Yes, EMP, electromagnetic pulse. It's one of the things that happens with a nuclear explosion. Fries electronics, especially semiconductor electronics. While we were working with and developing semiconductor technology, the Soviets continued to advance their work in vacuum tubes, which are more immune to EMP, even to amazing extents of miniaturizing that technology (though without the benefits of our tech).
We've known this since the late 70's and even before that.
My last job started with a project developing a solid-state recorder for satellites. For spacecraft and satellites operating outside the protection of our geo-magnetic field, there are radiation concerns similar to EMP. I've seen data books of integrated circuits constructed of exotic materials that can resist such threats, including sapphire substrates.
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