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From: berke@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.analog,net.misc
Subject: Re: "Nuclear Event Detector"
Message-ID: <8174@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 24-Dec-85 16:30:31 EST
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.8174
Posted: Tue Dec 24 16:30:31 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 26-Dec-85 04:02:09 EST
References: <799@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Reply-To: berke@ucla-cs.UUCP (Peter Berke)
Distribution: net
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 28
Xref: watmath net.analog:585 net.misc:9031

In article <799@brl-tgr.ARPA> wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes:
>HSN-3000 High Speed Hybrid Nuclear Event
>Detector. The first brochure I got was titled "Certified Circumvention
>for Power Shutdown", and the second, largely similar, is titled,
>"Certified Circumvention for Processor Shutdown/Restart". The company
>

Certified by who?  Certified for power shutdown - does power shutdown prevent
EMP damage?   Circumvention of what, exactly?

The goal of protecting every instrument in the land against destruction in the
event of a single nuclear blast, is a valid goal.  As Henry Kissinger has 
pointed out, the possibility of a single nuclear blast is greater than that of
total destruction, and a single blast is devastating enough that it is worth 
avoiding.  Terrorism and accident seem to be likely sources of single nuclear
blasts. 

I can't see how EMP detection can prevent EMP damage.  I am assuming that EMP
travels with the speed of light, and so any detection is moot.  I believe
there are two basically opposed schools of protection, a hard school and a soft
school.  The hard school says you better have your gizmo in a metal box or xxx.
The soft school says, look, you can do this instead, and it's cheaper and 
it works just as well.   

Again, certified by who? Does power shutdown prevent EMP damage?  Can detection
"get ahead" of EMP?

Peter Berke