The Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP); Nuclear Notes Number 1

Format is approximately 8 inches by 10.5 inches. 13 pages (page number 4 which was blank has been omitted, pagination is to page 14). Wraps. Footnote. Illustrations. References. Scarce in any form or format. Cover has some wear and soiling. This is part of a series of at least seven information papers on topics associated with nuclear weapons, principally designed for use by Tradoc School instructors and major command staff officers. The series of papers, "Nuclear Notes," prepared by the US Army Nuclear Agency was intended to clarify and explain various aspects of nuclear weapons phenomenology and usage. These papers are prepared in as non-technical fashion as the subject matter permits. They are oriented toward an audience assumed to be responsible for teaching or in some way evaluating the actions and techniques of employing nuclear weapons in a conflict situation. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic field, as an electric field, as a magnetic field, or as a conducted electric current. The electromagnetic interference caused by an EMP disrupts communications and damages electronic equipment; at higher levels of energy, an EMP, such as a lightning strike can physically damage objects such as buildings and aircraft. The management of EMP effects is a branch of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) engineering. EMP weapons are designed to deliver the damaging effects of a high-energy EMP that will disrupt unprotected infrastructure in the country, thus the employment of an EMP weapon against a country is the scenario of war most likely to collapse the functionality of the electrical network of the country. A nuclear electromagnetic pulse is the abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation resulting from a nuclear explosion. The resulting rapidly changing electric fields and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. The intense gamma radiation emitted can also ionize the surrounding air, creating a secondary EMP as the atoms of air first lose their electrons and then regain them. NEMP weapons are designed to maximize such EMP effects as the primary damage mechanism, and some are capable of destroying susceptible electronic equipment over a wide area. A high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapon is a NEMP warhead designed to be detonated far above the Earth's surface. The explosion releases a blast of gamma rays into the mid-stratosphere, which ionizes as a secondary effect and the resultant energetic free electrons interact with the Earth's magnetic field to produce a much stronger EMP than is normally produced in the denser air at lower altitudes. Wraps, disbound with a paper clip.…