Terra
23rd February 2012, 09:52
Please excuse the wall of text, thought it odd that the Telegraph put out 3 articles yesterday on the EMP subject. All tailored around an Iranian threat of course...:tape:
Britain at risk from 'GoldenEye' electromagnetic pulse attack from space, MPs warn (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9097558/Britain-at-risk-from-GoldenEye-electromagnetic-pulse-attack-from-space-MPs-warn.html)
Britain's critical national infrastructure could be crippled in a high-altitude space attack by a rogue state or terrorists, MPs have warned.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02064/missile_2064538b.jpg
A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile. A nuclear device detonated 500 miles above the earth could produce a crippling electro-magnetic pulse, MPs have warned
A nuclear device detonated up to 500 miles above the earth's surface could generate an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) with a "devastating" effect on power supplies, telecommunications and other vital systems, the Commons Defence Committee said.
It warned that countries such as Iran - which is resisting international pressure to end its nuclear programme - and even eventually some "non-state actors" could acquire the technology to mount such an attack, in a scenario akin to the plot of the 1995 James Bond film 'GoldenEye'.
Terrorists could also build a "crude" non-nuclear EMP weapon, with the power to cause disruption over a more limited area.
But despite the vulnerability of the UK to such an attack, the committee accused the Ministry of Defence of appearing "complacent" and "unwilling to take these threats seriously".
It said ministers should start work on "hardening" the infrastructure to protect against an EMP attack "as a matter of urgency".
Related Articles
"It is time that the Government began to approach this matter with the seriousness it deserves," it said.
The committee said the Government currently rated the probability of a high-altitude EMP attack as "low", although it acknowledged that the impact would be severe.
However, an official EMP commission in the United States found "rogue states" such as Iran and nuclear-armed North Korea were well aware of the potential for such an attack.
The Iranians in particular were reported to have conducted missile tests which appeared to simulate the effects of an EMP nuclear strike.
The Americans concluded that in the event of such an attack, the widespread collapse of the electrical power system was "virtually inevitable".
"Certain states such as Iran could potentially pose a realistic threat in the future, even if it does not currently do so, if nuclear non-proliferation efforts are not successful. Non-state actors could also pose a threat," the committee said.
"While the risk may at present be low, the potential impact of such a weapon could be devastating and long-lasting for UK infrastructure. The Government cannot therefore be complacent about this threat and must keep its assessment of the risk under review.
"It is therefore vitally important that the work of hardening UK infrastructure is begun now and carried out as a matter of urgency."
James Arbuthnot, chairman of the defence select committee, called on key infrastructure to fit 'hardened' microchips resistant to EMP attack.
"I personally believe that it is quite likely to happen, because it is a comparatively easy way of using a small number of nuclear weapons to cause devastating damage.
"The consequences if it did happen would be so devastating that we really ought to start protecting against it now. Our vulnerabilities are huge.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It would have a far more devastating impact to use a nuclear weapon in this way than to explode a bomb in or on a city. It would, over a much wider area, take out things like the National Grid on which we all rely for almost everything. It would take out the water system and the sewage system. Rapidly it would become very difficult to live in cities - within a matter of days."
"The defence is to build up the resilience of the electronic infrastructure by gradually replacing the incredibly delicate and vulnerable systems and chips and connections with the more hardened systems that are available at a not very expensive price during your routine maintenance.
"I wish the Government would address this with rather more energy, cohesion and focus."
It is not only EMP weapons that have the power to wreak havoc. The committee said a naturally occurring "space weather event" caused by changing conditions in the sun's atmosphere could have a similar effect.
The most severe example - known as the Carrington event after the astronomer who observed it - occurred in 1859 when a massive solar flare sent enormous electrical currents surging through telegraph systems causing shocks to telegraph operators and setting fire to papers.
Scientists at Nasa recorded a huge solar flare caused by a large magnetic eruption in February this year
In 1989 the entire power grid in the Canadian province of Quebec collapsed in a matter of just 90 seconds after stabilising equipment failed to cope with the effects of a geomagnetic storm.
The likelihood a severe space weather event occurring over the next five years is currently assessed by the Government as being "moderate to high", the committee said.
The National Grid has estimated that if there was another Carrington-sized event, there was a 91% chance that an area of the UK would be left without power for two months or more while essential satellite systems could also be damaged
The committee said it was now vital the Government ensured back-up procedures and equipment were in place to meet the "reasonable worst-case scenario" for a severe space weather event.
It said ministers should also consider the practicability and cost of establishing resilience against a widespread loss of transformers, as could occur in an EMP attack.
"The potential threats of a Carrington-size space weather event or a high-altitude nuclear EMP weapon would have specific and potentially devastating impacts upon the electrical grid and other aspects of electronic infrastructure, which play an absolutely critical role in UK society," it said.
