Improving missile defense, understanding other countries’ nuclear capabilities, and better defining national security roles top the list of recommendations in The Heritage Foundation report The Danger of EMP Requires Innovative and Strategic Action.
Released April 4, the report examines the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threat to the nation and what can and should be done about it.
“Considered by some to be the stuff of science fiction, an electromagnetic pulse … attack poses a direct threat to the U.S. electric grid—a threat that is poorly understood and lacks the leadership to address it,” the report said.
An EMP is an intense energy burst prompted by “radiation of air particles,” which can occur naturally, as with a solar flare, or by a nuclear weapon blast.
Researchers break down an EMP into three components—“E1, E2, and E3.”
E1, the report said, occurs in mere nanoseconds and can disrupt and possibly disable things such as electronic systems, appliances, and other unprotected systems. E2 occurs in milliseconds and “enhances the EMP currents on long lines, further exacerbating the damage caused by E1”—similar to a lightening strike. E3 can occur for minutes and impact things like the power grid, with effects similar to that of a geomagnetic storm.
“While protecting long-line systems against an EMP and all its components offers protection from space weather, hardening the systems only to withstand space weather does not offer protection from the E1 part of an EMP, which requires different equipment,” the report said. “This means that the United States must go beyond hardening its grid against effects of solar weather—both of which it has yet to do.”
The biggest EMP threat, the report notes, comes from hostile regimes who can access nuclear and missile technologies.
“A nuclear bomb detonated at an altitude of just 25 miles above sea level, also known as a high-altitude EMP (HEMP), would have far-reaching consequences, potentially across the continental United States,” the report said.
One illustration in the report noted that a detonation at a 30-mile altitude could impact an area equal to 720,000 square miles—and the higher the detonation the more widespread the damage. The same chart shows a detonation at a 300-mile altitude would impact about 6.7 million square miles. To put that into context, such a detonation above Kansas could impact an area from California to the tip of Long Island, with a radius that also stretches well into Canada to the north and includes most of Mexico to the south.
A primary concern in the report is the fact that the United States isn’t well prepared for EMP consequences, making the country vulnerable to attacks from weaker nations seeking to cause considerable damage.
The report provided a number recommendations to better position the country and defend against an EMP attack.
First, the country must improve its missile defense posture. “Since one of the most effective ways to inflict massive damage on an advance nation is to deliver a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile and detonate it at a high altitude, shooting down that missile before it fulfills its objective is the best way to prevent the devastating consequences,” the report said.
The report also recommends funding “nuclear warhead and design development efforts to increase U.S. understanding of other nations’ nuclear weapon programs.”
Roles in the public and private sector must also be better defined to address the threat, the report said. While missile defense and disaster response would fall on the shoulders of the federal government, the report suggested that those in the electricity sector, for example, might be best to identify vulnerabilities in the industry. The report also encourages better information sharing between industry sectors and the federal government.
Other recommendations include improving communication, developing a standards framework for the electricity sector, conducting security exercises, and supporting the mission of the EMP Commission to address the EMP threat.
The entire report is available for viewing and download here.
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