Nuclear Power Plants Are Struggling to Stay Cool

The Rhne River is one of the world's most industrialized waterways. As it winds through the south of France towards the Mediterranean Sea, its chilly water is drawn into boilers and sucked through pipes as a coolant. A battalion of nuclear reactor is its biggest customer. About 25% of France's atomic energy has been generated by the river and its tributaries.

That hasn't been the case recently. The Rhne's water has gotten too hot due to the heat wave and low water levels. It is no longer possible to cool a reactor without extinguishing the water downstream. A few weeks ago, lectricité de France began shutting down some of the reactor units along the Rhne and the Garonne. In the last two years, there have been similar shutdowns due to hot and dry weather. Nuclear power output in France has been reduced by nearly 50 percent due to this summer's cuts.

Nuclear power is seen as the least perturbable of the low-carbon energy sources that will be needed to fight climate change. When the weather doesn't cooperate for other zero-carbon energy sources, it's reinforcement that's called in. Climate risks are faced by the nuclear industry.

Problems with water are more often associated with hydroelectric dams, which have struggled to maintain output in drying places. Nuclear engineering today is more about managing larger-scale aquatic concerns than it is about splitting atoms. Nuclear technicians refer to their craft as a very complicated way of boiling water. The reactor needs more to stay cool. Facilities are located along big rivers like the Rhne.

Power plants that run on coal and gas are affected by hotter rivers. Nuclear plants are unique because of their size and the role they play in keeping energy grids online. Climate challenges are not the only ones they face. Increased flooding risks can be found on the coast due to sea level rise and more frequent storms. More frequent algal blooms and exploding jellyfish populations are some of the more unusual challenges that scientists point to.

Nuclear plants are built to last a long time, with lifespans that last a half century or more. Many were constructed in the 70s and 80s before regulators thought to factor in climate-related threats. She says she didn't see anything about climate change. The plans assumed that the current weather patterns would hold up into the future.