4.8 Comparative Vulnerability of the Satellite Power System We have explored the potential vulnerabilities of the Satellite Power System in some depth. We now turn to a brief consideration of the relative vulnerability of the SPS compared to alternative technologies for electrical power generation and to some of the major transportation systems in use in industrialized countries today in order to place the whole question of vulnerability into perspective. No complex industrial system is immune to disruption or destruction by hostile groups or nations. In considering whether to proceed with development of a major new energy technology, it is necessary to consider the strengths and weaknesses of that system relative to the strengths and weaknesses of alternative technologies accomplishing the same ends. Candidate technologies for electrical power generation around the turn of the century and beyond include coal-fired generating plants using conventional boilers and turbines or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generators; conventional fission reactors; breeder reactors; fusion reactors; hydroelectric installations; ground- based solar electric conversion; large windmills; and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). With the exception of OTEC, the hardware associated with each of these technologies would lie entirely within the territorial limits of the country owning it, although both coal and nuclear power plants may rely on fuel sources abroad. Careful examination of these alternative generating systems shows that they could be disabled for months using conventional explosives in quantities a few individuals could easily transport and emplace. Some hydroelectric installations have generating capacities comparable to a power satellite. Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington state, for example, presently has an installed generating capacity of about 2.3 GW which could be expanded to more than 9 GW. In the case of Grand Coulee Dam and in the case of numerous hydroelectric facilities proposed for the developing countries, much of the water in the river proposed to be dammed comes across a national boundary. Unless the two countries involved have cordial relations and come to a mutually acceptable agreement regarding water rights, the water supply cannot be assured; the country upstream may choose to divert a significant part (or all) of the river’s flow, rendering the hydroelectric plant virtually useless. The industrialized countries today depend for the survival of their populations on a number of networks of transportation and distribution systems. Largely
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