What is an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)?
Source: Secure the Grid Coalition The Definition An Electromagnetic Pulse or EMP is a phenomenon discovered by the United States,…
Source: Secure the Grid Coalition
An Electromagnetic Pulse or EMP is a phenomenon discovered by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during the testing of nuclear weapons. While Enrico Fermi predicted the electromagnetic pulse for the USA’s first test in July 1945 and instructed that signal lines be shielded, the spurious pickup still damaged recording equipment. In 1952, the British experienced a similar phenomenon which called “radioflash.”
The first tests are no classified as Source Region EMPs (SREMP) because the nuclear test was conducted on the ground. Electronic infrastructure inside the “source region” (typically within 2-5km of the blast) was harmed by the initial radiation output (gamma, x-rays, neutrons) producing electron currents and air conductivity – the sources for the SREMP. Surface burst nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that SREMP can disrupt and upset electronic systems over 100 miles away and in deeply buried structures and can even propagate currents into and through power lines or telecommunication lines into areas well outside of the source region. This means that the EMP generated by even a surface burst nuclear weapon could cause widespread, long-term regional loss of power and communications.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union understood that a high-altitude nuclear detonation could produce similar electromagnetic effects as the surface bursts. In the 1960s both nations conducted High Altitude EMP (HEMP) tests and found that the resulting infrastructure damage was far worse than originally predicted. These tests revealed that the EMP generated by a nuclear weapon detonated at a height of 30km or higher produces a super-energetic radio wave – the EMP – that has three components, designated by the U.S. scientific-technical community as E1, E2, and E3.
E1 is caused by gamma rays, emitted by the nuclear warhead, that knock electrons off of molecules in the upper atmosphere causing the electrons to rotate rapidly around the lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, a phenomenon termed the Compton Effect. The E1 component of nuclear EMP is a shockwave, transmitting thousands of volts of energy in mere nanoseconds of time, and having a high-frequency (short) wavelength that can couple directly into small conductors, like personal computers, automobiles, and transformers. E1 is unique to nuclear weapons and is too fast and too energetic to be arrested by protective devices used for lightening.
The E2 component of a nuclear EMP is comparable to lightening in its energetic content and medium (milliseconds) frequency and wavelength. Protective devices used for lightening are effective against E2.
E3 is caused by the fireball of a nuclear explosion, the expanding and then collapsing fireball causes the Earth’s magnetic field to oscillate, generating electric currents in the very large conductors that can couple into the low frequency, long (seconds) wavelength part of the EMP that is E3. The E3 waveform can couple directly only into conductors having at least one dimension of great length. Electric power and telecommunications lines that run for kilometers in many directions are ideally suited for receiving E3. Although E3 compared to E1 appears to deliver little energy, just volts per meter, this is multiplied manifold by power and telecommunications lines that are typically many kilometers long, building up E3 currents that can melt Extremely High Voltage (EHV) transformers, typically designed to handle 750,000 volts. Small electronics can also be destroyed by E3 if they are connected in any way to an E3 receiver–like a personal computer plugged into an electric outlet, which of course is connected to power lines that are ideal E3 receivers.
Any nuclear weapon detonated at high-altitude (30 kilometers or higher) will generate Higher-yield nuclear weapons can generate more powerful and more damaging EMP, but all EMP fields are dangerous. Nuclear weapons specialized for EMP can be very low-yield and generate the most powerful and most dangerous fields.
The EMP Commission assesses that Russia, China, and North Korea have such “Super-EMP” weapons.
Given the current state of U.S. unpreparedness for an EMP event, it is estimated that within 12 months of an EMP event, two-thirds to 90 percent of the U.S. population would likely perish from starvation, disease, and societal breakdown.
Sources
Source: Secure the Grid Coalition
An Electromagnetic Pulse or EMP is a phenomenon discovered by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during the testing of nuclear weapons. While Enrico Fermi predicted the electromagnetic pulse for the USA’s first test in July 1945 and instructed that signal lines be shielded, the spurious pickup still damaged recording equipment. In 1952, the British experienced a similar phenomenon which called “radioflash.”
The first tests are no classified as Source Region EMPs (SREMP) because the nuclear test was conducted on the ground. Electronic infrastructure inside the “source region” (typically within 2-5km of the blast) was harmed by the initial radiation output (gamma, x-rays, neutrons) producing electron currents and air conductivity – the sources for the SREMP. Surface burst nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that SREMP can disrupt and upset electronic systems over 100 miles away and in deeply buried structures and can even propagate currents into and through power lines or telecommunication lines into areas well outside of the source region. This means that the EMP generated by even a surface burst nuclear weapon could cause widespread, long-term regional loss of power and communications.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union understood that a high-altitude nuclear detonation could produce similar electromagnetic effects as the surface bursts. In the 1960s both nations conducted High Altitude EMP (HEMP) tests and found that the resulting infrastructure damage was far worse than originally predicted. These tests revealed that the EMP generated by a nuclear weapon detonated at a height of 30km or higher produces a super-energetic radio wave – the EMP – that has three components, designated by the U.S. scientific-technical community as E1, E2, and E3.
E1 is caused by gamma rays, emitted by the nuclear warhead, that knock electrons off of molecules in the upper atmosphere causing the electrons to rotate rapidly around the lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, a phenomenon termed the Compton Effect. The E1 component of nuclear EMP is a shockwave, transmitting thousands of volts of energy in mere nanoseconds of time, and having a high-frequency (short) wavelength that can couple directly into small conductors, like personal computers, automobiles, and transformers. E1 is unique to nuclear weapons and is too fast and too energetic to be arrested by protective devices used for lightening.
The E2 component of a nuclear EMP is comparable to lightening in its energetic content and medium (milliseconds) frequency and wavelength. Protective devices used for lightening are effective against E2.
E3 is caused by the fireball of a nuclear explosion, the expanding and then collapsing fireball causes the Earth’s magnetic field to oscillate, generating electric currents in the very large conductors that can couple into the low frequency, long (seconds) wavelength part of the EMP that is E3. The E3 waveform can couple directly only into conductors having at least one dimension of great length. Electric power and telecommunications lines that run for kilometers in many directions are ideally suited for receiving E3. Although E3 compared to E1 appears to deliver little energy, just volts per meter, this is multiplied manifold by power and telecommunications lines that are typically many kilometers long, building up E3 currents that can melt Extremely High Voltage (EHV) transformers, typically designed to handle 750,000 volts. Small electronics can also be destroyed by E3 if they are connected in any way to an E3 receiver–like a personal computer plugged into an electric outlet, which of course is connected to power lines that are ideal E3 receivers.
Any nuclear weapon detonated at high-altitude (30 kilometers or higher) will generate Higher-yield nuclear weapons can generate more powerful and more damaging EMP, but all EMP fields are dangerous. Nuclear weapons specialized for EMP can be very low-yield and generate the most powerful and most dangerous fields.
The EMP Commission assesses that Russia, China, and North Korea have such “Super-EMP” weapons.
Given the current state of U.S. unpreparedness for an EMP event, it is estimated that within 12 months of an EMP event, two-thirds to 90 percent of the U.S. population would likely perish from starvation, disease, and societal breakdown.
Sources
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