Here Comes The Sun

Walking into Steelmaking Plant No. 2 at Nippon Steel's massive Kimitsu Works near Tokyo is like entering a volcano. Insulated railway cars arrive every few minutes loaded with molten pig iron, which is poured into immense cauldrons, mixed with scrap metal, and reheated to 1500C. Flames shoot into the air, and the waste slag gurgling from Oxygen Furnace No. 1 flows like a river of fire. The result of each 25-minute inferno, says senior manager Tsutomu Tsunezumi, is 300 tons of pure liquid steel, which is shaped into the girders, plates, sheets and coils that are used as components in everything...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!