EDF, France's state-owned energy company, shut down Reactor 2 at the Golfech nuclear power plant in south-west France on Thursday, July 9, after high temperatures in the River Garonne approached the site's regulatory limit. The river temperature is expected to reach 28°C on Friday, July 10.
Heatwave Prompts Precautionary Shutdown
The reactor, located in the Tarn-et-Garonne department about 55 miles from Toulouse, was taken offline at 11:30 a.m. as a precautionary measure. A 2006 decree stipulates that the river temperature must not exceed 28°C after discharges from the plant, which typically warm the water by about 0.2°C.
Reactor 2 was the only operating unit at the site, as Reactor 1 has been offline for maintenance since May. Both pressurised water reactors have a generating capacity of 1.3 gigawatts each.
Previous Shutdowns and Record Heat
EDF had previously suspended operations at Golfech on June 23 for the same reason, restarting the reactor on July 3. During the late June heatwave, EDF also shut down reactors at the Bugey nuclear power station on the River Rhône and the Nogent-sur-Seine plant on the River Seine to comply with environmental limits on river temperatures, according to Le Parisien.
France's national weather service placed nine departments on the highest-level red heatwave alert for Friday. The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that western Europe experienced its hottest June on record this year, with an average temperature of 20.74°C—more than 3°C above the 1991–2020 average.
Climate Experts Warn of More Heatwaves
Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus, said: "We will see more heatwaves in a warmer world. They will be more intense and they will last longer, and they will impact more geographical areas."
The shutdown highlights the vulnerability of nuclear power plants to extreme heat, as rising water temperatures can exceed safety limits for cooling operations.
