A swarm of jellyfish caused serious disruptions at one of France’s largest nuclear power plants, for the second time in a month.
The jellyfish entered the filters of the pump station at the Paluel nuclear power plant, the French national energy company EDF reported.
As a result of the incident, the plant’s output in Normandy decreased by 2.4 gigawatts, and crews are working to restore full operation.
In August, electricity production at another large nuclear facility in France was also interrupted by jellyfish, after a “massive and unpredictable” swarm forced the Gravelines plant to temporarily shut down.
This drop is nearly half of Paluel’s full capacity of 5.2 gigawatts, after one of its four reactors was shut down and a second reduced as a precautionary measure.
According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), nuclear power accounts for about 70% of energy consumption in France.
Paluel is one of France’s largest nuclear plants, with each of its four units producing over 1,300 megawatts of electricity.
In an EDF statement, it was reported that measures were taken at 9:00 PM local time (7:00 PM GMT) following the “appearance of jellyfish” in the plant’s non-nuclear filters.
The company added that its teams are “carrying out necessary diagnostics and interventions” to fully restore the operation of both reactors.