“I think the Norks are aware of the Soviet Project K EMP tests done in October 1962. The Russians actually found out far more about the effects from EMP from those tests than the American Starfish Prime test, because the Russians actually built a test range with both above and below-ground power lines and detonated a 300 KT nuclear bomb over it at an altitude around 160 KM (99 miles). The EMP resulted in blowing out of every protection fuse system on those electrical lines and even shut down a nearby electrical generation plant.”
Correct. But that’s really pretty moderate damage. I mean, you don’t recall reading about power failures lasting years in Kazhakstan, do you?
Power plants are damaged by the E3 pulse, which is similar to that caused by solar storms. There’s just no empirical data suggesting that the E3 pulse, will inflict irreparable damage on large power station transformers, and there’s a good bit of evidence (i.e. the Hawaii and Kakhak tests) suggesting that they won’t.
Also, peak E3 pulse intensity takes about 20 seconds, which would give a power station operator (who would have no doubt heard about an incoming NK attack) some time to react.