France shuts down nuclear reactors in heatwave precaution

Production halts and reductions at France’s 57 reactors are intended to meet environmental obligations designed to protect plant and animal life in the waterways used to cool nuclear facilities.

During heatwaves, rising river temperatures can force EDF to reduce or even cut production to not warm them further with discharges of cooling water, which is anywhere from a few tenths of a degree to several degrees warmer, depending on the site.

France has been hit hard by a deadly record-breaking heatwave sweeping Europe.

EDF had already shut down a reactor at the Golfech plant in southwestern France on the Garonne river on Monday and has reduced output at other sites.

Nuclear power stations produced almost 70 per cent of France’s electricity last year.

French grid operator RTE told AFP on Wednesday that “France has sufficient generation capacity to meet electricity demand, including in the event of outages at certain production facilities”.