I have no intention in arguing with you about this.
My opinion has not changed. The article is BS.
Electromagnetic Pulse is a impulse radio wave. It is created by a nuke (fission of fusion) but the impulse reaches past the blast area. Like all radio waves it decreases in field density as the wave moves form the source.
The problem for power systems is the energy is easily coupled to power lines. But the field density decreases rapidly.
Yes, small impulses will fry MOSFETS. I have fried them with just static discharge handling them.
So, I still maintain my original position.
Bernardin makes some key points. EMP doesn’t come from the bomb blast itself. It comes from gamma radiation interacting with the stratosphere at an altitude range of about 10-20 miles. If you set off a nuke near the ground, the gamma radiation goes upward and when it hits the stratosphere, electrons are ionized causing the EMP, part of which will come back down to affect things at ground level. The width of the “cone” of gamma rays that reaches the stratosphere is limited by the closeness of the source. The size of the area of the stratosphere that is impacted by gamma radiation will determine the size of the EMP effect.
A high altitude EMP (HEMP) uses a small to moderate sized bomb that detonates in the altitude range of 250-300 miles up. In that case, the gamma rays can spread out more before they hit the stratosphere below the burst and the area of stratosphere producing the EMP is much larger and can cover the entire North American continent with a single event.
He also points out that ionization eventually creates a dampening effect on EMP, limiting the build-up. Large thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs use a small fission device to trigger the fusion process. That initial burst of gamma rays from the trigger bomb can saturate the ionization, leaving little more effect available for the large fusion explosion. This means EMP does not scale directly with the size of the bomb blast, unless some special technology is being used to create a super-EMP weapon.
500 kilotons seems to be an accepted limit on fission devices. Anything larger is usually a fusion weapon. But it has been suggested that a simple fission bomb in the range of 200-400 kilotons will be sufficient to cover the US from coast to coast if the bomb is detonated at the correct altitude of 250-300 miles.