France Shuts Down Three Nuclear Reactors Due to Drought

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Nicolas HIPPERT

EDF, the French energy company, has shut down three nuclear reactors after drought conditions reduced water flows in the Meuse and Moselle rivers.

Two reactors at the Chooz nuclear power plant (NPP) in the Ardennes region, northeast of France, as well as one reactor at the Cattenom facility in Moselle were still not operating as of Monday afternoon, according to the newspaper Le Figaro.

As reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Wednesday, August 5, EDF shut down the Chooz No. 1 reactor on Saturday night to comply with a 1998 agreement between France and Belgium governing the management of the Meuse River.

The second reactor at the plant has not been operating since July 11 under the same agreement.

The agreement allows for adjustments to electricity production in order to maintain adequate water discharge for users of the Meuse River, both in France and Belgium, EDF said.

The company also shut down one of the reactors at the Cattenom nuclear plant overnight between Friday and Saturday as a precaution following a drop in water levels on the Moselle River.

EDF has also reduced or plans to reduce production at four other reactors, namely Bugey 3, Tricastin 4, and Saint-Alban 1 and 2.

France operates 57 nuclear reactors that generate about 70 percent of the country's electricity needs.

Nuclear power plants are generally located near rivers or seas because they require large amounts of water supply for the cooling process. When there is drought and heat waves, a decrease in river flow and an increase in water temperature can force EDF to limit or stop production.

The restrictions are aimed at protecting the aquatic ecosystem by preventing an increase in river water temperatures due to the discharge of cooling water, as well as avoiding the release of certain chemical and radioactive waste when the water surface is low.

The administrative regions of Ardennes and Moselle were placed on a yellow heatwave alert on Monday as extreme temperatures continued to hit parts of France.