Jellyfish power French nuclear plant to close down

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A French nuclear plant briefly shut down on Monday resulting from a "large and unpredictable presence of jellyfish" in its filters, its operator mentioned.

The swarm clogged up the cooling system and precipitated 4 items on the Gravelines nuclear energy plant to robotically change off, vitality group EDF mentioned.

The positioning in northern France was shut after the incident, with its remaining two items already down for upkeep.

EDF mentioned there had been "no impression on the security of the services, the security of personnel, or the setting".

It added that the fish had been discovered "within the non-nuclear a part of the services".

"The plant groups are mobilised and are presently finishing up the mandatory diagnostics and interventions to have the ability to restart the manufacturing items safely," EDF mentioned in an announcement.

About 70% of France's electrical energy comes from nuclear vitality, based on the World Nuclear Affiliation (WNA), and Gravelines is without doubt one of the nation's largest energy crops.

Located between Dunkirk and Calais, its six items every produce 900 megawatts of energy.

It's cooled from a canal linked to the North Sea - the place a number of species of jellyfish are native and may be seen across the coast when the waters are heat.

In keeping with nuclear engineer Ronan Tanguy, the marine animals managed to slide by way of methods designed to maintain them out due to their "gelatinous" our bodies.

"They had been capable of evade the primary set of filters then get caught within the secondary drum system," he instructed the BBC.

Mr Tanguy, who works on the WNA, mentioned it will have created a blockage which lowered the quantity of water being drawn in, prompting the items to close down robotically as a precaution.

He confused that the incident was a "non-nuclear occasion" and extra a "nuisance" for the on-site staff to scrub up.

For native folks, there can be no impression on their security or how a lot vitality they might entry: "They would not understand it as any totally different to another shut-down of the system for upkeep."

Jellyfish have precipitated related issues at energy stations prior to now, together with on the Torness nuclear plant in 2011 and Sweden's Oskarshamn plant in 2013, however such circumstances are uncommon.

Jellyfish skilled Ruth Chamberlain mentioned the incident was unsurprising given the scorching temperatures western Europe has seen this summer time.

Not solely are jellyfish at their most lively within the hotter months, she mentioned, however scorching climate will increase plankton ranges on the water's floor, drawing the fish "up from the depths".

The marine biologist added that almost all jellyfish are "very weak swimmers", which means they'd have struggled to keep away from the plant's cooling system.