Europe's second-largest nuclear power plant shuts down due to jellyfish infestation

The Gravelines nuclear power plant in France has shut down due to jellyfish infestation in the non-nuclear equipment of the facility.

The French state-owned electricity company Électricité de France (EDF) reported this today, August 11.

The automatic shutdown of three power units of the Gravelin NPP occurred on Sunday, August 10. The reason for this was a large number of jellyfish. They got into the filter drum pumps.

As a result, the reactor's safety and protection systems were triggered. Power units No. 2, 3 and 4 stopped between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. local time. Power unit No. 6 also automatically stopped working on August 11 at 6:20 a.m. local time.

It is noted that power units No. 1 and 5 were stopped earlier for maintenance.

EDF stressed that the jellyfish did not affect the safety of the facility, personnel or the environment.

The Gravelines NPP is located in northern France in the Nord department. The station is the second largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on August 8, the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant officially started in Kazakhstan.

As we will recall, at the end of May this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP depends on only one power transmission line. Before the russian invasion, there were ten of them.