Report of the Commission to Assess theThreat to the United States from
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack

Volume 1: Executive Report
2004

Dr. John S. Foster, Jr.
Mr. Earl Gjelde
Dr. William R. Graham (Chairman)
Dr. Robert J. Hermann
Mr. Henry (Hank) M. Kluepfel
GEN Richard L. Lawson, USAF (Ret.)
Dr. Gordon K. Soper
Dr. Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
Dr. Joan B. Woodard

CHARTER
Public Law 106-398, Title XIV
SEC. 1402. DUTIES OF COMMISSION(a) Review of EMP Threat. The Commission shall assess:(1) the nature and magnitude of potential high-altitude EMP threats to theUnited States from all potentially hostile states or non-state actors thathave or could acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles enablingthem to perform a high-altitude EMP attack against the United States
within the next 15 years;(2) the vulnerability of United States military and especially civilian
systems to an EMP attack, giving special attention to vulnerability of thecivilian infrastructure as a matter of emergency preparedness;(3) the capability of the United States to repair and recover from damage
inflicted on United States military and civilian systems by an EMP attack;and(4) the feasibility and cost of hardening select military and civilian
systems against EMP attack.
(b) Recommendation. The Commission shall recommend any steps it believes
should be taken by the United States to better protect its military and civilian
systems from EMP attack.
The findings and recommendations presented in this report are the independentjudgments of this Commission and should not be attributed to any other people ororganizations. This report presents the unanimous views of the Commissioners.

ABSTRACT
Several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack theUnited States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse(EMP). A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having ahigh level of sophistication.
EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk ofcatastrophic consequences. EMP will cover the wide geographic region within line ofsight to the nuclear weapon. It has the capability to produce significant damage to criticalinfrastructures and thus to the very fabric of US society, as well as to the ability of theUnited States and Western nations to project influence and military power.
The common element that can produce such an impact from EMP is primarily
electronics, so pervasive in all aspects of our society and military, coupled throughcritical infrastructures. Our vulnerability is increasing daily as our use of and dependence
on electronics continues to grow. The impact of EMP is asymmetric in relation topotential protagonists who are not as dependent on modern electronics.
The current vulnerability of our critical infrastructures can both invite and reward
attack if not corrected. Correction is feasible and well within the Nation's means andresources to accomplish.

CONTENTSOVERVIEW: EMP IS CAPABLE OF CAUSING CATASTROPHE FOR THE NATION..........

1

WE CAN PREVENT AN EMP CATASTROPHE .............................................................

4

Nature of the EMP Threat.................................................................................

4

Prevention .........................................................................................................

7

Protection and Recovery of Civilian Infrastructures ........................................

8

STRATEGY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................

11

Intelligence, Interdiction, and Deterrence.........................................................

11

Protecting Critical Components of the Infrastructure.......................................

12

Maintaining the Capability to Monitor and Evaluate the Conditionof Critical Infrastructures..................................................................................

12

Recognizing EMP Attack .................................................................................

12

Planning to Carry Out a Systematic Recovery of Critical Infrastructures........

14

Training, Evaluating, Red Teaming, and Periodically Reportingto the Congress..................................................................................................

14

Defining the Federal Government’s Responsibility and Authority to Act .......

15

Recognizing the Opportunities for Shared Benefits .........................................

16

Conducting Research and Development...........................................................

16

ELECTRIC POWER INFRASTRUCTURE .......................................................................

17

Nature of the Problem.......................................................................................

17

Recommended Mitigation and Responsibility..................................................

19

Protection ..........................................................................................................

20

Restoration ........................................................................................................

20

Essential Component Protection .......................................................................

21

System Restoration ...........................................................................................

22

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ...........................................................................................

24

Importance of Assured Telecommunications ...................................................

24

EMP Effects on Telecommunications ..............................................................

28

Recommended Mitigation Activities ................................................................

28

vii

BANKING AND FINANCE ...........................................................................................

31

Nature of the Problem.......................................................................................

31

Recommended Mitigation and Responsibility..................................................

33

FUEL/ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE .............................................................................

35

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE .......................................................................

36

Nature of the Problem.......................................................................................

36

Strategy for Protection and Recovery ...............................................................

37

FOOD INFRASTRUCTURE ..........................................................................................

40

Nature of the Problem.......................................................................................

40

Mitigation and Responsibility...........................................................................

40

WATER SUPPLY INFRASTRUCTURE ..........................................................................

42

EMERGENCY SERVICES ............................................................................................

43

Vulnerabilities...................................................................................................

43

Recommended Strategy for Protection and Recovery ......................................

43

SPACE SYSTEMS .......................................................................................................

44

GOVERNMENT ..........................................................................................................

45

KEEPING THE CITIZENRY INFORMED ........................................................................

46

PROTECTION OF MILITARY FORCES .........................................................................

47

APPENDIXESA The Commission and Its Method...................................................................... A-1
B Commissioners.................................................................................................. B-1

FIGURES1

Starfish Nuclear Detonation..............................................................................

5

2

Illustrative EMP Effects – Fast Pulse ...............................................................

6

3

Illustrative EMP Effects – Slow Pulse Protection and Recovery of Civilian
Infrastructures ...................................................................................................

7

4

Interdependent Infrastructure Sectors ...............................................................

9

5

Extent of 1989 Geomagnetic Storm..................................................................

17

viii

OVERVIEW
EMP IS CAPABLE OF CAUSING CATASTROPHE FOR THE NATION
The high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is oneof a small number of threats that has the potential to hold our society seriously at risk andmight result in defeat of our military forces.
Briefly, a single nuclear weapon exploded at high altitude above the United States
will interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetic field to produce anelectromagnetic pulse (EMP) radiating down to the Earth and additionally create
electrical currents in the Earth. EMP effects are both direct and indirect. The former are
due to electromagnetic “shocking” of electronics
and stressing of electrical systems, and the latter
The damage level could be sufficient toarise from the damage that “shocked”—upset,be catastrophic to the Nation, and ourcurrent vulnerability invites attack.
damaged, and destroyed—electronics controls theninflict on the systems in which they are embedded.
The indirect effects can be even more severe than the direct effects.
The electromagnetic fields produced by weapons designed and deployed with theintent to produce EMP have a high likelihood of damaging electrical power systems,
electronics, and information systems upon which American society depends. Their effects
on dependent systems and infrastructures could be sufficient to qualify as catastrophic to
the Nation.
Depending on the specific characteristics of the attacks, unprecedented cascading
failures of our major infrastructures could result. In that event, a regional or national
recovery would be long and difficult and would seriously degrade the safety and overall
viability of our Nation. The primary avenues for catastrophic damage to the Nation arethrough our electric power infrastructure and thence into our telecommunications, energy,
and other infrastructures. These, in turn, can seriously impact other important aspects of
our Nation’s life, including the financial system; means of getting food, water, andmedical care to the citizenry; trade; and production of goods and services. The recoveryof any one of the key national infrastructures is dependent on the recovery of others. The
longer the outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery will be. It is possible1

for the functional outages to become mutually reinforcing until at some point thedegradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country’s ability tosupport its population.
EMP effects from nuclear bursts are not new threats to our nation. The Soviet
Union in the past and Russia and other nations today are potentially capable of creatingthese effects. Historically, this application of nuclear weaponry was mixed with a muchlarger population of nuclear devices that were the primary source of destruction, and thus
EMP as a weapons effect was not the primary focus. Throughout the Cold War, theUnited States did not try to protect its civilian infrastructure against either the physical or
EMP impact of nuclear weapons, and instead depended on deterrence for its safety.
What is different now is that some potential sources of EMP threats are difficult
to deter—they can be terrorist groups that have no state identity, have only one or a few
weapons, and are motivated to attack the US without regard for their own safety. Roguestates, such as North Korea and Iran, may also be developing the capability to pose an
EMP threat to the United States, and may also be unpredictable and difficult to deter.
Certain types of relatively low-yield nuclear weapons can be employed togenerate potentially catastrophic EMP effects over wide geographic areas, and designs
for variants of such weapons may have been illicitly trafficked for a quarter-century.
China and Russia have considered limited nuclear attack options that, unlike theirCold War plans, employ EMP as the primary or sole means of attack. Indeed, as recently
as May 1999, during the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia, high-ranking
members of the Russian Duma, meeting with a US congressional delegation to discuss
the Balkans conflict, raised the specter of a Russian EMP attack that would paralyze theUnited States.
Another key difference from the past is that the US has developed more than mostother nations as a modern society heavily dependent on electronics, telecommunications,energy, information networks, and a rich set of financial and transportation systems thatleverage modern technology. This asymmetry is a source of substantial economic,
industrial, and societal advantages, but it creates vulnerabilities and criticalinterdependencies that are potentially disastrous to the United States. Therefore, terrorists
or state actors that possess relatively unsophisticated missiles armed with nuclear
weapons may well calculate that, instead of destroying a city or military base, they may
obtain the greatest political-military utility from one or a few such weapons by using
them—or threatening their use—in an EMP attack. The current vulnerability of US2critical infrastructures can both invite and reward attack if not corrected; however,correction is feasible and well within the Nation's means and resources to accomplish.

3

WE CAN PREVENT AN EMP CATASTROPHEThe Nation’s vulnerability to EMP that gives rise to potentially large-scale, longterm consequences can be reasonably and readily reduced below the level of a potentiallycatastrophic national problem by coordinated and focused effort between the private andpublic sectors of our country. The cost for such improved security in the next 3 to 5 years
is modest by any standard—and extremely so in relation to both the war on terror and thevalue of the national infrastructures involved. The appropriate response to thisthreatening situation is a balance of prevention, protection, planning, and preparations forrecovery. Such actions are both rational and feasible. A number of these actions also
reduce vulnerabilities to other serious threats to our infrastructures, thus giving multiple
benefits.
NATURE OF THE EMP THREAT
High-altitude EMP results from the detonation of a nuclear warhead at altitudes ofabout 40 to 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. The immediate effects of EMP are
disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. EMP is notreported in the scientific literature to have direct effects on people in the parameter rangeof present interest.
EMP and its effects were observed during the US and Soviet atmospheric test
programs in 1962. Figure 1 depicts the Starfish nuclear detonation—not designed orintended as a generator of EMP—at an altitude of about 400 kilometers above Johnston
Island in the Pacific Ocean. Some electronic and electrical systems in the Hawaiian
Islands, 1400 kilometers distant, were affected, causing the failure of street-lighting
systems, tripping of circuit breakers, triggering of burglar alarms, and damage to atelecommunications relay facility. In their testing that year, the Soviets executed a seriesof nuclear detonations in which they exploded 300 kiloton weapons at approximately
300, 150, and 60 kilometers above their test site in South Central Asia. They report thaton each shot they observed damage to overhead and underground buried cables at
distances of 600 kilometers. They also observed surge arrestor burnout, spark-gap
breakdown, blown fuses, and power supply breakdowns.
What is significant about an EMP attack is that one or a few high-altitude nuclear
detonations can produce EMP effects that can potentially disrupt or damage electronic

4and electrical systems over much of the United States, virtually simultaneously, at a time
determined by an adversary.

