Beyond Nuclear International Weekly Digest, MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025

Posted: 30th June 2025

When Spain, Portugal and parts of France were abruptly blacked out, Carlos Umaña of IPPNW, in Madrid at the time, dreaded for a few terrible moments that a nuclear exchange had happened. We publish his account, in English and the original Spanish. And, from a 2019 interview, Umaña explains what an electromagnetic pulse actually is.

Into true darkness?

During the April 28 blackout, Carlos Umaña wondered whether a nuclear exchange had happened, leading to an electromagnetic pulse that can fry all electronic devices within its radius. Relieved to discover this was not the case, and encouraged by how people helped each other, Umaña saw this moment as a reminder that we must continue “challenging entrenched narratives of nuclearism”. We republish his Pressenza article in English and Spanish. READ MORE

What is an EMP?

Why is an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) a plausible scenario during a nuclear exchange? And what damage could it do, even far from the conflict itself? Carlos Umaña breaks it down for us in a 2019 interview with Tendencia. READ MORE

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