Jellyfish Shut Down French Nuclear Power Plant - NY Times [View all]

The Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in France, where four reactors were shut down by jellyfish. Credit...Philippe Huguen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Jellyfish Shut Down French Nuclear Power Plant

Four of the plant’s reactors shut down after swarms of jellyfish clogged its pumping stations. It isn’t the first time the creatures have thwarted nuclear plants.

New York Times | Claire Moses | Aug. 11, 2025

One of the largest nuclear power plants in Europe partially shut down this weekend, overwhelmed by a gooey and spineless foe: jellyfish.

The “massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish” forced three of the six reactors at the Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France to go offline just before midnight Sunday, according to EDF, the company that operates the plant. A fourth reactor shut down early Monday, the company said.

The jellyfish convened in the filter drums of pumping stations in the non-nuclear part of the facility, EDF said in the statement, adding that “they had no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment.”

The shuttering of the reactors was part of the power plant’s safety and protection systems, EDF said. The company said that workers were trying to restart the reactors safely. EDF did not immediately return a request for comment.

Nuclear plants often require large volumes of seawater to cool their reactors, said Erica Hendy, a professor of biogeochemical cycles at the University of Bristol in England...more
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/world/europe/jellyfish-nuclear-power-plant-france.html
Pas de PW
https://archive.is/qmHwy

CNN: Jellyfish taking over oceans, experts warn
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/jellyfish-taking-over-oceans