Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co., Ltd. or Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is one of the world's largest quartzcrystal companies, based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.
2009 : Pressure vessel in USA plant exploded due to lack of inspections or maintenance on the unfounded presumption that the chemical reaction would form a protective anti-corrosion layer within the tank, killing a truck driver at a gas station across the street with flying debris. The blast blew out windows and crashed an 4-ton vessel fragment into a nearby automotive supply company, injuring 1. NDK's insurance carrier had repeatedly warned NDK that the pressure vessel was unsafe, including to the gas station where the fatality occurred, but NDK failed to take any safety measures.[1][2][3]
2010: Fined $510K by OSHA for safety violations.[4]
2015 : USA plant demolished, with no plans to rebuild.[5]
Nihon Dempa Kogyo has developed a prototype crystal-based disease detector which diagnoses disease from breath.[6] The system works by detecting trace amounts of odor-causing substances found in a person's breath.[7]
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NDK's Belvidere, Illinois facility was heavily damaged in 2009 when one of the crystal autoclaves ruptured violently, causing an explosion. The explosion scattered debris over a wide area, with a 7-foot support beam striking and killing Ronald Greenfield of Chesterfield, Indiana, who was refueling at a nearby truck stop. Debris also damaged a nearby automotive supply company, injuring one worker.[5][8] The rupture was in a crystal-growth autoclave that had undergone stress corrosion cracking and was inadequately inspected; recommendations from a previous incident were ignored. As a result, the autoclave became overstressed and failed completely.[9] After an investigation, OSHA fined NDK $510,000 for a history of ignoring safety recommendations.[4]
Demolition of the facility began in March 2015, with no plans to rebuild.[10]
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigated the incident and published a video titled "Falling Through the Cracks."
