Jellyfish halt British nuclear power station

Jul 01, 2011 |

London

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A nuclear power station in eastern Scotland had to shut down its reactors after ‘high volumes’ of jellyfish were found on its seawater filter screens, the operating company said on Thursday.

"Both units at Torness power station were manually shut down on 28 June, due to the high volumes of jelly fish fouling the cooling water screens," said a statement from EDF Energy, which runs the power station near Dunbar.

It explained that the shutdown was purely a precautionary measure and insisted that ‘at no time was there a danger to the public’, nor had there been any impact on the environment. The nuclear regulator had also been informed.

"Reduced cooling water flows due to ingress from jelly fish, seaweed and other marine debris are considered as part of the station's safety case and are not an unknown phenomenon," the statement said.

Work was underway to clear the jellyfish from the waters near the power station, and staff were also monitoring the area for more jellyfish.

"The reactors will be restarted once the jellyfish situation subsides," the energy company said.

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