In France, the reactor at the Golfech nuclear power plant was shut down again due to the heat wave
EDF announced the forced shutdown of Reactor No. 2 at the Golfech Nuclear Power Plant, located near Toulouse in southeastern France. The decision was made due to a rise in the water temperature of the Garonne River to 28°C, which, according to environmental standards, is the maximum permissible limit for bodies of water used to cool reactors.
Since the plant’s first reactor has been undergoing scheduled maintenance since May, operations at the entire plant have been temporarily suspended. At the same time, the operator Enedis warned of the risk of heat damage to electrical cables manufactured before 1981 and planned large-scale investments to adapt the grid to climate change by 2040.
This was reported by BFMTV.
Earlier, average nuclear power generation in France fell below 33 GW—the lowest level in the past nine months—due to the need to limit output at nuclear power plants. The reduction was caused by a critical rise in water temperatures in the rivers used to cool the reactors.
Paris has blamed the United States for part of the record-breaking heatwave in Europe.
