Category: NBC

Letter Re: Six Common Misconceptions About EMP

A question for the writer of the EMP article. Though the article was informative, he, like pretty much everyone else that writes about EMP’s or other forms of grid failure, completely ignores the 900 # gorilla in the room. Can we expect the 100+ nuclear power plants in the country to have meltdowns when the grid can no longer supply the power these plants need? In particular, what about the spent fuel pools? My understanding is that they have emergency generators and anywhere from a few days to a few weeks worth of fuel on hand but even if somehow …


Guest Article: Six Common Misconceptions About EMP, by G.B., PhD

Many misconceptions about electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects have circulated for years among technical and policy experts, in press reports, on preparedness websites, and even in technical journals. Because many aspects of EMP-generation physics and its effects are obscure, misconceptions from those who do not perceive the seriousness of the effects to those who predict a doomsday chain of events are inevitable. However, not all EMPs are the same, with the most significant effects being caused by E1 and E3 fields. Nuclear bursts detonated at altitudes above 40 km generate two principle types of EMPs that can debilitate critical infrastructure systems …


Identifying and Protecting Yourself and Your Family Against Hazardous Chemical Materials Incidents, by a Marine in Missouri – Part 2

There are many different levels of protection out there. Military gear is specifically designed for CWAs. There are three general levels of protective equipment– level A, level B, and level C. Military gear is somewhere in between level B and C because it is designed for specific chemicals. Level A gear is fully encapsulated, typically a chemical-resistant plastic suit with a Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) or provided air through a pressurized air system and a hose. This provides both splash and total vapor protection. However, the downfalls to this nearly complete protection are: It is cumbersome to wear, Depending …


Identifying and Protecting Yourself and Your Family Against Hazardous Chemical Material Incidents, by a Marine in Missouri – Part 1

We live in a society that depends on hazardous materials to create the technological wonders and comforts we expect for everyday life. Whether you take your kids to a swimming pool or drink any sort of city water, you knowingly or unknowingly depend on large amounts of chlorine to ensure the water is safe. Anywhere there is a mechanic shop there are chemicals required to lubricate, clean, and repair materials; some of those chemicals are potentially dangerous or deadly. As you drive down the highway you see thousands of semi-trucks carting loads of materials that could be more deadly than …


Letter Re: EMP

I currently keep my backup mini-iPad in an EMP bag. Do I also need to keep my power supply for it there, too? Thanks – A.B. HJL replies: Yes. In fact, it is probably more important that the charger is in the bag than the ipad. Being an electrical engineer with considerable radio technology experience, I have a perspective that is a bit different than most on the subject. The true danger of EMP is in having antennas or things that act like antennas pick up the electrical energy. If the object in question either has wires or parts that …


Potential Bioterrorism Agent Found in Colorado, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

July 2014: One of the deadliest diseases on earth is right here in our own back yard, so to speak…with no vaccine, fatal without antibiotics, and on the CDC’s “Category A List” of potential bioterrorism agents. Don’t panic just yet. The disease also occurs naturally, as is the case in this month’s outbreak. However, overnight I’ve changed my outlook on the disease. What I’ve recently described to my students as highly unlikely is instead alive and well on the prairie. I’ve gone from believing I’d never encounter this infection to thinking it’s entirely possible. The next time I see a …


Letter Re: EMP

Hugh, While the routers and switches do require power (which will be spotty at best), they too will be fried by the EMP. Many of the modern ASICs are based on IBM proprietary copper chips and as a result really don’t get along well with any form of EMP. It’s bad enough that I’ve seen a floating ground stretched between two buildings fry Cisco, ACC / Wellfleet, and Extreme gear. The only purpose-built router that is tempest hardened is the very old TGS router by Cisco. This was an AGS that was built into a hardened shell. Wide scale deployment …


Letter Re: EMP

Hi Jim, Do you know if we have a EMP attack or if the grid goes down weather we will still have internet service? – GLB HJL Replies: Since the vast majority of the Internet depends upon the power grid, it really depends on how much of the power grid survives an EMP event. The long hauls of the infrastructure would probably survive due to the fact that most are based on fiber optics, which are not affected by EMP. The hubs, connection points and routers all have to have power though, which is affected by EMP events. If the …


