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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/11/swarm-of-jellyfish-shuts-nuclear-power-plant-in-france>
"A swarm of jellyfish has forced the shutdown of one of the largest nuclear
power plants in France after entering the water intake systems used to cool the
coastal reactors.
Three reactors at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in northern France shut
down automatically late on Sunday, according to the French nuclear company EDF,
after the filter drums of the pumping stations became packed with a “massive
and unpredictable” swarm of the marine creatures.
The entire nuclear plant, capable of powering about 5m homes, was brought
offline when a fourth reactor shut down shortly after the free-swimming
invertebrates jammed the power plant, which had already lost its two other
reactors for planned summer maintenance work.
EDF, which is owned by the French state, said the event did not affect the
safety of the facilities, staff or the environment. There does not appear to be
any change to electricity exports from France to the UK.
The Gravelines plant draws water used in its cooling systems from a canal
connected to the North Sea, which is home to several native species of
jellyfish often seen around the shoreline in the summer when the waters are
warmer.
Jellyfish have a long history of derailing the normal operations of coastal
power plants, which tap the ocean for the vast amounts of cool water needed to
keep temperatures in check.
The repeated problems caused by unexpected jellyfish numbers prompted
scientists at the University of Bristol to develop an “early warning tool” to
predict the sudden, en masse appearance of jellyfish swarms that might disrupt
coastal power plants.
The Torness nuclear plant in Scotland, which is also owned by EDF, was forced
to shut for a week in 2021 after jellyfish clogged the seaweed filters on its
water intake pipes, a decade after jellyfish shut the plant for a week in 2011.
Jellyfish swarms have also closed nuclear and coal power plants in Sweden, the
US, Japan, and even caused a major blackout in the Philippines in 1999 that
some mistakenly feared was linked to the Y2K bug or a government coup."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
