(ORNL: Oak Ridge, TN) -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have been leading a project to understand how a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, could threaten power plants.

A nuclear weapon detonated hundreds of miles in the air emits a brief pulse of gamma rays. At that height, the radiation does not directly harm people on the ground. But the resulting intense EMP energy wave can “couple” to power, electronic, and communications systems, producing large spikes in voltage or current that destroy the equipment unless it’s specially protected. After the initial explosion, the EMP rapidly continues through two more pulse stages that can further affect power transformers, instruments, and power system operations.

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