Jumping alarm: Gravelines nuclear power plant paralyzed due to crush!

Jumping alarm: Gravelines nuclear power plant paralyzed due to crush!

Gravelines, Frankreich - A swarm of jellyfish has paralyzed the French nuclear power plant Gravelines by clogging the cooling water filters of the power plant. The operating company Électricité de France (EDF) reported that three reactors were automatically shut down on Monday night, followed by another on Monday morning. This measure was necessary to ensure the safety of the system, since the remaining reactors were already switched off due to planned maintenance work. The entire power plant is therefore temporarily out of operation.

The incident occurred in the context of an impending heat wave that affects several nuclear power plants in France. In the coming days, a higher electricity requirement due to air conditioning systems and fans will be expected. At the same time, experts expect the temperature in the rivers to increase, which means that the systems can only be operated with reduced capacity. According to the information from EDF, the security standards of the system, which is around 20 kilometers east of Calais, have never been endangered.

technical measures and effects

technical teams are currently in use to clean the filters and restore the cooling water supply. Gravelines is one of the largest nuclear power plants in France with a total of six pressure water reactors. It uses water from a channel connected to the North Sea. The jellyfish who are responsible for the incident are at home in the North Sea and often occur near the coast in the warmer months.

The incident was taken up by various media, whereby everyone stated that the jellyfish was found in the filter drums of the cooling water pumping stations. The EDF explained that shutting down the reactors under these conditions only has a minimum effect on electricity production, with an average decline of 0.3 percent since 2000. On particularly hot days, the throttling can cost up to ten percent of the otherwise available performance in the French power grid.

In summary, the Gravelines nuclear power plant is currently quiet due to the plague of jellyfish and the increasing temperature risk. While the technicians accept the challenge, at the same time they have to keep an eye on the increasing demand for electricity, which is associated with the ongoing heat wave.