Widespread red air glow (6300 å) amid dark clouds, caused mostly by x-rayexcited atomic oxygen (i.e., oxygen by photoelectrons liberated by Starfish
X-rays)Figure 1. Starfish Nuclear Detonation

Gamma rays from a high-altitude nuclear detonation interact with the atmosphereto produce a radio-frequency wave of unique, spatially varying intensity that covers
everything within line-of-sight of the explosion’s center point. It is useful to focus on
three major EMP components.
FIRST EMP COMPONENT (E1)
The first component is a free-field energy pulse with a rise-time measured in therange of a fraction of a billionth to a few billionths of a second. It is the “electromagnetic
shock” that disrupts or damages electronics-based control systems, sensors,communication systems, protective systems, computers, and similar devices. Its damage
or functional disruption occurs essentially simultaneously over a very large area, as
illustrated in Figure 2.

5

Figure 2. Illustrative EMP Effects – Fast Pulse

SECOND EMP COMPONENT (E2
The middle-time component covers roughly the same geographic area as the firstcomponent and is similar to lightning in its time-dependence, but is far moregeographically widespread in its character and somewhat lower in amplitude. In general,
it would not be an issue for critical infrastructure systems since they have existing
protective measures for defense against occasional lightning strikes. The most significant
risk is synergistic, because the E2 component follows a small fraction of a second after
the first component’s insult, which has the ability to impair or destroy many protective
and control features. The energy associated with the second component thus may beallowed to pass into and damage systems.
THIRD EMP COMPONENT (E3)
The final major component of EMP is a subsequent, slower-rising, longerduration pulse that creates disruptive currents in long electricity transmission lines,
resulting in damage to electrical supply and distribution systems connected to such lines(Figure 3). The sequence of E1, E2, and then E3 components of EMP is importantbecause each can cause damage, and the later damage can be increased as a result of theearlier damage. In the example depicted in Figures 2 and 3, about 70% of the total
electrical power load of the United States is within the region exposed to the EMP event.

6

Figure 3. Illustrative EMP Effects – Slow Pulse Protection andRecovery of Civilian Infrastructures

PREVENTION
An EMP attack is one way for a terrorist activity to use a small amount of nuclear
weaponry—potentially just one weapon—in an effort to produce a catastrophic impact on
our society, but it is not the only way. In addition, there are potential applications ofsurface-burst nuclear weaponry, biological and chemical warfare agents, and cyberattacks that might cause damage that could reach large-scale, long-term levels. The firstorder of business is to prevent any of these attacks from occurring.
The US must establish a global environment that will profoundly discourage suchattacks. We must persuade nations to forgo obtaining nuclear weapons or to provide
acceptable assurance that these weapons will neither threaten the vital interests of theUnited States nor fall into threatening hands.
For all others, we must make it difficult and dangerous to acquire the materials to
make a nuclear weapon and the means todeliver them. We must hold at risk of
The first order of business is to prevent
capture or destruction anyone who has suchany of these attacks from occurring.
weaponry, wherever they are in the world.

7

Those who engage in or support these activities must be made to understand that they doso at the risk of everything they value. Those who harbor or help those who conspire tocreate these weapons must suffer serious consequences as well.
In case these measures do not completely succeed, we must have vigorous
interdiction and interception efforts to thwart delivery of all such weaponry. To support
this strategy, the US must have intelligence capabilities sufficient to understand what ishappening at each stage of developing threats. In summary, the costs of mounting suchattacks must be made to be great in all respects, and the likelihood of successful attack
rendered unattractively small.
The current national strategy for war on terrorism already contains all of theseelements. The threat of an EMP attack further raises what may be at stake.
To further forestall an EMP attack, we must reduce our vulnerability to EMP anddevelop our ability to recover, should there be an attack, in order to reduce the incentives
to use such weaponry. We should never allow terrorists or rogue states a “cheap shot”
that has such a large and potentially devastating impact.
PROTECTION AND RECOVERY OF CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURES
Each critical infrastructure in the US is dependent upon other infrastructures(Figure 4). The interdependence on the proper functioning of such systems constitutes ahazard when threat of widespread failures exists. The strong interdependence of ourcritical national infrastructures may cause unprecedented challenges in attempts torecover from the widespread disruption and damage that would be caused by an EMP
attack.
All of the critical functions of US society and related infrastructures—electric
power, telecommunications, energy, financial, transportation, emergency services, water,
food, etc.—have electronic devices embedded in most aspects of their systems, often
providing critical controls. Electric power has thus emerged as an essential service
underlying US society and all of its other critical infrastructures. Telecommunications hasgrown to a critical level but may not rise to the same level as electrical power in terms ofrisk to the Nation’s survival. All other infrastructures and critical functions are dependent
upon the support of electric power and telecommunications. Therefore, we must makespecial efforts to prepare and protect these two high-leverage systems.

8Figure 4. Interdependent Infrastructure Sectors

Most critical infrastructure system vulnerabilities can be reduced below the levelthat potentially invites attempts to create a national catastrophe. By protecting key
elements in each critical infrastructure and by preparing to recover essential services, theprospects for a terrorist or rogue state being able to achieve large-scale, long-term
damage can be minimized. This can be accomplished reasonably and expeditiously.
Such preparation and protection can be achieved over the next few years, given a
dedicated commitment by the federal government and an affordable investment of
resources. We need to take actions and allocate resources to decrease the likelihood thatcatastrophic consequences from an EMP attack
will occur, to reduce our current serious level of The most critical infrastructure systemvulnerabilities can be reduced below
vulnerability to acceptable levels and thereby
those levels that invite attack or cause areduce incentives to attack, and to remain anational catastrophe.
viable modern society even if an EMP attack
occurs. Since this is a matter of national security, the federal government must shoulder
the responsibility of managing the most serious infrastructure vulnerabilities.
Homeland Security Presidential Directives 7 and 8 lay the authoritative basis for
the Federal government to act vigorously and coherently to mitigate many of the risks to
the Nation from terrorist attack. The effects of EMP on our major infrastructures lie

9within these directives, and the directives specify adequate responsibilities and provide
sufficient authorities to deal with the civilian sector consequences of an EMP attack.
In particular, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been established,
led by a Secretary with authority, responsibility, and the obligation to request needed
resources for the mission of protecting the US and recovering from the impacts of themost serious threats. This official must assure that plans, resources, and implementing
structures are in place to accomplish these objectives, specifically with respect to the
EMP threat. In doing so, DHS must work in conjunction with the other establishedgovernmental institutions and with experts in the private sector to most efficiently
accomplish this mission. It is important that metrics for assessing improvements inprevention, protection, and recovery be put in place and then evaluated and that progress
be reported regularly. DHS must clearly and expeditiously delineate its responsibility andactions in relation to other governmental institutions and the private sector, in order toprovide clear accountability and avoid confusion and duplication of effort.
Specific recommendations are provided below with respect to both the particulars
for securing each of the most critical national infrastructures against EMP threats and thegoverning principles for addressing these issues of national survival and recovery in theaftermath of EMP attack.

10

STRATEGY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It will not be possible to reduce the incentives for an EMP attack to an acceptablelevel of risk through defensive protection measures alone. It is possible to achieve an
acceptable level of risk and reduced invitation to an EMP attack with a strategy of:

Pursuing intelligence, interdiction, and deterrence to discourage EMP
attack against the US and its interestsProtecting critical components of the infrastructure, with particularemphasis on those that, if damaged, would require long periods of time torepair or replace

Maintaining the capability to monitor and evaluate the condition of criticalinfrastructures



Recognizing an EMP attack and understanding how its effects differ fromother forms of infrastructure disruption and damage

Planning to carry out a systematic recovery of critical infrastructures

Training, evaluating, “Red Teaming,” and periodically reporting to theCongressDefining the Federal Government’s responsibility and authority to act

Recognizing the opportunities for shared benefits

Conducting research to better understand infrastructure system effects anddeveloping cost-effective solutions to manage these effects

The cost for such improved security in the next 3 to 5 years is modest by any
standard—and extremely so in relation to both the war on terror and the value of thenational infrastructures involved. Costs at later times may be adjusted to deal with thethen-apparent threat and future levels of effort required.
INTELLIGENCE, INTERDICTION, AND DETERRENCE
The federal government’s efforts to establish and maintain a global environmentthat profoundly discourages potentially catastrophic attacks is our first line of defense.
The development, trading, and movement of critical materials and weapons useful for
mounting WMD attacks, including those that are based on the use of EMP, must be
identified as early in the process as possible. The methods and materials that could
encourage an EMP attack must be added to the list of threats presently being sought out
and annihilated. The US and its allies against transnational terrorism must make it

11exceedingly difficult and dangerous for organizations to position themselves to be athreat, or allow others to use their country and its assets in order to become a threat,
specifically including EMP threats. We must hold potential perpetrators at risk of capture
or destruction, whenever and wherever in the world they operate.
PROTECTING CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE
Some components of critical infrastructures, such as large turbines, generators,
and high-voltage transformers in electrical power systems, and electronic switchingsystems in telecommunication systems, would require long periods of time to repair or
replace. These components should be configured so that even under electronic disruption
and damage, such as could be produced by EMP, they do not become further damaged in
the course of shutting down or attempting to restore themselves. This type of damage has
occurred in the past. During the Northeast power blackout of 1965, Consolidated Edison
generators, transformers, motors, and auxiliary equipment were damaged by the sudden
shutdown. In particular, the #3 unit at the Ravenswood power plant in New York City
suffered damage when the blackout caused loss of oil pressure to the main turbine
bearing. The damage kept that unit out of service for nearly a year, and more
immediately, complicated and delayed the restoration of service to New York City.
MAINTAINING THE CAPABILITY TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE CONDITION OF CRITICALINFRASTRUCTURES
After an EMP attack, system operators and others in positions of authority andresponsibility must have immediate access to information sufficient to characterize thestate of their critical infrastructure systems. Without such system monitoring andreporting information, the system operators will not have the information required toevaluate the extent of the loss of infrastructure and know how to begin restoration of theirsystems. They may even induce further damage by taking inappropriate actions or failingto take necessary actions. During the time leading up to the August 14, 2003, Midwest
power blackout that affected both the United States and Canada, key system operators did
not have a functioning alarm system, did not recognize that the alarm system was not
functioning, and had only fragmentary information on the changing configuration of therapidly collapsing power grid for which they were responsible.
RECOGNIZING EMP ATTACK
Electronic upsets and failures occur under normal operating circumstances, evenin high-reliability equipment such as that supporting critical infrastructure. EMP-induced
12

upsets and failures, however, are different from those encountered in the normal
operation of infrastructure systems, and in fact have unique aspects not encounteredunder any other circumstances.
EMP produces nearly simultaneous upset and damage of electronic and of otherelectrical equipment over wide geographic areas, determined by the altitude, character,and explosive yield of the EMP-producing nuclear explosion. Since such upset anddamage is not encountered in other circumstances and particularly not remotely to thesame scale, the normal experience of otherwise skilled system operators and others inpositions of responsibility and authority will not have prepared them to identify what has
happened to the system, what actions to take to minimize further adverse consequences,and what actions must be carried out to restore the impacted systems as swiftly andeffectively as possible.
Special system capabilities and operator awareness, planning, training, and testing
will be required to deal with EMP-induced system impacts. The first requirement is forthe operators of critical infrastructure systems to be able to determine that a high-altitudenuclear explosion has occurred and has produced a unique set of adverse effects on theirsystems. That information can be provided by local electromagnetic sensors, by
information from Earth satellite systems, or by other means. Whatever the means, theoperators and others in positions of authority and responsibility must receive theinformation immediately. Therefore, the EMP event notification system must itself behighly reliable during and after an EMP attack.
Operators and others in positions of authority and responsibility must be trained torecognize that an EMP attack in fact has taken place, to understand the wide range ofeffects it can produce, to analyze the status of their infrastructure systems, to avoid
further system degradation, to dispatch resources to begin effective system restoration,and to sustain the most critical functions while the system is being repaired and restored.
Failures similar to those induced by EMP do not occur in normal system operation;
therefore, the training for, and experience developed in the course of, normal system
operation will not provide operators with the skills and knowledge base necessary to
perform effectively after EMP-induced system disruption and failure. Training,procedures, simulations, and exercises must be developed and carried out that are
specifically designed to contend with EMP-induced effects.

