An influx of jellyfish in the filtration systems of the cooling water of the Gravelines nuclear power plant (North) led to the automatic stop of four reactors.
Four nuclear reactors of the Gravelines power station in the North stopped automatically on Sunday evening and Monday morning due to a influx of jellyfish in cooling water filtration systems, EDF announced on Monday morning. The North Sea has several species of jellyfish which often approach the ribs when the water temperature increases.
“These judgments are consecutive to the massive and non -predictable presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations, located in part non -nuclear of the facilities,” said EDF in a press release published this Monday morning, specifying that these judgments “did not have a consequence on the safety of the facilities, the safety of the staff or the environment”.
Two other maintenance reactors
Production units No. 2, n ° 3 and n ° 4 automatically stopped this Sunday evening between 11 p.m. and midnight, before production unit 6 automatically stops this Monday morning at 6:20 am.
“The central teams are mobilized and currently carrying out the diagnostics and interventions necessary to be able to restart the production units in complete safety,” specifies EDF.
Gravelines, one of the main power plants in France, is cooled thanks to pumped water in a channel connected to the North Sea. Its six pressurized water reactors produce 900 megawatts each, or 5.5 gigawatts in all. The entire power station is now temporarily stopped because the last two reactors (n ° 1 and n ° 5) are currently at the stop for maintenance.
