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Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Recovery Support Activities

Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Recovery Support Activities: Continuing to provide support for affected areas in cooperation with Group companies in Japan and overseas

  • Assistance Activities
  • Recovery Support programs
  • Maintain the integrity of the Fukushima Nuclear

Cooperation and support to help maintain the integrity of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations

Since immediately after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Toshiba Group has been working to the best of its ability to eliminate the consequences and ensure safety in response to a request by the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO).

As a company engaged in nuclear power generation, we take the accident very seriously and have remained united in our resolve to overcome every difficulty.

Preventing the release and discharge of radioactive materials Actions for step 1 (occurrence of the earthquake to July 2011)

In April 2011, the government and TEPCO developed a preliminary roadmap consisting of three steps for termination of the accident.

In step 1, where we effectively reduced the high radiation dose rate, Toshiba Group worked to prevent the nuclear-contaminated cooling water injected into the damaged plants from flowing out into the ocean. Under harsh work conditions with blackouts and high levels of radiation, we built and began operating a circulation cooling system designed to purify and recycle contaminated water within the short period of two months. As a result, we were able to prevent the contaminated water from flowing outside the power plant premises.

Achieving a stable state of cold shutdown Working toward step 2 (August to December 2011)

A contaminated water treatment system developed by an overseas manufacturer was initially installed to deal with the emergency. The operation of this system led Toshiba to conclude that in order to process the massive amounts of contaminated water, it was necessary to improve the system's treatment capabilities and ensure its stable operation. Consequently, we proposed to TEPCO that we develop a new system in cooperation with partner companies in the United States and Japan. We commenced development in May and began operating the new system in August.

The new system, which we named SARRY™,*1 was highly valued for its stable operational performance and high decontamination ability, and came to be used as the primary decontamination device from October onward. The stable operation of SARRY allowed us to effectively cool the nuclear reactors with circulated cooling water, and to help achieve a state of cold shutdown for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station's Units 1 through 3 in December.

Supporting full-scale decontamination in areas outside the power plant through advanced technologies

Based on the expertise obtained through our experience in the Fukushima nuclear accident and nuclear power plant technologies with proven track records, Toshiba Group has developed a number of products and systems designed to detect radioactive materials and deal with decontamination. We will discuss how to use these products with national and local governments.

A high-performance, small-size portable gamma camera that shows hot spots at a glance

Smaller in size and higher in performance than gamma cameras used in the power plant, this portable gamma camera identifies hot spots*2 clearly by using different colors to show different levels of radiation, thereby improving decontamination efficiency. Toshiba's original semiconductor packaging and signal processing technologies make it possible to detect low-level radiation that does not affect human health.

Photo of Portable gamma camera
Portable gamma camera


SARRY-Aqua,*3 a system that purifies water containing radioactive materials

Smaller than the SARRY, SARRY-Aqua is a transportable, radio-contaminated water treatment system that can be carried on a truck. SARRY-Aqua treats pool water, agricultural water, and decontamination water containing radioactive cesium onsite and reduces the concentration of radioactive cesium in the water to a level that meets drinking water standards.

Photo of SARRY-Aqua
SARRY-Aqua


SARRY-Soil, a soil purification system

SARRY-Soil is a radioactive contamination soil treatment system that can be transported like SARRY-Aqua. It is used to purify soil and incinerate ash from wastewater sludge and waste ash containing radioactive cesium onsite.

Photo of SARRY-Soil
SARRY-Soil

*1
SARRY™:Simplified Active Water Retrieve and Recovery System
*2
Places with locally high radiation levels
*3
SARRY-Aqua:Jointly developed with IHI Corporation
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