The long-neglected threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disaster which could devastate the United States has finally been addressed. The path to protecting the nation has been set by the White House.
In 2018, A declassified report from the Congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, first obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, warned that China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran had developed the technology for an EMP attack against America. The danger lurks not only from war. A repeat of the long-overdue “Carrington Effect,” a result of natural sun cycles, could cripple the entire U.S. electrical grid.
In extraordinary testimony delivered in 2017 to the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Dr. William R. Graham, Chairman, and Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, chief of staff, of the Commission to Assess the Threat to America from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) revealed explosive details, including decades of neglect of the menace, how Russia transferred EMP technology to North Korea, and how North Korea already has the capacity to wreck devastation across the United States.
The two experts noted that . ‘Primitive’ and ‘Super-EMP’ Nuclear Weapons are both EMP Threats. The EMP Commission found that even primitive, low-yield nuclear weapons are such a significant EMP threat that rogue states, like North Korea, or terrorists may well prefer using a nuclear weapon for EMP attack, instead of destroying a city: “Therefore, terrorists or state actors that possess relatively unsophisticated missiles armed with nuclear weapons may well calculate that, instead of destroying a city or military base, they may obtain the greatest political-military utility from one or a few such weapons by using them—or threatening their use—in an EMP attack. In 2004, two Russian generals, both EMP experts, warned the EMP Commission that the design for Russia’s Super-EMP warhead, capable of generating high intensity EMP fields over 100,000 volts per meter, was ‘accidentally’ transferred to North Korea. They also said that due to ‘brain drain,’ Russian scientists were in North Korea, as were Chinese and Pakistani scientists according to the Russians, helping with the North’s missile and nuclear weapon programs. In 2009, South Korean military intelligence told their press that Russian scientists are in North Korea helping develop an EMP nuclear weapon. In 2013, a Chinese military commentator stated North Korea has Super-EMP nuclear weapons.”
An “Electromagnetic pulse” is a burst of electromagnetic energy. EMPs have the potential to negatively affect technology systems on Earth and in space. A high-altitude EMP (HEMP) is a type of human-made EMP that occurs when a nuclear device is detonated at approximately 40 kilometers or more above the surface of Earth. A geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) is a type of natural EMP driven by a temporary disturbance of Earth’s magnetic field resulting from interactions with solar eruptions. Both HEMPs and GMDs can affect large geographic areas.
To address the potentially existential crisis, President Trump recently signed an Executive Order (EO) “Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses.”https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-coordinating-national-resilience-electromagnetic-pulses/ The EO notes that “An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has the potential to disrupt, degrade, and damage technology and critical infrastructure systems. Human-made or naturally occurring EMPs can affect large geographic areas, disrupting elements critical to the Nation’s security and economic prosperity, and could adversely affect global commerce and stability. The Federal Government must foster sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective approaches to improving the Nation’s resilience to the effects of EMPs.”
According to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, “EMPs pose a potential threat to our nation’s critical infrastructure, and this executive order will advance our national goal of increased resilience across all infrastructure sectors. DHS remains committed to working with our interagency partners to ensure a more resilient, prepared America by reducing the risk of EMP events. DHS is grateful for the president’s leadership on this critical issue and continued commitment to protecting our country and keeping Americans safe.”
The executive order outlines DHS’ lead role in implementing the following activities:
- Provide timely information on credible EMP threats and events to stakeholders;
- Take a risk-informed approach to understand and enhance resilience to the effects of EMP across all critical infrastructure sectors, including coordinating the identification of national critical functions and prioritization of associated critical infrastructure at greatest risk to the effects of EMP;
- Coordinate response to and recovery from the effects of EMP on critical infrastructure;
- Consider EMP scenarios as a factor in preparedness exercises;
- Conduct R&D to better understand and more effectively model the effects of EMP on national critical functions, and then develop technologies and guidelines to protect this critical infrastructure;
- Maintain survivable means to provide necessary emergency information to the public during and after an EMP event; and
- Develop quadrennial EMP risk assessments, with the first risk assessment delivered within 1 year of this order.
The executive order will foster increased resilience to EMP events through better data gathering, testing, risk assessments, and private sector coordination. It directs departments and agencies to coordinate and streamline efforts, while fostering an environment that promotes private sector innovation to strengthen our critical infrastructure.
More must be done. The resources, from both Washington and the private sector, need to be dedicated to the task of hardening the nation’s critical facilities.
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