France Halted the Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant Due to Jellyfish Invasion: What Happened

On Sunday evening, August 10, between 11:00 PM and midnight, units No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 were automatically stopped, and on Monday morning, August 11, at 6:20 AM, unit No. 6 was also halted. The cause was a large number of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations located in the non-nuclear part of the facility.

In France, the operation of all reactor units at the 'Gravelines' nuclear power plant was temporarily halted due to the mass appearance of jellyfish in the water supply system. This was reported by 'Gromadske' citing the operator company EDF.

Another two units, No. 1 and No. 5, were undergoing scheduled maintenance, so as a result, the operation of the entire nuclear power plant was suspended. The company assured that the incident posed no threat to the safety of the plant, personnel, or the environment. Repair crews have currently been mobilized to conduct diagnostics and work for the safe restart of the reactor units.

It should be noted that the 'Gravelines' nuclear power plant is located in northern France, on the coast of the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, between Calais and Dunkirk. It is the fifth largest nuclear power plant in the world, the second in Europe after the Zaporizhia NPP, and the largest in Western Europe.

The 'Gravelines' nuclear power plant is the largest nuclear station in Western Europe.

The operation of all reactor units at the 'Gravelines' nuclear power plant in France was suspended due to a mass appearance of jellyfish in the water supply system for maintenance work and safe restart. The incident does not threaten the safety of the plant but caused temporary inconveniences in its operation.