Electromagnetic Pulse comes out of Sci-Fi into reality

The House Armed Services Committee met to discuss the threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack on the U.S. Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) said that the potential damage that could be caused by an EMP would be significant.

Dr. William Graham, Chairman of the Commission to Asses the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack, said that an EMP attack could severely cripple U.S. infrastructure, causing power outages that could last up six month. He said that in the 1990’s Russian scientists tested 300-kiloton weapons at approximately 60,150, and 300 kilometers above a test site in central Asia. He said that scientists recorded damages to cables as far as 600 kilometers from the test site. He said that this is a fairly accurate model of what could happen if an EMP was detonated over the U.S.

Graham said that because we are such a developed nation an EMP attack poses a much larger threat because America is dependent on many kinds of electronic devices. He said that there are many potential enemies of the U.S. who have EMP capabilities including Iran who has tested them.