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Hawaii Responds to North Korean Threat; Others Must Also, States Physicians for Civil Defense

By Jason Owen 2 min read

# hawaii
# North Korean missile tests
# Physicians for Civil Defense

The first of two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test. The test, conducted by Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) Operational Test Agency, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, and U.S. Pacific Command, in conjunction with U.S. Army soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, U.S. Navy sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73), and U.S. Air Force airmen from the 613th Air and Operations Center resulted in the intercept of one medium-range ballistic missile target by THAAD, and one medium-range ballistic missile target by Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). The test, designated Flight Test Operational-01 (FTO-01), stressed the ability of the Aegis BMD and THAAD weapon systems to function in a layered defense architecture and defeat a raid of two near-simultaneous ballistic missile targets

TUCSON, Ariz., June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In response to North Korean missile tests and threats to Hawaii, state officials are looking at nuclear preparedness plans that have not been updated since 1985, according to the British newspaper Express.

The plans include “reviewing existing procedures for mass casualty and fatality management,” in addition to “conducting in-service training for key staff regarding weapons effects.”

A strike on Honolulu, which is now within reach of North Korean missiles, could kill around 40,000 people. Los Angeles is also within range.

Additionally, the whole U.S. could be affected by the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a high-altitude explosion of a single nuclear warhead. The electrical grid could be destroyed, crippling the entire nation and resulting in massive deaths. Replacing critical large transformers could take decades. “Congress and the Administration need to take immediate action to harden the grid against EMP,” states Physicians for Civil Defense president Jane M. Orient, M.D.

U.S. nuclear preparedness is not simply outdated, she adds.

“The rudimentary program we had in the 1950s is virtually gone.”

Radiation monitors suitable for measuring the high doses that could result from a nuclear detonation were destroyed or given away and not replaced. A few are still available on the private market, along with superior technology that the federal government has ignored.

“We also lack a nation-wide fallout-monitoring net.”

Much could be done at minimal cost, as demonstrated in a project that trained and equipped rural Arizona fire stations. But today, American civil defense is “self-help.”