-
I am so excited to be here
at such a wonderful event as this
-
and talk to you all.
-
This picture shows our press conference
held on March 19
-
right after we finished filling
-
the parched fuel rod storage pool
of Reactor 3
-
of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant
with tons of water
-
after working without a stop.
-
Please raise your hand
if you've seen this photo before.
-
Great!
-
Some of you might not have seen it,
-
but it's up on YouTube
so that you can check it out later.
-
(Laughter)
-
This press conference was held immediately
after we got back from Fukushima,
-
so I didn't even have time to shave.
-
But I had enough time to get a clean shave
before coming here today.
-
(Laughter)
-
Today, I want to invite you
into the world of fire fighting
-
as I talk about our mission in Fukushima
that we experienced.
-
But as my time here is limited,
I would like to ask those on the stage
-
to wear the helmets
of the Tokyo Fire Department
-
to participate in this experience
together with us.
-
(Applause)
-
Thanks for your cooperation.
-
The Great East Japan Earthquake
occurred at 14:46 on March 11th.
-
It was the fourth largest megaquake
in history of magnitude over 9.
-
The tsunami waves
were over 10 meters high.
-
The scale can only be expected
to happen once in 1,000 years.
-
10,000 people died
and over 5,000 people are still missing.
-
I pray for the souls of those
who perished in this calamity,
-
and my heart goes out to those
who are afflicted by it.
-
Very few people realize
-
that this megaquake also
inflicted damage in Tokyo.
-
The earthquake in Tokyo triggered by it
-
was level 5 intensity
on the Japanese scale,
-
and over 34 cases of fire spread
were reported at the same time.
-
Being in charge
of fighting fires in Tokyo,
-
I wanted to take care of fires
in Tokyo first as quickly as possible
-
to send out the emergency rescue teams
-
to the Tohoku region
where a lot of help was needed.
-
That was all I thought about.
-
Then, to our shock, as you know
the reactor 1
-
of the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant
exploded on the morning of the 12th.
-
We couldn't believe it
because we had been told
-
that the plant would survive
even a plane crash into it.
-
Then on the 14th,
there was another explosion in Reactor 3.
-
As you all know,
there are 6 nuclear reactors at the plant,
-
and Reactors 1 to 4 of all 6
exploded one after another.
-
We learned that the loss in power
of the cooling infrastructure
-
caused lowering
the cooling water levels in the reactors.
-
Since nuclear disasters
are normally handled
-
by the central government
as they are state secrets,
-
the Self Defense Force
sent out two helicopters
-
to pour water into them from above.
-
But the level of radiation was so high
-
that they were unable to get close enough
to complete their mission.
-
The police departments also sent in
their water cannon truck,
-
and tried to pour water into the fuel tank
but this didn't work well either.
-
Although the Tokyo Fire Department
is responsible basically only for Tokyo,
-
and not for the nuclear power plants,
-
we thought that we might
get summoned for help
-
as we are the experts
in firefighting and water pumping.
-
So this was the time
when we decided to start our research
-
about how to handle this kind of case.
-
The Tokyo Fire Department
has 81 fire stations.
-
Every fire station has rescue units.
-
The most highly trained men
recruited from these units
-
were organized into 4 hyper rescue units,
-
and positioned in 4 of the 10
district headquarters.
-
We learned from the experience
in the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995
-
that dispatching them is crucial
at the time of disaster.
-
Out of the 4 units, one unit
had been already dispatched
-
to Kesennuma in the Tohoku region.
-
So there were 3 units left, then.
-
Although nuclear power plants
are not included in our responsibilities,
-
as countermeasures for, for example,
-
a radiation leak accident at a laboratory
or a nuclear terrorist attack,
-
we had already been training ourselves
-
to get ready for handling
radiation disasters,
-
by making our own standards
and equipments.
-
This chart shows those standards.
-
The maximum allowed radiation exposure
at one time should be 30 millisievert.
-
But it could be raised
up to 100 millisievert
-
when we need to save lives of people.
-
However we would never
send out that rescue worker
-
to handle another nuclear case
in the rest of his firefighting career.
-
Evaluating with experts
in the nuclear field,
-
we set the upper limit of radiation level
we could tolerate.
-
We were supposed to work
within 2 km of the plant.
-
If the men are exposed to radiation
at the upper limit of 100 millisievert,
-
they would be overexposed
on their way back,
-
so we decided to set the upper limit
at 80 millisievert.
