A new massive influx of jellyfish is disrupting operations at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in northern France. EDF preemptively shut down production unit number 3 on Wednesday around 16 p.m., after numerous animals were found in the filtration systems of the seawater pumping station.
This reactor had been reconnected to the grid on August 18, after an initial outage caused by a similar phenomenon. The power output of reactor number 2 was also reduced as a precaution. On Thursday, only units 1 and 6 were operating normally at this six-reactor plant.
Only two reactors are functioning normally
Reactor number 4 has been shut down since August 10, the date of the first massive jellyfish infestation that led to the shutdown of three units. Reactor number 5, meanwhile, is unavailable for scheduled maintenance.
The seasonal presence of jellyfish on the northern French coast is regular, but large concentrations are becoming more frequent. A similar event disrupted the Gravelines nuclear power plant in August 2025. Several factors could explain this trend, some of which are exacerbated by climate change and warming waters.
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