Nuclear power plants in Switzerland and France have been impacted by a significant heatwave, forcing them to limit operations or shut down. Cooling processes rely on local water sources, but rising temperatures have rendered these sources too warm, complicating cooling efforts. Axpo announced the shutdown of a reactor at Beznau in Switzerland, with another operating at half capacity to mitigate biodiversity risks. Furthermore, EDF shut down the Golfech nuclear power plant in France due to similar concerns with local river temperatures potentially reaching dangerous levels.
Due to the high river water temperatures, Axpo has been increasingly reducing the output of the two reactor units at the Beznau nuclear power plant for days and reduced it to 50 percent on Sunday.
The Beznau nuclear power plant's reactors are located directly on the River Aare, where temperatures have reached 25 degrees Celsius in recent days, leading Axpo to curtail its activities to prevent "excessive warming of the already warm water" which could strain local biodiversity.
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