A 500kg World War II bomb found near Paris disrupted rail travel, affecting Eurostar services. This is a reminder of unresolved ordnance from past wars; a Senate report estimates that significant numbers of WWII and WWI shells remain buried in France. Since 1945, massive mine-clearing efforts have neutralized munitions, but dangerous undetonated devices still pose risks. Incidents from such ordnance have occurred, although fatalities are rare. Current clearance efforts neutralize hundreds of tonnes of explosives yearly, focusing mainly on those from WWI, while remaining vigilant for WWII remnants.
According to a Senate report dating back to 2001, it is estimated that 'a quarter of the billion shells fired during the First World War and a tenth of the shells fired during the Second World War did not explode during these conflicts.'
Historian Olivier Saint-Hilaire noted, 'It is likely that hundreds of millions of war devices are still buried in our soil.'
Every year, 500 tonnes of munitions are neutralised by mine clearance services, with about 90 percent being bombs and explosives from the First World War.
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