France's largest nuclear power plant, Gravelines, urgently shut down three of its six energy units following a massive influx of jellyfish, RIA Novosti reported.
A swarm of jellyfish caused the automatic shutdown of the third and fourth power units at the facility. Operators manually turned off the second unit as a preventive measure and halved the output of the first unit.
Because the fifth unit was undergoing planned maintenance when the incident occurred, only the sixth reactor continued generating electricity. The event did not impact the safety of station equipment, staff, or the surrounding environment.
North Sea cooling water
Located in northern France, the Gravelines plant draws water from the North Sea to cool its reactors. This is not the first time jellyfish have entered the station, following a similar shutdown that occurred one year ago.
After the previous incident, experts attributed the problem to warming waters in the North Sea. Favorable conditions have allowed jellyfish populations to grow as they reproduce faster and over longer periods.
