nuclear-news

Warming Europe complicates France’s bet on nuclear power

“It is certain that climate change is taken into account in deciding the location of new plants. If you invest €13 billion in a site and it becomes obsolete the very next day because there isn’t enough water to cool the core, the investment is not right,”

Extreme heat is forcing the country to shut down nuclear reactors, just as the appetite for cheap, carbon-free electricity is set to explode.

July 13, 2026 ,By Giorgio Leali and Nicolas Camut, https://www.politico.eu/article/warming-europe-complicate-france-nuclear-power/

PARIS — A summer of fierce heat waves in France is fueling concerns about whether the country’s nuclear energy infrastructure can survive life on the planet’s fastest-warming continent.

Monday’s broiling temperatures in France forced EDF to stop three of France’s 57 nuclear reactors and reduce production in another seven, the state-owned utility provider said in a statement. When the mercury rose to record-breaking levels last month, a trio of reactors went offline and five were slowed down, causing an 8.7 percent dip in power production just as air conditioners caused a rise in electricity demand. 

None of the shutdowns caused power outages, so we’re a long way from offline reactors plunging people into the dark ages.

But the appetite for France’s cheap, carbon-free electricity is about to explode. Paris has in recent years tried to leverage its abundant nuclear power to court promising, energy-intensive industries like artificial intelligence and cloud computing, hoping new investments in these fields can kickstart a moribund economy.

“Our citizens need to have complete trust in our ability to produce even under these circumstances,” EDF CEO Bernard Fontana said earlier this month.

Politically, the dividing lines have been drawn as expected. Supporters of nuclear power, such as Energy Minister Maud Bregeon and prominent MEP Christophe Grudler, have expressed confidence in the resilience of plants across the country.

“What we are living is ordinary,” Bregeon, who also serves as government spokesperson, said in an interview with radio station RTL on Monday. “Every year nuclear plants face a power reduction when the temperature goes above a certain threshold.”

Opponents of nuclear power, like the far-left France Unbowed, call into question whether its widespread use — nuclear power provides France with about 60 percent of its electricity — is sustainable.

“The situation we are experiencing today should open all of our eyes. Nuclear power is not resilient to climate change,” high-ranking France Unbowed lawmaker Manuel Bompard said Monday.

Analysts, meanwhile, remain sanguine about France’s big bet on nuclear power.

“France has a surplus of low-carbon electricity that could indeed be partly absorbed by data centers. But predicting exactly how much electricity future data centers will require is extremely hard,” said Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, head of the Jacques Delors Institute’s energy center.

“Still, even with more stops due to heat waves, as long as the existing nuclear fleet is authorized to extend its lifetime, there will probably be no problems.”

Warm rivers and jellyfish

Rising temperatures affect nuclear power plants because they rely on rivers and oceans to draw in water to cool reactors and release the warmer water back out. During a heat wave, water gets hotter and scarcer, complicating power production.

Last summer, the Gravelines plant in northern France was forced to halt operations at four reactors because of a climate-change-fueled jellyfish invasion near where seawater was pumped in. To avoid the same problem this summer, EDF installed cameras and has fishing boats ready to be deployed.

All of the shutdowns this summer have been triggered at riverside plants to protect nearby marine life and biodiversity from the dangers of excessively hot water, not problems with the plants themselves.

EDF plans to invest €8.7 billion between now and 2040 to adapt its nuclear reactors to a warmer France, including by expanding the use of so-called “cooling towers.”

The first such towers were installed near the city of Poitiers, at the Civaux nuclear plant along the Vienne River, where traditionally low water levels have exacerbated climate-related problems. But the cooling towers there use ventilators to chill water by 3 to 7 degrees Celsius before it is reinjected into the Vienne.

“EDF is anticipating the impacts of climate change on its facilities through detailed modeling that extends through the end of the century,” the company said in a statement to POLITICO.

Nuclear expansion

Construction of six new reactors, which are expected to cost more than €80 billion, is underway, and the government is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to build another eight on top of those.

To minimize the risk of local opposition, authorities plan to build any new reactors alongside existing plants. Four of those being built are located at two seaside sites.

Climate change will likely play a decisive role in choosing future locations.

“The water issue is one of the key factors in determining which sites to select,” confirmed one senior French official, who was granted anonymity to speak about the confidential selection procedure, which will conclude by the end of the year.

