“An EMP weapon, meaning a small nuclear bomb, detonated above the center of the United States would literally take down the entire power grid of this country, plunging us back three to four hundred years.”
Study reported: “90% of all Americans could be dead within a year after such an attack.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZjgUYL5rcM]
Bill Forstchen, author of One Second After
Related:
My EMP Dream (10/23/08): All Cars Suddenly Stopped From Electromagnetic Pulse Weapon?
Richard
Although I have not read the book, I have to cast serious doubt on Dr Forstchen’s ideas. He wrote an article in Silver Bear Cafe about the idea that a single bomb could destroy most electrical and electronic services across the USA. I did a scratch calculations that proves that even for a large bomb the average energy density across the contiguous states would be very low, the density on the east and west coast where most people live would of course be far lower still. I also went through the article and picked up a string of errors that anyone who had researched the issue thoroughly, let alone spent four years doing so, should have known. Both of these articles can be found on my blog.
http://my-own-doubts.blogspot.com/2009/07/catastrophe-postponed.html
http://my-own-doubts.blogspot.com/2009/07/update-on-apocalypse.html
It is not professional journalism or even thorough science, but it shows that the whole idea Dr Forstchen is trying to put across is not well-established.