EO for Electromagnetic Pulse Threats Signed by Trump
Electromagnetic pulse threats, which can be caused by a solar storm or a detonating nuclear missile, are a serious problem. This is my main takeaway from President Trump’s March 2019 executive order (EO) to improve the resistance of the country’s critical assets to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) events.
How the EO Aims to Address Electromagnetic Pulse Threats
The EO is a joint effort between Trump, the National Security Council, Department of Homeland Security, and the Dept. of Energy. It aims to fortify and extend DHS’ existing EMP plan by encouraging coordination across a wide variety of entities in both the public and private sectors.
The EO directs multiple federal agencies to develop mitigation plans for EMPs, including defining clear roles and responsibilities, enhancing information-sharing practices, and developing thresholds or criteria to categorize electromagnetic pulse threats based on source and predicted magnitude. It also encourages more scientific research so that the specific nature of these threats is better understood.
The first step as dictated by the EO is for the federal government to identify the country’s critical assets that are most at risk. The second step is to employ science to improve understanding of EMPs and how to mitigate them, and the third step is to formulate a response plan.
While electromagnetic pulse threats seem farfetched, they can – and have – occurred. For example, a 1989 solar storm shut down the Hydro-Quebec grid in 92 seconds, causing 6 million people to be in the dark for up to 9 hours. A series of similar solar storms occurred in 2012, but luckily their impacts missed Earth (barely). And researchers estimate that there is up to a 12% chance that a similar storm will happen in the next decade, and this does not even factor in the risk of a malicious or terroristic EMP attack.
The bottom line is that the EO will result in electric, gas and water utilities taking steps to address this threat – something that has been lacking in the utility industry because there has been no incentive to do anything, and the challenges associated with protecting against electromagnetic pulse threats. This is destined to improve, and EMP protection will eventually become a relatively standard storm hardening category. And from an emergency preparedness perspective, I’m all for it!
