How Jellyfish Forced a Shutdown at a French Nuclear Plant — An Unlikely Clash Between Nature and Technology

LILLE, France, Aug 12 — A nuclear power plant in northern France was temporarily shut down yesterday after a swarm of jellyfish blocked the pumps used to cool its reactors, operator EDF said.

According to EDF’s website, the automatic shutdown of four reactors at the Gravelines plant “had no impact on the safety of the facilities, personnel, or the environment.”

The shutdown was triggered by “the massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations,” the company explained.

Following the incident, the entire site went offline, with its two other reactors already out of service for maintenance. Inspections are now underway, and EDF expects to restart the units “in complete safety” by Thursday.

“There is no risk of a power shortage,” the company assured, noting that alternative energy sources, including solar power, remain in operation.

Gravelines, the largest nuclear facility in Western Europe, has six reactors, each producing 900 megawatts. Two next-generation reactors, each with a capacity of 1,600 megawatts, are planned to come online by 2040.

While rare, jellyfish-related shutdowns have occurred before. EDF said the last such disruption to its operations was in the 1990s. Similar incidents abroad include a three-day closure in Sweden in 2013 and a 1999 case in Japan that significantly reduced output.

Experts point to overfishing, plastic pollution, and climate change as factors enabling jellyfish populations to expand and multiply. — AFP