A military unexploded ordnance team removed a 1,000-pound bomb uncovered during site preparation at a former oil refinery in Kaohsiung City, yesterday, August 26.
Workers discovered the bomb while excavating the site in preparation for construction of a new TSMC factory in the Nanzi Science Park at around 8:30 am. The Kaohsiung City Public Works Bureau immediately notified the police and military.
Military personnel examined the bomb and judged that it was incomplete and missing the fuse. It was determined that the bomb was not an explosion risk, and it was removed to an ammunition storage depot in Zuoying District for storage and eventual destruction.
Military unexploded ordnance personnel determined that the bomb was a AN/M65 1,000-pound aerial bomb of US origin, and was likely dropped by the US Air Force in a bombing raid during World War Two. At the time, the site was a fuel refinery operated by the Japanese.
After World War Two, the Republic of China Nationalist government took control of Taiwan, and the site became a CNPC oil refinery.
The site is currently being redeveloped to house a TSMC fab to produce 2-nanometer chips.
According to the National Museum of The United States Air Force, the M65 1,000-pound general purpose (GP) bomb was typically used against reinforced targets like dams and concrete or steel railroad bridges.
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