France's nuclear power plants experienced an unprecedented level of unavailability on Sunday due to drought and high temperatures. According to calculations based on data published by EDF since 2015, 15,6% of installed nuclear capacity was unavailable during the afternoon.
Nuclear power plants use large quantities of water for cooling. When river temperatures rise or flow rates fall, EDF must reduce the output of some reactors to comply with environmental limits governing the discharge of hot water into the environment.
Twelve reactors affected in July
The summer of 2026 also set a record for the number of reactors simultaneously affected by these constraints. During the night of July 14-15, nine units had to reduce their power output while three others were shut down completely.
The Chooz 2, Golfech 2, and Bugey 3 reactors were among the facilities shut down. EDF presents these restrictions as unavailability caused by environmental constraints or external environmental factors, in a context of repeated heat waves and drought.
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