France’s state electricity company EDF has temporarily shut down a nuclear reactor after temperatures in the Garonne river, which supplies cooling water to the plant, rose sharply during the heatwave sweeping across Europe.
In a statement, EDF said reactor 2 at the Golfech power station, located roughly 90 kilometres from Toulouse, was taken offline after river water temperatures were expected to reach 28 degrees Celsius. Environmental regulations governing the temperature of water discharged from nuclear facilities set limits that the plant can no longer safely observe under current conditions.
EDF noted that weather conditions over recent days had driven a significant rise in Garonne water temperatures, and that the station depends on the river for its cooling operations.
