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- Ensuring safety against fires in overcrowded urban areas
- In recent years, there have been numerous disasters on a scale and of a variety never experienced before, including the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the subway arson fire in Daegu, Korea. We are conducting research on predicting the development of fire, spread of smoke and the concentration of toxic gas in underground facilities on fire in an attempt to strongly support firefighting, rescue and evacuation efforts. Research is also being carried out on protective clothing for firefighters that utilizes nanotechnology to improve the safety of fire fighters and their ability to perform firefighting activities. In addition, effort is being put into elucidating the phenomena of fire whirls, which can occur during widespread urban fire such as the Great Hanshin Earthquake disaster.
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- Fire, smoke and toxic gas simulations in special indoor spaces where firefighting is difficult.
- Creation of a flammability test database.
- Elucidating the phenomena of whirlwinds and fire whirls in urban fires.
- Research on protective clothing for firefighters using nanotechnology.
- Preventing and extinguishing chemical fires and explosions
- The Fire Service Law defines substances that easily ignite, such as gasoline and kerosene, and substances that are difficult to extinguish, such as those that once ignited cause flames to spread rapidly, as hazardous materials. A variety of safety measures have traditionally been taken to control such substances. However, with the advances being made in scientific technologies and the development of efforts to solve environmental issues, we are seeing the emergence of recycled resources and new industrial materials that are not fully understood in terms of their potential to cause fires and explosions. These new materials must be added to the growing list of those considered hazardous. We are conducting R&D, including efforts to elucidate the hazards of new materials, and are establishing new firefighting technologies, in an effort to ensure an even safer society.
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- Risk assessment research on hazardous materials.
- Risk assessment for waste and waste treatment facilities.
- Elucidating the nature of oil tank fires and finding effective methods to extinguish them.
- Research on gaseous fire suppressants.
- Protecting oil tanks against earthquake disasters and age-related deterioration
- In our earthquake-prone country of Japan, oil tanks have been damaged by earthquakes on numerous occasions. Furthermore, coastal areas where great numbers of oil tanks are located have harsh environments that are conducive to the corrosion of steel tanks. In recent years, there has been an upward trend in accidents involving oil leaks caused by tank corrosion. In an effort to enhance the safety of oil tanks, we are conducting research on estimating the damage to the main body of oil tanks and their floating roofs immediately after an earthquake to be able to respond to emergency situations. We are also conducting research on the diagnosis of age-related deterioration of oil tanks.
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- Diagnosis of corrosion at the bottom of oil tanks.
- Understanding how "floating roofs" shake during earthquakes.
- Predicting long-period strong ground motions.
- Estimating tank damage based on information on shaking at oil tank sites.
- Firefighting and disaster prevention in the case of large-scale natural disasters
- There are numerous locations throughout Japan that may very well experience a large M-8-class earthquake in the near future. For instance, if earthquakes were to strike simultaneously in the Tokai, Tonankai, and Nankai regions, it is estimated there would be 27,000 casualties and economic losses of some 94 trillion yen. Japan, a highly precipitous nation, is prone to flooding and landslide disasters during heavy rain. Such disasters claim many lives each year. Needless to say, firefighting and disaster prevention efforts are crucial to protecting lives and property from such natural disasters. We are conducting R&D on effective firefighting and disaster prevention efforts to be carried out in case of large-scale natural disasters, such as earthquakes.
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- Optimum operation of fire brigades against many simultaneous post-earthquake fires.
- Communication and information sharing efficiency between fire brigades at disaster sites.
- Support for search and rescue efforts at landslide disaster sites .
- Accurate and thorough dissemination of disaster information.
- Supporting decision-maker in local governments for responding to disasters.
- Ensuring safety against special disasters
- Firefighters' lives have been sacrificed by "special disasters," including the subway sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, the criticality accident at the JCO uranium processing plant, and the fire at the refused-derived fuel (RDF) plant in Mie Prefecture. Firefighters must rush to emergency situations, including fires and disasters that are unprecedented or unfamiliar, to prevent further damage and casualties, control fires as soon as possible, and engage in rescue efforts. Developing technology that can protect firefighters and aid effective firefighting efforts is indispensable for reducing the damage inflicted by special types of disasters. We are developing techniques for comprehending the state of damage in a disaster hit area before firefighting begins and are conducting research on establishing advanced extinguishing technology in the event of special types of disasters. We are also developing firefighting support robots, and rescue equipment and materials to ensure the safety of firefighters, and reduce the burden on them.
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- Establishing firefighting technology at nuclear power plants.
- Explosion countermeasures at recycling plants.
- Developing robot technology and rescue equipment that supports firefighting efforts.
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