When America's lights go out forever (Israel does not share America's vulnerability)

WND ^ | October 20, 2015 | Joseph Farah

[Norm Lenhart]

Kidding aside, unless we start doing something to address our liberal problem, we do deserve it. Actions, or INactions always have consequences. We can’t logically stand aside and let this crap happen saying ‘woe is me’ and not be responsible for what comes of it.

The only thing stopping America from protecting itself from a grid collapse is liberals and their actions.

[MarchonDC09122009]

Your assessment runs contrary to IEEE ICS SCADA assessments that I’m personally aware of.
Power plant have many critical Industrial Control Systems which are not strictly considered to be “Airgap” protected.
Radio telemetry - WiFi networks without encryption & strong authentication, connects many sensors, pumps, valves and controllers within the plant’s outside environment. They are difficult to strengthen or upgrade due to there being a number of different vendor variations implementated over thirty years.
Furthermore, vendor manufacturer service accounts, and maintenance tech support portal accounts often have poor Identity Access Management and Intrusion Detection Systems.

All power plant and electrical distribution systems have considerable physical (transformer / switch relays) and cyber (ICS) threat surfaces which need to be hardened.

[mikey_hates_everything]

“I am more concerned about high power rifles and transformers than I am about “hax0rs”.”

This^^, EMPs and the “lights out forever” nonsense. Even in a worst case scenario, plenty of knowledgeable people (engineers and technicians) will still be around, won’t forget how things work and will be able to get current flowing again—most likely at least and quickly enough to quell the end of the world talk. EMPs are not going to alter physics so that electric power can never be generated again.

[Norm Lenhart]

That was yesterday. Today I am ‘Becoming’.

So many genders, so little time.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Male lesbian hermaphrodite ?

[Norm Lenhart]

For sure there is no such thing as ‘never again’ short of nuclear annihilation. As long as we have knowledge we can rebuild anything. But with all the muzzy/china hack attempts and that random transformer shootings, it could bake one hell of a mess for very little effort on the part of someone with determination.

[Norm Lenhart]

Does Romneycare cover that? I’m game.

[stephenjohnbanker]

If Romulus had thought of it, it would have been covered.

[ek_hornbeck]

Congress is more concerned about the safety of every country except America.

Glad I'm not the first to notice that our politicians seem to care a lot more about securing borders in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Kosovo more than they care about securing our own.

[Myrddin]

I am more concerned about high power rifles and transformers than I am about “hax0rs”.

Yup. A 30-06 can punch a couple holes in an oil-cooled transformer. It will leak and burn up before the problem is detected. Replacement can be on the order of a couple years.

[Myrddin]

The big transformers are not manufactured inside the US. They are all custom orders with a 2 to 3 year lead time. There are few if any spares. While there are plenty of engineers alive that know how to rebuild, they have to survive long enough to do it. There are plenty of ferals that will be demanding resources and not contributing squat to the solution.

[thackney]

I really wish people would stop with the “hacking” non-sense. The critical controls are NOT on the Internet; they just aren’t; they aren’t even close to the Internet.

BTTT

I am more concerned about high power rifles and transformers than I am about “hax0rs”.

I have thought that for many years but was unwilling to put it in writing in a public forum. Even worse is combined with a little knowledge about which transformers lead to critical instability.

[thackney]

The big transformers are not manufactured inside the US.

False.

EFACEC Rincon, Georgia
SPX Transformer Solution Waukesha, Wisconsin
Hyundai Heavy Industries Montgomery, Alabama
Mitsubishi Memphis, Tennessee

[MarchonDC09122009]

Metal foundries used for massive custom iron core and specialized windings need electricity, as does many other supply chain processes used in the construction of very large power transformers.
Replacing the largest ones is a very slow involved task.

[thackney]

Yes, I’m familiar with that. A special type of steel called CRGO laminated steel makes up the core of a power transformer. A grade of M3 or better is typically used in an Large Power Transformer to minimize core loss.

There are about 11 manufactures in the world making this “electric steel”, including Allegheny and AK Steel in the US.

[notdownwidems]

Doom porn is always in style. Most people, even liberals, secretly suspect doom is what we deserve.

Especially liberals!

[pa_dweller]

Read “One Second After” by William R Forstchen

And One Year After is out now.

[thackney]

I missed some:

Virginia Transformer Pocatello, Idaho
Delta Star San Carlos, CA and Lynchburg, VA
ABB St Louis, Missouri
Pennsylvania Transformer Technology Canonsburg, PA

[Myrddin]

VA Transformer is 2 miles from my house. They are also right next to the UP switch yard, so shipping product via rail is easier. There are still some very large transformers that take weeks of logistics to move because they can't move under or over some bridges.

There is also a covert path to screwing up electrical power. There are several very large coal burning plants supplied by rail. Most keep about 30 days of coal on the ground. There are rail bridges that are critical to the coal delivery. Those bridges would take 90+ days to replace if severely damaged. There are at least 5 critical bridges in the USA that could severely impact our economy if hit simultaneously.

[1010RD]

Is this one of those “we need more money” articles from government?