TSMC confirms 'unexploded ordnance' removed from wafer fab construction site
(2024/11/14)
- Reference: 1731562155
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/11/14/tsmc_bomb_found_construction_site/
- Source link:
TSMC has confirmed that workers were evacuated from one of its construction sites in Taiwan after discovery of an unexploded bomb.
"Regarding the suspected unexploded ordnance discovered during excavation at TSMC's Kaohsiung site in the morning of Nov. 11, the relevant authorities have examined it and determined there are no safety concerns. The object has been removed, and construction at the site is ongoing and remains on schedule," TSMC told The Register.
The 227kg object was [1]reportedly found by a contractor at the Nanzih Technology Industrial Park in Kaohsiung – a 12-inch wafer plant the chipmaker is currently building.
[2]
A unit of the Taiwanese army was dispatched, construction workers sent to safety, and the corroded bomb removed. It is reportedly being stored in a warehouse.
[3]TSMC's US operations threatened with employee discrimination class action
[4]TSMC halts advanced chip shipments to Chinese AI companies
[5]Southeast Asian nations revise semiconductor strategies as Trump's shadow looms
[6]Beijing claims it's found 'underwater lighthouses' that its foes use for espionage
The prospect of TSMC's Taiwanese facilities being damaged or taken over is frequently the subject of [7]speculation by strategic geopolitics wonks.
This incident probably didn’t make it into their simulations or wargames, because the presence of the bomb is almost certainly related to the Japanese military's use of the site during World War II. The land also formerly served as a naptha cracking plant – a petrochemical process that breaks down complex hydrocarbons into simpler and more valuable chemicals such as ethylene and propylene.
[8]
Identifying the bomb was [9]reportedly made impossible by the illegibility of its serial number.
Other relics from WWII, including about 450kg of suspected unexploded ordnance remains, were [10]found at the construction site in August.
[11]
That discovery came just weeks after TSMC [12]broke ground at the facility. ®
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[1] https://money.udn.com/money/story/5612/8351466
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZzXYWTfmiQq7f-id6OCzyAAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/13/tsmc_usa_putative_employee_lawsuit/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/tsmc_chinese_ai_shipments/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/13/southeast_asian_nations_amend_semiconductor/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/30/china_seabed_surveillance_device_claims/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/09/hypothetical_tsmc_takeover_by_china/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZzXYWTfmiQq7f-id6OCzyAAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/unexploded-corroded-bomb-found-at-tsmc-construction-site-in-taiwan
[10] https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5925566
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZzXYWTfmiQq7f-id6OCzyAAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2022/08/08/2003783141
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
"Regarding the suspected unexploded ordnance discovered during excavation at TSMC's Kaohsiung site in the morning of Nov. 11, the relevant authorities have examined it and determined there are no safety concerns. The object has been removed, and construction at the site is ongoing and remains on schedule," TSMC told The Register.
The 227kg object was [1]reportedly found by a contractor at the Nanzih Technology Industrial Park in Kaohsiung – a 12-inch wafer plant the chipmaker is currently building.
[2]
A unit of the Taiwanese army was dispatched, construction workers sent to safety, and the corroded bomb removed. It is reportedly being stored in a warehouse.
[3]TSMC's US operations threatened with employee discrimination class action
[4]TSMC halts advanced chip shipments to Chinese AI companies
[5]Southeast Asian nations revise semiconductor strategies as Trump's shadow looms
[6]Beijing claims it's found 'underwater lighthouses' that its foes use for espionage
The prospect of TSMC's Taiwanese facilities being damaged or taken over is frequently the subject of [7]speculation by strategic geopolitics wonks.
This incident probably didn’t make it into their simulations or wargames, because the presence of the bomb is almost certainly related to the Japanese military's use of the site during World War II. The land also formerly served as a naptha cracking plant – a petrochemical process that breaks down complex hydrocarbons into simpler and more valuable chemicals such as ethylene and propylene.
[8]
Identifying the bomb was [9]reportedly made impossible by the illegibility of its serial number.
Other relics from WWII, including about 450kg of suspected unexploded ordnance remains, were [10]found at the construction site in August.
[11]
That discovery came just weeks after TSMC [12]broke ground at the facility. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://money.udn.com/money/story/5612/8351466
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZzXYWTfmiQq7f-id6OCzyAAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/13/tsmc_usa_putative_employee_lawsuit/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/tsmc_chinese_ai_shipments/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/13/southeast_asian_nations_amend_semiconductor/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/30/china_seabed_surveillance_device_claims/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/09/hypothetical_tsmc_takeover_by_china/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZzXYWTfmiQq7f-id6OCzyAAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/unexploded-corroded-bomb-found-at-tsmc-construction-site-in-taiwan
[10] https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5925566
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZzXYWTfmiQq7f-id6OCzyAAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2022/08/08/2003783141
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Dunno...
Andy The Hat
Same in Norfolk - loads of wartime airfields so lots of munitions either used on the airfields or dropped on them were in the ground. My father used to regularly come home from work and tell us what he had dug up that day - everything from small rounds to small bombs - which were usually blown up by the bomb squad to make big craters on one of our lovely sandy beaches.
Dunno...
Where I grew up this would make the local news. Barely. Unless you need to evacuate a bunch of people for a few hours, or removal was especially difficult.
I'm pretty sure it's the same in London, which the Luftwaffe bombed heavily (so glad we don't do that any more, both sides involved).
Close to a major city that was almost completely bombed to the ground. And what was left got torn down to make the city more car friendly in the 50s. We have those basically every other week, about bimonthly it makes the local news, on average. The husband of a friend works for a removal squad back home. Nerves of steel, and hopefully other parts as well, we are all grateful he is not a risk taker,not an adrenaline junkie.