US Ups Its Game in Catastrophic Grid Protection

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US Ups Its Game in Catastrophic Grid Protection
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2019/04/30/us_ups_its_game_in_catastrophic_grid_protection_110432.html

The Trump Administration recently launched a game plan to protect the country from one of its greatest and least appreciated catastrophic risks: electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disturbances. These bursts of electromagnetic energy, whether naturally occurring or through malicious human action (i.e., from terrorists or other enemies), can cripple large sections of the electric grid by frying and ruining critical equipment.

EMP risks have been known and scientifically well documented for decades. They have been extensively addressed at military installations. Yet, at the civilian level, next to nothing has been done, even as we have become increasingly dependent on electricity and electronic devices.

In Senate testimony on February 27, Dr. George Baker, a leader who has spent decades helping protect defense installations from EMP, emphasized the overdue need for civilian action.

“Government and industry laboratory tests of hundreds of items have revealed EMP vulnerability of grid distribution transformers, grid control electronics, computers, and communication networks…we have become more vulnerable to EMP due to technology advances and the foundational role of electricity and electronics in our everyday life,” said Dr. Baker....

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Executive Order on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-coordinating-national-resilience-electromagnetic-pulses/
March 26, 2019

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Purpose.  An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has the potential to disrupt, degrade, and damage technology and critical infrastructure systems.  Human-made or naturally occurring EMPs can affect large geographic areas, disrupting elements critical to the Nation’s security and economic prosperity, and could adversely affect global commerce and stability.  The Federal Government must foster sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective approaches to improving the Nation’s resilience to the effects of EMPs....

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Testimony of Dr. George H. Baker
Professor Emeritus, James Madison University
Director, Foundation for Resilient Societies
United States of America
Before the
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony-Baker-2019-02-27-REVISED.pdf
February 27, 2019

...My name is George Baker and I have spent most of my professional career protecting the U.S. military
from the nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP). At the Defense Nuclear Agency and successor Defense
Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), I managed the development of the military standards used to protect
and test Department of Defense (DoD) systems against EMP. I also directed the Springfield Research
Facility, DTRA’s assessment arm, responsible for vulnerability assessments of critical military facilities
and supporting infrastructure and organizing and deploying the initial Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Force
Protection vulnerability assessment teams. In my second career as an academic, I directed James Madison
University’s Institute for Infrastructure and Information Assurance, developed courses on complex
infrastructure systems and how they fail and nuclear energy technology, and organized five national
symposia on Critical Infrastructure Assurance in conjunction with the National Research Council. During
2001-2008, and again in 2017-2018, I served as a Senior Advisor to the Congressionally-mandated
Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack.
The nature of EMP and GMD effects on our grid can be severe, to be sure. These phenomena introduce
abnormal transient electrical currents into systems precipitating upset and thermal damage within
electrical and electronic components. Consequences involve risk measurement units of millions of
casualties (EMP Commission), trillions of dollars (Lloyds of London), and, dents in the history of
civilization (Center for Policy on Emerging Technology). The good news is that well-known, effective,
and practical engineering solutions are available to counter these threats. We have the engineering knowhow and tools to protect ourselves. What is lacking is resolve....