13

PLANNING TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEMATIC RECOVERY OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES
A crisis such as the immediate aftermath of an EMP attack is not the time to begin
planning for an effective response. Plans to avoid causing further damage to criticalinfrastructures and to carry out a systematic recovery of those infrastructures must be inhand at the earliest possible time. Planning for responding to an EMP attack should begin
now and should be carried out jointly by system operators, hardware and software
providers, and experts in both the government and private sectors.
Individual infrastructure systems have many similar electronically based control
and monitoring functions. The primary features of EMP attack mitigation in each
infrastructure include elements of protection of critical functions, identifying where
damage within the system is located, dispatch/allocation of resources to allow for timely
restoration and development of operational procedures including simulation of bothindividual and interacting infrastructures, training, testing, and governance. This requires
test and evaluation of both existing and future systems to identify weak spots subject to
EMP damage and focus mitigation activities accordingly. EMP protection thus has asubstantial aspect focused on individual functioning units within each system that
contains electronic components, although not necessarily on the individual electronic
subcomponents of these units themselves. These units include distributed Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) modules, mobile communicators, radios,embedded control computers, etc. New units can be EMP-hardened for a very small
fraction of the cost of the non-hardened item, e.g., 1% to 3% of cost, if hardening is doneat the time the unit is designed and manufactured. In contrast, retrofitting existing
functional components is potentially an order of magnitude more expensive and should
be done only for critical system units. It is important to note, however, that for protection
to remain functional, it must be tested and maintained in its operational mode with rigor
and discipline.
TRAINING, EVALUATING, RED TEAMING, AND PERIODICALLY REPORTING TO THE
CONGRESS
Identifying an EMP attack, understanding the state of the system after attack,developing and implementing plans for system restoration, and having operators andothers in positions of authority and responsibility trained to recognize and respondeffectively are elements of strategy that are common to managing the effects of EMP foreach of the Nation’s critical infrastructure components. Conducting and evaluating theresults of training, simulations, tests, and Red Team activities, and periodically reporting14

the results to senior executive branch leaders, the Congress, and the public are importantelements of being well-prepared for EMP attack, which in turn will sharply reduce the
incentives for conduct of such an attack.
DEFINING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY TO ACT
Governance of the critical infrastructures such as electrical power systems andcommunications is presently distributed among statutory governmental entities at thefederal, state, regional, and municipal levels, as well as among a variety of nongovernmental entities. A multiplicity of statutory bodies, private companies, associations,and individual owners also participate in determining decisions and actions. Nevertheless,the process is coordinated, albeit loosely, to produce normal efficient, reliable, and highquality service that is the envy of the world—in a peacetime environment.
A terrorist threat—let alone a terrorist attack—is outside the ambit of normal
governance of the key national infrastructures. In dealing with such threats, theDepartment of Homeland Security has the unique and sole responsibility and authority to
govern the specific actions and
DHS must interact with other governmental
involved parties within the US,
institutions and the private sector in defining
including requesting enabling
liability, responsibility, and funding in order toCongressional funding as
enable private and government facilities, such as
independent power plants, to contribute theirappropriate and necessary. DHS
capability in a time of national need, yet not interfere
must interact with otherwith market creation and operation to the maximum
governmental institutions and theextent practical.
private sector in defining liability,
responsibility and funding in order to enable private and government facilities, such as
independent power plants, to contribute their capability in a time of national need, yet notinterfere with market creation and operation to the maximum extent practical.
Industry associations, system owners/providers, private consultants, anduniversities all will be able to contribute useful levels of knowledge and skills. DHS is
responsible for making the prudent trade-offs within each mitigation activity between
performance, risk, schedule, and cost in relation to consequent system protection andthen-expected risk in order to achieve maximum protection. For example, some actions
taken to protect a system from an EMP attack may diminish the reliability or quality ofthat system’s normal commercial performance, while other actions may improve theperformance.

15

As an example of resources readily available to DHS with respect to the electric
system, the North American Reliability Counsel (NERC) and the Electric Power
Research Institute are well-positioned to provide much of the support needed in regard to
the EMP threat. Working closely with industry and these institutions, the DHS should
provide for the necessary capability to control the national bulk electricity supply system
in order to protect critical services, minimize its self-destruction in the event of an EMP
attack, and recover its normal capabilities as rapidly and effectively as possible thereafter.
RECOGNIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHARED BENEFITS
Most of the following initiatives and actions the Commission recommends
militate against more than an EMP attack. The protection and/or rapid restoration ofcritical infrastructures in the civilian sector from an EMP attack also will be effective
against other types of infrastructure disruptions, such as attacks aimed at directly
damaging or destroying key components of the electrical system, and natural or
accidental large-scale disruptions are also significantly mitigated by these same
initiatives. Some of these steps also enhance reliability and quality of criticalinfrastructures, which is a major direct benefit to the US economy and to our way of life.
CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Very little research and development addressing EMP-related system response
protection and recovery issues has been done for more than a decade. Conducting
research to better understand infrastructure system effects and developing cost-effective
solutions to manage these effects will be important to understanding the implications of
the rapid evolution of electronics and electrical systems, and their growing role incontrolling and operating modern critical infrastructure.

16

ELECTRIC POWER INFRASTRUCTURE
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
Electric power is integral to the functioning of electronic components. For highly
reliable systems such as commercial and military telecommunications, electric powerusually comes from batteries (in the short term), local emergency power supplies(generally over time-intervals of less then 72 hours), and electricity delivered through thelocal electrical utility (“power” lines in the home, office and factory). Local emergency
power supplies are limited by supplies of stored fuel. Increasingly, locally stored fuel inbuildings and cities is being reduced for fire safety and environmental pollution reasons,so that the emergency generation availability without refueling is limited.
Geomagnetic storms, a natural phenomenon driven by the solar wind, may, by adifferent physical mechanism, produce ground-induced currents (GIC) that can affect theelectrical system in a manner similar to the E3 component of EMP. Disruptions caused
by geomagnetic storms, such as the collapse of Quebec Hydro grid during thegeomagnetic storm of 1989, have occurred many times in the past (Figure 5).

Geomagnetic field disturbance conditions, dB/dt (nT/min) over North America at time
7:45 UT on March 13, 1989
Source: Metatech Corporation, Applied Power Solutions

Figure 5. Extent of 1989 Geomagnetic Storm

17

Depending on the explosive yield of the nuclear weapon used, EMP-induced GIC
may be several times larger than that produced by the average geomagnetic storm, andmay even be comparable to those expected to arise in the largest geomagnetic storm everobserved. It may also occur over an area not normally affected by historic geomagnetic
storms.
The North American economy and the functioning of the society as a whole are
critically dependent on the availability of electricity, as needed, where and when needed.
The electric power system in the US and interconnected areas of Canada and Mexico isoutstanding in terms of its ability to meet load demands with high quality and reliable
electricity at reasonable cost. However, over the last decade or two, there has been
relatively little large-capacity electric transmission constructed and the generation
additions that have been made, while barely adequate, have been increasingly locatedconsiderable distances from load for environmental, political, and economic reasons. As aresult, the existing National electrical system not infrequently operates at or very near
local limits on its physical capacity to move power from generation to load. Therefore,
the slightest insult or upset to the system can cause functional collapse affecting
significant numbers of people, businesses, and manufacturing. It is not surprising that asingle EMP attack may well encompass and degrade at least 70% of the Nation’s
electrical service, all in one instant.
The impact of such EMP is different and far more catastrophic than that effectedby historic blackouts, in three primary respects:
1. The EMP impact is virtually instantaneous and occurs simultaneously over amuch larger geographic area. Generally, there are neither precursors nor warning,
and no opportunity for human-initiated protective action. The early-time EMP
component is the “electromagnetic shock” that disrupts or damages electronicsbased control systems and sensors, communication systems, protective systems,
and control computers, all of which are used to control and bring electricity fromgeneration sites to customer loads in the quantity and quality needed. The E1
pulse also causes some insulator flashovers in the lower-voltage electricity
distribution systems (those found in suburban neighborhoods, in rural areas andinside cities), resulting in immediate broad-scale loss-of-load. Functional collapseof the power system is almost definite over the entire affected region, and may
cascade into adjacent geographic areas.
2. The middle-time EMP component is similar to lightning in its time-dependence
but is far more widespread in its character although of lower amplitude—
essentially a great many lightning-type insults over a large geographic area whichmight obviate protection. The late-time EMP component couples very efficiently18

to long electrical transmission lines and forces large direct electrical currents toflow in them, although they are designed to carry only alternating currents. Theenergy levels thereby concentrated at the ends of these long lines can becomelarge enough to damage major electrical power system components. The mostsignificant risk is synergistic, because the middle and late-time pulses follow after
the early-time pulse, which can impair or destroy protective and control featuresof the power grid. Then the energies associated with the middle and late-time
EMP thus may pass into major system components and damage them. It may alsopass electrical surges or fault currents into the loads connected to the system,
creating damage in national assets that are not normally considered part of theinfrastructure per se. Net result is recovery times of months to years, instead ofdays to weeks.
3. Proper functioning of the electrical power system requires communication
systems, financial systems, transportation systems, and—for much of thegeneration—continuous or nearly continuous supply of various fuels. However,the fuel-supply, communications, transportation, and financial infrastructures
would be simultaneously disabled or degraded in an EMP attack and are
dependent upon electricity for proper functioning. For electrical system recovery
and restoration of service, the availability of these other infrastructures isessential. The longer the outage, the more problematic, and uncertainty-fraught
the recovery will be.
The recent cascading outage of August 14, 2003, is an example of a single failurecompounded by system weaknesses and human mistakes. It also provides an example ofthe effectiveness of protective equipment. However, with EMP there are multiple insults
coupled with the disabling of protective devices simultaneously over an extremely broad
region—damage to the system is likely and recovery slow.
RECOMMENDED MITIGATION AND RESPONSIBILITY
The electrical system is designed to break into “islands” of roughly matching
generation and load when a portion of the system receives a severe electrical insult. This
serves both to protect electricity supply in the non-impacted regions and to allow for the
stable island-systems to be used to “restart” the island(s) that have lost functionality.
With EMP, the magnitude, speed, and multi-faceted nature of the insult, its broad
geographic reach, along with the number of simultaneous insults, and the adverse
synergies all are likely to result in a situation where the islanding scheme will fail toperform as effectively as intended, if at all. Since the impacted geographic area is large,
restoring the system from the still-functioning perimeter regions would take a great dealof time, possibly weeks to months at best. Indeed, the only practical way to restart muchof the impacted electrical system may be with generation that can be started without anexternal power source. This is called “black start” generation and primarily includes

19hydroelectric (including pumped storage), geothermal, and independent diesel generatorsof modest capacity.
The recommended actions will substantially improve service and recovery during“normal” large-scale blackouts, and will critically enable recovery under EMP
circumstances.
PROTECTION
It is impractical to protect the entire electrical power system from damage by an
EMP attack. There are too many components of too many different types, manufacturers,
designs, and vulnerabilities within too many jurisdictional entities, and the cost to retrofit
is too great. Widespread functional collapse ofWidespread functional collapse of thethe electrical power system in the area affected
electric power system in the area affectedby EMP is likely.
by EMP is possible in the face of ageographically broad EMP attack, with even a
relatively few unprotected components in place. However, it is practical to reduce to lowlevels the probability of widespread damage to major power system components that
require long times to replace. This will enable significantly improved recovery times,
since it avoids the loss of long lead-time and critical components. It is important toprotect the ability of the system to fragment gracefully into islands, to the extent practicalin the particular EMP circumstance. This approach is cost-efficient and can leverage
efforts to improve reliability of bulk electricity supply and enhance its security against
the broader range of threats.
RESTORATIONThe key to minimizing adverse effects from loss of electrical power is the speedof restoration. Restoration involves matching generation capacity to a load of equivalentsize over a transmission network that is initially isolated from the broader system. The
larger system is then functionally rebuilt by bringing that mini system, or “island,” to thestandard operating frequency and thereupon by adding more blocks of generation andload to this core in amounts that can be absorbed by the growing subsystem. This is ademanding and time-consuming process in the best of circumstances. In the singularcircumstance of an EMP attack with multiple damaged components, related infrastructure
failures, and particularly severe challenges in communications and transportation, thetime required to restore electrical power is expected to be considerably longer than wehave experienced in recent history.

