Obama Parting Shot: No Nuclear EMP Protection

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Sunburn74

Diamond Member
Oct 5, 2009
5,076
2,635
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Isn't there an entire congress that gets to weigh in on this? Why is it Obama's problem when it's a congressional committee? All he does is sign the bill that gets passed.
 

Fern

Elite Member
Sep 30, 2003
26,907
174
106
Isn't there an entire congress that gets to weigh in on this? Why is it Obama's problem when it's a congressional committee? All he does is sign the bill that gets passed.

Yes, there is a Congress.

No, they aren't getting to weigh in on this because the FERC, under Obama, is unilaterally taking this step. Congress was by-passed.

The Congressional Committee is the one complaining and the Obama admin is ignoring them (they claim).

Fern
 

brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
30,262
31,299
136
The good news is all liberal homes have already been issued emp shields. The plot to destroy conservatives is almost to fruition but it is a secret so don't tell anyone.
 
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Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
17,752
16,084
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Iran gets uranium and gives up heavy water, as required by the pact. Iran also mothballs centrifuges, as required by the pact. Sounds like the pact is working.

This is much ado about nothing. Natural uranium is nothing but reactor fuel without the ability to enrich it. An ability they currently lack and is under international scrutiny.

Plus I'm not sure how Russia transferring uranium is somehow Obamas doing?

Finally non-nuclear EMPs? I'm not worried. I'd be more worried about coronal mass ejections from the sun (hi bshole :) )
 

stormkroe

Golden Member
May 28, 2011
1,550
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So, just to check, is anyone actually claiming that a high altitude nuke will take out the grid for the entire country?
This is exactly the kind of topic that can snow the entire population.
Every nuke ever made, set off at the same time, wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of inducing enough current in a powerline 2500 miles away that is protected by a tvss that samples voltages MILLIONS of times per second for overages and shunts directly to ground just as quickly as a transistor gate can swing on its rusty hinges.
This all sounds like fear mongering in the extreme...
 

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
17,752
16,084
146
So, just to check, is anyone actually claiming that a high altitude nuke will take out the grid for the entire country?
This is exactly the kind of topic that can snow the entire population.
Every nuke ever made, set off at the same time, wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of inducing enough current in a powerline 2500 miles away that is protected by a tvss that samples voltages MILLIONS of times per second for overages and shunts directly to ground just as quickly as a transistor gate can swing on its rusty hinges.
This all sounds like fear mongering in the extreme...

The closest example we have was Starfish Prime. A nuclear test above the pacific.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse(EMP), which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements. The Starfish Prime electromagnetic pulse also made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 kilometres (898 mi) away from the detonation point, knocking out about 300 streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwavelink. The EMP damage to the microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands.[5]

So maybe.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,686
136
The whole thing is just a convenient vector for the usual hate-um Obama spew. With this decision, they get to rave about the Terrarist! Threat! If it had gone the other way, they'd rave about unnecessary regulations driving up electric bills. If no decision were reached, they'd blame Obama for leaving Trump such an awful mess.
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
Hardening against EMP is almost impossible to do comprehensively. Most at threat are the national grids so get off them. Other topologies make more sense and as solar improves there can be standards enacted to protect against individual units coming down and automatically makes worrying about the grid pointless. Heavy industries need modification, but focusing on them would be far easier than protecting an immense and weak spider web.
I don't think it's technically difficult, but it would be horrendously expensive. Were Obama to executively obligate us to that kind of expense his last week in office, so many heads would be asploding at NewsMax that G-d himself would suspect it was Heaven's Fourth of July centennial.
 

nickqt

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2015
8,255
9,322
136
The god damn sky is falling! Everyone run and hide in your SafeSpace until Strongman Trump can protect us tomorrow!!!

#FuckingCoward