"Nuclear bombs at high altitude will trigger dangerous electromagnetic pulses":

By Derimot-Paul Craig Roberts-08 June 2025

In his recently published book  Nuclear High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse,  Steven Starr shows us that it only takes one nuclear explosion to shut down the United States and throw the population back to the darker times of the early Middle Ages.

The United States has zero national security. All electrical grids will be destroyed. So will all communication systems, all cooling of nuclear power plants, and all electronic devices. The reason is that the civilian infrastructure is not protected against Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMP).

The military has so far taken some steps to protect its weapons and communications systems. But nothing has been done to protect civilian infrastructure. Bills to protect against EMP have been voted down in Congress.

Starr reports that only 4% of the US military budget is needed to protect the power grid and civilian infrastructure. Instead, the idiots in Washington have wasted trillions of dollars on pointless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Serbia, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Ukraine.

American cities might not suffer as much from explosions and fires if a nuclear bomb were detonated on the ground. But the consequences could be just as horrific.

The effect of a single High-Altitude Nuclear detonation over the eastern United States.

"Let's say a single nuclear bomb explodes 155 miles above Ohio. Because it's high in the atmosphere, there won't be any explosion or fires on Earth. "But this high-altitude nuclear explosion will create a giant electromagnetic pulse, or EMP.

"In a trillionth of a second, waves of EMP E1 will create massive voltages and currents that affect power lines, telecommunications lines, cables, wires, antennas and any other electronic material located under the nuclear explosion, in a circular area covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometers."

“In this area, under ideal conditions, the E1 surge would produce 2 million volts, and a surge of 5,000 to 10,000 amperes, which would distribute itself across the power lines. Any unprotected modern electronic device containing semiconductor circuitry and plugged into the grid would be inhibited, damaged, or destroyed. This applies to all electronic devices intended to operate critical national infrastructure.”

“Unprotected electronic devices on the ground, in the air, at sea, water and sanitation systems, telecommunications and banking systems will be instantly knocked out of service. And all of these systems will be out of service until they can be repaired or replaced. These E1 waves will instantly destroy millions of glass insulators found on these 15-kilovolt electrical distribution lines.”

"78% of all electricity delivered to consumers (residential, agricultural, commercial) in the United States is carried by these 15-kilovolt lines. The loss of just one such insulator on a line can knock out the entire line's electricity distribution. At the same time, this massive volt and amperage surge from E1 will damage and destroy relays, sensors, and control panels at 1,783 high-voltage substations."

"It will knock out the entire electrical grid in the eastern United States. From one to ten seconds after a nuclear detonation, EMP E3 waves will affect power lines both above and below ground. E3 will damage or destroy many - at least most - of the large power transformers and switches necessary for transmitting power over long distances. This will affect about 90% of the electricity in the United States." 

“When these transformers and switches fail, it means that entire regions of the United States will be without electricity for up to a year or more. This is because these large transformers do not have stock for repairs. And right now, the lead time to get what is needed is 18 to 24 months. They have to be custom-made. And about 80% of that is done overseas.”

"Such parts weigh between 200 and 400 tons, and must be shipped by ship. Getting them to their destination can be very difficult, even under normal circumstances. Because nuclear power plants are not built to withstand the effects of EMP, their electronics and their backup cooling systems will be damaged or destroyed."

“The failure of their emergency power systems and active core cooling will make it impossible to cool the reactor core after a shutdown. This will quickly lead to reactor core meltdowns in a dozen nuclear power plants. To summarize the effects of a high-altitude nuclear explosion and what the electromagnetic pulses can cause, virtually all electrical power will instantly destroy the electrical devices that power America’s national infrastructure – including the safety systems at the nuclear power plants.”

“As a result of an EMP, the citizens of the United States will suddenly find themselves living in conditions that occurred in the Middle Ages. This could possibly last as long as a year. Most Americans would not be able to survive such conditions. It would take no more than 4% of the total US defense budget to protect America’s power supply and critical infrastructure from an EMP.”

"But there is no political will to introduce such protection. So Americans may still be at risk."

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and on Kindle. If you read it, you will be both amazed and horrified by the negligence and idiocy of our government. Thanks to the idiots who govern us, we have  zero national security,  despite massive spending year after year, decade after decade. 

People are not aware that the convenience and entertainment that mobile phones provide us could be at risk if this happens. Nothing is secure in our digital age. Not your identity, your privacy, your bank account or your independence. The development of the digital revolution around money could mean that you are denied access to your money for reasons that also include freedom of expression.

All accumulated knowledge in digital form could be erased by EMP. Try to imagine the consequences of such a loss. This is something we never before imagined could happen here on Earth.

Paul Craig Roberts  is a noted author and academic, director of the Institute for Political Economy, where this article was first published. He is a former editor and writer for  the Wall Street Journal  . He was assistant secretary for economic policy during the Reagan administration.

Translated by Ingunn Kvil Gamst