-
Now the so-called protective wear
that is shown in the upper right corner
-
is, from my perspective,
not really protective.
-
It is "dust-proof."
-
It may protect us from dust
contaminated by radiation
-
but not from radiation itself;
-
radiation penetrates through it
as if we were in a microwave oven.
-
So what was crucial was to control
the amount of time of radiation exposure.
-
By March 15th and 16th,
we knew that cooling the fuel rods
-
was the immediate target
that we had to aim for.
-
The whole nation must have worried
-
as to how the reactors
would be cooled down.
-
On March 17th, I gathered
all the hyper rescue units in Tokyo.
-
And we walked through
3 strategic operations
-
to figure out what we should be doing
-
in order to minimize the amount
of exposure with minimum resources.
-
It was still cold in Fukushima
with snow scattering.
-
Because the plant is facing the sea,
winds were strong.
-
So we looked into how winds
would impact our operations.
-
What I was most concerned about
was not the fact
-
that all the hyper rescue units
would be leaving Tokyo.
-
I understood it
because this was a national crisis.
-
My concern was that the radiation levels
at the scene were already 400 mSv
-
and they were increasing
at the rate of 100 mSv a day.
-
So, we worried
that by the time we arrived,
-
it would be about 600 mSv per hour.
-
This means that we could only work there
for 10 minutes at one time.
-
So my suggestion was to gather
the hyper rescue teams
-
from the 81 fire stations,
-
and for my members to instruct them
on how to carry out the operation.
-
But all the captains said,
-
"Let us do it.
We will be there on the front line."
-
I said to them, "But you have men
too young for this job."
-
But they all said, "We will go ourselves.
-
We all have been trained
for a day like this,
-
and we have good teamwork."
-
I really had a hard time
making the decision.
-
I eventually decided
to take the hyper rescue teams.
-
I let the members
to go back to their own stations.
-
At 0:50 a.m. that night, to my surprise,
-
we received an operation order
from the Prime Minister.
-
I wanted to have more time
to evaluate the situation
-
to minimize the damage
that might be inflicted on my teams,
-
but we ran out of time.
-
I gave the members an order
to come in at 2 a.m..
-
We conducted a takeoff-ceremony,
and arrived at Fukushima by 8 a.m..
-
This is a picture taken just
after Reactor 3 exploded.
-
Our strategy was to set a super pumper
where the arrow on the left is pointing,
-
and set up a water tower truck
with the elevating squirt
-
beside Reactor 3 of which
you see the smoke is coming out.
-
We would connect the hose
and set the nozzle
-
at the proper angle beforehand.
-
Then we would extend a hose of 150mm
in diameter by car along that blue line,
-
because that is the shortest route.
-
Once we connect those hoses,
-
our mission would be complete.
-
I estimated that we could complete
this whole process within 7 minutes.
-
I had a meeting
-
with Tokyo Electric Power Company
and the Government,
-
and the Tokyo Fire Department
asked us to start at 5 p.m..
-
We got ourselves ready at J-Village,
the command center,
-
20 kilometers from the nuclear power plant
and headed out from the place.
-
While I waited at J-Village,
-
since the location of the plant
can't be reached
-
by either mobile phone or fire radio,
or satellite phone,
-
I couldn't do anything but waiting there
after sending them off.
-
After 5 p.m., the Government
kept calling me to ask about the progress.
-
"What is going on?"
"Has the mission been completed?"
-
I said to them, "I have no idea,"
-
but they kept on asking.
-
When my teams came back,
they said to me,
-
"The situation was worse than expected."
-
The captain came back past 7 p.m..
-
I asked him,
"Was the operation successful?"
-
He said, "No, we couldn't
even have a chance to pump out water."
-
I said, "You were exposed
to radiation for nothing?"
-
I felt desperate.
-
He said, "No. Only our recon team entered.
-
It took time because they
examined the area to figure out
-
where to position the pump
and how to spread out the hoses.
-
Our main mission team
remained outside the gate."
-
I said, "So, we have
one more chance, don't we?"
-
But they had to extend
the hose for 800 meters.
-
The place marked in red here
-
was covered with the rubble
and outdoor tanks
-
so a car could not enter there.
-
They had to carry the hose by hand.
-
I thought "These hoses
are too big and heavy
-
for people to drag and extend.
It has never been done before.
-
To make matters worse,
-
it is pitch black out there
with high levels of radiation.
-
Our men could be exposed
to even more unexpected dangers."
-
But I didn't have any hesitation
to give them the go-ahead.
-
I had no choice but to do it.
