Animals
Whistle lame the largest French nuclear power plant
The Gravelines nuclear power plant in northern France is the largest in the country with six reactors. Now four blocks had to be switched off – because of marine animals.
Four reactor blocks from the largest French nuclear power plant in Graveline on the English Channel have been switched off in the water pump stations due to a swarm of jellyfish. There is a “massive and unpredictable” accumulation of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations, which are located in the non -nuclear part of the system, the operator said Électricité de France (EDF). First, according to the announcement on Sunday evening, three units were automatically switched off, the fourth in the early Monday morning. The security of the system, the employees or the environment is not at risk, it said.
With six pressurized water reactors, the power plant in Gravelines in northern France is the largest in the country, according to an EDF spokeswoman. Because maintenance work is currently being carried out on the other two units, according to the energy group, production is temporarily completely quiet.
Power supply not restricted
However, the group spokeswoman emphasized that the incident had no influence on the power supply. Other power plants could compensate for the failure, and electricity demand is less high in summer.
What kind of jellyfish it is currently being examined, the spokeswoman said. It was initially not clear when the reactor blocks could be raised again. According to the spokeswoman, this will probably happen gradually.
The incident is not the first of its kind: even in Sweden, jellyfish had already brought a nuclear reactor to a standstill.
dpa
Source: Stern