Grudler, who chairs a cross-party group of pro-nuclear lawmakers in the European Parliament, concurred.

“It is certain that climate change is taken into account in deciding the location of new plants. If you invest €13 billion in a site and it becomes obsolete the very next day because there isn’t enough water to cool the core, the investment is not right,” he said.

Former energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who helped draw up Macron’s nuclear energy policy during his second term, is confident that the government can find a sufficient number of sites for new nuclear plants, even if “it won’t happen in the blink of an eye.”

“Nuclear power plants have been designed with an overemphasis on safety and security. They are in fact much more robust […] than many other facilities in our energy system,” she said, citing concerns over the electric grid.

“Of course, it needs to be factored into the to-do list, but it isn’t a challenge that stands out on the critical path of nuclear power plant construction,” said Pannier-Runacher.

July 18, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

France Cuts 6.4 GW of Nuclear Power as Heatwave Grips the Country

By Michael Kern – Jul 13, 2026, https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/France-Cuts-64-GW-of-Nuclear-Power-as-Heatwave-Grips-the-Country.html

France’s nuclear power generation was slashed by 6.4 gigawatts (GW) on Monday amid a prolonged and intense heatwave that hiked river temperatures and limited the ability of the power plants to use the water to cool reactors.

As many as eight reactors in France, which is Europe’s leader in nuclear power generation, were forced to curtail power output, according to data from the plants’ operator EDF and grid operator RTE cited by Reuters.

The 6.4 GW of curtailed power output was equivalent to 14% of France’s overall power demand as of Monday morning. 

The reactors where output has been limited include Saint Alban 1 and 2, reactors 3, 4, and 5 at Bugey, Golfech 2, and Blayais 1 and 3.

The Golfech 2 and Bugey 3 reactors were taken fully offline, while the other six were operating at reduced rates as of Monday morning.  

This is not the first time France has had to curb output at reactors and limit the nuclear power production, due to high summer temperatures. 

France’s nuclear power generation accounts for around 70% of its electricity mix, and when its reactors are fully operational, it is a net exporter of electricity to other European countries. 

Despite the curbs of nuclear generation during the current heatwave, data from RTE suggests that France would remain a net exporter with over 10 GW of power exported to France’s neighboring countries on Monday. 

The hydropower generation would also be a concern amid the heatwave that has lasted a least a week and is expected to continue at least until Wednesday this week. 

With temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) for days, red alerts have been issued throughout France amid the heatwave, and thousands of people have died of heat-related conditions since late June, when the record-breaking extreme summer temperatures started to disrupt life. Even the most famous and prestigious cycling event, the Tour de France, held a shortened stage on Sunday for the first time ever, due to the extreme heat.

July 18, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

France temporarily shuts down three nuclear reactors over heatwave

France’s main energy provider on Sunday said that three nuclear reactors have been temporarily shut down, while eight others are operating at reduced power. The measure is an environmental protection requirement to avoid discharging too much hot water into rivers already warming from the heatwave.

FRANCE 24, 12/07/2026, https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260712-france-temporarily-shuts-down-three-nuclear-reactors-over-heatwave

France‘s main energy provider on Sunday said three nuclear reactors had been temporarily shut down and eight others were operating at reduced power due to the heatwave sweeping France.

“Due to the weather conditions and to comply with regulations on (cooling water) discharges, and thus to protect the environment,” reactors at the Golfech, Bugey and Chooz plants, located on the banks of the Garonne, Rhone and Meuse rivers respectively, have been shut down, the EDF energy group told AFP.

The measure is an environmental protection requirement to avoid discharging too much hot water into rivers already warming from the heatwave.

The economy ministry on Saturday issued an exemption to the temperature limits for the heating of the Rhone around the Bugey plant “to ensure the security of the power grid”, valid until July 20.

The shut downs are the second time in recent weeks that EDF has had to stop nuclear reactors due to extreme heat, after a record-breaking heatwave hit France in June.

On Sunday, the third heatwave to sweep the country since May saw more than a third of France under the national weather service’s highest heat alert.

More than 25 million people were baking in temperatures that forecasters said could reach up to 41C, according to an AFP tally based on population data.

The heatwave has forced tourist hotspots to shutter early, event cancellations and a shortened stage on the Tour de France.

Wildfires have proliferated and deaths by drowning have spiked amid the heat.