-
We couldn't afford to retreat
and restart with a different strategy
-
because the level of radiation there
was getting higher and higher.
-
The last option I was left with
was to secure my teams' safety.
-
We all planned as best we could.
-
We decided to split the teams into two
-
and have each team extend hoses
from both the nozzle and the water truck.
-
Furthermore we added a bus at each side
because we needed a lot of people
-
who stood by to take turns
in order to execute the mission.
-
I said to the members,
-
"As soon as your geiger count shows
the level of 80 mSv,
-
you should leave your equipments behind
and return to the bus,
-
and then the next team would go
and take over the job."
-
After I explained this strategy to them,
we moved on to execute the second plan.
-
Today, I wanted to demonstrate
-
how a 150mm hose is extended.
-
but the Tokyo Fire Department
didn't let me do it
-
because it's not something
that is done by hand,
-
and asked me to show the picture instead.
-
The hose I am using to explain
to the Governor of Tokyo in this slide
-
is just one-tenth of the whole thing.
-
But the real hose
is 50 meters long, 100 kg each.
-
They had to extend
more than 7 hoses like this in the dark.
-
Our second operation started.
-
Because we discussed
for three and half hours,
-
it started after 11 p.m..
-
This is the picture
when we had a meeting at the gate.
-
And this is the water tower truck
with the elevating squirt,
-
which can pump out
38,000 liters of water per minute.
-
This is how they tried
to extend them, then.
-
Now, I have a surprise for you.
-
Captain Takayama, please come over here.
-
This is Captain Takayama Yukio.
-
He can explain better
-
because he is the one
who led the men on the front line.
-
(Applause)
-
Captain Takayama,
-
what was the hardest thing
at that time for you?
-
Takayama: As you said,
it was tough to execute the mission
-
while securing the safety
of our men at the same time.
-
It was obviously dangerous,
but we couldn't run away.
-
Maintaining this balance
of executing the mission
-
and keeping my men's safety
was very tough for me.
-
Yasuo Sato: How did you know
the pumping of water was successful
-
when you finished at 00:30 a.m.?
-
Takayama: After I gave the order
to start pumping water,
-
the moment I saw water
gushing out of the hose,
-
it looked as if it were from heaven:
the water from God.
-
We all felt full of excitement,
and thrusted our fists into the air.
-
YS: In fact I wanted
all three of us at this press conference
-
to be on this stage today
as a special surprise for you.
-
(Applause)
-
However, Captain Tomioka,
on the left side of the picture,
-
he is now in Spain.
-
Prince of Asturias in Spain gave us
Prince of Asturias Concord Prize
-
for our brave achievement,
so Captain Tomioka went there
-
to attend the ceremony yesterday.
-
(Applause)
-
Thank you.
-
(Applause)
-
Since I couldn't bring all three of us,
I have prepared another special surprise.
-
Please, come in.
-
(Applause)
-
I have just told you that we
extended 100-kg hose in the dark.
-
This outfit is 25-kg itself.
-
So the firefighters had to extend
a 100-kg hose in this 25-kg outfit.
-
Thank you for this trouble.
-
You can take off your mask.
-
Let me introduce to you,
-
our firefighter, Kei Mishima.
-
(Applause)
-
Thank you.
-
You should wait to applause
till you hear this story, though.
-
(Laughter)
-
He is the man who manipulated
-
the water tower truck
with the elevating squirt at Reator 3.
-
(Applause)
-
He operated it in the dark, pouring water
50 meters away and 30 meters high.
-
(Applause)
-
He had a 1-year-old daughter this March.
-
And another daughter
was newly born on September 22nd.
-
That means when he was assigned
to the mission in March,
-
he had an infant child, and his wife
was expecting the second child.
-
Despite this fact, he decided to go.
-
His spirit as a firefighter
really moved me.
-
(Applause)
-
As I said, we are well-equipped
-
and well-trained;
we closely share information.
-
But these are not the only factors
-
that help us to be brave enough
to go into such life-and-death situations.
-
As I have just mentioned
the family of Mr. Mishima,
-
it is our family love that matters
and supports us most.
-
When I told my wife that the project
had been successfully off the ground,
-
Her response, as some of you
might have heard in the press conference,
-
was an email from her, saying,
-
"Please be a savior of Japan."
-
This empowered me
and gave me the support I needed.
-
It has been 60 years
-
since the Tokyo Fire Department
was established.
-
It was the first time in its history
-
that the guard manager rushed
to the scene as the chief commander.
