The pyrotechnicians of the Police of the Czech Republic, together with the Fire and Rescue Service, successfully neutralised an unexploded air-dropped bomb from World War II found during excavation work on the premises of ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s chemical plant in Záluží near Litvínov on Wednesday, 21 August 2024. In the remote part of Chempark Litvínov, the experts exploded a bomb type they had not yet encountered in modern Czech history.

The 230 kg bomb contained about 100 kg of explosives. It was extremely hazardous due to its long-term chemical time igniter with acetone used for delayed explosions. This complex bomb’s neutralisation lasted ten days and required an immediate shutdown of Litvínov Refinery’s operations and extensive restrictions around the chemical site.

“I want to express my deep respect to all people concerned for their enormous commitment and a perfect and professional approach,” said Mariusz Wnuk, chairman of the board of directors of ORLEN Unipetrol. He added: “We want to thank the Police of the Czech Republic, the Fire and Rescue Service, and all other parts of the Integrated Rescue System. We want to thank all state administration and municipal representatives, institutions and business partners in Czechia and abroad. I also want to thank all our employees in Czechia and within the international ORLEN Group. Together, we have successfully and safely overcome an unprecedented and exceptionally hazardous situation.”

ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s Litvínov Refinery stopped producing fuels due to the forced production shutdown. Therefore, ORLEN Unipetrol asked to loan fuels from the state’s material reserves. “Also, we want to thank the Czech government, the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Administration of State Material Reserves for their forthcoming approach towards the option to loan fuels. With this assistance and increased fuel imports from abroad within the ORLEN Group, we can ensure sufficient fuel volumes in the Czech market even with the forced refinery shutdown,” Wnuk added.

Both the production and traffic on adjacent roads, tramways, and railway tracks, as well as tourist and cycle paths around the production site, were restricted due to the preparations for the bomb’s neutralisation in the past two weeks and the actual neutralisation. “We also want to extend big thanks to the people living near the production premises for observing safety and security instructions with which we have repeatedly made their lives unpleasant in recent days. We want to apologise for any inconvenience and thank them once again. Thanks to their compliance with the extraordinary measures, there were no incidents and injuries during the procedure lasting several days,” Wnuk said.

ORLEN Unipetrol technicians and engineers, in cooperation with all relevant specialists, currently monitor and assess the impacts of the controlled explosion on production technologies and infrastructure of the Litvínov site. “Our employees’ safety and security are a top priority for us. Therefore, we take an extraordinarily responsible approach to analysing the consequences of the bomb’s neutralisation. Once we have verified the state of all the technologies and we are really sure that we can safely resume production, we will proceed with the gradual restoration of production. We expect that after such a large-scale shutdown of all production units, it will take at least a few days," concluded Wnuk.