An attack on the nation’s electric grid, from a solar storm, terrorist or enemy like North Korea, would have a devastating impact even if it lasted just one day, Congress and the Pentagon have been warned. A one-day blackout would cost the lives of 574, due to a lack of emergency medical equipment powered by electricity, and result in a “societal cost” of $35.7 billion. And, according to a new compilation of official
EMP reports, the probability that an electromagnetic pulse attack would last much longer, possibly resulting in lights-out for a year, would result in over 200 million deaths. In calling for a “Manhattan Project” to protect the grid, William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, said, “326 million Americans cannot long survive bereft by EMP of the electronic civilization that sustains their lives. READ MORE