Nuclear Plant Overwhelmed by Jellyfish Again

The second week in August is not a lucky one for one of France's biggest nuclear plants. On Monday, a mass of jellyfish clogged the seawater intake at the Gravelines facility on the North Sea for the second year in a row, forcing operator EDF to shut down reactors, Politico reports. EDF said "several dozen tons" of jellyfish jammed its cooling system. The Aug. 10 shutdown followed a closure caused by a jellyfish swarm on Aug. 11 last year. EDF said three reactors were completely shut down and a fourth was cut to 50% of capacity, reports Reuters. A fifth was already offline for maintenance, while a sixth remained fully operational.

EDF says crews are working to restart operations and that three fishing boats are patrolling around the clock to net jellyfish before they reach the plant. The company invested in cameras and preventive fishing after last year's shutdown. EDF said the vessels prevented a "massive influx of jellyfish" on Saturday and Sunday, but they were overwhelmed as the swarm grew on Monday. Scientists say jellyfish swarms are becoming more common due to factors including warming seas and overfishing of species that prey on or compete with them. Greenpeace France said the repeated disruption shows that "nuclear power plants are ill-equipped to deal with the consequences of climate change."