Editing Nuclear electromagnetic pulse (section)

===Starfish Prime===
{{Main article|Starfish Prime}}
In July 1962, the US carried out the [[Starfish Prime]] test, exploding a {{convert|1.44|MtonTNT|abbr=on|lk=on}} bomb {{convert|400|km|mi ft|||}} above the mid-Pacific Ocean. This demonstrated that the effects of a [[high-altitude nuclear explosion]] were much larger than had been previously calculated. Starfish Prime made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in [[Hawaii]], about {{convert|1445|km}} away from the detonation point, disabling approximately 300 streetlights, triggering numerous burglar alarms and damaging a microwave link.<ref name="vittitoe">{{cite report |last1=Vittitoe |first1=Charles N. |date=1989-06-01 |title=Did High-Altitude EMP Cause the Hawaiian Streetlight Incident? |publisher=[[Sandia National Laboratories]] |df=dmy-all |url=https://ece-research.unm.edu/summa/notes/SDAN/0031.pdf |access-date=2020-09-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823035223/http://ece-research.unm.edu/summa/notes/SDAN/0031.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-23}}</ref>

Starfish Prime was the first success in the series of United States high-altitude nuclear tests in 1962 known as [[Operation Fishbowl]]. Subsequent tests gathered more data on the high-altitude EMP phenomenon.

The [[Operation Fishbowl#Bluegill Triple Prime|Bluegill Triple Prime]] and [[Operation Fishbowl#Kingfish|Kingfish]] high-altitude nuclear tests of October and November 1962 in Operation Fishbowl provided data that was clear enough to enable physicists to accurately identify the physical mechanisms behind the electromagnetic pulses.<ref name="nbcreport">{{cite journal |last1=Longmire |first1=Conrad L. |author-link1=Conrad Longmire |journal=NBC Report |date=2004 |pages=47–51 |publisher=U.S. Army Nuclear and Chemical Agency |issue=Fall/Winter |title=Fifty Odd Years of EMP |url=https://www.futurescience.com/emp/NBC_Report_Fall_Winter04.pdf}}</ref>

The EMP damage of the Starfish Prime test was quickly repaired due, in part, to the fact that the EMP over Hawaii was relatively weak compared to what could be produced with a more intense pulse, and in part due to the relative ruggedness (compared to today)<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Reardon |page=53 |first=Patrick J. |date=2014 |location=Fort Leavenworth |title=The Effect of an Electromagnetic Pulse Strike on the Transportation Infrastructure of Kansas City |type=Master's Thesis |chapter=Case Study: Operation Starfish Prime Introduction & EMP analysis |publisher=U.S. Army Command & General Staff College |chapter-url=https://www.hsdl.org/c/view?docid=762798 |access-date=2019-07-26}}</ref> of Hawaii's electrical and electronic infrastructure in 1962.<ref name="tn353">{{cite report |docket=Theoretical Notes – Note 353 |date=March 1985 |title=EMP on Honolulu from the Starfish Event |last1=Longmire |first1=Conrad L. |author-link1=Conrad Longmire |publisher=Mission Research Corporation |via=[[University of New Mexico]] |url=https://ece-research.unm.edu/summa/notes/TheoreticalPDFs/TN353.pdf}}</ref>

The relatively small magnitude of the Starfish Prime EMP in Hawaii (about 5.6 kilovolts/metre) and the relatively small amount of damage (for example, only 1% to 3% of streetlights extinguished)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rabinowitz |first1=Mario |date=October 1987 |title=Effect of the Fast Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse on the Electric Power Grid Nationwide: A Different View |journal=IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=1199&ndash;1222 |arxiv=physics/0307127 |s2cid=37367992 |issn=1937-4208 |lccn=86643860 |oclc=1236229960 |doi=10.1109/TPWRD.1987.4308243}}</ref> led some scientists to believe, in the early days of EMP research, that the problem might not be significant. Later calculations<ref name="tn353"/> showed that if the Starfish Prime warhead had been detonated over the northern continental United States, the magnitude of the EMP would have been much larger (22 to 30 kV/m) because of the greater strength of the [[Earth's magnetic field]] over the United States, as well as its different orientation at high latitudes. These calculations, combined with the accelerating reliance on EMP-sensitive microelectronics, heightened awareness that EMP could be a significant problem.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Mark |editor-last=Cancian |date=2018 |title=Project on Nuclear Issues: A Collection of Papers from the 2017 Conference Series & Nuclear Scholars Initiative (CSIS Reports) |page=24 |publisher=Center for Strategic & International Studies |isbn=978-1442280557 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msVNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |access-date=2019-07-26}}</ref>