Space Industry and Business News
CIVIL NUCLEAR
Jellyfish force French nuclear plant shutdown
Jellyfish force French nuclear plant shutdown
by AFP Staff Writers
Lille, France (AFP) Aug 11, 2025

A nuclear plant in northern France was temporarily shut down on Monday after a swarm of jellyfish clogged pumps used to cool the reactors, energy group EDF said.

The automatic shutdowns of four units "had no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment", EDF said on its website.

"These shutdowns are the result of the massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations," the Gravelines plant operator said.

The site was fully shut after the incident, with its two other units already offline for maintenance.

Teams were carrying out inspections to restart the production units "in complete safety", EDF said, adding the units were expected to restart on Thursday.

"There is no risk of a power shortage," the company added, saying other energy sources, including solar power, were operational.

Gravelines is Western Europe's largest nuclear power plant with six reactors, each with the capacity to produce 900 megawatts.

The site is due to open two next-generation reactors, each with a capacity of 1,600 megawatts, by 2040.

This is not the first time jellyfish have shut down a nuclear facility, though EDF said such incidents were "quite rare", adding the last impact on its operations was in the 1990s.

There have been cases of plants in other countries shutting down due to jellyfish invasions, notably a three-day closure in Sweden in 2013 and a 1999 incident in Japan that caused a major drop in output.

Experts say overfishing, plastic pollution and climate change have created conditions allowing jellyfish to thrive and reproduce.

Related Links
Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
CIVIL NUCLEAR
Diatoms shown to absorb and store uranium inside cells
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Aug 08, 2025
Uranium, a toxic heavy metal, is present in soils, dissolves in mining water, and can enter farmland via phosphate fertilizers. In Germany, it is especially prevalent in Saxony and Thuringia, though also found in the south. Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), collaborating with French scientists, have clarified how uranium chemically interacts with diatoms, a key phytoplankton group. The findings enhance understanding of uranium's impact on ecological cycles. "Naturally occ ... read more

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Scientists find new quantum behavior in unusual superconducting material

China's Tencent posts strong Q2 revenue growth as AI race heats up

Breakthrough smart plastic: Self-healing, shape-shifting, and stronger than steel

Cannabis leaves yield rare flavoalkaloids with pharmaceutical promise

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Space Force taps five firms to develop secure global tactical satcom solutions

SES Secures 5 Year Army Contract for Global Tactical Satellite Communications

SES and Luxembourg to expand military satcom with next generation GovSat2

GovSat selects Thales Alenia Space to build secure satellite for military communications

CIVIL NUCLEAR
CIVIL NUCLEAR
Bridges gain new voice through real time GNSS monitoring of structural behavior

Galileo enhances security edge with new authentication service led by GMV

ESA and Neuraspace develop autonomous satellite navigation technologies

Bogong moths rely on stars and magnetic fields to guide epic migrations

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Striking Boeing defense workers turn to US Congress

Japan deploys first F-35B stealth fighter jet

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific unveils deal to buy 14 Boeing jets

Two Ghana ministers killed in helicopter crash

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Quantum scientists shrink hardware demands with breakthrough error correcting gate

The semiconductors costing Nvidia, AMD dearly

Caltech scientists use sound to remember quantum information

Spinning up new flexible material for self-powered wearable sensors

CIVIL NUCLEAR
SMOS mission reveals 15-year global forest carbon storage trends

Astronomy tools adapted to monitor greenhouse gases from starlight

Earth's magnetic field could form even with a fully liquid core

Weather-tracking advances are revealing astonishing extremes of lightning

CIVIL NUCLEAR
EU ready to do plastic pollution deal 'but not at any cost'

China the world's biggest plastic producer

Zambia rejects claims of toxins after Feb mine spill; Over 600 pilgrims sick from Iraq chlorine gas leak

Talks for landmark plastic pollution treaty grind on

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.