If you’re ever feeling powerless, remember that a bunch of spineless, brainless sea creatures that look like floating plastic grocery bags just temporarily shut down one of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plants.
Over the weekend, four out of six reactors at France’s Gravelines Nuclear Power Station were forced offline after a massive swarm of jellyfish clogged its cooling system. Yes, jellyfish. The creatures whose name conjures images that range from being spread on toast to having to get peed on if you’re touched by one.
They wriggled into the plant’s intake filters and gummed up the works. It’s an inspirational underdog story like the Ewoks triumphing over the Empire in Return of the Jedi.
The shutdown happened automatically as part of the plant’s safety protocol, according to EDF, the energy company that runs the facility. Officials assured the public that there was no impact on safety or the environment. There is, of course, a pack of sea bags can bring down the existential horror of realizing your electrical grid.
Jellyfish Just Shut Down One of France’s Biggest Nuclear Plants
Gravelines, on the coast between Dunkirk and Calais, uses seawater from the North Sea to cool its reactors. However, that water also happens to be the favorite hangout spot for several species of jellyfish, especially when temperatures rise, as they do now during the summer.
Jellyfish are uniquely suited for this kind of mischief. Despite being 95 percent water and seeming so alien that they almost stretch the definition of what it means to be alive, they can squeeze into the damned places.
Their gooey bodies can slip past filters designed to block marine life, then accumulate in large quantities in the secondary filtration drums, reducing water flow. It results in reactors that automatically shut down to prevent overheating.
Thankfully, it’s not like the reactors are melting down or anything. It’s just a temporary halt to the process caused by a one-off, freak event.
It all sounds incredibly strange, but here’s the stranger part: this isn’t even the first time this has happened. It’s happened in Scotland, Sweden, Japan, and Israel. Three of those occurred in 2011 alone.
Wait a minute—2011? The same year as the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown? Hm. I’m starting to think these aren’t coincidences at all. The jellyfish planned these attacks. They were trying to convey something to us.
Those floppy translucent buggers are smarter than we thought.
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