20

However, by protecting key system components needed for restoration, by
structuring the network to fail gracefully, and by creating a comprehensive prioritizedrecovery plan for the most critical power needs, the risk of an EMP attack having acatastrophic effect on the Nation can be greatly reduced. DHS must ensure that the
mitigation plan is jointly developed by the federal government and the electric powerindustry, implemented fully, instilled into systems operations, and tested and practiced
regularly to maintain a capability to respond effectively in emergencies. The North
American Reliability Council and the Electric Power Research Institute are aptly
positioned to provide much of what’s needed to support DHS in carrying out its
responsibilities. The US Energy Association is well-suited to coordinating activities
between and among the various energy sectors that together affect the electric powersystem and its vitality.
ESSENTIAL COMPONENT PROTECTION
1. Assure protection of high-value long-lead-time transmission assets.
2. Assure protection of high-value generation assets. System-level protection
assurance is more complex due to the need for multiple systems to function inproper sequence.
3. Assure Key Generation Capability. Not all plants can or should be protected.
However, regional evaluation of key generating resources necessary for recovery
should be selected and protected.
a. Coal-fired generation plants make up nearly half the Nation’s generation
and are generally the most robust overall to EMP, with manyelectromechanical controls still in operation. Such coal plants also
normally have at least a few days to a month of on-site fuel storage.
b. Natural gas-fired combustion turbines and associated steam secondary
systems represent the newest and a significant contributor to meetingloads. These have modern electronics-based control and thus are more
vulnerable. Natural gas is not stored on-site and likely will be interrupted
in an EMP attack. However, provision can be made to have gas-fired
plants also operate on fuel oil; many do already.
c. Nuclear plants produce roughly 20% of the Nation’s generation and have
many redundant fail-safe systems that tend to remove them from service
whenever any system upset is sensed. Their safe shut down should beassured, but they will be unavailable until near the end of restoration.
d. Hydroelectric power is generally quite robust to EMP, and constitutes a
substantial fraction of total national generation capacity, albeit unevenly
distributed geographically.

21

e. In general, the various distributed and renewable fueled generators are notsignificant enough at this time to warrant special protection.
f. Black start generation of all types is critical and will need to be protectedfrom EMP upset or damage.
4. Assure functional integrity of critical communications channels. The most criticalcommunications channels in the power grid are the ones that enable recovery
from collapse, such as ones that enable manual operation and coordinationsupporting contacts between distant system operators and those that support
system diagnostics. Generation, switching, and load dispatch communications
support is next in importance.
5. Assure availability of emergency power at critical facilities needed for restoration.
Transmission substations need uninterruptible power to support rapid restorationof grid connectivity and operability, and thereby to more quickly restore service.
Most have short-life battery backup systems, but relatively few have longerduration emergency generators; much more emphasis on the latter is needed.
6. Assure protection of fuel production and its delivery for generation. Fuel supply
adequate to maintain critical electrical service and to restore expanded service iscritical. See Fuel/Energy Infrastructure, page 35) for details.
7. Expand and assure intelligent islanding capability. The ability of the larger
electrical power system to break into relatively small subsystem islands isimportant to mitigate overall EMP impacts and provide faster restoration.
8. Develop and deploy system test standards and equipment. Device-level robustness
standards and test equipment exist, but protection at the system level is theoverarching goal. System-level robustness improvements such as isolators, line
protection, and grounding improvements will be the most practical and least
expensive in most cases relative to replacement with more robust individualcomponent devices. Periodic testing of system response is necessary.
SYSTEM RESTORATION
1. Develop and enable a restoration plan. This plan must prioritize the rapid
restoration of power to government-identified critical service. Sufficient black
start generation capacity must be provided where it is needed in the associatedsubsystem islands, along with transmission system paths that can be isolated andconnected to matching loads. The plan must address outages with wide
geographic coverage, multiple major component failures, poor communication
capabilities, and widespread failure of islanding schemes within the EMP-affected
area. Government and industry responsibilities must be unequivocally andcompletely assigned. All necessary legal and financial arrangements, e.g., forindemnification, must be put into place to allow industry to implement specified
government priorities with respect to service restoration, as well as to deal withpotential environmental and technical hazards in order to assure rapid recovery.

22

2. Simulate, train, exercise, and test the plan. Simulators must be developed for use
in training and developing procedures similar to those in the airline industry; ahandful should suffice for the entire country. Along with simulation and field
exercises, Red Team discipline should be employed to surface weaknesses andprioritize their rectification.
3. Assure sufficient numbers of adequately trained recovery personnel.
4. Assure availability of replacement equipment. R&D is under way—and should bevigorously pursued—into the production of emergency “universal” replacements.
The emergency nature of such devices would trade efficiency and service-life formodularity, transportability, and affordability.
5. Implement redundant backup diagnostics and communication. Assure that system
operators can reliably identify and locate damaged components.

23

TELECOMMUNICATIONSIMPORTANCE OF ASSURED TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Telecommunications plays a key role in US society in terms of its direct effect on
individuals and business and due to its impact on other key infrastructures. The
relationship of telecommunications to the other critical infrastructures, such as thefinancial industry, is often recognized during and following widespread outages, such as
those experienced as a result of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade
Centers and the immediate vicinity of “Ground Zero.” The local disruption of all criticalinfrastructures, including power, transportation, and telecommunications, interrupted
operations in key financial markets and posed increased liquidity risks to the US financial
system.1 In the days following the attacks, institutions in the affected areas were
implementing their business continuity plans, which proved vital to the rapid restoration
and recovery of services in the New York City area. In addition, the President
emphasized that the prompt restoration of Wall Street’s capabilities was critical to theeconomic welfare of the Nation; in doing so, he aptly linked economic stability tonational security.
For some of the most critical infrastructure services, such as electric power,
natural gas, and financial services, assured communications are essential to their recovery
following a major adverse event. The importance of telecommunications in an emergency
situation is underscored by the existence of the National Communications System (NCS),
established by Executive Order 12472, Assignment of National Security and Emergency
Preparedness Telecommunications Functions,2 which include administering the National
1

James J. MacAndrews and Simmon M. Potter, “Liquidity Effects of the Events of September 11, 2001,”
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review, November 2002.
2
The mission of the NCS shall be to assist the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland
Security Council, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget in: (1) the exercise of the telecommunications functions andresponsibilities set forth in Section 2 of this Order; and (2) the coordination of the planning for andprovision of national security and emergency preparedness communications for the Federal government
under all circumstances, including crisis or emergency, attack, recovery, and reconstitution.
The NCS shall seek to ensure that a national telecommunications infrastructure is developed which: (1)Is responsive to the national security and emergency preparedness needs of the President and the Federal
departments, agencies and other entities, including telecommunications in support of national security
leadership and continuity of government; (2) Is capable of satisfying priority telecommunications
requirements under all circumstances through use of commercial, government and privately owned
telecommunications resources; (3) Incorporates the necessary combination of hardness, redundancy,
mobility, connectivity, interoperability, restorability and security to obtain, to the maximum extent

24

Coordinating Center (NCC) for Telecommunications to facilitate the initiation,
coordination, restoration, and reconstitution of National Security and Emergency
Preparedness (NS/EP) telecommunications services or facilities under all crises andemergencies; developing and ensuring the implementation of plans and programs that
support the viability of telecommunications infrastructure hardness, redundancy,
mobility, connectivity, and security; and serving as the focal point for joint industrygovernment and interagency NS/EP telecommunications planning and partnerships. In
addition, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee(NSTAC), a Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) CEO-level advisory group to the
President, is tasked with providing industry-sourced advice and expertise related to
implementing policies affecting NS/EP communications. These NS/EP services are those“critical to the maintenance of a state of readiness or the response to and management of
any event or crisis that causes harm or could cause harm to the population, damage to or
the loss of property, or degrades or threatens the NS/EP posture of the United States.”3
The NSTAC in its 1985 Report on EMP found that “consistent with its cost
constraints, industry should incorporate low-cost EMP mitigation practices into new
facilities and, as appropriate, into upgrade programs. For those areas where acarrier/supplier recognizes that a significant improvement in EMP resistance andsurveillance could be achieved, but at a cost beyond the carrier/supplier's own cost
constraints, the carrier/supplier should identify such options to the government forevaluation and possible funding.” On October 9, 1985, the NSTAC approved the EMP
Final Task Force Report and forwarded a recommendation to the President, calling for a
joint industry and Government program to reduce the costs of existing techniques for
mitigating high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP)-induced transients and to develop
new techniques for limiting transient effects. As a result, the NCS and industry, working
with the ATIS—the Alliance for Industry Solutions—developed a set of ANSI standards
and Generic Requirements4 to address EMP.5

practicable, the survivability of national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications in all
circumstances, including conditions of crisis or emergency; and (4) Is consistent, to the maximum extent
practicable, with other national telecommunications policies.
3
NS/EP Implications for Electronic Commerce, NSTAC Report, June 1999.
4
Telcordia GR-1089-CORE.
5
ANSI T1.320.

