Skip to main content
  • Paul Scherrer Institut PSI
  • PSI Research, Labs & User Services

Digital User Office

  • Digital User Office
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)
Search
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)

Hauptnavigation

  • Research at PSIOpen mainmenu item
    • Research Initiatives
    • Ethics and Research integrity
    • Scientific Highlights
    • Scientific Events
    • Scientific Career
    • PSI-FELLOW
    • PSI Data Policy
  • Research Divisions and LabsOpen mainmenu item
    • Overview
    • Research with Neutrons and Muons
    • Photon Science
    • Energy and Environment
    • Nuclear Energy and Safety
    • Biology and Chemistry
    • Scientific Computing, Theory and Data
    • Large Research Facilities
  • Facilities and InstrumentsOpen mainmenu item
    • Overview
    • Large Research Facilities
    • Facilities
    • PSI Facility Newsletter
  • PSI User ServicesOpen mainmenu item
    • User Office
    • Methods at the PSI User Facilities
    • Proposals for beam time
    • Proposal Deadlines
    • Data Analysis Service (PSD)
    • EU support programmes
  • New ProjectsOpen mainmenu item
    • SLS 2.0
    • IMPACT
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR

Digital User Office (mobile)

  • Digital User Office

You are here:

  1. PSI Home
  2. Labs & User Services
  3. NES
  4. LEA
  5. Technology Assessment
  6. Projects
  7. SoSCI

Secondary navigation

Technology Assessment

  • Research Areas
    • Life Cycle Assessment
    • Environmental Impacts Assessment
    • Internal Cost Analysis
    • Risk Assessment
    • Mobility
    • Decision Support
  • Methods
    • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
      • Global Sensitivity Analysis in LCA
      • Prospective LCA
    • Environmental Impact and External Cost Assessment
    • Risk Assessment
      • Accident Risk Assessment
      • Bayesian Approaches
      • Risk Assessment for Critical Infrastructures
    • Decision Support
      • Composite Indicators
      • Interacting criteria
      • spatial MCDA
  • People
    • Former Group Members
  • Projects Expanded submenu item
    • Closed Projects
  • Publications
    • Preprint Journal Articles
    • Journals and Books
    • Reports and Working Papers
  • Theses and Internships
  • Conference
  • Tools
  • News & Scientific Highlights

Solar Storm Impact on Critical Infrastructure (SoSCI)

Tsunamis, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes can lead to hundreds of fatalities and billions of economic losses. In the last decades, critical infrastructures were developed in the way to ensure their stability against natural hazards. Long, divaricated, interconnected power, telecommunication and distribution systems were constructed. Ironically, such diversification increases systems vulnerability against the solar storms. The general awareness of space weather impact on critical infrastructure depends on industry sector. In terms of power systems, Hydro-Quebec blackout in 1989 was the event which “switched” the solar storms research from curiosity to necessity. Despite of permanent research, the widespread outages and economic losses could not be prevented in 2003 as a result of relatively strong Halloween blackout. Early growing worldwide tendency to move large quantities of electricity deteriorates the fail-safety even further. The current study addresses the impacts of solar storms on critical infrastructures addressing the potential threats and impacts of geo-magnetically induced currents on power systems, telecommunication systems etc. as well as potential mitigation actions.

Sidebar

Project details

Duration: 2013-2014
Financing: Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd

Researchers

Olga Sokolova
Peter Burgherr

Partners

Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd
top

Footer

Paul Scherrer Institut

Forschungsstrasse 111
5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland

Telephone: +41 56 310 21 11
Telefax: +41 56 310 21 99

How to find us
Contact

Visitor Centre psi forum
School Lab iLab (in German)
Center for Proton Therapy
PSI Education Centre
PSI Guest House
PSI Gastronomie (in German)
psi forum shop

Service & Support

  • Phone Book
  • User Office
  • Accelerator Status
  • PSI Publications
  • Suppliers
  • E-Billing
  • Computing
  • Safety (in German)

Career

  • Working at PSI
  • Job Opportunities
  • Training and further education
  • Career Center
  • Vocational Training (in German)
  • PSI Education Center

For the media

  • PSI in brief
  • Facts and Figures
  • Media corner
  • Media Releases
  • Social Media

Follow us: Twitter (in English) LinkedIn Youtube Facebook Instagram Issuu RSS

Footer legal

  • Imprint
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Editors' login