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The ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP)

Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to EMP sourcesProf. Melvin Lewis, MSEE

Fairleigh Dickinson University Member, AOC, InfraGard, NMIA, IACSP, IEEE

April 2012

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Vulnerabilities• A natural (or man-made) EMP could cause widespread disruption

or disabling of the electronic control systems or distribution networks of power plants– Fast EM pulses could also affect the high-tech control systems

for dams, water and waste treatment facilities, refineries, natural gas distribution plants, and port facilities

– Many military systems and facilities are hardened, but not all– Few industrial systems are hardened against a fast EMP– Slower Geomagnetic induced current surges, produced by solar

storms, could damage hundreds of high voltage distribution transformers simultaneously

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The Threats• Man-made events of interest to the energy industry could

include attacks on the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems – deliberate coordinated ground based pulsed EM radiation– or high altitude nuclear detonation EMP

• Other threat modalities include cyber- and frontal assault (using military weapons)– These last two concerns are not addressed in this presentation

IMAGE FROM THE CRITIICAL NATIONALINFRASTRUCTURES REPORT

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www.ucos.com

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Images from theCritical National InfrastructuresReport

RTU = REMOTE TERMINAL UNIT

MTU = MASTER TERMINAL UNIT

PROGRAMMABLELOGIC CONTROLLER

The ElectroMagnetic Pulse• A pulse of electromagnetic radiation will result from certain

types of high energy events– a nuclear explosion – a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field

• The resulting rapidly changing electric and magnetic fields could couple with electrical and electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges resulting in blackouts

6HIGH ALTITUDE EXPLOSIONCITY WITHOUT ELECTRICAL POWER

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Two Vulnerabilities

• To Solar Storms: – “At risk are the more than 200,000 miles of high-voltage*

transmission lines that cross North America, supplying 1,800 utilities the power for TVs, lights, refrigerators and air conditioners in homes, and for the businesses, hospitals and police stations” • (USA Today article)

• To intentional attack: – "The electric grid's vulnerability to cyber and to other attacks is

one of the single greatest threats to our national security" [the vulnerability is with the control systems]• Quote attributed to Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass

* Up to 750KV

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Risk Assessment

• High Impact, Low Frequency– Solar flares, coronal mass ejections

• Insulator flashover and degradation or failure• Transformers: internal arcing, core saturation, winding “wire”

fusing causing failure (long time to replace, few spares on hand)

– Intentional ElectroMagnetic Interference, IEMI• High Energy RF (HERF) Weapons

– Deployed via cruise missile or truck or hand-held• Above the atmosphere nuclear detonation (via ballistic missile)

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The Sources, what’s out there:

• Coronal Mass Ejections (solar flares)• Directed energy weapons– Explosive-Driven Magnetic Flux Compression (MFC)

Generators– High Energy Radio Frequency (HERF) generators

• A microwave “gun”• Disrupts digital control and protectivecircuits resulting in damage to hardware (think Stuxnet)

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Directed Energy Weapons• Explosive Driven Magnetic Flux Compression (MFC)

EMP Generators– Under development by the US (and other) military

for decades– Most are “single shot” • they must be repaired or replaced after use– Not a major issue for a terrorist

– Portable, single person carry

EMP

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MFC Generators (Magnetic Flux Compression)

• How they work1. Battery current charges a capacitor2. Capacitor energy is transferred into a helical

inductor3. Coils of inductor are then progressively shorted

out via an explosion-driven copper conductor4. Inductor current increases to mega-ampere levels

(producing a very short pulse)5. Tens of tera-watts and tens of mega-Gauss

developed during the short pulse durationOne Gauss = 1E-4 Teslas

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One implementation: A longitudinal magnetic field is produced inside a hollow metallic conductor, by discharging a bank of capacitors into the solenoid that surrounds the cylinder Detail: To ensure a rapid penetration of the field in the cylinder,

there is a slit in the cylinder, which closes rapidly as the cylinder deforms

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Description, cont’d

• The explosive charge surrounding the tube is detonated in a manner that ensures that the compression of the cylinder commences when the current through the solenoid is at its maximum

• The convergent cylindrical shock wave unleashed by the explosion produces a rapid contraction (greater than 1 km/s) of the central cylinder, compressing the magnetic field, and briefly creating a very high current in the inductor

• The first experiments were able to attain magnetic fields of millions of Gauss– A strong refrigerator magnet produces 100 Gauss– The earth’s magnetic field is 0.5 Gauss. – The Gauss is the cgs unit of the magnetic flux density, B.

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ANOTHER IMPLEMENTATION

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What’s Out There?

• Instructions for making EMP generators are on the internet– YouTube demonstrations– Step by step printed guidelines with diagrams– Older military documents (now declassified)– etc.

• Purchasable EMP generators– This is not an explosive drivendevice

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Catalog Items

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Plans for Sale on the Internet

ONE WEBSITE EXPLAINS HOW TO MAKE A HIGH ENERGY RF WEAPON USING THE MAGNETRONSALVAGED FROM A MICROWAVE OVEN

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Countermeasures ? • Shielding of sensitive electronics

– Via metal enclosures with conducting gaskets

• Shielding of control cables and harnesses• Filter-pin connectors• Expanding the defense perimeter• The U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research

Laboratories (CERL) has been experimenting with low-cost electromagnetic shielding designs (see next slide)

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CERL Initiatives: New Materials and Techniques

• Conductive polymers and advanced coatings for use on shield components

• such as amorphous metals and graphites• Consideration is also being given to making concrete

electrically conductive• Use of Inherent Shielding of Standard Construction Materials:

– Examples include aluminum-foil-backed gypsum board, aluminum-foil-backed insulating sheathing, metallic-clad siding, copper foils (normally used for vapor barriers), wire meshes, and sheet metal roofing

– See their website for other initiatives

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Relevance To the AOC Community

• What can the EW / ECM community do? – Alert authorities regarding availability of dual use items

(as the chemical industry does with bomb pre-cursors, etc.)• High performance capacitors, high DC current switches, highly

directional antennas, etc.

– Use our familiarity with shielding, pulse detection, electromagnetics, and hardened semiconductors to • develop fast acting circuit-self-protection products that could

be purchased to protect DoD and industry equipment• Develop truck-borne and man-portable HERF and EMP

weaponry that could defeat the enemy’s defenses

To Summarize:

1. Modern control systems for power generating stations, water treatment plants, oil refineries, dams, etc. are vulnerable to attack via EMP

2. EMP devices and plans are available on the internet3. Military engineers have been developing EMP

generators for decades (US and other countries)4. Shielding and other measures can reduce the

susceptibility of the control systems to EMP’s

Suggestion: Read the “Critical National Infrastructures Report”, it’s on the internet