Posted on 08/12/2004 5:23:52 AM PDT by OESY
See "Warday" by Whitley Streiber and James Kunetka. It's fiction, but had reasonably realistic consequences of nuclear and EMP attack on the US.
EMP is a threat but this is article tin-foiled.
"War Day" is one of my all-time favorite books!
Can't things be shielded?
Guess we'll go into 'Y2K' mode. Yes, I was one of the nuts who prepared. Actually, it was kind of fun and I learned a whole lot about how dependent we are on modern technology. I think I'm a survivalist at heart. My husband, wisely, humored me through the whole thing. And, to his credit, he didn't say "I told you so"! LOL!
And, to his credit, he didn't say "I told you so"!
LOL, that is one good hubby you got there! I was very gratified at work on Jan 2 (or whatever day it was), 2000 to hear of another firm whose phones were down, they failed to find and fix a bug. I went nuts during '99 and it was nice to know it wasn't all a big hoax.
I'm pretty sure but not positive.. I think power utilities in major cities have been establishing secondary command centers for power generation, and I bet they have been stockpiling replacement parts.
The effect of an EMP would be devastating. I don't disagree with that, but I think a half year might be the longest we might have to endure with minimal power. Replacing domestic and non-essential infrastructure will be the most expensive and time consuming.
EMP: Is that the same thing that fries the electronics in cars?
That was the job of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the U.S. from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack.
But, but isn't that what W got ridiculed for doing, thinking of ways to damage the country?
Yes.
Won't be able to pump gas for it.
Actually mother nature attacks us with EMP all the time, it's called lightning. We also get blasted by solar winds at the poles (northern/southern lights) which also cause EMP. Sandia Labs in Albuquerque was/is a major player in developing EMP shielding.
Shielding only works to a certain degree. Aircraft are particularly vulnerable as there is no discharge path. Ground facilities can atleast shunt the extra energy to ground. Backup control systems, not connected to the grid would be safer, and no doubt are in use.
Oddly a nuclear war is only a theoretical possibility. If nukes started flying, the ICBMs coming in behind the first wave may be duds because of the EMP from the first wave.
At one time there was discussion of detonating nukes in space over the north pole to disable the electronics of incoming soviet missiles.
FYI
It could also be the biggest damn dud since the Y2K crisis.
EMP effects are difficult to model because they are extremely sensitive to environmental factors that are not fully understood. In EMP testing, it is very difficult to get consistently reproducible results. It's not uncommon to have Computer A get turned into a 20-pound paperweight, Computer B to hiccup slightly and continue running with subtle problems (more blue screens of death, etc.), and Computer C be unaffected--and they're all sitting on the same test bench at the same time...
I have a friend in the trucking industry, trucks gas all over NY..
He has a huge storage tank with a hand pump.
Isn't is true, that if electric current is not running through a particular device (i.e. unplugged) then it is shielded from EMP?
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