[DBrow]

“but how does it prevent me from firing up my generator after the attack?”

It won’t, if the genset is not connected. EMP threat is not about components, but rather interfaces and the connections between things like wires, ports, antennas.

If you had a “microcircuit” sitting around nothing would happen to it. Connect a long wire to it and ground some other pin and you could get enough energy to fry it.

Something heavy like an electric motor would not be affected.

[Johnny B.]

If you had a “microcircuit” sitting around nothing would happen to it.

Not from what I've read on the subject.

Think about how sensitive computer chips are to static electricity. If you've ever installed such chips (CPUs, memory, etc.) in a computer, you undoubtedly know that you're suppose to take every possible precaution to avoid generating any electrical discharge.

An EMP doesn't have to generate much of a spike to burn out an integrated circuit.

Something heavy like an electric motor would not be affected.

Agreed.