Vulnerability of electric power systems to terrorist attack

Date

2011-12

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Abstract

Terrorist attacks designed to weaken the economy of the United States are of increasing concern since September 11, 2001. Electrical power generation and distribution systems should be regarded as likely targets of terrorists because electrical energy is essential to most economic activities. The objective of this research study is to investigate the possible methods of a successful terrorist attack in the electrical infrastructure and to reduce vulnerability in electric power system by evaluating the performance of protection systems and selecting the best effective protection method. This study might help to increase the protection measures and to decrease the probability of terrorist attack on the electric power system. The location and time of terrorist attack will not be forecasted; rather it is assumed that terrorists will want to attack the assets. Those assets can be generating stations, substations, and transmission lines but substations are the most likely target from terrorists’ view because of asset value, remoteness and being unmanned. There are many weapons that terrorists could use, but explosives or high powered rifles are the weapons considered in this research. One large substation will be used in this study as an example. This substation is very a large and damage to it may cause blackout in the region it serves. The protection approaches for this substation can be applied to other substations and generating plants. This research examines criteria for protection approaches and methods to evaluate effectiveness of protection systems.

Description

Keywords

Electric power systems

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