"It is therefore vital that the electrical grid is resilient as possible to potential threats such as these."
A Government spokesman said: "We take these threats seriously, and proportionately, and are considering the Defence Committee report carefully. We shall respond fully in due course.
"Many of the points it raises are already coordinated across government and will be covered by the National Space Security Policy expected later this year."
Electromagnetic pulses explained (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9097658/Electromagnetic-pulses-explained.html)
An electromagnetic pulse attack could cripple Britain's infrastructure, MPs have warned. This is how they occur.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01557/mushcolour_1557216b.jpg
Atomic weapons testing on Bikini Atoll, 1954. Defence scientists quickly realised the potential for generating electromagnetic pulses with high-altitude nuclear explosions.
Defence experts believe detonating a nuclear device above the earth could cripple electronic systems, knock out water and electricity supplies and bring civilisation to a halt.
The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation from a large explosion, such as that produced by a nuclear weapon high above the earth, produces rapidly changes electric and magnetic fields. They generate surges in voltage and current inside electronic equipement - burning out microchips and circuitry.
A nuclear electromagnetic pulse produces three waves of energy. The first is a very fast-moving, brief and intense electromagnetic field. It is created when gamma radiation from the nulcear explosion knocks electrons out of atoms in the earth's upper atmosphere. These electrons start moving downward and interact with the earth's magnetic field - creating a very large, brief pulse.
The second wave is generated by scattered gamma rays. It is similar to the pulses caused by lightning strikes and as such tends to be less damaging to equipment.
The third wave is a very slow pulse, lasting tens to hundrds of seconds, caused by the nuclear detonation driving the earth's magnetic field out the wave, followed by the field returning to its natural place. It can induce currents in long electrical conductors such as power lines, causing damage to substations and transformers.
Related Articles
The scale of the damage depends on the height of the explosion. A detonation at an altitude of 30 miles is calculated to cause damage for 480 miles around. At an altitude of 300 miles, the damage would radiate to 1470 miles - a field that would cover much of North America or Europe.
The strength of the pulse depends on the distance of the explosion from the earth's equator.
It is also possible to produce electromagnetic pulses without the use of nuclear weapons. Such devices have been fitted into bombs and missiles, but their range is far more limited because the explosion is far less powerful
Ships and military aeroplanes, particularly those carrying VIPs or nuclear weapons, can be hardened against EMP. In Britain equipment is tested on an EMP simulator at Farnborough airbase in Hampshire.
EMP pulses can also be naturally occuring. Solar flares see the release of large bursts of energy, including electrons and atoms, from the sun's corona.
Electromagnetic pulses in history (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9097706/Electromagnetic-pulses-in-history.html)
An electromagnetic pulse attack could cripple Britain's infrastructure, MPs have warned. Here are examples of how the phenomenon has disrupted life.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01893/Geoffrey_Dhenin_1893269b.jpg
RAF Canberra jet crews in the 1950s. British pilots were among the first to notice nuclear electromagnetic pulses when their instruments failed. They dubbed it 'radioflash'.
The first recorded damage from an electromagnetic pulse came with the solar storm of August 1859, or the Carrington Event. It was the largest solar storm in recorded history. Sunspots and flares could be seen on the sun. It was followed by a huge geomagnetic storm. The Northern Lights could be seen across the world, and were bright enough to read a newspaper by. Telegraph systems in Europe and North America threw sparks, set light to paper and gave their operators electric shocks.
A similar, but milder, storm occured in March 1989. It knocked out power supplies in Quebec, jammed radio signals and weather satellites and caused aurora as far south as Texas - leading some to believe a nuclear attack was underway.
A huge solar flare caused by a large magnetic eruption
The phenomenon of electromagnetic interference was noticed during the early nuclear tests in the Cold War. British scientists attributed instrumentation failures to what they dubbed 'radioflash'.
Its potential as a weapon was first realised by the US military. In the Starfish Prime test in 1962 a 1.44 megaton warhead was donated 250 miles into space. The pulse knocked out street lights and damaged telephones on Hawaii.
A test the same year by Soviet scientists in Kazakhstan triggered power plant fires in the city of Karaganda.
The United States set up a commission to assess the threat from an EMP attack in 2001. It concluded that North Korea, Russian, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and Cuba understand how such an attack could work - and that many countries believe the US is able and willing to make an EMP strike "under a broad range of circumstances".
In 2010 Dr Liam Fox, then the defence secretary, warned that North Korea and Iran may seek to detonate a device high over Britain in order to disrupt electronic equipment.
Liam Fox warned that Korea and Iran could seek to use EMP
In fiction, the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye saw the villain, a rogue MI6 agent, plan to use an EMP weapon to rob the Bank of England and trigger a financial crisis.
