Western Europe's largest nuclear power plant has shut down after a swarm of jellyfish clogged the plant's pumping systems. The plant is located at Gravelines in northern France. The energy company EDF said this, AFP news agency reported.
- This shutdown is the result of a massive and unforeseen presence of jellyfish in the pump stations' filter drums, EDF wrote on its website.
The pumps are used to cool the plant's reactors. The shutdown is temporary, and operations were automatically stopped after the jellyfish entered the systems.
Three reactors were automatically shut down late Sunday night, while a fourth was shut down Monday morning. The shutdown has "no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel or the environment," EDF wrote.
Staff at the nuclear power plant are working to get the plant back into operation. It is unclear how long it will take before the pumps are up and running again and the nuclear power plant can produce electricity.
The Gravelines nuclear power plant has six reactors. The two reactors that have not been closed due to jellyfish were already out of service for maintenance.
According to AFP, the plant is to be expanded towards 2040, when two new reactors are scheduled to be inaugurated. France is by far the largest producer of nuclear power within the EU. While the Gravelines nuclear power plant is the largest in Western Europe, it is the sixth largest nuclear power plant worldwide.
The largest nuclear power plant in all of Europe is located in Zaporizhia, Ukraine. The Zaporizhia plant has been occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Russian forces took over the plant in March 2022. The plant in Zaporizhia is not in operation.
/ritzau/
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