Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co., Ltd. or NDK (日本電波工業株式会社, Nihon Dempa Kogyo Kabushiki-gaisha) is one of the world's largest quartzcrystal companies, based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.
2009 : Pressure vessel in USA plant ruptured, killing 1 bystander.[4][5]
2010: Fined $510K by OSHA for safety violations.[6]
2015 : USA plant demolished, with no plans to rebuild.[7]
Products
Crystal Clock Oscillator NDK TD308C/TD1100CCrystal Units
Crystal Oscillators
SPXO
TCXO
VCXO
OCXO
Crystal Filters
Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Devices
Optical Components
Synthetic Quartz Crystals
Ultrasonic Transducers
Frequency Synthesizers
Research and product development
Nihon Dempa Kogyo has developed a prototype crystal-based disease detector which diagnoses disease from breath.[8] The system works by detecting trace amounts of odor-causing substances found in a person's breath.[9]
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.[10][11] 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.[12] After an investigation, OSHA fined NDK $510,000 for a history of ignoring safety recommendations.[13]
Demolition of the facility began in March 2015, with no plans to rebuild.[14]
References
^"Profile". Nihon Dempa Kogyo. Retrieved May 16, 2019.