Jellyfish influx forces EDF to shut three reactors at Gravelines nuclear plant

A "mass influx of jellyfish" has brought two reactors at the Gravelines nuclear power plant to a halt.

EDF, which operates this nuclear power plant on the shores of the North Sea, has announced that generating units 3 and 4 were automatically shut down. The cause was jellyfish entering the plant's filtration system.

According to the company, the "situation has no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of staff or on the environment".

Already last year, four of its reactors were shut down for a similar reason. It took around ten days for all of them to be reconnected to the national grid.

Jellyfish are a regular seasonal presence along the northern French coastline. But reports of large shoals in this area every summer are becoming more frequent, partly due to climate change.