25

NS/EP Definitions

NS/EP Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications services that are used tomaintain a state of readiness or to respond to and manage any event or crisis (local,
national, or international) that causes or could cause injury or harm to the population,
damage to or loss of property, or degrades or loss of property, or degrades or threatens
the NS/EP posture of the United States. (“Telecommunications Service Priority [TSP]
System for National Security Emergency Preparedness: Service User Manual,” NCS
Manual 3-1-1, July 9, 1990. Appendix A.)
NS/EP Requirements: Features that maintain a state of readiness or respond to andmanage an event or crisis (local, national, or international), which causes or could cause
injury or harm to the population, damage to or loss of property, or degrade or threaten
the NS/EP posture of the United States. (Federal Standard 1037C)

With respect to NS/EP telecommunications, capabilities exist for prioritizing
phone calls through the wireline, wireless, and satellite networks during the time interval
when call volumes are excessive and facilities are damaged, giving priority to restoring
services that may be damaged or degraded, and getting new circuits into operation.
According to recent testimony by a DHS official, “The NCS is continuing adiverse set of mature and evolving programs designed to ensure priority use of
telecommunications services by NS/EP users during times of national crisis. The moremature services—including the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service(GETS) and the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP)—were instrumental in the
response to the September 11 attacks. FY 2005 funding enhances these programs andsupports the development of the Wireless Priority Service (WPS) program and upgrade to
the Special Routing Arrangement Service (SRAS). Specifically, priority service
programs include: (1) GETS, which offers nationwide priority voice and low-speed dataservice during an emergency or crisis situation; (2) WPS, which provides a nationwidepriority cellular service to key NS/EP users, including individuals from federal, state andlocal governments and the private sector; (3) TSP, which provides the administrative andoperational framework for priority provisioning and restoration of critical NS/EP
telecommunications services; (4) SRAS, which is a variant of GETS to support theContinuity of Government (COG) program including the reengineering of SRAS in the
AT&T network and development of SRAS capabilities in the MCI and Sprint networks,
and; (5) the Alerting and Coordination Network (ACN), which is an NCS program that26

provides dedicated communications between selected critical government andtelecommunications industry operations centers.”6
For example, due to concerns with respect to getting calls through during intervalsof high network call volumes that follow disaster events, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) utilizes the Government Emergency Telecommunications System(GETS) and other NS/EP telecom services such as wireless priority services tocommunicate with commercial nuclear power plants and to relay critical status
information. This use of GETS grew out of lessons learned from the Three Mile Island
incident in 1979. During the initial days of this incident, NRC personnel experienced
communication problems that were attributed primarily to call volume overload at the
local telephone company switch.
Another NS/EP service is the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP)
program, which exists to assign priority provisioning and restoration of critical NS/EP
telecommunications services in the hours immediately following a major disaster. In
place since the mid-1980s, more than 50,000 circuits are protected today under TSP,
including circuits associated with critical infrastructures such as electric power,
telecommunications, and financial services.
The telecommunication system consists of four basic and primary physicalsystems: wireline, wireless, satellite, and radio. In general, the national
telecommunications infrastructure may be farther advanced then others in its ability toaddress the particular consequences of EMP. This is due in large measure to therecognized alternative threats to this system, as well as broad recognition of its
importance to society. The three primary and separate systems (excluding radio) thatmake up the broad telecommunications infrastructure each provide specialized services;
they also overlap heavily. Thus the loss or degradation of any one of these somewhat
redundant subsystems subjects the remaining functional subsystems to heavier service
loads.
Each of these four primary systems is unique in their capability to suffer insult
from EMP. The wireline system is robust but will be degraded within the area exposed to
the EMP electromagnetic fields. The wireless system is technologically fragile in relation
6

Statement of General Frank Libutti, Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure
Protection ,Department of Homeland Security, Before the House Homeland Select Subcommittee onIntelligence and Counterterrorism and the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security, March 4,
2004, p. 12.

27

to EMP, certainly in comparison to the wireline one. In general, it may be so seriously
degraded in the EMP region as to be unavailable. Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
communications satellites may also suffer radiation damage as a result of one or morehigh-altitude nuclear bursts that produce EMP (see Space Systems, page 44).
The radio communication sub-system of the national telecommunications
infrastructure is not widespread, but where it is connected to antennas, power lines,
telephone lines, or other extended conductors, it is also subject to substantial EMP
damage. However, radio communication devices not so connected or not connected tosuch conductors at the time of the EMP attack are likely to be operable in the post-attack
interval.
EMP EFFECTS ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Based upon results of Commission-sponsored testing, an EMP attack would
disrupt or damage a functionally significant fraction of the electronic circuits in the
Nation’s civilian telecommunications systems in the region exposed to EMP. The
remaining operational networks would be subjected to high levels of call attempts forsome period of time after the attack, leading to degraded telecommunications services.
Key government and civilian personnel will need priority access to use public
network resources to coordinate and support local, regional, and national recovery efforts,
especially during the interval of severe network congestion.
To offset the temporary loss of electric power, telecommunications sites now
utilize a mix of batteries, mobile generators, and fixed-location generators. These
typically have between 4 and 72 hours of backup power available, and thus will dependon either the resumption of electrical utility power or fuel deliveries to function for longer
periods of time.
For some of the most critical infrastructure services such as electric power,
natural gas, and financial services, assured communications are necessary—but aren’t
necessarily sufficient—to the survival of that service during the initial time-intervals after
an EMP attack. Therefore, a systematic approach to protecting or restoring key
communications systems will be required.
RECOMMENDED MITIGATION ACTIVITIESThe following actions are recommended as particularly effective ones for
mitigating the impacts of EMP attack:28

Expand the respective roles of the National Communications System(NCS) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as the Federal
Focal Point for EMP within the Code of Federal Regulations Part 2157 toaddress infrastructure interdependencies related to NS/EP
telecommunications services.



Ensure services targeted at NS/EP operate effectively as new technology isintroduced into the telecommunications network. Specifically, services
such as Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and
Wireless Priority Service (WPS) that are intended for use in emergency
situations to improve the call completion probabilities for key personnel
must operate effectively. Within the next 15 years, new technologies will
be introduced into the public networks that will play major roles inoperation of these services. EMP is just one of the potential threats that
could stress the telecommunications networks; therefore, ensuring that
NS/EP services perform effectively as new technology is introduced has
benefits beyond providing robustness to EMP, and moreover is consistent
with avoiding failures from other hostile actions.



Determine the effects of EMP on different types of telecommunicationequipment and facilities, using tests and theoretical analyses of the typedone in the course of Commission-sponsored work and previous EMPrelated studies conducted by the National Communications System(NCS).8. A comprehensive, continuing telecommunications testing
program,9 along with the use of existing national and international
standards,10 may be a model activity that would be a key part of thisoverall National effort.



Improve the ability of key network assets to survive HEMP. There are key
elements in the network such as the Signal Transfer Points (STPs) in thesignaling system (Signaling System 7 (SS7)), Home Location Register(HLR), and Visiting Location Register (VLR) in the wireless networks
whose degradation can result in the loss of service to a larger number ofusers. Effective mitigation strategies include a combination of site
hardening and installation of protective measures for the fast rise-time(E1) component of EMP.



Improve the ability of telecommunications to withstand the sustained lossof utility-supplied electric power. This mitigation strategy would entail theuse of best practices, review and improvement of existing programs such

7

47CFR, Section 215, designated The Executive Agent, NCS, is the focal point within the Federal
Government for all EMP technical data and studies concerning NS/EP telecommunications.
8
For example: The Effects of High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) on Telecommunications
Assets, NCS Technical Information Bulletin 92-5, February 1992.
9
Similar to that conducted in response to the Signaling System 7 outages of the early 1990’s (which
affected large portions of the United States) under the Inter-network Interoperability Test Program (IITP)
of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS).
10
Standards for Protection of Telecommunications Links, NCS Technical Notes, Volume 6, Number 3,
1999.

29

as the Telecommunications Electric Service Priority (TESP) program, andthe increased use of alternative backup power sources.


Conduct exercises to refine contingency operations. Conduct exercisesthat test and provide for improved contingency operations, assuming
widespread multi-infrastructure degradation. The adequacy of mutual aid
agreements, cross-organizational planning and coordination, and criticalasset prioritization are examples of elements that should be tested anddeveloped.

Managers of these critical services must design their systems andoperating procedures to take into account the potential vulnerabilities
introduced by EMP-driven failure of telecommunications devices and subsystems.

30

BANKING AND FINANCE
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
The financial services industry comprises a network of organizations andattendant systems that process instruments of monetary value in the form of deposits,loans, funds transfers, savings, and other financial transactions. It includes banks andother depository institutions, including the Federal Reserve System; investment-relatedcompanies such as underwriters, brokerages, and mutual funds; industry utilities such as
the New York Stock Exchange, the Automated Clearing House, and the Society for
Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications; and third party processors thatprovide electronic processing services to financial institutions, including data andnetwork management and check processing.
Virtually all American economic activity depends upon the functioning of thefinancial services industry. Today, most financial transactions that express National
wealth are performed and recorded electronically. Virtually all transactions involvingbanks and other financial institutions happen electronically. Essentially all recordkeeping of financial transactions involves information stored electronically. The financial
services industry has evolved to the point that it would be impossible to operate without
the efficiencies, speeds, and processing and storage capabilities of electronic information
technology.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, demonstrated the vulnerabilities
arising from the significant interdependencies of the Nation’s critical infrastructures. The
attacks disrupted all critical infrastructures in New York City, including power,transportation, and telecommunications. Consequently, operations in key financial
markets were interrupted, increasing liquidity risks for the United States financial
system.11
The Interagency Paper,12 which was jointly issued by the Office of theComptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), and the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), specifies clearing and settlement systems as the most
11

James J. MacAndrews and Simmon M. Potter, “Liquidity Effects of the Events of September 11, 2001,”
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review, November 2002.
12
The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities andExchange Commission, Interagency Paper on Sound Practices to Strengthen the Resilience of the US
Financial System, September 5, 2002.

31

critical business operations at risk for financial markets.13 Because financial markets arehighly interdependent, a wide-scale disruption of core clearing and settlement processes
would have an immediate systemic effect on critical financial markets.14

Over the past couple of decades, the American economy has become increasingly resilient toshocks. Deregulated financial markets, far more flexible labor markets, and, more recently, themajor advances in information technology have enhanced our ability to absorb disruptions andrecover. In the past, our economy has quickly regained its previous levels following thedevastation of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and myriad other natural disasters that
periodically batter various regions of our country. Although the trauma of September 11 sharessome characteristics with such disruptions, the differences are important. In contrast to natural
disasters, last week's events are of far greater concern because they strike at the roots of our freesociety, one aspect of which is our market-driven economy. All modern economies require theconfidence that free-market institutions are firmly in place and that commitments made today bymarket participants will be honored not only tomorrow, but for years into the future. The greater
the degree of confidence in the state of future markets, the greater the level of long-term
investment. The shock of September 11, by markedly raising the degree of uncertainty about the
future, has the potential to result, for a time, in a pronounced disengagement from futurecommitments. And that, in the short run, would imply a lessened current level of activity. Indeed,much economic activity ground to a halt last week. But the foundations of our free society remainsound, and I am confident that we will recover and prosper as we have in the past. As aconsequence of the spontaneous and almost universal support that we received from around theworld, an agreement on a new round of multilateral trade negotiations now seems more feasible.
Such an outcome would lead to a stronger global market system. A successful round would not
only significantly enhance world economic growth but also answer terrorism with a firm
reaffirmation of our commitment to open and free societies.
—Testimony of Chairman Alan Greenspan, The condition of the financial markets Before the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, US Senate September 20, 2001

Moreover, in December 2002, the FRB revised its policy and procedures for
NS/EP telecommunications programs administered by the National Communications
System (NCS) to identify those functions supporting the Federal Reserve’s NS/EP
mission to maintain national liquidity.15 The FRB expanded the scope of services thatwould seriously affect continued financial operations if a telecommunications disruption

