Protect our electronics against EMP attack

Unlike what was depicted in the 1983 movie "The Day After," automobiles may keep functioning after an EMP attack. The electronics within automobiles enjoy robust shielding because of the harsh electromagnetic environment on existing roadways. Aircraft have even stronger electromagnetic shielding, so they are unlikely to fall out of the sky. "Some of the [aircraft's] equipment may not work, but the propulsion and control system usually is pretty robust," said Dr. William A. Radasky, president of Metatech Corp, a consulting firm specializing in electromagnetic environment analysis.

Radasky, one of the world's few experts on protecting electronics against an EMP, thinks that most electronics would undergo only a temporary disruption in the event of an EMP. "You may just have to restart the computer and everything would be fine," said Radasky. But a temporary shutdown of a control system for a critical infrastructure system, he said, would be "troublesome." And if just 1 percent of all electronics failed, havoc could ensue. "Just think about the power outage in August of '03 when a couple of wires hit a tree," observed Radasky. "That was a single failure, propagated over a huge area. Now imagine, at the speed of light every place in the United States, some portion of electronics failing. Now you have a very widespread problem."

The only way to know the extent to which an EMP would knock out electronics is to conduct testing with EMP simulators.

Unfortunately, since the end of the cold war, most EMP simulators in the United States have been closed, according to Radasky. And the few that remain open are for military use, not civilian use.

The Department of Homeland Security should set up civilian EMP simulators, and encourage - or require - those in charge of our critical infrastructure to upgrade their facilities and conduct tests to assess EMP vulnerability.

It would be wise to follow Switzerland's lead. According to Radasky, that country during the cold war hardened some of its critical infrastructure against EMPs, such as water works. "They felt that if there was high-altitude burst over Europe, they were going to be affected whether they were a combatant or not."

It is a thorny question as to whether the FCC should revise its standards to require electronics manufacturers to build in EMP protection. This could be prohibitively expensive for the manufacture of individual components. But businesses and government agencies should install EMP protection at the system level. (This also would provide protection against other electromagnetic disturbances such as lightning.)

One positive development is the increasing use of fiber optic cables. Most of them do not contain metal, so they are invulnerable to EMP, according to Radasky. The more common they become, the less exposed systems are to an EMP.

But the Achilles' heel remains. Our dependence on electronics intensifies as a new era of nuclear cold war draws closer. It behooves us to protect our electronics against an EMP.

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