Golfech nuclear plant restarts and halts due to heat

The Golfech nuclear power plant in France has experienced repeated shutdowns of its Unit 2 reactor due to rising river temperatures caused by heatwaves. Following a restart on Friday, August 7, the reactor was forced to shut down again on the evening of Saturday, August 8, to comply with environmental regulations.

Regulations require the plant to reduce power or temporarily halt operations when the daily average temperature of the Garonne River exceeds 28°C. This is to manage the impact of the plant's cooling water discharge. Unit 1 of the facility is currently offline for scheduled maintenance and fuel replacement.

This latest stoppage marks the fourth such instance at the site since the beginning of the summer. While the Garonne's temperature had briefly dipped below the threshold in late July, the restart of Unit 2 was previously delayed due to the unavailability of a system required to supply water to the steam generators.