13

Ibid., pg. 5.
Systemic risk includes the risk that the failure of one participant in a transfer system or financial market
to meet its required obligations will cause other participants to be unable to meet their obligations whendue, causing significant liquidity or credit problems or threatening the stability of financial markets. The
use of the term “systemic risk” in this report is based on the international definition of systemic risk in
payments and settlement systems provided in Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems, Bank forInternational Settlements, “A Glossary of Terms in Payment and Settlement Systems,” 2001.
15
Federal Register, vol. 67, no. 236, Monday, December 9, 2002. Notice, “Federal Reserve Board
Sponsorship for Priority Telecommunication Services of Organizations That Are Important to National
Security/ Emergency Preparedness,” http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/other/2002/2002
1203/attachment.pdf.
1432

of “a few minutes to one day” occurred. 16 These functions, which are listed below,
require same-day recovery and are critical to the operation and liquidity of banks and thestability of financial markets:

Large-value inter-bank funds transfer, securities transfer, or paymentrelated services, such as Fedwire, Clearing House Interbank Payments
System (CHIPS), and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunications (SWIFT)

Automated clearinghouse (ACH) operatorsKey clearing and settlement utilities

Treasury automated auction and processing system

Large-dollar participants of these systems and utilities

The increasing dependence of the United States on an electronic economy, so
beneficial to the creation and preservation of wealth, also adds to the adverse effects thatwould be produced by an EMP attack. The electronic technologies that are the foundationof the financial infrastructure are potentially vulnerable to EMP. These systems are also
potentially vulnerable to EMP indirectly through other critical infrastructures, such as theelectric power grid and telecommunications.
RECOMMENDED MITIGATION AND RESPONSIBILITY
Securing the financial services industry from the EMP threat is vital to thenational security of the United States. The Federal government must assure that thissystem can survive sufficiently to preclude serious, long-term consequences.
The Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Reserve Board, and theDepartment of the Treasury, in cooperation with other relevant agencies, must develop
contingency plans to ride out and recover key financial systems promptly from an EMP
attack.
Key financial services include those means and resources that provide the general
population with cash, credit, and other liquidity required to buy food, fuel, and otheressential goods and services. We must protect the Nation’s financial networks, banking
records, and data retrieval systems that support cash, check, credit, debit, and othertransactions through judicious balance of hardening, redundancy, and contingency plans.

16

Federal Reserve Board Sponsorship for Priority Telecommunications Services of Organizations That Are
Important to National Security/Emergency Preparedness, Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 236, Monday,
December 2003, Notices, p. 72958.

33

The Federal government must work with the private sector to assure theprotection and effective recovery of essential financial records and services infrastructurecomponents from all deliberate adverse events, including EMP attack. Implementation of
the recommendations made by the Department of the Treasury, the FRB, and the SEC in
their Interagency Paper on Sound Practices to Strengthen the Resilience of the US
Financial System to meet sabotage and cyber-threats that could engender requirementsfor protection and recovery should be expanded to include expeditious recovery from
EMP attack:“Every organization in the financial services industry should identify all
clearing and settlement activities in each critical financial market in which
it is a core clearing and settlement organization or plays a significant role”
that could be threatened by EMP attack.

Industry should “determine appropriate recovery and resumption
objectives for clearing and settlement activities in support of criticalmarkets” following an EMP attack.

Industry should be prepared to cope with an EMP attack by maintaining“sufficient geographically dispersed resources to meet recovery andresumption objectives…. Backup sites should not rely on the same
infrastructure components (e.g., transportation, telecommunications, watersupply, electric power) used by the primary site. Moreover, the operationof such sites should not be impaired by a wide-scale evacuation at or
inaccessibility of staff that service the primary site.”

Industry should, “Routinely use or test recovery and resumption
arrangements…. It is critical for firms to test backup facilities of markets,core clearing and settlement organizations, and third-party service
providers to ensure connectivity, capacity, and the integrity of datatransmission” against an EMP attack.

34

FUEL/ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE
The vulnerabilities of this sector are produced by the responses of the electronic
control systems that provide and utilize the near-real-time data flows needed to operate
the fuel/energy infrastructure efficiently, as well as to identify and quickly react toequipment malfunctions or untoward incidents. EMP could also cause control or datasensor malfunctions that are not easily discernible, leading to counterproductive
operational decisions. Process control systems are critical to the operation and control ofpetroleum refineries, and little or no notice of an outage significantly increases thepotential for damage during an emergency shutdown. Communications systems that are
critical for operational control represent another locus of vulnerability. Communications
are also critical in refineries to ensure safety of on-site personnel, the adjacent population,and the surrounding environment. The energy distribution infrastructure is also criticallydependent on the availability of commercial power to operate the numerous pumps,
valves and other electrical equipment that are required for a functional infrastructure.
DHS must develop a contingency plan that will provide strategy for protection
and recovery for this sector, to include actions to be taken by both Government andindustry. Government should establish a national inventory of parts for those items withlong lead-times or that would be in demand in the event of a catastrophic event such as an
EMP attack. The Energy Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAAC) should, withgovernment funding, expand its mission to address EMP issues, and the government
should work with the private sector to implement the general approach described in
Strategy and Recommendations, page 11.

35

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
America’s transportation sector is often addressed as a single infrastructure, but inreality its multiple modes provide for several separate infrastructures. Rail includes thefreight railroad and commuter rail infrastructures; road includes the trucking andautomobile infrastructures; water includes the maritime shipping and inland waterway
infrastructures; and air includes the commercial and general aviation infrastructures.
As recognized by the President’s National Security Telecommunications
Advisory Committee (NSTAC) Information Infrastructure Group Report:1717

The transportation industry is increasingly reliant on information
technology and public information-transporting networks.



Although a nationwide disruption of the transportation infrastructure may
be unlikely, even a local or regional disruption could have a significant
impact. Due to the diversity and redundancy of the US transportation
system, the infrastructure is not at risk of nationwide disruption resulting
from information system failure. Nonetheless, a disruption of thetransportation information infrastructure on a regional or local scale has
potential for widespread economic and national security effects.

Marketplace pressures and increasing utilization of IT make large-scale,multimodal disruptions more likely in the future. As the infrastructure
becomes more interconnected and interdependent, the transportationindustry will increasingly rely on information technology to perform its
most basic business functions.
As this occurs, it becomes more
Electronics vulnerable to EMP permeate
likely that information system
the transportation infrastructures.
failures could result in largescale disruptions of multiple
modes of the transportation infrastructure.



There is a need for a broad-based infrastructure assurance awarenessprogram to assist all modes of transportation.



The transportation industry could leverage ongoing research anddevelopment initiatives to improve the security of the transportation
information infrastructure.

NSTAC Information Infrastructure Group Report, June 1999, <http://www.ncs.gov/NSTAC/NSTACXXII/
Reports/NSTAC22-IIG.pdf.

36



There is a need for closer coordination between the transportation industry
and other critical infrastructures.

The imperative to achieve superior performance has also led to a tremendous
increase in the use of electronics that are potentially vulnerable to EMP. The internal
combustion engine provides a familiar example of this phenomenon. Modern engines
utilize electronics to increase performance, increase fuel efficiency, reduce emissions,increase diagnostic capability, and increase safety.
To gauge the degree of vulnerability of transportation infrastructures to EMP, theCommission has conducted an assessment of selected components of these infrastructuresthat are necessary to their operations. The assessment relied on testing where feasible,
surveys and analyses for equipment and facilities for which testing was impractical, andreference to similarities to equipment for which EMP vulnerability data exists.
Based on this assessment, significant degradation of the transportation
infrastructures are likely to occur in the immediate aftermath of an EMP attack. For
example, municipal road traffic will likely be severely congested, possibly to the point ofwide-area gridlock, as a result of traffic light malfunctions and the fraction of operatingcars and trucks that will experience both temporary and in some cases unrecoverable
engine shutdown. Railroad traffic will stop if communications with railroad control
centers are lost or railway signals malfunction. Commercial air traffic will likely cease
operations for safety and other traffic control reasons. Ports will stop loading andunloading ships until commercial power and cargo hauling infrastructures are restored.
The ability of the major transportation infrastructure components to recoverdepends on the plans in place and the availability of resources—including spare parts andsupport from other critical infrastructures upon which transportation is dependent.
Transportation infrastructures have emergency response procedures in place; however,they do not explicitly address conditions that may exist for an EMP attack, such as little
or no warning time and simultaneous disruptions over wide areas. Restoration times will
depend on the planning and training carried out, and on the availability of services fromother infrastructures—notably power, fuel, and telecommunications.
STRATEGY FOR PROTECTION AND RECOVERYRAILROADS
Railroad operations are designed to continue under stressed conditions. Backup
power and provisioning is provided for operations to continue for days or even weeks at
reduced capacity. However, some existing emergency procedures, such as transferring37

operations to backup sites, rely on significant warning time, such as may be received in aweather forecast before a hurricane. An EMP attack may occur without warning, thereby
compromising the viability of available emergency procedures. Therefore, under theoverall leadership of the DHS, the government and private sectors should work together
to implement the general approach described in Strategy and Recommendations, page 11.
Specific actions should include:Heighten railroad officials’ awareness of the possibility of EMP attack
without warning that would produce wide-area, long-term disruption anddamage to electronic systems.



Perform test-based EMP assessments of railroad traffic control centers andretrofit modest EMP protection into these facilities, thereby minimizing
the potential for adverse long term EMP effects. The emphasis of thiseffort should be on electronic control and telecommunication systems.

TRUCKING AND AUTOMOBILES
Emphasizing prevention and emergency clearing of traffic congestion in this area,
DHS should coordinate a government and private sector program to:

Initiate an outreach program to educate State and local authorities andtraffic engineers on EMP effects and the expectation of traffic signal
malfunctions, vehicle disruption and damage, and consequent traffic
congestion.

Work with municipalities to formulate recovery plans, including
emergency clearing of traffic congestion and provisioning spare controller
cards that could be used to repair controller boxes.



Sponsor development of economical protection modules—preliminary
results for which are already available from Commission-sponsoredresearch—that could be retrofitted into existing traffic signal controller
boxes and installed in new controller boxes during manufacture.



Sponsor development of automobile robustness specifications and testingfor EMP. These specifications should be implemented by augmenting
existing specifications for gaining immunity to transient electromagnetic
interference (EMI), rather than by developing separate specifications for
EMP.

MARITIME SHIPPINGThe essential port operations to be safeguarded are ship traffic control, cargoloading and unloading, and cargo storage and movement (incoming and outgoing). Ship
traffic control is provided by the Coast Guard, which has robust backup procedures in38

place. Cargo storage and movement are covered by other transportation infrastructure
recommendations. Therefore, focusing on cargo operations in this area, DHS should
coordinate a government and private sector program to:Heighten port officials’ awareness of the wide geographic coverage of
EMP fields, the risk due to loss of commercial power for protracted timeintervals, and the need to evaluate the practicality of providing emergency
generators for at least some portion of port and cargo operations.

Assess the vulnerability of electric-powered loading/unloading equipment.
Review the electromagnetic protection already in place for lightning, andrequire augmentation of this protection to provide significant EMP
robustness.

Coordinate findings with the “real-time” repair crews to ensure they areaware of the potential for EMP damage. Based on the assessment results,
recommend spares provisions so that repairs can be made in a timely
manner.



Assess port data centers for the potential loss of data in electronic media.
Provide useful measures of protection against EMP causing loss offunction and/or data.

Provide protected off-line spare parts and computers sufficient forminimum essential operations.

Provide survivable radio and satellite communication capabilities for the
Coast Guard and the Nation’s ports.