Britain at risk from 'GoldenEye' electromagnetic pulse attack from space, MPs warn (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9097558/Britain-at-risk-from-GoldenEye-electromagnetic-pulse-attack-from-space-MPs-warn.html)
Britain's critical national infrastructure could be crippled in a high-altitude space attack by a rogue state or terrorists, MPs have warned.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02064/missile_2064538b.jpg
A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile. A nuclear device detonated 500 miles above the earth could produce a crippling electro-magnetic pulse, MPs have warned
A nuclear device detonated up to 500 miles above the earth's surface could generate an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) with a "devastating" effect on power supplies, telecommunications and other vital systems, the Commons Defence Committee said.
It warned that countries such as Iran - which is resisting international pressure to end its nuclear programme - and even eventually some "non-state actors" could acquire the technology to mount such an attack, in a scenario akin to the plot of the 1995 James Bond film 'GoldenEye'.
Terrorists could also build a "crude" non-nuclear EMP weapon, with the power to cause disruption over a more limited area.
But despite the vulnerability of the UK to such an attack, the committee accused the Ministry of Defence of appearing "complacent" and "unwilling to take these threats seriously".
It said ministers should start work on "hardening" the infrastructure to protect against an EMP attack "as a matter of urgency".
Related Articles
"It is time that the Government began to approach this matter with the seriousness it deserves," it said.
The committee said the Government currently rated the probability of a high-altitude EMP attack as "low", although it acknowledged that the impact would be severe.
However, an official EMP commission in the United States found "rogue states" such as Iran and nuclear-armed North Korea were well aware of the potential for such an attack.
The Iranians in particular were reported to have conducted missile tests which appeared to simulate the effects of an EMP nuclear strike.
The Americans concluded that in the event of such an attack, the widespread collapse of the electrical power system was "virtually inevitable".
"Certain states such as Iran could potentially pose a realistic threat in the future, even if it does not currently do so, if nuclear non-proliferation efforts are not successful. Non-state actors could also pose a threat," the committee said.
"While the risk may at present be low, the potential impact of such a weapon could be devastating and long-lasting for UK infrastructure. The Government cannot therefore be complacent about this threat and must keep its assessment of the risk under review.
"It is therefore vitally important that the work of hardening UK infrastructure is begun now and carried out as a matter of urgency."
James Arbuthnot, chairman of the defence select committee, called on key infrastructure to fit 'hardened' microchips resistant to EMP attack.
"I personally believe that it is quite likely to happen, because it is a comparatively easy way of using a small number of nuclear weapons to cause devastating damage.
"The consequences if it did happen would be so devastating that we really ought to start protecting against it now. Our vulnerabilities are huge.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It would have a far more devastating impact to use a nuclear weapon in this way than to explode a bomb in or on a city. It would, over a much wider area, take out things like the National Grid on which we all rely for almost everything. It would take out the water system and the sewage system. Rapidly it would become very difficult to live in cities - within a matter of days."
"The defence is to build up the resilience of the electronic infrastructure by gradually replacing the incredibly delicate and vulnerable systems and chips and connections with the more hardened systems that are available at a not very expensive price during your routine maintenance.
"I wish the Government would address this with rather more energy, cohesion and focus."
It is not only EMP weapons that have the power to wreak havoc. The committee said a naturally occurring "space weather event" caused by changing conditions in the sun's atmosphere could have a similar effect.
The most severe example - known as the Carrington event after the astronomer who observed it - occurred in 1859 when a massive solar flare sent enormous electrical currents surging through telegraph systems causing shocks to telegraph operators and setting fire to papers.
Scientists at Nasa recorded a huge solar flare caused by a large magnetic eruption in February this year
In 1989 the entire power grid in the Canadian province of Quebec collapsed in a matter of just 90 seconds after stabilising equipment failed to cope with the effects of a geomagnetic storm.
The likelihood a severe space weather event occurring over the next five years is currently assessed by the Government as being "moderate to high", the committee said.
The National Grid has estimated that if there was another Carrington-sized event, there was a 91% chance that an area of the UK would be left without power for two months or more while essential satellite systems could also be damaged
The committee said it was now vital the Government ensured back-up procedures and equipment were in place to meet the "reasonable worst-case scenario" for a severe space weather event.
It said ministers should also consider the practicability and cost of establishing resilience against a widespread loss of transformers, as could occur in an EMP attack.
"The potential threats of a Carrington-size space weather event or a high-altitude nuclear EMP weapon would have specific and potentially devastating impacts upon the electrical grid and other aspects of electronic infrastructure, which play an absolutely critical role in UK society," it said.
