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The "Great Giraffe" rushed to the aid of the Fukushima nuclear power plant

2011.03.11

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake struck the waters of northeastern Japan, resulting in an explosion and nuclear leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Drawing on the experience of the former Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear power plant nuclear leak rescue, the Japanese used pump trucks to inject water to cool down nuclear reactors, and they quickly started to find the world's most reliable and ultra-long boom pump truck rescue procedure, and finally targeted the long boom pump truck of China Sany Heavy Industry.

On March 19, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company sent a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Japan and Sany Heavy Industry, requesting Sany Heavy Industry to support one unit62m concrete pump truckto inject water into Unit 1 to cool down. Sany responded immediately, and Chairman Liang Wengen said that Sany can provide the required equipment free of charge and is willing to provide all-round support.

At that time, Sany Heavy Industry happened to have a 62-meter pump truck temporarily stored by a customer in the Middle East due to the delay in the construction period. Through urgent negotiations, the Middle East customer was willing to cede the pump truck to TEPCO.

On the afternoon of March 19, the 62-meter pump truck worth US$1 million set off from Changsha and went straight to Shanghai Port. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, the Red Cross, the Shanghai police and the customs provided all the convenience that could be provided for this rescue pump truck.

On March 24, at about 9 a.m. Japan time, after more than 40 hours of sailing, the "Suzhou" passenger ship carrying the Sany rescue pump truck arrived at Osaka Port. The pump truck almost drove directly out of the port from the ship, and all the cumbersome customs clearance procedures in the past were eliminated. It turned out that in order to let the pump truck drive to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as soon as possible, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism planned the driving route in advance, and the police car opened the road to escort it.

On the evening of the 24th, the pump truck arrived in Chiba Prefecture. Four Sany engineers and nine Japanese nuclear power plant workers are already waiting.

On the 31st, the 62-meter pump truck began to fill Unit 1 with water, and the temperature of the reactor dropped significantly. Japanese rescuers, Japanese media and the public nicknamed the pump truck "Big Giraffe".

Sany's 62-meter pump truck rushed to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which caused great repercussions in Japan, and the Japanese government and people expressed their gratitude in different ways.

On April 1, Uichiro Niwa, Japanese ambassador to China, sent a letter to Liang Wengen, chairman of Sany Heavy Industry, expressing his gratitude to Sany for its assistance on behalf of the Japanese government. The following year, Uichiro Niwa visited Sany Heavy Industries and expressed his gratitude again, saying, "Sany Heavy Industries' support has inspired the Japanese people."

On October 25, Tang Jiaxuan, former Chinese state councilor and president of the China-Japan Friendship Association, visited Sany and highly affirmed Sany's participation in the rescue of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, saying that Sany "has done a great good thing for the country", and said that the Fukushima rescue of Sany pump truck was personally praised by then Premier Wen Jiabao.

At that time, some foreign media reported that China quickly sent a new "weapon" for disaster relief to Japan, which not only demonstrated the great power of China's manufacturing, but also demonstrated the sincerity and efforts to improve relations between the two countries. This is also the first time that Japan, as a manufacturing powerhouse, has sought support from China since the rise of Japan's manufacturing industry after World War II.

It is worth mentioning that there were only two pump trucks involved in the rescue at that time, one was the Sany 62-meter pump truck and the other was the German elephant pump truck, and its manufacturer, the German Putzmeister, became a member of the Sany family a year later.