COMMERCIAL AVIATIONIn priority order, it must be ensured that airplanes caught in the air during an EMP
attack can land safely, that critical recovery assets are protected, and that contingency
plans for an extended no-fly period are developed. Thus, DHS should coordinate agovernment program in cooperation with the FAA to perform an operational assessmentof the air traffic control system to identify a “thin-line” that provides the minimal
essential capabilities necessary to return the air traffic control capability to at least a basic
level of service after an EMP attack. Based on the results of this operational assessment,
develop tactics for protection, operational workarounds, spares provisioning, and repairs
to return to a minimum-essential service level.

39

FOOD INFRASTRUCTURE
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
EMP can damage or disrupt the infrastructure that supplies food to the populationof the United States. Recent federal efforts to better protect the food infrastructure fromterrorist attack tend to focus on preventing small-scale disruption of the foodinfrastructure, such as would result from terrorists poisoning some food. Yet an EMP
attack could potentially disrupt the food infrastructure over a large region encompassing
many cities for a protracted period of weeks to months.
Technology has made possible a dramatic revolution in US agricultural
productivity. The transformation of the United States from a nation of farmers to a nation
where less than 2 percent of the population is able to feed the other 98 percent and supply
export markets is made possible only by technological advancements that, since 1900,
have increased the productivity of the modern farmer by more than 50-fold. Technology,
in the form of knowledge, machines, modern fertilizers and pesticides, high-yield crops
and feeds, is the key to this revolution in food production. Much of the technology forfood production directly or indirectly depends upon electricity, transportation, and otherinfrastructures.
The distribution system is a chokepoint in the US food infrastructure.
Supermarkets typically carry only enough food to provision the local population for
1 to 3 days. Supermarkets replenish their stocks on virtually a daily basis from regional
warehouses that usually carry enough food to supply a multi-county area for about one
month. The large quantities of food kept in regional warehouses will do little to alleviatea crisis if it cannot be distributed to the population in a timely manner. Distribution
depends largely on a functioning transportation system.
MITIGATION AND RESPONSIBILITY
Federal, state, and regional governments should establish plans for assuring thatfood is available to the general population in case of major disruption of the foodinfrastructure. Planning to locate, preserve, deliver, distribute, and ration existing
stockpiles of processed and unprocessed food, including food stockpiled by the
Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, and other government agencies, will40

be an important component of maintaining the food supply. Planning to protect, deliver,and ration food from regional warehouses, under conditions where an EMP attack has
disrupted the power, transportation, and other infrastructures for a protracted period,
should be a priority. Plans to process and deliver private and government grain stockpiles
would significantly supplement the processed food stored in regional warehouses.
According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical Service, total private grainstockpiles in the United States amount to over 255 million metric tons. Federal grainstockpiles held by the Commodity Credit Corporation exceed 1.7 million metric tons,
with 1.6 million metric tons of that amount dedicated to the Bill Emerson Humanitarian
Trust for Overseas Emergency. Planning should include an assessment of how much foodthe population of the United States would need in an emergency when the foodinfrastructure is disrupted for a protracted period. Food stockpiles should be increased if
existing stockpiles of food appear to be inadequate.
Presidential initiatives have designated the Department of Homeland Security as
the lead agency responsible for the security of the food infrastructure, overseeing andworking with the Department of Agriculture. Currently, under the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act), the President “isauthorized and directed to assure that adequate stocks of food will be ready andconveniently available for emergency mass feeding or distribution” in the United States.
The Stafford Act should be amended to provide for plans to locate, protect, and distributeexisting private and government stockpiles of food, and to provide plans for distributionof existing food stockpiles to the general population in the event of a national emergency.

41

WATER SUPPLY INFRASTRUCTURE
National-level responsibilities have already been assigned to the Department ofHomeland Security (DHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect
the water infrastructure from terrorist threats. A recent Presidential Directive establishes
new national policy for protection of our Nation’s critical infrastructures against terrorist
threats that could cause catastrophic health effects.18 EPA is the designated lead agency
for protection of drinking water and water treatment systems. DHS and EPA should
ensure that protection includes EMP attack among the recognized threats to the water
infrastructure.

18

Homeland Security Presidential Directive – 7, Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, andProtection. December 17, 2003.

42

EMERGENCY SERVICES
VULNERABILITIESAn EMP attack will result in diminished capabilities of emergency services
during a time of greatly increased demand upon them. The EMP vulnerability ofemergency services systems is primarily due to the susceptibility of computer andcommunications equipment, and secondarily due to likely commercial electric power
outages. Recent test results indicate that some failures of computers and network
equipment can be expected at low EMP field levels; at higher levels, much morepervasive equipment failures are expected. Mobile radio communications equipment canbe expected to experience disruption and failure at EMP threat levels that are likely to beexperienced. Moreover, emergency services are critically dependent on the commercial
telephone network, on electric power, and thus on fuel for backup generators.
Degradation in these capabilities following an EMP attack is likely, as discussed
previously, thereby providing another source of cascading infrastructure failure.
RECOMMENDED STRATEGY FOR PROTECTION AND RECOVERYThe Department of Homeland Security must develop a strategy for protection andrecovery of emergency services that emphasizes the inclusion of the EMP threat inplanning and training and the establishment of technical standards for EMP protection ofcritical equipment. The Department of Homeland Security, including its Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and state and local governments should
augment existing plans and procedures to address both immediate and long-term
emergency services response to EMP attack. Plans should include provision for early
warning notification, and a protection/recovery protocol based on graceful degradation
and rapid recovery that emphasizes a balance between limited hardening andprovisioning of spare components, as well as training for their use in emergency
reconstitution. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security should provide
technical support, guidance, and assistance to state and local governments, as well as toother federaldDepartments and agencies, to ensure the EMP survivability or rapid
recovery of critical emergency services networks and equipment.

43

SPACE SYSTEMSOver the past few years, there has been increased focus on US space systems in
low Earth orbits and their unique vulnerabilities, among which is their susceptibility tonuclear detonations at high altitudes—the same events that produce EMP. It is also
important to include, for the protection of a satellite-based system in any orbit, its control
system and ground infrastructure, including up-link and down-link facilities.
Commercial satellites support many significant services for the Federal
government, including communications, remote sensing, weather forecasting, andimaging. The national security and homeland security communities use commercial
satellites for critical activities, including direct and backup communications, emergency
response services, and continuity of operations during emergencies. Satellite services areimportant for national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications becauseof their ubiquity and separation from other communications infrastructures.
The Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management
and Organization conducted an assessment of space activities that support US national
security interests, and concluded that space systems are vulnerable to a range of attacks
due to their political, economic, and military value.19 Satellites in low Earth orbit
generally are at very considerable risk of severe lifetime degradation or outright failurefrom collateral radiation effects arising from an EMP attack on ground targets.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense should
jointly execute a systematic assessment of the significance of each space system,
particularly those in low Earth orbits, to missions such as the continuity of government,
strategic military force protection, and the protection of critical tactical force support
functions. Information from this assessment and associated cost and risk judgments will
inform senior government decision making regarding protection and performanceassurance of these systems, so that missions can be executed with the required degrees ofsurety in the face of the possible threats.

19

Report of the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization,
January 11, 2001.

44

GOVERNMENTDHS should give priority to measures to ensure that the President and other senior
Federal officials can exercise informed leadership of the Nation in the aftermath of an
EMP attack, and to improving post-attack response capabilities at all levels ofgovernment.
The President, Secretary of Homeland Security, and other senior officials must beable to manage the national recovery in an informed and reliable manner. Current
national capabilities were developed for Cold War scenarios in which it was imperativethat the President have assured connectivity to strategic retaliatory forces. While this is
still an important requirement, there is a new need for considerably broader, robust
connectivity between national leaders, government at all levels, and key organizations
within each infrastructure sector so that the status of infrastructures can be assessed in a
reliable and comprehensive manner and their recovery and reconstitution intelligently
managed. The Department of Homeland Security, working through the Homeland
Security Council, should give high priority to identifying and achieving the minimum
levels of robust connectivity needed for recovery following EMP attack. In doing this,
DHS should give particular emphasis to exercises that evaluate the robustness of thesolutions being implemented.
Working with state authorities and private-sector organizations, the Department ofHomeland Security should develop draft protocols for implementation by emergency andother government responders following EMP attack, Red Team these extensively, andthen institutionalize validated protocols through issuance of standards, training, andexercises.

45

KEEPING THE CITIZENRY INFORMED
Support to National leadership also involves measures to ensure that the President
can communicate effectively with the citizenry. Although the US can improve
prevention, protection, and recovery in the face of an EMP attack to levels below thosethat would have catastrophic consequences for the Nation, an EMP attack would stillcause substantial disruption, even under the best of circumstances. Many citizens would
be without power, communications and other services for days—or perhaps substantiallylonger—before full recovery could occur. During that interval, it will be crucial toprovide a reliable channel of information to those citizens to let them know what has
happened, the current situation, when help of what types for them might be available,
what their governments are doing, and the host of questions which, if not answered, arecertain to create more instability and suffering for the affected individuals, communities,
and the Nation as a whole.

46

PROTECTION OF MILITARY FORCESThe end of the Cold War relaxed the discipline for achieving EMP survivability
within the Department of Defense, and gave rise to the perception that an erosion of EMP
survivability of military forces was an acceptable risk. EMP simulation and test facilities
have been mothballed or dismantled, and research concerning EMP phenomena,
hardening design, testing, and maintenance has been substantially decreased. However,
the emerging threat environment, characterized by a wide spectrum of actors that include
near-peers, established nuclear powers, rogue nations, sub-national groups, and terrorist
organizations that either now have access to nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles or
may have such access over the next 15 years have combined to place the risk of EMP
attack and adverse consequences on the US to a level that is not acceptable.
Current policy is to continue to provide EMP protection to strategic forces andtheir controls; however, the end of the Cold War has relaxed the discipline for achieving
and maintaining that capability within these forces. The Department of Defense must
continue to pursue the strategy for strategic systems to ensure that weapons delivery
systems of the New Triad are EMP survivable, and that there is, at a minimum, asurvivable “thin-line” of command and control capability to detect threats and direct thedelivery systems. The Department of Defense has the capability to do this, and the costs
can be within reasonable and practical limits.
The situation for general-purpose forces (GPF) is more complex. The success ofthese forces depends on the application of a superior force at times and places of ourchoosing. We accomplish this by using a relatively small force with enormous
technological advantages due to superior information flow, advanced warfighting
capabilities, and well-orchestrated joint combat operations. Our increasing dependence
on advanced electronics systems results in the potential for an increased EMP
vulnerability of our technologically advanced forces, and if unaddressed makes EMP
employment by an adversary an attractive asymmetric option.
The United States must not permit an EMP attack to defeat its capability toprevail. The Commission believes it is not practical to protect all of the tactical forces of
the US and its coalition partners from EMP in a regional conflict. A strategy of
replacement and reinforcement will be necessary. However, there is a set of criticalcapabilities that is essential to tactical regional conflicts that must be available to these47reinforcements. This set includes satellite navigation systems, satellite and airborne
intelligence and targeting systems, an adequate communications infrastructure, andmissile defense.
The current capability to field a tactical force for regional conflict is inadequate inlight of this requirement. Even though it has been US policy to create EMP-hardened
tactical systems, the strategy for achieving this has been to use the DoD acquisition
process. This has provided many equipment components that meet criteria for durability
in an EMP environment, but this does not result in confidence that fielded forces, as asystem, can reliably withstand EMP attack. Adherence to the equipment acquisition
policy also has been spotty, and the huge challenge of organizing and fielding an EMPdurable tactical force has been a disincentive to applying the rigor and discipline needed
to do so.
EMP durability should be provided to a selected set of tactical systems such that it
will be practical to field tactical forces that cannot be neutralized by an EMP attack. The
Department of Defense must perform a capabilities-based assessment of the mostsignificant EMP threats to its tactical capabilities and develop strategies for coping withthese threats in a reliable and effective manner.
Overall, little can be accomplished without the sustained attention and support ofthe leadership of the Department of Defense and Congress. This will require the personal
involvement and cooperation among the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs, the Service Chiefs, and the appropriate congressional oversight committees increating the necessary climate of concern; overseeing the development of strategy; andreaffirming the criticality of survivable and endurable military forces, includingcommand, control, and communications (C3) in updated policy guidance, implementation
directives, and instructions. Congressionally mandated annual reports from the Secretaryof Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on the status and progress for achieving
EMP survivability of our fighting forces will emphasize the importance of the issue andhelp ensure that the necessary attention and support of the DoD leadership continues.