"It is therefore vital that the electrical grid is resilient as possible to potential threats such as these."
A Government spokesman said: "We take these threats seriously, and proportionately, and are considering the Defence Committee report carefully. We shall respond fully in due course.
"Many of the points it raises are already coordinated across government and will be covered by the National Space Security Policy expected later this year."
Electromagnetic pulses explained (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9097658/Electromagnetic-pulses-explained.html)
An electromagnetic pulse attack could cripple Britain's infrastructure, MPs have warned. This is how they occur.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01557/mushcolour_1557216b.jpg
Atomic weapons testing on Bikini Atoll, 1954. Defence scientists quickly realised the potential for generating electromagnetic pulses with high-altitude nuclear explosions.
Defence experts believe detonating a nuclear device above the earth could cripple electronic systems, knock out water and electricity supplies and bring civilisation to a halt.
The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation from a large explosion, such as that produced by a nuclear weapon high above the earth, produces rapidly changes electric and magnetic fields. They generate surges in voltage and current inside electronic equipement - burning out microchips and circuitry.
A nuclear electromagnetic pulse produces three waves of energy. The first is a very fast-moving, brief and intense electromagnetic field. It is created when gamma radiation from the nulcear explosion knocks electrons out of atoms in the earth's upper atmosphere. These electrons start moving downward and interact with the earth's magnetic field - creating a very large, brief pulse.
The second wave is generated by scattered gamma rays. It is similar to the pulses caused by lightning strikes and as such tends to be less damaging to equipment.
The third wave is a very slow pulse, lasting tens to hundrds of seconds, caused by the nuclear detonation driving the earth's magnetic field out the wave, followed by the field returning to its natural place. It can induce currents in long electrical conductors such as power lines, causing damage to substations and transformers.
Related Articles
The scale of the damage depends on the height of the explosion. A detonation at an altitude of 30 miles is calculated to cause damage for 480 miles around. At an altitude of 300 miles, the damage would radiate to 1470 miles - a field that would cover much of North America or Europe.
The strength of the pulse depends on the distance of the explosion from the earth's equator.
It is also possible to produce electromagnetic pulses without the use of nuclear weapons. Such devices have been fitted into bombs and missiles, but their range is far more limited because the explosion is far less powerful
Ships and military aeroplanes, particularly those carrying VIPs or nuclear weapons, can be hardened against EMP. In Britain equipment is tested on an EMP simulator at Farnborough airbase in Hampshire.
EMP pulses can also be naturally occuring. Solar flares see the release of large bursts of energy, including electrons and atoms, from the sun's corona.
Electromagnetic pulses in history (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9097706/Electromagnetic-pulses-in-history.html)
An electromagnetic pulse attack could cripple Britain's infrastructure, MPs have warned. Here are examples of how the phenomenon has disrupted life.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01893/Geoffrey_Dhenin_1893269b.jpg
RAF Canberra jet crews in the 1950s. British pilots were among the first to notice nuclear electromagnetic pulses when their instruments failed. They dubbed it 'radioflash'.
The first recorded damage from an electromagnetic pulse came with the solar storm of August 1859, or the Carrington Event. It was the largest solar storm in recorded history. Sunspots and flares could be seen on the sun. It was followed by a huge geomagnetic storm. The Northern Lights could be seen across the world, and were bright enough to read a newspaper by. Telegraph systems in Europe and North America threw sparks, set light to paper and gave their operators electric shocks.
A similar, but milder, storm occured in March 1989. It knocked out power supplies in Quebec, jammed radio signals and weather satellites and caused aurora as far south as Texas - leading some to believe a nuclear attack was underway.
A huge solar flare caused by a large magnetic eruption
The phenomenon of electromagnetic interference was noticed during the early nuclear tests in the Cold War. British scientists attributed instrumentation failures to what they dubbed 'radioflash'.
Its potential as a weapon was first realised by the US military. In the Starfish Prime test in 1962 a 1.44 megaton warhead was donated 250 miles into space. The pulse knocked out street lights and damaged telephones on Hawaii.
A test the same year by Soviet scientists in Kazakhstan triggered power plant fires in the city of Karaganda.
The United States set up a commission to assess the threat from an EMP attack in 2001. It concluded that North Korea, Russian, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and Cuba understand how such an attack could work - and that many countries believe the US is able and willing to make an EMP strike "under a broad range of circumstances".
In 2010 Dr Liam Fox, then the defence secretary, warned that North Korea and Iran may seek to detonate a device high over Britain in order to disrupt electronic equipment.
Liam Fox warned that Korea and Iran could seek to use EMP
In fiction, the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye saw the villain, a rogue MI6 agent, plan to use an EMP weapon to rob the Bank of England and trigger a financial crisis.