Thousands Seen Dying If Terrorists Attack ‘Vulnerable’ U.S. Grid

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- A terrorist attack on the U.S. power grid could be more destructive than superstorm Sandy, possibly costing hundreds of billions of dollars and leading to thousands of deaths, the National Academy of Sciences said.

While such an event probably wouldn’t kill people immediately, it could cause widespread blackouts for weeks or months, according to a recently declassified report released today by the Academy. If it occurred during extreme weather, heat stress or exposure to cold may lead to “hundreds or even thousands of deaths,” the authors of the study wrote.

“An event of this magnitude and duration could lead to turmoil, widespread public fear, and an image of helplessness that would play directly into the hands of the terrorists,” they said.

While other entities have issued reports on electric-grid vulnerabilities, the study released today provides an unusually stark picture of what may happen if hackers, extremist groups, disgruntled employees or even energy companies themselves sabotage the nation’s power network. It calls for the government to create a national inventory of portable generation equipment that can be used during such an event.

An attack “could be carried out by knowledgeable attackers with little risk of detection or interdiction,” it said.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Thousands-Seen-Dying-If-Terrorists-Attack-4037607.php

[Iggo]

1. Still not afraid of terrorists.

Next!

[randome]

7. I'm with you.

[SkyDaddy7]

8. You should NOT be afraid of terrorist...

However, you SHOULD respect the findings of the National Academy of Science...That is unless you choose the Conservative way of going with your GUT despite the empirical evidence that says otherwise.

[meow2u3]

11. Terrorists are just bullies -- and cowards -- at base

They're only effective unless and until you stand up to them--then they run like hell with their tails between their legs once they find out you're not afraid of them.

[Iggo]

14. I do respect their findings...

...and I'm STILL not afraid of terrorists.

[lalalu]

2. We will still have marathons and yacht races.

So politicians don't care. Just the peasants, or in modern terms the 47 %, will be told to drop dead in their cold dark homes.

[kestrel91316]

3. If this happens, Republicans bear FULL responsibility for obstructing legislation that would

fund an upgrade of the grid.

[SkyDaddy7]

9. Plus...

This is not some claim by Homeland Security...Quite the opposite this comes from the National Academy of Science one of the most respected institutions in the world! Well, not by Conservative "GUT THINKERS" but by the rest of the world who understand the importance of science & going with empirical evidence not some rednecks GUT!

Your comment hit the nail on the head! I wish we could publicly shame them over their stance on anthropogenic climate change as well!!

[Dubster]

4. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)

[docgee]

5. Terrorists only scare republicans...

You have a higher probability of committing suicide than to be killed by terrorism.

[SkyDaddy7]

10. That is NOT the point of these findings!

This was not some prediction from Homeland Security it came from the National Academy of Science hardly a bastion of Conservatism or big brother. To me denying the fact we are vulnerable & IF the day ever comes when terrorist decide to blow up our power infrastructure it might not be you who dies but it will be the most vulnerable like our grandparents or sick children. Besides that we need to improve our electrical grid to handle alternative energy sources anyway.

This was not meant to be a scare tactic it was meant to be a warning derived from empirical data...Not a Conservative gut check.

[PoliticAverse]

6. Someone is making an argument for electric supply decentralization. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Just think of all the non-out sourcible ...

Last edited Wed Nov 14, 2012, 06:34 PM - Edit history (1)

long-term jobs that would be created if the U.S. decided to up-grade/secure the power grid?

[RC]

13. And the spin-off jobs from manufacturing the hardware and wire.

The cost of training the building crews. The pay for the engineering and engineers needed. Why this could suck enough money from the wars to actually stop most of them.
No wonder the Republicans are against this.

[RickFromMN]

15. I wish someone would invent cheap home shingles that double as solar panels.

[Purveyor]

18. They have but they are not cheap. Google 'solar shingles'. eom

[aquart]

16. Been to Long Island? One good superstorm is all it takes.

Terrorists are amateurs compared to climate change.

[truthisfreedom]

17. It's true, but the answer is not fear. It's decentralization of power generation. It's rooftops

covered completely with solar panels. Every rooftop.

[RobertEarl]

19. Worse case scenario: Nuke Plant w/o power

Fukushima lost grid power and the place blew sky-high.

Pumps to keep the plants cool demand great power. If the grid goes down, plants would only be able to keep cool as long as generators work under emergency conditions.

But don't worry, be happy!!

[Purveyor]

21. It will not be a 'bomb or a storm'...it will be a cyber-attack without a doubt. eom

[RobertEarl]

22. Stuxnet?

That was a cyber attack on the Iranian nuclear plant.

Stuxnet was theoried to also have made the Fukushima problem even worse by making the computers in the control room spit out erroneous info as to what was happening in the reactors.

I think we can keep such an attack from doing too much harm... under normal circumstances. But introduce a powerful solar storm and all bets are off.

[daleo]

20. Katrina, Sandy

Global warming is a more real and present danger.