PJ Media: Iran and the EMP Threat

[sholling]

Yet another EMP thread but worth the time. This is a real threat and one that could be launched from freighters or converted tankers. It's also a threat that is within reach of the crazy North Korean dictator. 3 high altitude detonations would knock out most of the nation's power plants, a huge chunk of our transformers. The electronics in transportation systems including trucks and that used in harvesting machinery. The point is not that it's possible - it is, the point is that it's a form of attack that the Iranian and Kim would have no qualms about using especially if launched from a ship and one that does not require an accurate guidance system. It's also one that you can prep for. A spare engine management computer in an EMP resistant container. Keep the gas tanks full to run for water if necessary and enough food to keep the family alive until power and transportation can be substantially restored - an lay low so that nobody around you knows that you're in better shape than they are. My guess is 6-12 months. Fortunately we don't have the subzero weather found in the northern states who would suddenly find themselves with no heat or transportation or food for months.

BTW the article is also a push for hardening the power grid.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iran-and-the-emp-threat/?singlepage=true

Thousands will be stranded on subways, and over a million passengers who fly daily across the continent will be stuck at airports with flights canceled. Those already in the air will meet a deadly fate as planes plunge from the sky, their electronics fried.

Within the next few days, water supplies will run out: water-pumping stations will grind to a halt and electric pumps for water purification will also stop. Remaining water supplies will soon become contaminated.

Next is the food supply. Without power, food plants can no longer operate, and without transportation, food inventories in warehouses rot. Many cities will run out of food in just three days, others in just a bit longer.

[Maddog5150]

hahaha. i would love to see someone who isnt a mechanic try to replace thier ECM on their cars.

[sholling]

hahaha. i would love to see someone who isnt a mechanic try to replace thier ECM on their cars.

It depends on the year of the car. Fortunately my neighbor is a mechanic for the local dealer and a friend.

[socal-shooter]

emp questions

will my gun cabinet act as a farraday cage to protect my battery operated optics from emp attack?

[GrizzlyGuy]

emp questions

will my gun cabinet act as a farraday cage to protect my battery operated optics from emp attack?

Yes, it may not be an ideal Faraday cage but it will help. Since your optics aren't connected to the grid or any other wiring, the probability of them being damaged by an EMP is low, even if they were sitting outside of your cabinet.

[scarville]

emp questions

will my gun cabinet act as a farraday cage to protect my battery operated optics from emp attack?

Maybe.

Is it a metal cabinet? Is it grounded? Are all the electronic devices several inches from walls? If yes to all three then it will probably work. No guarantees but my laymans knowledge of EMP leads me to think that even a nuclear pumped, high altitude explosion is it is not the devastating weapon some people would have us believe.

[guns4life]

hahaha. i would love to see someone who isnt a mechanic try to replace thier ECM on their cars.

Hahahahahaha...some of them take about 20 minutes to swap, depends on the car. It's so easy, a caveman could do it.

[Californio]

Yet another EMP thread but worth the time. This is a real threat and one that could be launched from freighters or converted tankers. It's also a threat that is within reach of the crazy North Korean dictator. 3 high altitude detonations would knock out most of the nation's power plants, a huge chunk of our transformers. The electronics in transportation systems including trucks and that used in harvesting machinery. The point is not that it's possible - it is, the point is that it's a form of attack that the Iranian and Kim would have no qualms about using especially if launched from a ship and one that does not require an accurate guidance system. It's also one that you can prep for. A spare engine management computer in an EMP resistant container. Keep the gas tanks full to run for water if necessary and enough food to keep the family alive until power and transportation can be substantially restored - an lay low so that nobody around you knows that you're in better shape than they are. My guess is 6-12 months. Fortunately we don't have the subzero weather found in the northern states who would suddenly find themselves with no heat or transportation or food for months.

BTW the article is also a push for hardening the power grid.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iran-an...inglepage=true

The Sewage Pumps will stop also, San Diego spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into the ocean.

[Ripon83]

EPA will get Rich!

I can just imagine the EPA fines for that bugger....

In all seriousness the 3 - EMP - off a tanker/cargo ship is the scenerio written in the book One Second After. While it is a good book and a difficult book to read there were some issues with it - like a military officers now college professor needing 24 hours to figure out it was an "EMP" strike. I think 99% of those of us here that have read about such things know if our cell phone is dead, our cars are dead and there is no power in the house - WTF - is going on. Second was that it took almost a year to begin restoring power - I think our country is better prepared then that and so are many people.

The Sewage Pumps will stop also, San Diego spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into the ocean.

