EMP security

Federal Efforts To Address EMP Threat Need Improvement

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP)—a burst of either natural or nuclear-generated energy that can destroy electronic systems and wipe out generators—could severely cripple US critical infrastructure, which serves as the backbone of the nation’s economy, security, and health.

If such an attack were to occur, whether naturally occurring or manmade, it could result in the deaths of nine out of ten Americans through starvation, disease and the collapse of modern society, according to Dr. Vincent Peter Pry, a member of the congressional EMP Commission and executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

In 2008, the EMP Commission warned that “a high altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.”

Recognizing this possibility, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review federal efforts to address electromagnetic risks to the electric grid at the request of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), which convened a hearing in July 2015 to assess the nuclear EMP threat from Iran and North Korea.