**Orlen Unipetrol’s Recently Restarted Litvinov Refinery Faces Flood Threat**
In the midst of recent flooding events in Central Europe, Orlen Unipetrol’s integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Litvinov, the Czech Republic, is under heightened vigilance. The complex, which operates at a 5.4-million tonne/year (tpy) capacity, is strategically prepared to implement essential crisis measures in response to the ongoing flood situation.
The severe weather event, caused by a low-pressure storm system named Boris, has been the worst to affect the region in nearly three decades. As of 3:00 p.m. local time on September 16, operations at the refining and petrochemical sites remained ongoing, despite the challenges posed by the flooding. Internal crisis teams are meticulously working to minimize negative impacts on the plants’ technologies, equipment, feedstocks, and finished production.
Moreover, Orlen Unipetrol is coordinating efforts to restore safe operation of at least nine Orlen gas stations across the Czech Republic that were closed due to the flooding situation. The company is taking a pro-active stance to ensure that both the production sites and the network of gas stations are safeguarded against potential environmental hazards.
The recent flooding has led to mass-flooding events and loss of life in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Romania, according to local media reports. This extraordinary weather event comes soon after Orlen Unipetrol successfully restarted the Litvinov refining and petrochemical operations following a brief shutdown. The shutdown was necessitated by the discovery and subsequent removal of an unexploded World War II bomb during excavation work in a remote part of the Chempark Záluží petrochemical complex.
The bomb, weighing approximately 230 kg and containing about 100 kg of explosives, posed significant risks due to its long-term chemical time igniter, which used acetone for delayed detonation. The neutralization process,