New methods and means designed for protection of control, automation, telecommunications and relay protection electronic equipment, installed at electric power facilities from destructive electromagnetic impact should be subject to various tests to prove their efficiency. Electromagnetic pulse of high-altitude nuclear explosion (HEMP) may be very difficult to test. The article addresses specific problems which occur during testing of civil electronic equipment on military test-benches, i.e. HEMP simulators, and concludes that it is not practical to conduct these tests on existing simulators.