This nuclear plant shut down: You won’t believe what tiny sea creatures forced the power station to close
Jellyfish swarm shuts down reactors at French nuclear plant amid heatwave, highlighting climate-linked disruptions to energy infrastructure.
As Europe grapples with another major heatwave, sending temperatures soaring well above 100ºF, the warming climate is having some surprising consequences. Over the weekend, a nuclear power plant in Gravelines received an unexpected visitor: jellyfish.
Scientists are pointing to unusually warm ocean temperatures as the reason behind the swarm of jellyfish that made their way into the facility’s cooling system. The intrusion has taken the plant offline, according to CNN, which reviewed production data from EDF, the company operating the plant.
On August 11, EDF—owned by France and also operating in the United Kingdom—reported that late Sunday night, three production units were automatically shut down. A fourth unit followed after another was impacted by a “massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations, located in the non-nuclear part of the facilities.”
Since the intrusion, EDF teams have been working to restart production safely. So far, the company has stated that there has been “no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment.”
The shocking power of jellyfish
This is far from the first time jellyfish have disrupted power production. Though this is the first time the facility in Gravelines is facing the problem, the presence of jellyfish populations in the North Sea prompted researchers at the University of Bristol to create an early warning system to alert plants in the U.K. in 2016, says The Guardian.
Closures have also been seen in Sweden, Scotland, and China, where jellyfish made themselves into the cooling system at a coal plant.
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