A climate secret leaking out in France. Already, before summer begins, global heating is affecting the output of nuclear reactors

Nuclear: “Global warming highlights the vulnerability of power plants torising temperatures” In recent months, the debate on atomic energy has focused on its low climate impact. But global warming also poses a risk to the proper functioning of power plants, explains Stéphane Foucart, journalist at “Le Monde”.

Summer hasn’t started it’s already too hot. EDF announced it on May 9: electricity production could be affected until Sunday May 15, in particular at the Blayais power plant. The temperature of the water discharged into the Gironde estuary no longer meets environmental protection standards.

This micro-event will only have a marginal impact on electricity production, but it highlights what an intense public relations and communication campaign has been trying to keep under wraps for several
months: presented as a solution major challenge in the face of global warming, nuclear energy is also vulnerable to it.

Today, it is at the beginning of May that the problems begin at Blayais. In August 2018, the
Saint-Alban and Bugey power plants were partially shut down for similar reasons. The following summer, the same as well as that of Golfech were also slowed down. In August 2020, for the first time in its history, the Chooz plant was in turn temporarily shut down for similar reasons.

Le Monde 15th May 2022

https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2022/05/15/nucleaire-le-rechauffement-climatique-met-en-evidence-la-vulnerabilite-des-centrales-a-l-elevation-des-temperatures_6126175_3232.html