Nuclear: in Gravelines, the power plant shut down due to jellyfish

Four units at the Gravelines nuclear power plant (Nord) were shut down on Monday, August 11, due to the "massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish" in the pumping stations for the water used to cool the reactors, EDF announced.

These automatic shutdowns of units 2, 3, 4 and 6 "had no impact on the safety of the installations, the safety of personnel or the environment," EDF assured on its website. "These shutdowns are the result of the massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations, located in the non-nuclear part of the installations," explains the operator.

The plant is thus temporarily completely shut down, because its two other production units 1 and 5 are currently undergoing maintenance .

According to EDF, production units 2, 3 and 4 shut down automatically on Sunday between 11 p.m. and midnight, "in accordance with safety and protection measures," and "unit 6 shut down automatically in turn" on Monday at 6:20 a.m.

"The plant teams are mobilized and are currently carrying out the necessary diagnostics and interventions to be able to restart the production units safely," EDF added.

Located on the shores of the North Sea, Gravelines is the largest nuclear power plant in Western Europe, in terms of the number of reactors and its production capacity (6 pressurized water reactors of 900 megawatts each).

The plant is also due to accommodate two new generation reactors (EPR2) of 1,600 MW each by 2040.