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Jellyfish Blockage Forces Shutdown of French Nuclear Units; Experts Say Shutdown Demonstrates Effectiveness of Safety Systems

France's Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant recently shut down some of its units again after large numbers of jellyfish entered the water intake system. On August 11, reactors 2, 3, and 4 at the plant were forced to shut down due to blockage in the seawater cooling pump system, reactor 1 was reduced to half power operation, reactor 5 was under maintenance at the time, and only reactor 6 continued normal operation. EDF (Électricité de France) stated that the incident had no impact on nuclear safety, personnel, or the environment, and the affected units would be restarted in phases. Located in northern France, the Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant is one of the largest nuclear power plants in Western Europe. Similar situations have occurred before. In the 20...

2026-08-13

International Team Determines Critical Safety Parameter Ranges for Magnetic Liquid Cooling Systems

South Ural State University (SUSU) recently announced that researchers from its Polytechnic Institute, in collaboration with colleagues from Moscow and Baghdad, have determined the safe and unsafe ranges of the Hartmann number and Brinkman number in magnetic liquid cooling systems. Based on this, they developed a computer program to optimize the operation of high-power heat exchangers in devices such as supercomputers and nuclear reactors. According to the introduction, this research focuses on two key parameters in magnetohydrodynamics: the Hartmann number characterizes the resistance exerted by a magnetic field on fluid motion, while the Brinkman number reflects the internal heat generated by the fluid due to viscous effects and electrical resistance. The researchers noted that under specific conditions, a strong magnetic field does not necessarily...

2026-08-13

Unit 2 of Romania's Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant to Operate for at Least 9 More Days

Unit 2 of Romania's Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant is expected to continue operating for at least 9 more days. Romania's Acting Minister of Defense and Transport, Radu Miruță, stated that after blasting operations and the removal of underwater obstacles in the Danube River, the water level in the Cernavoda area rose by 4 centimeters over the past 24 hours. The previous day, the water level in the area had dropped by 3 centimeters. Recently, due to persistent drought, the Danube River's water level has fallen to historic lows, putting pressure on the plant's water intake and reactor cooling. To increase water supply in the river section near the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, Romania last week implemented unconventional engineering measures, including blasting a rock formation in the Danube and sinking barges loaded with cargo to alter...

2026-08-10