Since the end of May, France has been hit hard by repeated episodes of intense heat, which have caused excess mortality and exposed problems with infrastructure maladapted to extreme weather, the increasing frequency of which scientists have linked to man-made climate change.

July 17, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Nuclear power reactor forced to shut down due to extreme 28C heat

We will see more heatwaves in a warmer world,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus.

French energy officials have shut down another reactor at the Golfech nuclear power plant as a scorching heatwave continues to grip Europe

Lauran O’Toole and Eliana Nunes News Reporter, 10 Jul 2026

Reactor 2 at the Golfech nuclear power plant in south-west France’s Tarn-et-Garonne department was taken offline on Thursday, state-owned electricity company EDF said. The temperature of the River Garonne, from which the plant draws water to cool its reactors, was approaching the regulatory limit of 28C.

EDF said the temperature of the Garonne is expected to reach 28C on Friday, when France’s national weather service has placed nine departments under the highest-level red heatwave alert.

A 2006 EU directive on freshwater quality stipulates that cooling water discharged from power plants must not cause river temperatures to exceed 28C.

Reactor 2 was the only unit operating at the site as Reactor 1 has been offline for maintenance since May. EDF had already suspended operations at Golfech on June 23 for the same reason before restarting Reactor 2 on July 3, the Express reports.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Weather conditions over the ‌last few days have led to a significant rise in the temperature ⁠of the ⁠Garonne (river), which is expected to reach 28C ⁠this Friday July 10.

“As a precautionary measure, ⁠production unit No. 2 at EDF’s Golfech ⁠nuclear power station was shut down on Thursday July ⁠9 at 11:30 a.m.”

During the previous heatwave at the end of June, EDF also shut down two other nuclear 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, Le Parisien reports.

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday that western Europe experienced its hottest June on record this year. The average temperature reached 20.74C – more than 3C above the average between 1991 and 2020, the climate monitor said.

“We will see more heatwaves in a warmer world,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus.

“They will be more intense and they will last longer, and they will impact more geographical areas.”

July 16, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Heatwave: EDF will once again shut down nuclear reactors.

Two weeks after the latest heatwave, EDF has had to halt production at several reactors to prevent further warming of the rivers. The electricity company is planning new upgrades at Golfech on the Garonne and at Chooz on the Meuse in response to climate change.

By Amélie Laurin, July 9, 2026 

The respite was short-lived for EDF’s nuclear power plants. After the exceptional heatwave at the end of June which had  put three reactors out of service, the public electricity company will again stop two of them on Thursday evening, due to the high temperatures: Bugey 3, on the Rhône, from 9 p.m., then Golfech 2, on the Garonne, at 11:45 pm.

Their reconnection to the grid is scheduled for July 17, after the Bastille Day holiday weekend, which is expected to reduce national electricity consumption by several GW per day, according to forecasts from RTE, the high-voltage transmission network operator. A power reduction is also planned for this Thursday for environmental reasons at Saint-Alban 2, on the Rhône River, according to regulatory announcements from EDF., the operator of high-voltage lines. A power
reduction is also planned this Thursday for environmental reasons at
Saint-Alban 2, on the Rhône, according to EDF’s regulatory messages………. (Subscribers only)

Les Echos 9th July 2026 https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environnement/canicule-edf-va-de-nouveau-arreter-des-reacteurs-nucleaires-2241469

July 15, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Europe’s Nuclear Plants Can’t Beat the Heat

By Haley Zaremba – Jul 10, 2026, https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Europes-Nuclear-Plants-Cant-Beat-the-Heat.html

• France is cutting output at up to five nuclear plants this week as record heat pushes river temperatures too high to cool reactors safely.
• Last month’s heat wave already knocked out power to 70,000 households on France’s hottest day ever, 44°C, and Germany and the UK both rely on French nuclear exports.
• More than 1,000 heat-related deaths in France and stalled EU adaptation funding show the grid crisis is outpacing the response.

Europe’s blistering heat wave is threatening energy security across the continent as power plants shut down and the risk of rolling blackouts rises. Electric grids are overstressed, and ecosystems are too. Rivers are greatly affected by soaring temperatures, which in turn impacts the energy industry and power plants that rely on that water supply for their cooling systems. Just this week, France announced that it will reduce production at as many as five nuclear power plants, with two already curbing output this week.