-
It will probably never happen again.
-
So, why did I go?
-
As this is not a press conference now
I can be honest with you.
-
I didn't go there
to take command of the team.
-
The Fire Commissioner and I
discussed it, and I decided to go.
-
Captain Takayama is better
at taking command than I am.
-
My first purpose to go there
was to secure the safety of our men.
-
The second purpose
was to make final decisions
-
in a rapidly change situation
that could be fatal any time.
-
And the third was
-
to take responsibility.
-
The situation was so severe
-
that I thought that half of them
would not be able to return home.
-
I am so happy to have been able to send
every one of them home to their families.
-
(Applause)
-
This mission in Fukushima
was just one example
-
of our operations in firefighting.
-
During the disaster
of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake,
-
over 27,000 emergency response fire teams
from all over Japan,
-
and over 100,000
of emergency rescue team members
-
rushed to the afflicted Tohoku areas.
-
And we received offers of aid
-
from 197 different countries, regions
and institutions all over the world.
-
Having been through disasters,
I keenly feel
-
that the development
of civilization and culture
-
has been made possible
by the ties between people.
-
Now, the Tohoku region is doing
its best in the process of recovery,
-
and everybody is working together
to overcome the hardship.
-
Will you support them hand in hand, too?
-
(Applause)
-
I believe that the human race
has been developing,
-
overcoming various difficult phases
with these human ties,
-
and I believe we can
recover from this disaster
-
as long as we get together.
-
Let's all hang in there!
-
Although it was a short time,
-
thank you for joining us
in the world of firefighters.
-
(Applause)
-
Thank you, Mr. Sato.
-
(Applause)
-
Host: Since Mr. Mishima is here,
let's ask him some questions.
-
How did you feel when you heard
-
that an operation order
came from the Prime Minister?
-
I imagine various thoughts
crossed your mind.
-
Will you tell us
about what you thought then?
-
Mishima: To be honest, I hadn't thought
that I wouldn't have a chance to go there
-
when I first saw the news
of the nuclear plant on TV.
-
When I learned that I was going,
I had mixed feelings of fear
-
and a sense of responsibility
that we had to succeed in this
-
even more so because it's something
nobody else had ever experienced before.
-
However, honestly,
I didn't know what to do.
-
Host: How did you tell your family?
-
I assume that the rest of your family
felt the same as you did.
-
Mishima: Well, all I knew
about nuclear accident was Chernobyl
-
and the further horrible cases
of the atomic bombs
-
at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
-
As mentioned before, my wife
was in the early stages of pregnancy,
-
and I didn't want her to lose our baby.
-
I couldn't trust myself to call her
and so sent her a casual sounding e-mail
-
as if I were heading for a pub
for a couple of beer,
-
like, "I need to go, because
we got an order from the Prime Minister."
-
And everybody responded, saying,
-
"Go! That's such a prestigious order."
-
I received an email from my wife, saying,
-
"You're a firefighter, so do your bit."
-
Sounds a bit bossy, doesn't it? (Laughter)
-
In reality it actually
was a really supportive push.
-
But when I was really focusing
on the mission ahead in pitch black,
-
my wife sent me an email, saying
"I am heading to bed," (Laughter)
-
which was kind of sad.
-
(Applause)
-
Host: Could you send out a message
to the 260 of great minds here,
-
and to the people watching this
over the Internet?
-
Mishima: Honestly, I was delighted
with the success of the mission.
-
I believe that we got over
the worst part of the crisis.
-
But unfortunately the situation
hasn't settled down yet,
-
and there are workers still working
in dangerous situations as of today.
-
The people affected by the tsunami
are quite far from full recovery,
-
so I can't feel happiness to the fullest.
-
But when the afflicted people tell me,
-
"Good work! You've given us
the courage to take a step forward."
-
That is the moment that I feel
that our mission was successful.
-
And one more thing.
-
Firefighters are not heroes.
-
We aren't invincible.
-
When I came home and held my daughter,
and saw my newborn baby,
-
they made me realize
how happy I was to have made it home.
-
Excuse me...
-
(Applause)
-
I think that you can't protect others
unless you can protect yourself.
-
That's what Captain Takayama says too.
-
But, if I see people calling for help
-
I will do my best to help them
even though it's way out of my ability,
-
so that they can appreciate
being back home just as I did.
-
Thank you very much.
-
(Applause)
-
Mr.Sato, Mr.Mishima and Mr.Takayama,
thank you very much.
-
(Applause)