Effect of the FAST NUCLEAR ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE on the Electric Power Grid Nationwide: A Different View
Mario Rabinowitz Electric Power Research Institute Palo Alto, California 94303
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Abstract
This paper primarily considers the potential effects of a single high-altitude nuclear burst on the U.S. power grid. A comparison is made between EMP and natural phenomena such as lightning. This paper concludes that EMP is no more harmful to the power grid than its counterparts in nature. An upper limit of the electric field of the very fast, high-amplitude EMP is derived from first principles. The resulting values are significantly lower than the commonly presented values. Additional calculations show that the ionization produced by a nuclear burst severely attenuates the EMP.
INTRODUCTION
The first of the last five U.S. atmospheric nuclear bomb tests took place in 1962, when a 1.4-megaton (Mt) hydrogen bomb detonated 397 km (248 mi) above the Johnston Island area. Since this test, known as Starfish, many reports have incorrectly stated that EMP produced a major electrical disturbance in Hawaii [1-5]. Most reports place the blast as 1,280 km (800 mi) from Hawaii, but this may also be incorrect.