France is expected to receive the worst of a coming high-pressure heat dome over the next few weeks, with temperatures soaring to as high as 42 Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country on Wednesday. When Europe experienced a similar heat wave last month, a transformer failed, leaving nearly 70,000 households without power as temperatures reached deadly levels. The country recorded its hottest day ever on record, with temperatures reaching a blistering 44 °C (111 °F).

These temperatures are not only deadly to humans, they are also a huge threat to the ecosystem. Rivers are growing hotter under these conditions, and one of the impacts of that change is that their waters are no longer as effective for cooling down nuclear power plants, which serve as the backbone of France’s energy mix. As a result, the country anticipates needing to curb production at plants around the country at the very same time that demand is surging.

It’s a sad irony that just as electricity is needed more than ever to keep indoor temperatures at survivable levels, the power grid is most likely to fail. “As it gets hotter, things stop working quite so well,” Iain Staffell, associate professor of sustainable energy at Imperial College London, was recently quoted by DW. “I think we do need to adapt the power system to cope with the changing weather,” he went on to add.

The reduction of nuclear power output in France could greatly affect energy availability and affordability within France and in neighboring countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, which import electricity generated by the nation’s sizable nuclear power sector. And nuclear is only part of the story. The heat wave is also impacting the output of hydropower and limiting the cooling abilities of coal and gas plants.

Europe can expect this kind of strain to be the new normal as global warming alters climatic patterns around the world and increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather. Policies will need to be put into place,  and enacted quickly, in order to prepare European grids to withstand these kinds of temperatures at regular intervals going forward.

“Utilities can adapt by planning for summer peaks, making cooling demand more flexible, reinforcing grids for high temperatures, deploying batteries and demand response, and climate-proofing power plants’ cooling systems,” Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at Bruegel, an economic and policy think tank, recently told MIT Technology Review via email.

However, all of these imperatives are massively costly and difficult to implement, leading to inaction on the part of European leadership and widespread vulnerabilities of the continent’s energy infrastructure. Last year, the European Environment Agency reported that all 27 countries in the European Union have climate adaptation plans, but noted that “insufficient long-term funding” has stifled implementation.

This has led to frustration and resentment amongst the public, not to mention over 1,000 unnecessary deaths. “Everyone is asking, why are we not ready?” Francois Gemenne, an environmental politics professor at French business school HEC Paris, recently told the New York Times. “We are becoming aware of our own vulnerability.”

July 14, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Wildfire in southern France forces evacuation of 10,000 people

Neil Murphy

 A wildfire has forced the evacuation of thousands of people in southern
France as the country grapples with the impacts of an early summer heatwave
that scorched much of Europe. More than 10,000 people have been ordered to
leave more than a dozen small towns and villages in the foothills of the
French Pyrenees, near the border with Spain. The fire, located in
Trévillach near Perpignan, has burned at least 4,600 hectares (11,366
acres), local prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe said in a post on X.

 BBC 6th July 2026, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crlwweye9glo

July 10, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Nuclear reactors taken offline in France, as extreme heat pushes river temperatures into danger zone

Sophie Vorrat, Jun 26, 2026, https://reneweconomy.com.au/nuclear-reactors-taken-offline-in-france-as-extreme-heat-pushes-river-temperatures-into-danger-zone/

As Pauline Hanson seizes a moment of winter dunkelflaute to wax philosophical on the folly of weather-dependent energy, French utility EDF is busy explaining what happens to nuclear power – Hanson’s preferred power generation source – when record-breaking heatwaves, intensified by climate change, just won’t let up.

EDF has taken a series of its 57 nuclear reactors offline this week – around EDF has taken a series of its 57 nuclear reactors offline this week – around 6.2 gigawatts in total, and nearly 10 per cent of its total fleet – in response to the heatwave gripping France, part of a weather system described as an Omega block which allows temperatures to build over an area, without relief.

EDF has taken this action because its nuclear plants are subject to strict environmental regulations limiting the use of rivers to cool the plants if the river water passes a certain temperature threshold.

The nuclear shutdowns included two reactors at the Nogent-sur-Seine plant on the Seine river, north of Paris, “to limit the temperature increase between the water withdrawn from the Seine and the water discharged back into it, thereby protecting aquatic plant and animal life,” EDF said.

According to Reuters, the heat has also reduced output at the Saint-Alban 2 and Bugey 3 reactors on the Rhône river in ​eastern France, and the Nogent 2 reactor on the Seine southeast of Paris. The Golfech 2 reactor on the Garonne river in southwest France ‌went ⁠offline late Monday due to the heat.

