Bree Turner’s rebuttal (“Calm down,” May 27) to my May 20 column “Testing Biden” displays the hubris of engineers who build nuclear plants in a tsunami inundation zone while assuring the public that there’s “nothing to worry about here.” My column was based upon the very real damage that occurred in Hawaii after a high-altitude nuclear burst detonated 800 miles away. Turner failed to mention that the vacuum tube technology of the 1950s was far less susceptible to electromagnetic pulse than the microprocessors and integrated circuits of today. Not only were lights turned off in Hawaii, but surge protectors also burned out.
The threat today is many times greater with nuclear weapons specifically designed to inflict maximum EMP damage and are believed by intelligence agencies to be within the nuclear arsenals of Russia, China, North Korea, and soon Iran. Turner also failed to note the impact upon the tens of thousands of commercial and emergency vehicles that would be disabled (most non-recoverable) from an EMP attack: So how does food get delivered to grocery stores? Grocery stores typically keep a three-day supply of food on hand which is why starvation emerges as an existential threat to the nation.
Former Director of the CIA James Woolsey briefed Congress on the extent and severity of this threat, (from which I based the content of my article) as did the Congressional EMP Commission reports of 2004 and 2008. They’re on the internet for all to read along with numerous books.
Al Fonzi
Atascadero
This article appears in Food & Drink 2021.
Fonzi is right. Modern microcurcuits are very vulnerable. An EMP would fry all electronics (phones, radios, computers), and would disable every vehicle made since the 1970’s. A generation which would have difficulty surviving without Tic Toc and Door Dash would be in a real fix.
No, not every electronic device will get fried (as in destroyed.)
The power grid likely won’t totally collapse either.
And your car will likely still operate. (Though you may have to restart it or disconnect the battery momentarily to reset the engine control unit.)
Read the references…
https://www.eiscouncil.org/App_Data/Upload/9b03e596-19c8-49bd-8d4e-a8863b6ff9a0.pdf
https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/epri-releases-findings-study-high-altitude-emp-attack
Thank you, Bree Turner, for setting the record straight.
We would walk again to the store or government bread line with a basket (exercise and fresh air). We would talk to our neighbors along the way to the store( community building). One neighbor would be handing out free candles, another neighbor would be directing by word of mouth to the next door neighbor’s cache of water from a private hand pumped well to donate water for drinking and cooking. Another neighbor would hand out free avocados from their 50 year old avocado tree. Another neighbor would hand out free lemons. Another neighbor would offer free child care. Another neighbor would offer free health exams. I know these neighbors in my own neighborhood of Oceano. We share. We will survive. We are Oceano. Not so scary.