48

APPENDIX A
THE COMMISSION AND ITS METHODThe Commission used a capability-based methodology to estimate potential EMP
threats over the next 15 years.1 The objective was to identify the range of plausible
adversary EMP attack capabilities that cannot be excluded by prudent decision makers
responsible for national and homeland security.
Bases for this assessment included current intelligence estimates of present andnear-term military capabilities;...a tendency in our planning to confuse thecurrent and past engineering
unfamiliar with the improbable. The contingency
accomplishments (what are
we have not considered looks strange; what looks
adversaries likely to be capable ofstrange is therefore improbable; what seems
improbable need not be considered seriously.
achieving, given accomplishments inother programs at comparable stages—Thomas C. Schelling, Foreword, in Roberta Wohlstetter,
Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision, Stanford Universityof development?); and trends
Press, 1962, p. vii.
impacting adversary militarycapabilities through 2018. In line with its capabilities-based approach, the Commission
did not attempt to establish the relative likelihood of EMP strikes versus other forms ofattack.
Intelligence community organizations and the National Nuclear Security
Administration’s nuclear weapon laboratories (Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, andSandia) provided excellent technical support to the Commission’s analyses.2 The Institutefor Defense Analyses hosted and developed technical analyses for the Commission.
While it benefited from these inputs, the Commission developed an independent
assessment. Views expressed in this report are solely attributable to the Commission.
The Russian Federation (RF) has a sophisticated understanding of EMP thatderives in part from the test era when the Soviet Union did high-altitude atmospheric tests

1

Rob Mahoney, Capabilities-Based Methodology for Assessing Potential Adversary Capabilities, March
2004.
2
The Commission’s report and associated documents provide the necessarily classified assessments offuture adversary capabilities for EMP attack and weapon issues.

A-1

over its own territory, impacting civilian infrastructures. To benefit from Russian
expertise, the Commission:Sponsored research projects at Russian scientific institutions.



Hosted a September 2003 US/RF symposium on EMP at which
presentations were given by Russian general officers.

Sponsored a December 2003 technical seminar on EMP attended byscientists from the Russian Federation and the United States.

The Commission also reviewed additional relevant foreign research and programs
and assessed foreign perspectives on EMP attacks.
In considering EMP, the Commission also gave attention to the coincident nuclear
effects that would result from a detonation that produces EMP, e.g., possible disruptionof the operations of, or damage to, satellites in space.
Different types of nuclear weapons produce different EMP effects. The
Commission limited its attention to the most strategically significant cases in which
detonation of one or few nuclear warheads could result in widespread, potentially longduration disruption or damage that places at risk the functioning of American society or
the effectiveness of US military forces.
In addition to examining potential threats, the Commission was charged to assess
US vulnerabilities (civilian and military) to EMP and to recommend measures to counter
EMP threats. For these purposes, the Commission reviewed research and best practices
within the United States and other countries. Early in this review it became apparent that
only limited EMP vulnerability testing had been accomplished for modern electronicsystems and components. To partially remedy this deficit, the Commission sponsoredillustrative testing; results are presented in the Commission’s report.
Commissioners brought to this task a wide range of expertise, including service as
an advisor to the President; senior management experience in both civilian and militaryagencies, national laboratories, and the corporate sector; and technical expertise in thedesign of nuclear weapons and in the hardening of systems against nuclear weapon
effects.

A-2

APPENDIX BCOMMISSIONERS
Dr. William R. Graham is Chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United Statesfrom Electromagnetic Pulse Attack. He is also Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer of National Security Research Inc. (NSR), a Washington-based company that conducts
technical, operational, and policy research and analysis related to US national security. In the
recent past he has served as a member of several high-level study groups, including the
Department of Defense Transformation Study Group, the Commission to Assess United States
National Security Space Management and Organization (the Rumsfeld Commission on Space),and the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (also led by Hon.
Donald Rumsfeld). From 1986–89 Dr. Graham was the director of the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy while he served concurrently as Science Advisor to President
Reagan, Chairman of the Federal Joint Telecommunications Resources Board, and member of theArms Control Experts Group. For 11 years he served as a member of the Board of Directors of
the Watkins-Johnson Company.
Dr. John S. Foster, Jr., is Chairman of the Board of GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems,
chairman of Technology Strategies and Alliances, and consultant to Northrop Grumman
Corporation, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Ninesigma, and Defense Group. He retired from TRW as
Vice President, Science and Technology, in 1988 and continued to serve on the Board of
Directors of TRW from 1988 to 1994. Dr. Foster was Director of Defense Research andEngineering for the Department of Defense from 1965–1973, serving under both Democratic andRepublican administrations. In other distinguished service, Dr. Foster has been on the Air Force
Scientific Advisory Board, the Army Scientific Advisory Panel, and the Ballistic Missile Defense
Advisory Committee, Advanced Research Projects Agency. Until 1965, he was a panel consultant
to the President’s Science Advisory Committee, and from 1973–1990 he was a member of the
President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. He is a member of the Defense Science Board,which he chaired from January 1990–June 1993. From 1952–1962, Dr. Foster was with Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory (LLL), where he began as a Division Leader in experimental
physics, became Associate Director in 1958, and became Director of LLL and Associate Directorof the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1961.
Mr. Earl Gjelde is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit GroupInternational, Ltd.; Summit Energy Group, Ltd.; Summit Energy International 2000, LLC; andSummit Power NW, LLC, primary participants in the development of over 5,000 megawatts ofnatural gas fired electric and wind generating plants within the United States. He has also held anumber of government posts, serving as President George Herbert Walker Bush’s Under (nowcalled Deputy) Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of the Interior (1989)
and as President Ronald Reagan’s Under Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the US
Department of the Interior (1985–1988). While in the Reagan administration he served
concurrently as Special Envoy to China (1987), Deputy Chief of Mission for the US-Japan
Science and Technology Treaty (1987–1988), and Counselor for Policy to the Director of the
National Critical Materials Council (1986–1988); the Counselor to the Secretary and Chief
Operating Officer of the US Department of Energy (1982-1985); and Deputy Administrator,

B-1

Chief Operating Officer, and Power Manager of the Bonneville Power Administration (19801982). Prior to 1980, he was a principal officer of the Bonneville Power Administration.
Dr. Robert J. Hermann is a senior partner of Global Technology Partners, LLC, a Boston-based
investment firm that focuses on technology, defense aerospace, and related businesses worldwide.
In 1998, Dr. Hermann retired from United Technologies Corporation, where he was Senior Vice
President, Science and Technology. Prior to joining UTC in 1982, Dr. Hermann served 20 years
with the National Security Agency with assignments in research and development, operations,and NATO. In 1977, he was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense forCommunications, Command, Control, and Intelligence. In 1979, he was named Assistant
Secretary of the Air Force for Research, Development, and Logistics and concurrently was
Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Mr. Henry (Hank) M. Kluepfel is a Corporate Vice President for Corporate Development andChief Scientist in the Enterprise Security Solutions Group of SAIC. He is the company’s leading
cyberspace security advisor to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory
Committeel (NSTAC) and the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). Mr.
Kluepfel is widely recognized for his 30-plus years of experience in security technology research,
design, tools, forensics, risk reduction, education, and awareness, and he is the author ofindustry’s de facto standard security base guideline for the Signaling System Number 7(SS7)
networks connecting and controlling the world’s public telecommunications networks. In pastaffiliations with Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore), AT&T, BellSouth and Bell Labs, he
led industry efforts to protect, detect, contain, and mitigate electronic and physical intrusions andled the industry’s understanding of the need to balance technical, legal, and policy-based
countermeasures to the then emerging hacker threat. He is recognized as a Certified Protection
Professional by the American Society of Industrial Security and is a Senior Member of theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
General (USAF, Ret.) Richard L. Lawson is Chairman of Energy, Environment and Security
Group, Ltd., and former President and CEO of the National Mining Association. He also serves
as Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council of the U.S; Chairman of the Energy Policy Committeeof the US Energy Association; Chairman of the United States delegation to the World Mining
Congress; and Chairman of the International Committee for Coal Research. Active duty positions
included serving as Military Assistant to the President; Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters
Allied Powers Europe; Director for Plans and Policy, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Deputy Director ofOperations, Headquarters US Air Force; and Deputy Commander in Chief, US European
Command.
Dr. Gordon K. Soper is Group Vice President of Defense Group Inc., responsible for broad
direction of corporate goals relating to company support of government customers in areas ofcountering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, chemical/biological defense anddomestic preparedness, treaty verification research, nuclear arms control and development of new
business areas and growth of technical staff. He provides senior-level technical support on a
range of task areas to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Chemical andBiological National Security Program of National Nuclear Security Administration, and theCounterproliferation and Chem/Bio Defense Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Previously, Dr. Soper was Principal Deputy to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for
Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs (ATSD (NCB); Director, Office of Strategic
and Theater Nuclear Forces Command, Control and Communications (C3) of the Office of the

B-2

Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I); and Associate Director for Engineering andTechnology/Chief Scientist at the Defense Communications Agency.
Dr. Lowell L. Wood, Jr., is a member of the Technical Advisory Group, US Senate SelectCommittee on Intelligence; a member of the Undersea Warfare Experts Group, US House ofRepresentatives Committee on Armed Services; a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution andStanford University; and an officer and member of the Board of Directors of the Fannie and John
Hertz Foundation. He is also a member of the Director’s technical staff, University of California
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he has held numerous positions since 1972.
Dr. Joan Woodard is Executive Vice President and Deputy Director of Sandia National
Laboratories, responsible for all of Sandia’s programs, operations, staff, and facilities. She is also
responsible for the laboratory’s strategic planning. Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Woodard
was Vice President of the Energy, Information and Infrastructure Technology Division, where her
responsibilities included energy-related projects in fossil energy, solar, wind, geothermal,
geosciences, fusion, nuclear power safety and severe accident analysis, and medical isotope
processing; environment-related programs in remediation, nuclear waste management andrepository certification, and waste minimization; information technology programs in information
surety, command and control systems, and distributed information systems; and programs
responsible for security of the transportation of nuclear weapons and special nuclear materials,
and safety of commercial aviation. Over 80% of the programs included industrial or academic
partners, and the nature of the work ranged from basic research to prototype systems evaluation.

B-3

B-4