Mitigation of Magnetohydrodynamic Electromagnetic Pulse (MHD-EMP) Effects from Commercial Electric Power Systems

Down to Earth With Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse: Realistic Surface Impedance Affects Mapping of the E3 Geoelectric Hazard

“…In developing such maps, numerical methods pioneered in the 1980s by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have been widely influential [Barnes et al, 1993a;Legro et al, 1985Legro et al, , 1986]. ORNL's methods have been used in numerous E3 scenario mapping projects across the conterminous United States (CONUS) [e.g., Electric Power Research Institute, 2017; Electromagnetic Pulse Commission, 2017; Gilbert et al, 2010;International Electrotechnical Commission, 1996;Lee et al, 2019;Rackliffe et al, 1988;Tesche et al, 1991], and these maps have been used in projects for assessing the vulnerability of power grids to the E3 hazard [e.g., Barnes et al, 1993b;Electric Power Research Institute, 2019;Electromagnetic Pulse Commission, 2017;Tesche et al, 1991]. The models of E3 geomagnetic disturbance resemble magnetometer measurements made during the high-altitude nuclear tests of the 1960s, and the maps of E3 geoelectric fields are visually compelling, but the surface impedances used to develop those maps commonly assume uniform half-space models of Earth conductivity.…”