Guest Article: EMP Myths and FAQs, by Joel Ho

Q: Do Faraday Cages need grounding? A: No. A Faraday cage designed against EMP, if properly constructed, will keep any charge outside the shield. The shield interior is separate, so anything inside, even though it touches the inside of the shield, is safe. However – if the cage is improperly made and there are wide holes in the mesh exceeding the size of wavelength to be blocked, grounding could help. As an example, this Youtube video link is of EMP testing my company has done with another firm’s professional EMP simulator. You can see a shielded laptop on the left …


How to Turn a Christmas Popcorn Tin into a Self-Contained, Grab-‘n-Go Bundle of Life-Sustaining Survival, by P.J. in Oregon

I love popcorn tins! I love all the different ways they come decorated – the wonderful Christmas themes, the various John Deere Tractor motifs, professional sports team logos, stock car racing favorite drivers and their race cars, the endless and delightful cartoon characters – just to name a few. They are like time capsules in that their outside decoration reflect what’s popular in the culture during any given year. When they are displayed on a shelf, looking at them is like going back in time. I can’t get enough of them! Not only are they decorative, but popcorn tins are …


Bug Out: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly–You Can Arrive Alive, by Semper Paro

I.  Introduction – Possible Scenarios.   Your automobile becomes inoperable for a period of time while traveling – it is extremely hot or extremely cold and hours to wait. A natural disaster occurs and you have to evacuate. Chaos occurs due to financial collapse or other major event causing civil unrest. An Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) or Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) caused by solar flare(s) renders your vehicle dead miles from home. Or, an EMP occurs as a result of a nuclear strike (with collateral fall-out to follow). Use your imagination…in reality, nothing is too far fetched. While these are listed in …


Improvising PPE by Louie in Ohio

This article is mainly about improvising Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I have been employed for over 36 years by an international coatings company. I have held several positions in different areas of our plant, including production, maintenance, and raw materials. I also have 35+ years in the field of Industrial Emergency Response. The last few years I have been an instructor for our Emergency Response Team (ERT). Some of the topics we deal with are firefighting, Haz-mat, Medical response, and rescue. Participating with the Team has been both educational and enjoyable as we develop a closeness and brotherhood (and recently …


Letter Re: The Blackout Docudrama

Good Morning, Mr. Rawles: After watching part of last night’s Blackout Docudrama on National Geographic. I turned the television off in total disgust and went to bed.  What insidious propaganda!  I could not help but notice that the “prepper” father was a gun toting, autocratic bully who bossed everyone and refused to act humanely by sharing all his wealth with those less fortunate or less willing to be responsible for themselves?  How interesting. And of course, the compassionate one was the young and hip boyfriend of the prepper’s daughter.  He hadn’t prepared himself but he was more than happy to …


Letter Re: Preparing for EMP and DEW — A Layman’s Guide

Dear Editor: In answer to Norm’s question: Yes, insulating items that are already inside a Faraday shield appears to be superfluous. As long as the shield works (is unbroken and made of the right materials and configurations to counter the frequencies targeted), the overwhelming vast majority of the energy does stay outside. This has been verified in our tests and is a basis for the products we make. For example, we tested our laptop EMP shield against an EMP simulator made by APELC in Texas – no visible upset was observed despite their machine throwing over 150 kV/m at our …


Preparing for EMP and DEW — A Layman’s Guide, by Joel Ho

As and engineer and founder of an EMP protection startup company , I wanted to explain some EMP basics and also educate readers about current Directed Energy Weapons (DEW.) Qualifications: My team has developed the first EMP simulator-tested laptop EMP shield that lets you protect and use your laptop (including wireless.) So, over the past year, we’ve learned firsthand what’s true and what’s not regarding radio frequencies. All subjects mentioned are the opinion of MobileSec Solutions LLC but not legally binding.   General Overview Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is generated usually when a nuclear device is detonated in the upper atmosphere. …