An invasion of jellyfish into a cooling water pool at a Scottish nuclear power plant kept its nuclear reactors offline on Wednesday, a phenomenon which may grow more common in future, scientists said.
Two reactors at EDF Energy's Torness nuclear power plant on the Scottish east coast remained shut a day after they were manually stopped due to masses of jellyfish obstructing cooling water filters.
Nuclear power plants draw water from nearby seas or rivers to cool down their reactors, but if the filters which keep out marine animals and seaweed are clogged, the station shuts down to maintain temperature and safety standards.
Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation said power plants follow a pre-planned programme when these situations occur.
Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation said power plants follow a pre-planned programme when these situations occur.
Latest plant availability data from network operator National Grid showed Torness reactor 1 would return to service on July 5 and reactor 2 on July 6, but operator EDF Energy was unable to give a restart date.
Operators often take the opportunity presented by an unplanned stoppage to carry out maintenance work.
"We are working to clear the jellyfish from the waters near the power station. This work, as well as monitoring the area for more jellyfish, is ongoing," a spokesman for Britain's largest nuclear power operator, EDF Energy, said.
Scientists say jellyfish obstructing nuclear plants is a rare occurrence in Britain, though it has happened more
often in other countries such as Japan.
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Uma invasão de alforrecas abrigou ao encerramento de uma central nuclear na Escócia. Ambos os reactores da "Torness" tiveram de ser encerrados depois das criaturas teres bloqueado os filtros de arrefecimento de água. A notícia é avançada pela Reuters.
Os membros da direcção da empresa estão a fazer todos os esforços para retirar as alforrecas dos reactores, missão que poderá, no entanto, demorar várias semanas. Segundo um dos encarregados da central não existe neste momento qualquer perigo para a saúde humana, e a central foi apenas encerrada por medidas de segurança. O trabalhador acrescentou ainda que "não há aspectos radioactivos associados a este evento e não haverá qualquer tipo de impacto no ambiente".
O Gabinete de Regulação Nuclear já foi alertado para o facto, estando neste momento a investigar a razão de tantas alforrecas terem entrado na central. Por enquanto, as culpas recaem no Mar do Norte, cujas águas aqueceram mais do que o costume, devido às elevadas temperaturas que se fizeram sentir, o que fez com que as alforrecas procurassem locais aquáticos mais frescos.
Diário Digital / Lusa