[Sunday]

Hahahahahaha...some of them take about 20 minutes to swap, depends on the car. It's so easy, a caveman could do it.

The main thing is make sure you are grounded so no static discharge will ruin the ECM.

[GrizzlyGuy]

Second was that it took almost a year to begin restoring power - I think our country is better prepared then that and so are many people.

Unfortunately, I don't think our country is better prepared in that regard. Congress's EMP Commission studied this and released reports in 2004 and again in 2008. Both reports identified the lack of availability of spare parts (mostly the large transformers) as being the reason why a recovery could take a year or more. From the 2008 report:

Recovery from transmission system damage and power plant damage will be impeded primarily by the manufacture and delivery of long lead-time components. Delivery time for a single, large transformer today is typically one to two years and some very large special transformers, critical to the system, are even longer...

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took another look at the threat in 2010 and properly (IMHO) looked at EMP along with natural phenomena (e.g., solar flares) that can cause similar outcomes for the grid. Their conclusions were even more dire than the EMP Commission's:

The cost of damage from the most extreme solar event has been estimated at $1 to $2 trillion with a recovery time of four to ten years...

The risk of a long term grid-down event can be easily and cost effectively mitigated by investing in spares and pre-positioning them around the country so that the recovery will take only weeks instead of months or years. Sadly, Congress is more interested in spending money on Obamacare, foreign wars, welfare programs, etc. than passing the the SHIELD Act that OP's article mentioned.

[problemchild]

Holy Cow!

We would all be dead by then......

"The cost of damage from the most extreme solar event has been estimated at $1 to $2 trillion with a recovery time of four to ten years,1 while the average yearly cost of installing equipment to mitigate an EMP event is estimated at less than 20 cents per year for the average residential customer"

[Maddog5150]

Hahahahahaha...some of them take about 20 minutes to swap, depends on the car. It's so easy, a caveman could do it.

Where as others you will destroy when you take it out of the box!
Need to swap an ECM with OBDI? Probably not an issue. Some modern vehicles need a freaking clean room to swap them out. Some are so fragile that they have a tail light warrenty so basically you walk out, its yours no matter what

[xgi1991]

on the EMP note, just read this today, from a solar flare article, have to admit, even though I have done quite a bit of studying on the subject, I did not consider this;
“Several federal government studies suggest that this extreme solar activity and emissions may result in complete blackouts for years in some areas of the nation. Moreover, there may also be disruption of power supply for years, or even decades, as geomagnetic currents attracted by the storm could debilitate the transformers.” Every nuclear power plant operates in a near-meltdown state. All nuclear power plants are operated in a near-meltdown status. They operate at very high heat, relying on nuclear fission to boil water that produces steam to drive the turbines that generate electricity. Critically, the nuclear fuel is prevented from melting down through the steady circulation of coolants which are pushed through the cooling system using very high powered electric pumps. If you stop the electric pumps, the coolant stops flowing and the fuel rods go critical (and then melt down). This is what happened in Fukushima, where the melted fuel rods dropped through the concrete floor of the containment vessels, unleashing enormous quantities of ionizing radiation into the surrounding environment. The full extent of the Fukushima contamination is not even known yet, as the facility is still emitting radiation. It’s crucial to understand that nuclear coolant pumps are usually driven by power from the electrical grid. They are not normally driven by power generated locally from the nuclear power plant itself. Instead, they’re connected to the grid. In other words, even though nuclear power plants are generating megawatts of electricity for the grid, they are also dependant on the grid to run their own coolant pumps. If the grid goes down, the coolant pumps go down, too, which is why they are quickly switched to emergency backup power — either generators or batteries. –Natural News

http://www.naturalnews.com/033564_solar_flares_nuclear_power_plants.html

[GrizzlyGuy]

Yeah, IMHO the risk from solar flares/storms is much more significant than the risk of a bad actor being both willing and capable of pulling off an effective EMP attack. More from the FERC report:

Major geomagnetic storms, such as those that occurred in 1859 and 1921, are rare and occur approximately once every one hundred years. Storms of this type are global events that can last for days and will likely have an effect on electrical networks world wide. Should a storm of this magnitude strike today, it could interrupt power to as many as 130 million people in the United States alone, requiring several years to recover.

A period of 100 years between events is pretty small, that's about how often we can expect a major quake along the San Andreas fault. A major quake would be bad, but nothing compared to the entire country (world?) having it's grid down for years.

We experienced these major storms in 1859 and 1921 so the risk isn't theoretical either. 1921 + 100 = 2021 so we're just about due for another one.