices which are not protected. They’ll be forced to shutdown though as the system to distribute the electricity would be heavily damaged.
I would guess that there would be some radio chatter ... but in an ideal execution - we wouldn’t know until our lights went out.
LLS
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