What about EMP? –Thomas Griffin @ SO 2012-05-23

Thomas Griffin asked Southern Company (SO) CEO Thomas A. Fanning what SO has done to deal with EMP:

If a foreign entity were to detonate a nuclear device above 25 miles above the United States it would cause an electro-magnetic pulse, which would in fact take out not only the electric grid, but trains, all cars with computers, all radios and TV stations, the telephone company, and we would really be in bad shape, because everything that runs on electricity, which is virtually all businesses would be down.

And my question to you is does Southern Company have backup, shielded, hardware and software to bring a control station back up, shielded from this, so that they could replace it, and bring the grid back on line.

CEO Fanning said he couldn’t talk about specifics, pleading national security. He added:

Rest assured that we pay a lot of attention to preserving the sanctity of the electric networks in the southeast, including things like EMF.

Interesting wording, “sanctity”. I didn’t know electrical production was a religious matter. Probably just a misphrasing.

But the other thing I think you should recognize is that if somebody is detonating a nuclear bomb that is emits an EMF force above the United States we’re in deeper problems already.

CEO Fanning has a point.

Here’s the video:

What about EMP? –Thomas Griffin
Shareholder Meeting, Southern Company (SO),
Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia, 23 May 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq