The saviors safely returned home from Fukushima Mission | Yasuo Sato | TEDxSeeds

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

Six days after the explosion at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, the Tokyo Fire Department Hyper Rescue Team, led by Mr. Yasuo Sato, fulfilled one of the most dangerous missions in history. In his talk, we learn that the love from their families was what encouraged and empowered him and his team members and led to their determination to complete the mission.

Sato conveys with affection and conviction that, just as mankind has overcome numerous difficulties in the past, no crisis cannot be overcome as long as bonds exist between people.

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,

but 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.

We evaluated the upper limits to set
with professionals of the nuclear field.

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 precess 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 he told me that 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.

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.

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)

Mishima: 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 herl 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 funny.

(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.

(Applause)

Mr.Sato, Mr.Mishima and Mr.Takayama,
thank you very much.

(Applause)