As AAP reports, much of France has been under severe heat alert this week, with temperatures hitting 40°C on ‌Tuesday, and up to 43°C in some parts of western France.

The country recorded its hottest afternoon and night since records began in 1947, and 54 departments are under red alert in what forecasters said was unprecedented.

Météo-France said conditions were ⁠comparable to the August 2003 heatwave, which lasted 16 days and led to an estimated 80,000 excess deaths across Europe, according to ‌the EU.

According to Reuters, wholesale spot power prices in France this week reached their highest level since mid-January 2025, while exports dropped to around 3 GW during the afternoon on Wednesday compared to 10-​12 GW a week earier, reducing the cheap supply for neighbours.

“Climate change is demonstrating how extreme heat can be as disruptive as the (price spikes from cold weather and low renewables) witnessed during winter,” Kpler analyst Alessandro Armenia said.

“We are surprised now, but we should expect next summer to exhibit similar dynamics, as climate change is undeniable.”

June 29, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Three nuclear reactors are shut down in France due to the heatwave

After the Golfech power plant (Tarn-et-Garonne), two other nuclear reactors were shut down, in Bugey (Ain) and in Nogent-sur-Seine (Aube).

25/06/2026 franceinfo with AFP, https://www.franceinfo.fr/environnement/evenements-meteorologiques-extremes/vagues-de-chaleur-canicules/trois-reacteurs-nucleaires-sont-a-l-arret-en-france-en-raison-des-fortes-chaleurs_8079206.html

The heatwave is impacting energy production. EDF shut down two 
nuclear reactors on Thursday, June 25th.
(New window), at Bugey (Ain) and Nogent-sur-Seine (Aube), bringing to three the number of reactors shut down in France due to the high temperatures, after that of Golfech (Tarn-et-Garonne), while a unit at Saint-Alban must also reduce its production, according to a situation report sent to AFP.

Reactor number 3 at the Bugey nuclear power plant, located on the banks of the Rhône River, has been shut down since 9:00 AM, as has unit number 1 at Nogent-sur-Seine since 9:15 AM, due to 
“external environmental factors” and in order to comply with the temperature limits for the Rhône and Seine rivers, EDF explains on its regulatory information website. The shutdowns or production reductions decided by EDF aim to meet environmental obligations to protect the flora and fauna of the rivers and streams that are used to cool the nuclear facilities.

Do not further warm the waterways

In the event of extreme heat, the rising temperature of these waterways can force EDF to reduce or even halt its production to avoid further heating them with its discharges of cooling water that is a few tenths of a degree to a few degrees warmer, depending on the site. The operation of France’s 57 reactors is subject to strict limits on the temperature increase of these waterways.

In the case of Golfech, which has been shut down since Monday, the river temperature must not exceed 28°C after discharges from the power plant. In Nogent-sur-Seine, “regulations stipulate that the temperature rise of the Seine must not exceed 3°C between upstream and downstream of the site, and that the average temperature must not exceed 28°C downstream.”

June 29, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

France tries to cope with second premature heatwave in less than a month

19/06/2026 – https://www.france24.com/en/france-tries-to-cope-with-second-premature-heatwave-in-less-than-a-month

France is in the grip of a heatwave, which Météo France expects to be “wisdespread, prolonged and intense”. The thermometer is set to climb even higher in the coming days, reaching or exceeding 40°C on June 21, leading to several municipalities to cancel Fete de la Musique celebrations. The state-owned utility EDF has also warned that three nuclear plants face production curbs next week because of high temperatures on the Rhone and Garonne rivers.

June 24, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

High French river temperatures expected to limit nuclear power output next week

By Forrest Crellin and Tristan Veyet,

 French state-owned ‌utility EDF warned on Thursday that three nuclear
plants face production curbs next week because of high temperatures on the
Rhone and Garonne rivers as France grapples with its second heatwave this
spring. Nuclear output in France has been relatively consistent this year
as production has continued to recover from lows hit several years ago, but
exceptional heatwaves at the end of the northern hemisphere spring have
raised water temperatures to ⁠levels that put reactors at risk of output
curtailment.

 Reuters 18th June 2026

, https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/high-french-river-temperatures-expected-limit-nuclear-power-output-next-week-2026-06-18/

June 23, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment