TJ Rodgers is a arrogant fool. His performance at the last annual meeting was ridiculous. He should be replaced.
But more to the point, I saw this article about a plant explosion. Does this effect WFR in anyway? Did it interrupt poly silicon to MEMC or it's competitors?
Regards,
Mark
Explosion, Fire At ASiMI Plant
By Jeff Dorsch
Moses Lake, Wash.--An explosion and fire at a polycrystalline silicon manufacturing plant late Thursday night injured six employees of Advanced Silicon Materials, Inc. (ASiMI), and spewed a cloud of toxic chemicals. Four of the injured employees were transferred to a hospital in Seattle, with three of the injured reported in critical condition, and one in serious condition.
Local authorities ordered residents within one mile of the factory to stay indoors Thursday night after the vapor cloud was released from the plant, which is about six miles east of Moses Lake, in east-central Washington state; there was no evacuation. The order to stay indoors was lifted Friday morning.
The incident raised anew an ongoing debate about safety in the semiconductor industry, particularly with the highly toxic process chemicals used in making semiconductor materials and in device manufacturing itself. Fabs in Silicon Valley have contaminated groundwater supplies, which according to residents and activists has led to illnesses, tumors and miscarriages. Some 100 present and former employees of IBM are plaintiffs in a lawsuit to be heard in Westchester County Supreme Court in New York state, claiming health problems from the solvents they used in making chips for IBM at a number of different fabs (EN, Aug. 25, 1997).
Health concerns about process chemicals in semiconductor manufacturing are now being voiced by chip-making workers in Scotland's "Silicon Glen," home of fabs operated by Motorola, National Semiconductor, Seagate Technology and others. Just last week, National set plans to close its Fab 1 in Greenock, Scotland, and Seagate said it will sell or close its Seagate Microelectronics Ltd. fab in Livingston, Scotland. Although both announcements closely followed an article in the Wall Street Journal detailing safety problems in Silicon Glen, business concerns were cited by both companies for their decisions.
National's Fab 1 uses 100-millimeter (four-inch) wafers, and it will consolidate its Scottish manufacturing into the 150mm (six-inch) Fab 3 in Greenock, while Seagate's small captive fab in Livingston dates back to 1987 and would require expensive upgrading to bring it up to more advanced manufacturing requirements, and the American parent company doesn't see chip making as strategic to its interests any longer.
Although the episode in Moses Lake posed serious consequences for the four employees of Advanced Silicon Materials, the semiconductor industry considers itself highly dedicated to safe working conditions. While Taiwan was the scene of two substantial fab fires in recent years, and one worker was killed in the explosion at the Sumitomo Chemical Co. epoxy resin plant in Niihama, Japan, in 1993, these are considered to be isolated incidents in the history of the industry.
"The industry as a whole has a high safety record," said Amy Bordeaux, manager of the environmental, safety and health (ESH) division at Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International (SEMI), an industry group headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks the semiconductor industry as the sixth safest among manufacturers of durable goods, she added.
In addition, government authorities in Washington State and in the Pacific Northwest in general are "very safety conscious and conscientious," Ms. Bordeaux said.
Chemical Group Imvolved
SEMI's work in industry safety issues has largely centered on safety standards for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. For process chemicals, the group has deferred to the Chemical Manufacturers Association, an organization that has developed a "Responsible Care" safety program with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to Ms. Bordeaux.
Advanced Silicon Materials, a subsidiary of Japan's Komatsu Electronic Metals Co. Ltd. (KEM), said Friday that the episode began Thursday night when "a pipe ruptured...at 10:34 p.m., causing an explosion and fire. The fire was extinguished immediately. However, process chemicals including hydrogen, silicon tetrachloride and trichlorosilane were released.
"As a result, a vapor cloud drifted north from the plant site. No hazardous materials were detected beyond plant boundaries. The on-site emergency squad responded within minutes, as did Grant County emergency response personnel. All appropriate notifications to local, state and federal agencies were made. The situation was under control by 11:25 p.m."
Corrosive And Toxic
Ms. Bordeaux of SEMI said silicon tetrachloride is "corrosive" and "toxic," and is especially hazardous to people if it is breathed into the lungs.
The four employees injured by the toxic gases were initially transported to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, and then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Two employees involved in the emergency response were taken to Samaritan Hospital, where they were treated and released, according to Advanced Silicon Materials.
"There was no exposure to hazardous materials in the surrounding community and no injuries have been reported from outside the plant," the company stated. "The affected portion of the plant has been shut down and will remain that way until a full investigation is done and appropriate repairs are made."
The Moses Lake plant was originally built by Union Carbide Corp. and was sold to Komatsu Electronic Metals in 1990 when Union Carbide got out of the polysilicon business. The plant was expanded two years ago, increasing its annual capacity to 2,100 metric tons from 1,200 metric tons, in the wake of the industry's polysilicon shortage (EN, The Antenna, Feb. 19, 1996).
Advanced Silicon Materials also expanded its poly-making capacity in 1996 by putting up a $250 million plant near Butte, Mont.
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